Super Detailing S.E.5 Guillow's model

[Wurger]

My two cents..

Usually I take the B&W diagram of the indicator panel and resize it to the scale. Then I turn it into the negative. It means that these parts that were white become black and those black get the white colour. The next step is to print it on a sheet of a clear foil A note.. it can be a self-adhesive one as well. As a result I obtain a couple of small pics of the pilot's panel in negative. Because the white isn't printed by both printers and xero machines the clear foil isn't overprinted at the areas. Then I cut out the panel and stick to a white piece of plastic plate of the shape of the indicator panel . At the top there is attached a black plate ( usually I use the black plastic obtained from old 3.5' HD floppy disks ) with drilled holes for the indicators. The final effect can be seen below. The P-51 is a paperboard model of 1/33 scale.

BTW I printed the pilot's panels inverted. It results in getting the clear glass at the top side that imitates the indicator lens..

 

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Pilot's seat:
If you can recall from one of my previous postings to note the "butcher block" kitchen counter top and that I would be making use of this feature in future posts. Well, this is time. I reviewed several interior photos of the the full sized S.E.5, and none seem to have the old "wicker style" seat. They all appeared to have been made from solid wood that has been wrapped around. Having the style of the seat, I simply took a photo of the counter top, as can easily be seen in the second picture. I then had this photo scanned and enlarged to glossy 8x10 sized sheet of paper. It's from this paper that I cut out patterns for the pilot's seat.

The base of the seat was made from balsa sheet of approx. 1/4" thick. From this base, I determined the width and height of the seat back and arm rest and made several patterns before settling on the one that I felt represents the idea seat. Note that I made two patterns, one for the inside of the seat and the other for the outside. The patterns were first fitted to the balsa seat (as seen in the background of this picture) and then used white glue to laminate them together. You can also see the yellow paper used as the initial pattern for the seat.

 

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This was the result. A nice, good seat. I thought it deserved a little bit of "something extra" so I decided to use the Evergreen Plasticstrut half-round strips as rails around the seat. The half-round plastic strips are the same ones I used to fabricate the barrel of the Vickers machine gun.

Now the seat has a little bit more "pizzazz.' I'll be painting the rails black for contrast as I very much doubt any WWI pilot's seat had pure white rails. I will also add the belts and buckles to complete the pilot's seat.

 

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With the plastic half-round strips painted black to simulate the dark leather, and the seat belts added, this seat comes off very nice and seems to fit perfectly within the highly detailed cockpit interior.

 

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The last items on the detailing of the cockpit is the pilot's control column and it's famous round grip. Once again, I used Evergreen's plastic rod instead of tubing. The rod is solid and has more rigidity. I drilled a hole through the end of the rod to accept the round spade grip. The grip itself is obtained from one of many rings that were easily purchased at the local arts and crafts store. I then used some brown thread to simulate the threaded grip itself.

As on the full sized S.E.5, the upper half of the control column was painted silver and the lower half being a dark gray. The lower half was also drilled out to accept the control cables and push rods. The rods themselves were fabricated from wire bent to shape. Notice I bend the rods only on one end first, slipped through a short brass tube to simulate the turnbuckle, then after the wire was slipped through, bent the other side. It's rather difficult to thread the "U" shaped bent wires .... Don't you think?

 

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The control column in the first picture is nearly complete. The second picture shows the added gun switch mechanisms (my guess). Now, it's ready to be installed into the cockpit interior and complete the interior's detailing.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Wurger,
Thank you sir!

 

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With the control column now installed, for all intents and purposes, the highly detailed cockpit interior is now complete.
The first photo shows looking straight down and how it looks with all of the accessories fabricated and installed. The next picture shows I added a hand-crank magneto generator just behind the pilot's seat and off to the right side. The third photo shows this feature from the side. In all pictures, the cockpit is considered complete.

** Important note: I purposely left out the "turnbuckles" on the upper set of cross wires and they will never be seen once the cockpit is closed up. So, only the ones on the lower beam were left in place. This is easily seen on the second side-view photo.

The Vickers machine gun in only temporarily installed as it still has to be occasionally removed for the next stages of the build, which we shall see.. Up to this point, I hope everyone has enjoyed the show, and all comments are welcomed.

 

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Here's a very interesting comparison. We start out with just the basic frame and foundation as seen in the first picture. Then we see a somewhat crowded but complete cockpit interior in the second.

 

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I dare say, we came pretty close to replicating the original cockpit interior fairly close.

 

[Wurger]

 

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Wurger,
Thank you sir! It's greatly appreciated. Glad to know you're enjoying the show.

 

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I must detract from the subject to say a special "Thank you" to Mr. Wurger for providing fantastic photos of the cockpit and seats to the P-51D Mustang. Thank you, sir!

 

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Now that the interior is completed, it's time to close everything up. Once again, I used the glossy photo of the butcher block kitchen counter top for the inside lining of the interior. The photos are pretty much self-explanatory. I believe the second picture shows off the "parlor" very well. I would like to add though, I purposely used 1/32nd plywood for the covering because I will be using a heat-shrink film covering and it works very well on wood. The thin plywood is both very flexible and strong.

 

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Now, I proceeded to the next section using the same techniques employed to close up the cockpit. I first used paper to determine the size and shape of the section before committing to cutting the wood. Next, I cut out both the ply and the butcher block lining together. I even test-fitted them to the fuselage, when I noticed something was missing........ That last picture shows what it was I was missing.

 

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I forgot to install the machine gun and its trough. Well, it's back to the building board.

 

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This time, I had to really practice several prototypes to get the fit correct. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Ahhh, much better now, right? Nope. Look carefully, something is still missing.... This is the "trial and error" part of the build I went through.

 

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Looking at the profile, the machine gun cannot support the long barrel by itself. Something must be underneath to help give it support. Oh well, back to the building board again....

 

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These two pictures show the trough that is used to help support the machine gun. But wait, there's nothing to support the trough....