scratch building

kampfgruppe · Post by **kampfgruppe** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:53 pm

Hello

Some projects on my workbench now :

Huey and Cayuse "open version" i need to finish the doors and M60 for huey before the painting job

A super cougar for an modern Afghanistan project, i "print" the windows in fresh putty with a tool mades in plastic card

GHQ don't produce yet the LVT4 like it's a big missing for pacific ww2, and indochina War, STAB seal boat to add to the pibber's Vietnam game,

still a lot of work on this one

So many work still remain...

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:35 am

Beautiful work! Please show more.

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:41 am

Hey Nazgul. Looking at the outriggers and not knowing the scale (or availability), you can get brass section for model train making. What I was thinking was the smallest hollow rectangular section you can find for the upper framing, and a thickish solid strip for the lower framing that you bend at the mid point (anneal the strip first to get a tighter bend). Once these are soldered (or even glued) the smaller sections can be cut from smaller section wire and even have a step filed into the end to get a good mating surface with the main framing.

Just a suggestion. Hollow section brass is MUCH stronger than solid. Even stronger if you can build it with a main spar and put the fuselage around it...

P

pibber · Post by **pibber** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:18 pm

Hi all !

Beautiful work "kampfgruppe"

!
I love those open doors on your chopers.
I would try to do the same modification too on few personnal Vietnam's choper models I had.

I love so much your LVT-4,

I ask years after years this important model (for Rhin crossing and Netherland campaing) in the "wish list WWII"...

I hope GHQ will product it next year...

Keep on scratch building on STAB SEAL's boat. It would be very cool to see it complete !

Nazgul · Post by **Nazgul** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:19 pm

piersyf

Great idea! I'll see if I can find any. The scale in the bottom right of the picture is in meters.

I really wasn't aware that both sides were using autogyros and helicopters during the war. Really an eye opener.

Thanks again for the ideas.

Cris

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:48 am

No probs, Nazgul. I had a quick search, and the smallest I could find is rectangular section brass 1mm x 2mm x 0.2mm wall thickness. That'd give a (very) limited scope to sand the outer edges slightly round, and gives a scale dimension of roughly 1' x 2'

Just google 'rectangular brass tube RBT21' and you'll find the same store. It's in the UK, but will give an idea of the range when you go shopping locally.

I have seen aluminium section for building model gliders that already have a leading edge profile, but not at the scale we use!

Good luck!

*edit* I went to the model shop for paint and checked out the metal stuff. They had microtube in brass that was 0.2mm OD. No idea how strong it is, but it would have to be stronger than comparable solid wire of the same dimensions. That was as small as the display went...

whoa Mohamed · Post by **whoa Mohamed** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:41 am

KG
could you tell us how you opened up the Huey and OH6? please

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:51 pm

Nice work on the choppers, but as for the UH-1 and UH-60's they come 'open' out of the box from the other guy, so I can't quite see the reason to go to all that effort if you don't have to. The Super Cougar and OH6 make sense, though.

kampfgruppe · Post by **kampfgruppe** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 5:16 pm

I got others choppers very fragile, but don't like them, probably from "the other guy"

to open, i use a blade to cut the limit (doors) to remove (around 1mm deep) then i drill several hole with a dremel tool in the door and cut pewter more and more...
I do the same thinh for UH1B gunship

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:46 pm

Not a scratch build at all, more a discovery of a material that might be of use to some.
A while back I asked whether anyone knew a way to convert .50cal MG's into .30cal M1917 of Vickers MMG. I got one suggestion (insulation stripped from wire) but found it a bit difficult to work with. Well, with Nazgul's recent questions re his helicopter projects and me casually suggesting hollow brass section, I thought I should back up my suggestion with some research, and found something called microtube. I found a model shop within 5 minutes of where I live that actually stocks it, so bought some. I bought some with dimensions of 0.8mm OD and 0.6mm ID. I also bought some at 0.5/0.3. It cost me $12 Aus for 3 lengths of 30cm (a foot).

What I did was then chop off the ammo box of a .50cal (the M1917 might not have a box ammo feed, being canvas belt), and the Vickers .303 feeds from the other side; then trim 1mm off the length of the barrel to bring it to the right length. After that, cut a 1.5mm or so length of the 0.8mm tube and slide an authentic brass water jacket over the barrel of the MG!

Here it is, ammo box put on the right side for a Vickers, mounted to a CinC universal carrier.

Side view to get the profile...

Oh, also makes great gun barrels, mortar barrels!

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:26 am

Has anyone built anything from scratch or made significant modifications?

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 5:38 am

Sure. Nazgul's trains and giant land ships qualify, I think. Pibber has also done some amazing things for his Vietnam collection... I'm sure they're out there... what do you call 'from scratch'? Making your own plastic? I know of an artist in the UK who made a toaster from scratch, including smelting copper for the wiring and mixing chemicals to produce the plastic... now THAT's a scratch build...

6mmwargaming · Post by **6mmwargaming** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:03 am

I've been distracted by other scales most of the year but I'm planning to scratch built some 1/285th F-84Fs and a Valiant bomber for the Suez crisis.

Also I'm going to make some terrain for some WW2 towns.

Cheers
Kieran

Koevoet · Post by **Koevoet** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:55 am

Raiden makes an f-84 if you want to save some time

Koevoet · Post by **Koevoet** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:56 am

Raiden makes an f-84 if you want to save some time