Representing the Naval Side - FJ-4B Fury

Started by Carl Smoot · 95 · 5 hours ago
  • Profile Photo
    George R Blair Jr said 1 month ago:

    Roofs are important, Carl (@clipper), especially around here. It's either too much sun, too much rain, or golfball-sized hail. 3D printing has proven to be helpful, especially if it is something my limited design capability allows me to design. Complicated things, like ejection seats, etc, are still a way of for me to design. But you can often find print files on line for free or very low price.

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 4 weeks ago:

    All the progress on the Sabre builds is making me feel guilty about not making more progress on my Fury. I work on it a little bit each day, mostly adding another couple of bits to the wing fold sections. I'm getting there. 🙂

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 3 weeks ago:

    Just to show that I am working on this, albeit, not as often as I would like, here are some current progress shots of the wing fold detail that I am "imagineering". The working area is tiny, the parts even smaller still, and the combination of too low of a work surface and my poor eyesight is causing me to get tight in my upper back fairly quickly while doing this. But I am at a point now where I can move on to other detail on the aircraft. There are a few small bits that are not shown here because they will go in after the wing is attached. It's definitely complete fantasy as far as the detailing goes, but it looks busy enough and once painted should look the part.

    Part of my delay has been a re-organization and major improvements to my garage workshop so I can more easily do other projects out there (include a few overdue "Honey Do's"). I agree with you George (@gblair). How come it seems that I am busier now after retiring than I was when I was working and still had all these same things to do?

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 3 weeks ago:

    Some nice progress done, Carl @clipper
    Great improvements on the fuel dump and extras to the wing folding mechanism.
    Trying to work on mine on a daily basis as well but reality is not allowing me to.

  • Profile Photo
    George R Blair Jr said 3 weeks ago:

    Your imagineering all looks reasonable to me, Carl (@clipper). I often do the same thing. The honey-do list is something that can easily expand into hours of work, and you usually never see them coming.

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 2 weeks, 6 days ago:

    Thanks John (@johnb) and George (@gblair). John, yes, life has a unfortunate way of doing that! Still, as long as you can get something done most days, it's progress and eventually it will be done. I built a 21 foot cabin cruiser from wood in my garage over a ten year period doing just that approach. Most days were no more than an hour, many only 30 minutes.

    George, my honey do list is really more of "me do" and it's a list longer than my body. I try to do some things on it daily, but some days (or some tasks) are more than I can handle in a single session or I am just not in the mood.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 weeks, 6 days ago:

    Excellent progress, my friend @clipper!
    Count me in for irregular time spent on modeling, life interferes in various ways.

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    Thanks Spiros (@fiveten). We somehow persevere.

    I am doing a bunch of smaller but necessary tasks on the Fury. I started out by having to shim up the aileron wells after removing them. This was to reduce the gap

    The turtle deck behind the cockpit is devoid of detail in the kit so using my one photo reference (which isn't very clear), I am trying to reproduce some of that detail. Also added the rudder.

    When parked, most Furies have their gear doors closed except for the one needed for strut clearance. So I installed mine up. They fit okay. The nose gear door is missing a notch in the forward port corner. On the actual aircraft this is part of a panel forward of the gear door. So I've modified the door to have this notch. Also the antenna fairing on the door was shaped incorrectly, so I have corrected this. And finally, I added a catapult bridle hook on the aft end of the fairing. There are a few more details to add to the bottom which I haven't gotten to yet.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    Coming together beautifully, my friend @clipper! Shimming the gaps created when detaching ailerons or flaps is a great movement, I have skipped it upon detaching the flaps on a 1/48 Macchi 326 I built some time ago and regretted it when it was too late.

  • Profile Photo
    George R Blair Jr said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    The detail on this kit is pretty amazing, Carl (@clipper). I think some planes have the doors automatically close after gear extension to protect the gear wells from weather and harsh conditions, such as on a carrier.

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    You're definitely progressing nicely on this one, Carl @clipper

  • Profile Photo
    Alfred van Paaschen said 2 weeks, 4 days ago:

    Very nice progress, Carl!
    You definitely have an eye for detail.
    @clipper

  • Profile Photo
    Carl Smoot said 2 weeks, 3 days ago:

    Thanks Spiros (@fiveten), George (@gblair), John (@johnb), and Alfred (@alfred). I've said it before, but I can say it again, all these little details are what makes the model pop for me. They have a way of combining together to give an overall bigger impression than they do individually.

    I had a doctor's visit this morning (nothing wrong, just an annual checkup) so I only got a smaller amount of work done today. The horizontal stabilizers were installed.

    I've added the arresting hook, a small tail bumper, and replaced the fuel dump molded part with brass tubing. It turns out the openings at the back of the wings were fuel vents, not fuel dumps. This is the real fuel dump.

    Tomorrow I will be adding some additional details to the lower speed brakes.

    I've also started looking for an appropriate paint scheme. The kit decals, typical of Hobby Boss, are not that great so I am going to paint as much as I can using masks. So I want to find a scheme that has colorful artwork, but artwork that I will be able to reproduce in my vinyl mask software.

    I test fitted the Scale Aircraft Conversions white metal landing gear struts and verified that there is enough nose weight in the model to prevent tail sitting. Starting to get close to painting, but I think I will be tackling the underwing ordinance first, so that will probably take a day or two.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 weeks, 3 days ago:

    Excellent progress, my friend @clipper! Indeed, all these little details make the model pop.

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 2 weeks, 3 days ago:

    Very nice additions, Carl @clipper
    They definitely add a lot more realism to the build.