New Blog page!!!

Hi all just a quick update to link everyone to the new blog i have started.Well it,s pretty much explainitory and hopefully will show the design of all the parts in detail that goes into the plane.Well here is the link..!!
http://3dspitfires.blogspot.com/

Need more coffee!!!

Continuing on from last week is the addition of the fuselage intercostals.It is a slow job but progressing well.Lot of finishing off still has to be done to the frames.The flange that rivets to the skin having to be "bumped" to the right angle to let the skin flow nicely down the fuselage.Great for aerodynamics but a pain to build.Also got frustrated with the hole where F14 sits so used the T3 ones as templates and traced them onto a nice bit of annealed 2024 Aircarft grade ally.Got one formed up and will finish the other one off next weekend.When all the parts are done it will be time to get accurate and lazer level off the jig beam,set up everything up right,straighten the frames and start drilling.Till next week.
Now where,s me Coke??>>>>>>>

Yawn is it time to get up already?

Rolling into the hangar ready for the new year.Hmmm what am I missing..Oh yes..Caffeine!!!
First job is "stocktaking,YAY!!!"#@#*^#@".,.*^##$@ Hooray!!!
Honestly the amount of small parts a Spitfire holds is staggering.We no way have them all but a system has to be worked out to keep track of it all.That is why an excell spreadsheet has been created to log all our parts,old,and new have to be entered into it.Also a photo library is kept of all of it to keep track of what the part looks like as not everyone is up to date with the name of parts.Getting blank looks after asking on the whereabouts for the longeron to bottom spar tie bracket gets old real quick.
Only way to get up to date is to study the inside of a Spit and all it,s components.Names might not be the same but knowing the shape and size of a part in relation to where it is located is a start.I think I have about 3 to 4 gigs of photos of Spitfire guts taken off the net or taken off various airframes.
Ok to the fun stuff of the creation of bits !!!Nathan has painstakenly gone through and worked out the lengths for 90% of the Spits intercostals.Why painstaking?Well they aren,t straight to begin with,they are different angles,they taper in following the curve of the fuselage and in some cases drop in height.Also where they meet a frame flange the end has to be joggled so the outside edge sits flush.
At the moment these will be dummied in until the frames are straightened,an unfortunate side effect from hammerforming.And then locked in place. Anyway enjoy the pics..

End of year madness

Some pics and vid of the cockpit section that we got done for the museum where it is now on display over the xmas period.Very much a WIP!!!:)

Overtime

Couple of pics from a busy morning in at the workshop,Nathan,Neale and I under Wattos supervision just finishing off loose ends so the cockpit section can be displayed in at the museum over the xmas period.Working on the door ribs and coaming reinforcing frames..Will be riveting the rest together tomorrow..We hope.Also the finished F11 bellcrank brackets..

Well the year is almost at an end.Not the best of years by any stretch of the imagination but hopefully a better one ahead.On the firewall all the washers and mounts for the top fuel tank armour plate have been made and pinned up.Also the pilots seat armour plate has been made off an original scrapped example.Fitment of the instrument panel to the display cockpit section has been started but need instruments in any condition to finish it off.Also a chance loan has netted us an original throttle quadrant that will be carefully dissasembled and redrawn up.Then it will be restored and returned to it,s owner.
On the fuselage jig nearly all the frames are on now and the fitment of the intercostal brackets has commenced.With the lower longerons with us now these to will be joined up to the frames to give a skeleton finally.
Work on the cockpit door has continued to finish it off with the forward zed section being worked out as the curve at the instrument panel is different to the curve at frame 11 where the rear of the door sits.Nothing simple.Same as the coaming angles which reinforce the skin under the front windscreen.these have been especially tricky to make and hats off to the original tinbashers.
Also at the back of frame 11 is the brackets which hold the elevator bellcrank.This has been assembled and put in place.
Sorry about the biiiig delay in updates but hopefully things will settle down over the holiday and i can get on with a "normal" life...

Approaching burnout..

Yeah getting tired.With other things going on behind the scenes starting to lose faith in it all again..Fine line between obsession and passion.Here are a couple of pics of the major components completed..