Nakajima B5N 'Kate'

Beautiful work. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Very nice. What are you using for assembly, CA?

Bob

Man that looks GREAT!! I would like to build a framed fuse but am afraid I would never get done with it lol I had to go back and check how long it was it looks small compared to those floor slats , at a little over 16" that is larger than I thought it was but still pretty small, good fun ARUP , getback

Thank you all for your very nice compliments! They are a driving force for me. The whole idea of this hobby is for fun with others! Lots of folks successfully use CA for these little stick built airplanes but, to me, it's too heavy, causes runny nose (allergy) and doesn't sand very well. I use good 'ol' yeller' wood glue (PVA) and for parts that will have laminations that will show exteriorly... Ambroid (I have a large supply safely tucked away),Duco or Sigment works very well.

Right now I'm working on a 'plunge plug' for the canopy. I've only done this a few times so am not very good at it. Stay tuned!

your work is great way better than mine!

akjgardner and cox24711, slowly but surely! Thanks for replies, too! You know what they say ... practice makes perfect or is it that practice makes for a dull boy? I'm pretty dull!
Got the saddles, LE and nose re-enforcing sheeting glued and all of it sanded. Gotta figure how and where canopy sits then make one. I didn't get as much done today as desired but that's usually what happens!

akjgardner, the balsa started as 1/16" sheet then sanded before use. It might approach 1/20" after that. It is fairly lightweight stock for the most part. I used 'medium' density for the upper, lower and side keels. All the stringers were hand cut using a straight edge. The small blocks to make nose rings and tail cone were very light stock scraps. This work is very 'therapeutic' ... yeah... therapeutic! Some might think... boring! I have started roughing in the canopy plug. It's going to be a sticky 'illusion' to pull off the canopy. By design, due to the nesting of the portions of the canopy on the full scale, a natural tapering occurs toward the rear. I want the canopy to be one piece for structural reasons. It would be a little bit of a trick to carve it in steps accurately. I might make the plug 'skinny' then add card stock progressively toward the front in order to create that taper. The card stock edges would have their edges at the scale joins for each portion of the canopy. Hope that makes sense. Canopies are always a bit of a road block for me. I might do better with a can-of-corn!

After a few false starts using a heat gun the canopy was plunge formed over the plug. The vivak was clamped to a lite ply plate. The cutout in the plate allowed ~1/8 clearance. The vivak on plate held near an 'electric fire' space heater until the plastic started to smoke! Then it was immediately 'plunged' over the plug which was elevated off the workbench for clearance. The second attempt got this canopy! Weeeeeeeee!





The plug was finished with black dope and sanded... a lot! I had to let the dope cure a few days. I'm gonna cut the canopy and offer it to fuse to see where more balsa has to be added to fuse structure in order to mount the canopy. I feel like I'm talking in circles here!

Really nice canopy. Looks quick and easy, but I know it's a project all by itself. I watched a U-tube video where the guy uses a homemade box with a shop vac attached and vacuum forms over carved blocks. It a sign of a true model maker, one who'll  take the time and effort to make such fine accessories.

Thanks guys! I have a vacuum former but I need to make an adapter for the plenum table to receive smaller sheets of plastic. Otherwise a lot of plastic would get wasted making these little parts! This canopy was a little bugger only because I didn't heat it enough the first time and the lite ply plate with cut out to which the vivak plastic was clamped was a little to small to hold while plunging the plug. My fingers started getting pretty toasty holding it next to the 'fire'!

Here's a little more progress. The canopy was cut, trimmed more then its edges sanded fair to fit on the fuse. The fuse has more sheeting in place to see where canopy edges will be located so that the cockpit opening may be cut. It's a major hurdle as far as this model is concerned! I'm thinking of using strips of paper doped silver to represent the canopy framing. Another option is to pull a white styrene canopy and cutting the windows out leaving the framework. More fiddly but a stronger and better result if done carefully.

You are an inspiration to all of us stick and tissue builders . Nothing more fun than scratching out your own planes .

Mike1484

NICE !! This is the only stick build that I can recall in the 3 years I have been on and is really a learning experience and I think you for that . Your skills are extraordinary Thanks for sharing , Eric

getback, don't forget akjgardner's P-40 in off topic forum! I pulled a white styrene 'cowl' this morning so will start fretting out the framework for the windows today. When that is done some pics will get posted. The fuselage has been opened up to receive the canopy. I'll use my Maru Mechanic book published in Japan to try a develop a partial cockpit for it. Gotta do that stuff before closing it up!

akjgardner, I love Ambroid! That is the best glue. DUCO and Sigment come close. Sigment seems a little harder to sand than DUCO.

A paper pattern was traced around the canopy when trial fitted to fuselage. It was used to mark where to cut out cockpit 'office' area. Here's the styrene canopy framing. After measuring and pencil-ing the framework blue vinyl mask tape used to guide sawing. Eight holes cut. Thirteen to go!

akjgardner wrote:You got me useing ambroid again .lol

I've been holding my last tube of Ambroid for the last couple of years, where do you buy it???

Thanks, RK Flyer

I wish I looked in more. Wow, you are moving along on that.

I have patience to work on detail, but that is a whole different level.

Phil

Hey RK... I sent you a PM. Sorry it took me so long to see yours. I'll use the ol' new to the forum excuse!
pkrankow- yessir... just patience. That's what keeps me goin'!
akjgardner- is Ambroid still manufactured? I cornered the market for a large supply. I love it! Plus at the end of a hobby gluing session I get to chew the excess off my fingers!

Here's a pic of the framework. It's a little 'heavy' from a structural mimicking standpoint but I'll use this excuse... it looks like the toys you buy... you know how they are built kinda thick and all! I also show a pic of cutout in fuselage.









On to the flying surfaces!