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tonyc206
02-07-2011, 07:20
When I replicated the metal wings for my bombers in plastic I noticed that the Skytrex Gotha wings are not accurate. The upper wing shape is wrong. The rake angle is too great and it should not continue to the centre to form a point as it does (at least not on the drawings I have). The two wings do not match each other in shape as they should and the strut locations are not quite correct. The lower wing is slightly short and also has no Ailerons marked on it.

So I've decide to try to make my own from plasticard. As I have at least a further 3 Gothas to make, these will hopefully be 'masters' from which I can then cast wings for each model from plastic as before. Also if I am successful I will be able to supply copies of my new plastic wings to anyone who might want them (at a small cost of course).

So the first thing I did was to accurately scale a set of drawings and stick them onto a sheet of 1.5mm Plasticard:

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8796&d=1297022531

The cut out drawings were stuck on using 'Copydex' which is a rubberoid type adhesive. This is important as any water based adhesive would soak into the paper and may cause it to stretch or tear. I pasted the adhesive onto the plasticard and used an old brush to make sure it was in a thin even film before placing the paper on and smoothing it very gently. Then I left it to dry for about an hour.

Here's a shot of the Skytrex wings on top of the drawings so you can see the difference..

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8807&d=1297023134

The rake angle of the top wing is quite a substantial difference and you can just about see how much shorter the lower wing is as the faint inner line can just be seen.

Next thing was to crudely cut the new wings from the plasticard....

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8798&d=1297022539

This is thick plasticard and requires patience to cut it without damage or mistake. I always make sure that I take time to score it lightly first and then about 3-4 times more, increasing the cut pressure gradually each time.

Then the new wings were carefully trimmed around the templates using the scoring method and a razor saw to get into those corners.

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8805&d=1297023124

Shown here again with the Skytrex wings to show the difference.

Next I scored the ailerons before removing the templates. Then repeated the aileron scoring on the underside.

This left me with two very flat wings with markings scored on them. So then comes the shaping.

This final photo (for now) shows the difference between the basic cut-out upper wing and the now shaped lower wing..

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8810&d=1297025204

Still lots more work to do yet and I’ll keep taking Photo’s and post updates on here

Guntruck
02-07-2011, 08:21
The rake angle is too great and it should not continue to the centre to form a point as it does (at least not on the drawings I have). The two wings do not match each other in shape as they should and the strut locations are not quite correct. The lower wing is slightly short and also has no Ailerons marked on it.

So, other than that they are nigh-on perfect :D:D

I'm very interested to see the final result. What do you use to scribe the detail, Tony?

And you realise Kytey's now ripping the wings of the ones he's already made up? :D:D:D

tonyc206
02-07-2011, 10:21
So, other than that they are nigh-on perfect :D:D

Exactly!!!


I'm very interested to see the final result. What do you use to scribe the detail, Tony?

I have an engineer's scribe (he'll be cheesed of when he finds out it's missing ;))


And you realise Kytey's now ripping the wings of the ones he's already made up? :D:D:D

He he, I'd love too watch that :D ;)

Guntruck
02-07-2011, 10:29
That's interesting. Antenociti's Workshop had a set of scribes on his website not so long ago, but I can't see them now. I must give Jed a ring to see if he still stocks them.

Flying Officer Kyte
02-07-2011, 10:56
He he, I'd love too watch that :D ;)

I'll send you the photographs.
Rob.

Warhorse47
02-07-2011, 12:31
Superb start to this project, kudos to you Sir!

Shiraz68
02-07-2011, 12:39
Great stuff - looking forward to seeing the end results!

Jager
02-07-2011, 13:13
Very interesting. I will be most interested in how you replicate the ribbing (was a question I was going to get around to posting soon; saves me the trouble).
Also, what exactly is an enginee's scribe. I might need to go looking for one over here.
Karl