Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

I thought that was the gist of it, and it does make sense now.

A picture does, definately, say a thousand words. Many thanks for your time and patience, as always.

It makes me wonder if there is a demand for a list of aircraft related expressions and definitions. There seem to be so many terms used that a lot of us my not know just what the correct understanding is.

Maybe I could put together a similar one for ships, might help people to tell the differrence between a Shear Strake and a Bulwark Stay!

[wonwinglo]

There have been a few 'Glossary of terms' done here in the past,aviation related ones cover a vast area that needs to be broken down but I am always happy to answer any individual questions.

Richard,as a landlubber I would welcome a listing of say basic nautical terms,that would be really useful to a lot of people.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-All about Engineers-Part 1.

For those of you who have difficulty understanding us engineers,here’s a short series of lessons. (obviously, some engineers are more engineer like than others!)

The definition of an engineer:

Someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had, in a way you don't understand.

YOU MIGHT BE AN ENGINEER IF...

· You take a cruise so you can go on a personal tour of the engine room.

· The people at the computer store can't answer any of your questions.

· At the air show, you know how fast the skydivers are falling.

· You can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie.

· You can type 70 words a minute but can't read your own handwriting.

· You see a good design and still have to change it.

· Your spouse doesn't have the foggiest idea of what you do at work.

· You've ever tried to repair a $5.00 radio.

Comprehending Engineers

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"

The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike.

She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, 'Take what you want.'"

The second engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

Comprehending Engineers

To the optimist, the glass is half full.

To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Comprehending Engineers

A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!"

The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!"

The pastor said, "Hey, here comes the green keeper. Let's have a word with him."

"Hi George. Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"

The green keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind fire-fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."

The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."

The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them."

The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

Comprehending Engineers

(This is actually true!) There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical.

After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired.

Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion-dollar jet engines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the engine to work but to no avail.

In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent two weeks studying the drawings for the design, and then he spent a day studying the huge engine. At the end of the day, he marked a small 'x' in chalk on a particular component of the engine and stated, "This is where your problem is".

The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.

The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemised accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly:

One chalk mark $1

Knowing where to put it $49,999

It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.

Comprehending Engineers

What's the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build weapons, Civil Engineers build targets.

Comprehending Engineers

Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.

One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."

Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections." The last said, "Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?"

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-All about Engineers-Part 2

Comprehending Engineers

Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

Comprehending Engineers

An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the passion and mystery he found there.

The engineer said, "I like both." "Both?" the others asked. The

engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work done."

Comprehending Engineers

An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."

He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want."

Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Working with resin & Photoetch parts.

The following are some notes about working with resin and photoetched parts. They may help you if you are new to working with them and even the most experienced modellers should take note of the safety precautions at the bottom of the page.

Photoetch is very fine. To remove it from the fret without damaging the individual parts, place the fret in a ziplock bag and seal it. Place the bag on a ceramic tile or large piece of toughened glass (this gives a much firmer cutting surface). Using a new, SHARP blade in your hobby knife, place the blade on the section of fret that you wish to cut. Rocking the blade backwards and forwards gently, slowly cut through the plastic bag and through the fret. The plastic bag lets you see what you are doing and yet contains any parts that may wish to go "Boing" and leap off the workbench.

When working with resin and photo-etch, your best choices in glues are superglues or epoxy glues. Experiment to find which works best for you and your modelling methods; super glue with an accelerator (use the super glue and accelerator to "tack" parts together, then use more super glue and allow to cure), plain superglue, 5 minute epoxy or the slow-setting epoxy.

Note that if you want to create a rounded effect on a piece of flat photo-etch then white glue can be used to build up a slight curve on the surface. Resin is softer than styrene. Remove any flash with a sharp hobby knife is possible. Use progressively finer sand paper to get a smooth finish on your kit. Sand carefully and check your progress often - it's easier to sand too far than on a plastic kit. Files should be used with EXTREME caution as they can leave marks in the resin which you will then have to fill and then sand out again ...

Washing all the resin pieces in detergent and giving them a good scrubbing with a toothbrush helps get rid of the silicone mold release compound, any greasy fingermarks and any leftover dust from the sanding. You'll get a better result from your painting if you don't skimp on this step.

Remember - resin dust can build up in your lungs and create all sorts of health problems. To prevent this, do as much wet-sanding as possible or sand outdoors wearing a good dust mask,do not take any risks with these materials,also beware small parts can fly anywhere,watch your eyes,if do not wear spectacles then use a pair of goggles,Proops sell useful ones that have crystal clear lenses,even ones that magify if you can get used to them as well.

As always use cyno adhesives with care,make sure that when you remove the spout that there is no pressure build up inside the bottle,just take great care with all tools and materials that you use.

[Guest]

well said wonwinglo !

and i must just add again ,

i dont think any of us modellers should ever use cyno adhesives without having a bottle of debonder to hand,

available in most hobby stores and DIY hypermarkets and from screwfix its a must - put it in the model room or by the first aid kit,

over the years i have seen too many silly little incidents with cyno when working on models, the debonder will not only release skin, but it also allows you to remove it from clothing, and to assist you to remove unwanted glue from parts

cyno is harmful and excesses on the skin is not good, have some debonder to hand for your health's sake !

[Guest]

As per usal barry, this blog is a delight to read! ! ! ! ! !

When you say to use files, i have used a file on resin before, it was a small boots nail file so was extra fine and worked a treat. Obviously no good for small parts, but for larger areas like wing tips its great!

and for the record, i can work out sky diving, have mended radios and ive worked on boat engines yet i still dont know the difference between an inch and a cm!

[Guest]

I bet your missus does though !

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A collection is born-How we tackled a collection of soldiers.

Some two years ago my good wife started to collect the Medieval Warriors lead soldiers,which appeared as a weekly part works done by Del Prado,like all of these things there were constant problems and flustrations,missing models that had to be chased up especially over holiday periods,damaged models that had been vandalised by the distributors by placing huge piles of newspapers on top of them and a seemingly general dis-regard for the customer which has already been covered elsewhere here,anyway as the collection grew yet another series appeared called 'Modern Army' these exquisite little miniatures were not only highly detailed but very well painted,at £7 for each issue they needed to be.At that time we did not have a clue as to how or when they would be displayed,and several cardboard boxes were deposited in my modelling den ?

After a while the Medieval Warriors were nearing their end with only a few models outstanding,the others will run until early 2007 so there is a while to go yet on those.

Anyway the decision had to be made as to what to use to store and above all display these beauties,we looked everywhere for suitable cabinets but either they were too big for our modest little house,or somehow did not look quite right ? one day one of those junk mail leaflets came through the door,and low and behold what looked like a suitable cabinet,it had five glass toughened shelves and was available at a price of £195 plus £20 carriage,a lot of money but what was the alternative ? to keep them and possibly get them damaged in boxes or invest in this cabinet,anyway after a three week wait the cabinet arrived,horror of horrors it was a very flat,flat pack with bag after bag of fittings worthy of a section in a DIY shop ! I have never in all my born days assembled anything so complicated or awkward or with such useless instructions for that matter,after a day of wrestling,grunting and swearing it assembled into a tall cabinet with a very fragile looking door,that door nearly gave me an heart attack as I screwed the fittings into the glass very gingerly and with great care,the total results with the soldiers now well and truly installed is shown below,I intend to get two more shelves cut from the correct toughened glass with bevelled edges,there is still enough room for the remaing figures,and despite the hassle the results are quite pleasing-



The heavy mounted figures are on the bottom to give some stability to the cabninet,the whole thing is safely screwed to the wall.



The Modern Army series with about another 40 models to go.



The Medieval Warriors on display,real works of art.





Overall view of the cabinet which has a diffused lighting system,this really brings the models to life.





My aeroplanes are banned from the soldier cabinet,I have to make do with an old antique cabinet which has been in my possession for a few years now,these are all diecasts.

[Guest]

Barry,

The thing that is disturbing me most is that I can relate to just about all of your "Comprehending Engineers", in fact I agree with most and can say I have been involved in a disturbing number of them!!

Great reading though, many thanks, these will provide a bit of entertainment on the ship when I get back.

[wonwinglo]

***Squiffy,if you go to a motorists accessory shop ask for a 'Points file' these useful little gadgets,are used to remove the pip that builds up on the old mechanical points sets in cars and on motor cycles,they are very fine and ideal for use with resin parts,also another trick is to stick fine emery cloth onto those lolly type sticks,you can buy emery cloth on rolls from an old hardware shop if you have one nearby ? nail files are ok but they tend to clog up a bit,to renove the debris simply place sticky tape on the file,rub with your finger and pull sharply away.

As per usal barry, this blog is a delight to read! ! ! ! ! !When you say to use files, i have used a file on resin before, it was a small boots nail file so was extra fine and worked a treat. Obviously no good for small parts, but for larger areas like wing tips its great!

and for the record, i can work out sky diving, have mended radios and ive worked on boat engines yet i still dont know the difference between an inch and a cm!

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Building from plans-Part 6

Before we even think about building that dream model you will need to start with a scale plan,there are thousands of plans available in books,magazines and best of all here on the internet,dont worry if the drawing is far too small for your needs as any drawing can be easily scaled up either by photographic means or good old fashioned dividers,a roll of lining paper and a lead pencil.

Here is a selection of scale drawings to inspire and hopefully make you reach for the building board,the subject matter is both exciting and with a few alterations as compromise to getting the model to fly should keep you busy for a while,select a subject,scale it up as a line drawing and then plot a few formers,once the initial keel is laid then your interest increases threefold and you can dream of flying your own unique scale model,so what are we waiting for take a look at this little lot-



Bristol M.1C, I can vouch that this one flies well,if you want a lovely barrel shaped design that looks unusual in flight then this one takes some beating,the wing can be made to lift away from the centre section and bolted into place,make sure that you add undercamber to the wing on this one.



Aerocar.For anyone looking for something a bit unusual and a challenge then the Aerocar is for you,how about making it roadable as a model as well ?



Armstrong Whitworth Albermarle.

This one would make an ideal electric twin.



Airspeed Ambassador.

The beautiful Ambassador or Elizabethan class when in BEA service,planked fuselage would be ideal or why not carve from a log of blue foam ?



Antonov AN-74-TK,Would make an unusual PSS design.



Hawker Siddeley Andover.

Another electric possibility ?

[Guest]

Squiffy,

The difference between an inch and a centimeter is 1.54 centimeters.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Building from plans-Part 7

Here we continue with a diversity of designs each one a challenge in itself,the drawings are shown for inspiration and set the modeller a challenge,and as such are worthy of further research,dont forget that multi engined reliabilty is assured with electric flight,gone are the days when we entered into these subjects with trepidation due to un-relible engines that could quit causing models to spin in quickly if not checked,many of these could easily be made to manageable sizes to fit your car,small motors and prop combinations abound and are both pwerful and lightweight,couple that wth lithium power and the sky is your limit,lets take a look at what we today-



Armstrong Whitworth AW.650 Argosy.

Twin boomed and plenty of fuselage space to place the most bulky of batteries,hand launch no need for any fiddly undercarriage.



Avro Canada Arrow.

Sleek challenge for PSS,catapult launched glider.



Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck.

Another golden oldie,for a real challenge why not twin electric ducted fan units ?



C-133 Cargomaster.

The Cargomaster is under modelled,but just look at that tall fin,a very stable design.



Caribou.

Ugly to some but so full of character,imagine turning up at your local field with one of these under your arm ?



PBY-5A CATALINA

The Catalina is just asking to be built as a model subject.A blue foam log for the hull with built up wings perhaps ?

All of these subjects would make for exciting models,and above all just that little bit different.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Building from plans-Building with Blue Foam-Part 8

Mention of blue foam log construction has prompted a few enquiries from you,so before we proceed any further lets just discuss this useful process,there are times when complex shapes are time consuming to produce in traditional wooden keel,former,planked construction,with the advent of remarkable building insulation foams this has brought with it a material that needs to be explored and experimented with by the model builder,its good points are that it offers light weight throughout, coupled with the ability to be under shaped in tricky areas,ie engine intakes and area ruling on modern jet types,the modeller instantly becomes a sculptor overnight in his own right and the shape process spurs you on to get the model completed.Basically we use builders blue insulation foam,check in your yellow pages and sort out your local dealer,go along and take a ripsaw with you,you will need to rip through the panels before they go into your car ! do not put them onto your roof rack otherwise you will loose them,the panels are huge so need cutting down into manageable panels,best place to store them out of the way is in the roof of your garage.

The very first job is to make a side view template of the fuselage, in the case of the model aircraft here,boats and cars receive similar treatment,make this from coloured sugar paper or similar coloured card,the reason for this is that it forms the constant centre datum of your 'log' whatever carving you do the centreline will always be present,glue the pieces together with Aliphaetic resin glue,you can also use PVA but this will take longer to set as air drying is difficult and slow between the tight laminations,you can use balsa dowels if you wish,but this is not necessary,a black marker pen is used to mark any important areas,add plenty of datums,even pieces of wood can be tacked into place to guide your eventual carving.Do all cutting outside as this stuff gets everywhere clinging to everything in your workshop,wear old clothes and nothing that attracts too much static,a boiler suit is fine,prepare yourself for a big sweepup later and a blue lawn ! having said this the work and mess is worth the effort,a quick water spray settles the debris we just have to live with the inconvenience,wear goggles to protect your eyes from flying debris.



The next process is to shape the log using the cross sections provided on your plan,have plenty of photographs to hand also so you know exactly what needs taking off,the best tools are as follows- a bread knife,surform woodworkers tool,a clean new wire brush,sharp long knife blades such as the Stanley 2901 series,a keyhole saw and a sharp razor saw,lets explain each tool and its use;the bread kife will hack through large areas of the block,the surform is your best friend and will happily rip through the largest of chunks of foam,the wire brush is uncanny,by striking the foam or stroking it you will quickly realise its potential,the carve up process is very theraputic as the shape takes place before you,the long knife blade will enable you to get into the corners such as the intakes,the keyhole saw will deal with internal area removal,simply push the blade straight into the foam and draw back and forth,the razor saw makes nice clean cuts on the final clean up.

Use the roughest carborundum paper to achieve the shape after major cutting with wire brush/saw/knife,the trick is to go from left to right with the sanding block and cut the top off the beads of foam,a bit difficult to explain but you will soon get the idea in actual use,note from the picture below that any formers,spars or inserts are simply slid into place at this stage,do not glue anything yet ! they will just serve to get everything in line,speking of which can you still see the edge of that coloured paper ? clever eh ! you will never loose that crucial datum point.

So we now have in front of us a well shaped lump of blue foam,note how light it is ? but wait a minute we have not even started to remove the surplus weight,tomorrow I will explain how to finish the log properly and get the most from blue foam consruction,see you here.