US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100

[Falco]

Hello Rata... I have a question if you don't mind regarding S&P Biplanes. How do you build the struts strong and not have them look and act like spaghetti? Also how do you assemble the wings and struts? I attempted the Hawker Gloster and it came out with the wings all jacked up with spaghetti struts. I don't want to post a picture to not ruin your succession of incredible pictures with my eye sore.

[Rata]

Falco when I cut two sided parts (like struts) from the sheet I don't cut on the outline but cut AROUND it leaving plenty of empty paper to ease handling. Score along the fold line, fold and with fingertip give the fold a sharp edge but don't glue yet. Double over and glue a scrap piece of paper and then glue that inside your strut effectively giving it 4 layers. Allow to dry and then cut with your hobby blade (NOT scissors) holding down firmly on the cutting mat under a metal ruler with the ruler's edge as your guide. Always cut them overlength to be trimmed later.
Have your upper wing already built plus a good 3-view (vital) as a reference. I almost without exception fix the (usually there's 4) cabane or centre struts to the fuselage first and after allowing them to dry just sit the upper wing on those struts to see if everything looks right and incidence angles are ok. If not then snip off a little of the offending strut ends at a time until you're happy. Then with the model resting level on the bench (in most cases the tail will need to be propped up to get it level) put a blob of glue on each of the strut ends and gently lower the upper wing onto them letting gravity hold it in place till dry.
I then dry fit and trim the overlength outer struts in place. They need to be EXACT length to avoid any warping and misshaping occurring.
Hope this is of some help.

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Rata

Falco when I cut two sided parts (like struts) from the sheet I don't cut on the outline but cut AROUND it leaving plenty of empty paper to ease handling. Score along the fold line, fold and with fingertip give the fold a sharp edge but don't glue yet. Double over and glue a scrap piece of paper and then glue that inside your strut effectively giving it 4 layers. Allow to dry and then cut with your hobby blade (NOT scissors) holding down firmly on the cutting mat under a metal ruler with the ruler's edge as your guide. Always cut them overlength to be trimmed later.
Have your upper wing already built plus a good 3-view (vital) as a reference. I almost without exception fix the (usually there's 4) cabane or centre struts to the fuselage first and after allowing them to dry just sit the upper wing on those struts to see if everything looks right and incidence angles are ok. If not then snip off a little of the offending strut ends at a time until you're happy. Then with the model resting level on the bench (in most cases the tail will need to be propped up to get it level) put a blob of glue on each of the strut ends and gently lower the upper wing onto them letting gravity hold it in place till dry.
I then dry fit and trim the overlength outer struts in place. They need to be EXACT length to avoid any warping and misshaping occurring.
Hope this is of some help.

YEP! Taught the boy everything he knows....

[Rata]

This is a repaint of the S&P Boeing P-12 into a one-off F4B-1A which was the personal aircraft of Assistant Secretary of The Navy (Air) David Ingalls.

Here's Don with info on the full size machine.

This repaint will be available through Ecards.

[Don Boose]

This paper model by Garry Gillard is of U.S. Navy Boeing F4B-1A, Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) A-8133, as it appeared as the executive aircraft of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air David S. Ingalls in 1930.

Ingalls was a World War I naval aviator, credited with six aerial victories flying Sopwith Camels while attached to No. 213 Squadron, Royal Air Force. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed him as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics, in which role he served until 1932. Ingalls’ later career included active-duty Navy service in World War II during the Guadalcanal Campaign and later as commander of the Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station. His civilian career included politics, government administration, chairmanship of Pan American World Airways, and newspaper publishing. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Air), he was entitled to a personal aircraft for official duties. Boeing F4B-1A was his first personal airplane in 1930, followed by a Curtiss XF8C-7 Command, BuNo 8845 (later re-designated XO2C-2) in 1930-31, and Lockheed XRO-1 Altair Command BuNo 9054 in 1931-32.

The Boeing F4B was the fourth U.S. Navy fighter designed by Boeing. The first, the 1925 FB-1 (Boeing Model 15), was a naval version of the Army PW-9 (Pursuit, Water-cooled). The 1926 F2B (Boeing Model 69) was essentially an FB-1 with the Packard liquid-cooled in-line engine replaced with a 450 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340b Wasp radial engine to meet the Navy’s new requirement that carrier aircraft be equipped with air-cooled radial engines. The 1927 F3B-1 (Boeing Model 74) was an F2B-1 that could be equipped with either a float or wheeled undercarriage, and had new constant-chord wings, a lengthened fuselage, and aluminum-skinned (instead of fabric-covered) ailerons and tail surfaces. The F4B-1 (Boeing Model 99) of 1928 had a shorter fuselage, making it more maneuverable, a cross-axle landing gear, and fittings for carrying a 500-lb bomb under the fuselage on the center line. It had the standard naval armament of two fixed forward-firing .30-in caliber machine guns. When initially delivered, the F4B-1s had un-cowled engines, but Assistant Secretary Ingalls’ airplane was delivered with a cowl ring, no armament, and a fuel tank in the upper wing center section and was designated “F4B-1A.” In service, most F4B-1s were later fitted with cowl rings and with the re-designed larger fins and rudders of the famous F4B-4. Boeing also provided 90 very similar aircraft to the U.S. Army as the P-12B.

The practice of painting Navy command and executive aircraft in Dark Blue and Silver was based on the Navy custom of painting admirals’ barges blue. Assistant Secretary Ingalls’ aircraft had an overall Gloss Navy Blue fuselage with aluminum-painted wings and tail surfaces, with blue-white-red vertical stripes on the rudder, “U.S. Navy” in aluminum on the rear fuselage, and the white flag with four blue stars and a blue fouled anchor of an Assistant Secretary of the Navy painted on the fuselage just forward of the cockpit. Ingalls may have designed this color scheme himself. His other command aircraft also had overall Navy Blue fuselages with white, silver, or yellow cheat lines. In August 1934, the Navy issued Specification PF-6, Tentative Process Specification for Painting Special Aircraft, which designated the dark blue color as “Admiral Blue,” and specified the various patterns of Admiral Blue and Aluminum on the fuselages of flag officers (admirals) and for the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and the commanding officers of aircraft carriers, tenders, fleet air bases, and major air stations. PF-6 specified that the top of the uppermost wing should be painted Chrome Yellow, but BuNo A-8133 was painted before PF-6 was issued and apparently in accordance with Assistant Secretary Ingalls’ own wishes. There are no color photographs of the actual aircraft, and, according to Elliott [page 28], “No painting instructions have been located for this scheme.” Examination of existing images of the aircraft seems to indicate that the top wing was aluminum and not Chrome Yellow.

Images:

1. Boeing F4B-1A BuNo A-8133, executive aircraft of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air David S. Ingalls, 1930. Source: Elliott p. 32.

2. Painting by Peter Freeman of Boeing F4B-1A BuNo A-8133 in 1930. Source: Freeman, p. 33.

3. Image of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy’s
Sources:

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, First Series (A6002 to 9999),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/firstseries2.html

Peter M. Bowers, Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, London: Putnam, 1966, pp. 56-59.

Larry Davis, P-12/F4B in Action, Aircraft Number 141, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1993.

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

John M. Elliott, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 1, 1911-1939, Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1989.

Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010, p. 33.

David Sinton Ingalls, Sr., Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, available at https://case.edu/ech/articles/i/ingalls-david-s-sr

David Ingalls, The Aerodrome, available at http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/ingalls.php

E.R. Johnson, United States Naval Aviation 1919-1941: Aircraft, Airships and Ships Between the Wars, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2011.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961.

[Rata]

Thanks again Don. Another great write-up.

Your mention of one of Mr. Ingalls other aircraft has got me looking into a repaint of another Bruno- his Lockheed Altair.

[papermate]

Wow, a job well done again, Rata.
And Don, how on earth do you find the time to do all the research and write-up?
So a prof is really a prof, flipping pages is so much easier than cutting templates, eh?

[Vinalssergio155]

Hey Garry! rest? Do you sleep? Do you work or have you been fired or retired? Maybe the days in Australia are more extensive? As Papermate said, where do you get time for all this? Another great job in this great thread.Garry, Don, congratulations, very well done!

[cafe]

That's a great build! I love it.

[Rata]

Thanks for the interest everybody. Sergio, still working full-time though I'm on a few weeks annual leave at the moment.