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  #21  
Old 01-28-2014, 07:21 PM
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Let's take a step backwards...

I just picked up my camera to take some W.I.P photos and discovered that I had in fact taken some photos of the tail booms being put on! I think they are worth posting anyway to show what's going into this little model. Hope you agree!
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Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-043.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-044.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-047.jpg  

Last edited by altbob; 01-28-2014 at 07:37 PM.
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  #22  
Old 01-28-2014, 07:35 PM
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This brings the build log up to date, with me ripping off the fuselage bits top and bottom behind the pilot's seat, as contrary to the FG plans, the real Bleriot XI had a completely open cockpit. Re-posting the photo of this step, now in it's proper order.

You will note that I've marked one of the stringers in this photo with an "A" - this is another error carried over from the FG plans which I plan to remove and correct. According to my research, this stringer 1) wasn't really there, 2) wasn't really this shape, and 3) wasn't actually a support stringer at all* but one of two cross pieces whose function was to hold the fuel tank. A few very basic instruments were also mounted on these cross pieces (fuel gauge and RPM gauge, I believe). I made some pencil sketches of what these are actually supposed to look like and will post a scan of this at my next opportunity.

*In fact, the whole top of the cockpit area was structurally held together with a very unique wooden hoop. I plan to recreate this hoop using bamboo...more on that later!
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Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-050a.jpg  
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  #23  
Old 02-02-2014, 07:54 PM
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Continuing on with this project, I removed the horizontal stringers (which I discovered are actually supposed to be fuel tank hangers) and other features from the cockpit/fuel tank area of the forward fuselage and replaced them with the "racetrack" hoop of the actual Bleriot.

Thanks to Darwin's suggestion above, I decided to use bamboo for this part, bending it over stream and using a pipe of the approximate diameter I wanted.

I stopped to take some photos along the way which I thought I'd share with you all. I found I got the best result using a tiny rubber band from my son's braces. Both "C" halves were glued in place and lightly sanded at the join to smooth it all out and make it look fairly seamless. (Note my purple cast and crutches in photo #3!)

The final result is in the last two photos. As you can see, I removed the seat now altogether, as the exact placement should be made in relation to this hoop. I believe the next step should be to finish the rigging on the fuselage boom before putting any of the cockpit/fuel tank/engine details in.

I'm very satisfied now with how it's coming along! Hope you all agree and are getting something out of this. Comments welcome!
Attached Thumbnails
Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-052.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-053.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-054.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-055.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-056.jpg  

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  #24  
Old 02-13-2014, 10:29 AM
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Continuing on with the rigging. I made a tool from a milk container. The res plastic cap does not stick to the superglue, so it helps me to keep the rigging in place until the glue dries on each attachment.

Tossing up some close ups of the cockpit interior details, gas tank and engine, to which I've added some stripped wire insulation for exhaust pipes (which needs to be trimmed down a bit more).

I threw in a couple shots of the parts dry fitted together for some inspiration to keep going with this project.

P.S., I don't think making the tail surface movable would be too hard at all, so that's my plan for that. Going to try to do likewise for the elevators.
Attached Thumbnails
Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-058.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-039.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-040.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-049.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-051.jpg  

Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-061.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-060.jpg  

Last edited by altbob; 02-13-2014 at 10:51 AM.
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  #25  
Old 02-13-2014, 01:23 PM
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That is very cool!
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  #26  
Old 02-13-2014, 02:56 PM
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Thanks for the tip about the milk cap. Got to go dig the old one out of the trash.

The model is really coming along great. The bamboo surround for the cockpit is great.
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  #27  
Old 02-20-2014, 12:34 PM
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Thanks guys! I know this is going pretty slowly, but the broken leg really slowed me down a lot. Anyway, I took a photo of where I'm at with the project, having stained the wood and painted the tail boom thread with some silver paint. I should have used silver thread to begin with, but I didn't have any. Hopefully this doesn't look too crappy:



I will get more done on this over the weekend for sure!
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  #28  
Old 02-23-2014, 06:07 PM
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Time to get serious about the interior details so I can move on to the wings, landing gear and rigging! That means I need to tackle the yokes that hold up the gas tank, and these are very intimidating as the historic photos I'm working from show them as being elaborately shaped and given that this plane was made in 1909, hand carved. I made sketches of the hangers and their placement:



And am going about hand carving my own from popsicle stick wood rather than balsa, for the extra strength. Here are some WIP photos - hopefully my next entry will have everything in place and painted to match the wooden frame of the aircraft. The last photo shows the yokes on the tank I made...I'm actually now thinking, after shortening it, that it's too short! Damn you Goldilocks! The next one will be "just right"...
Attached Thumbnails
Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-064.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-065.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-073.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-066.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-fg-bleriot-mod-w.i.p.-074.jpg  

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  #29  
Old 02-24-2014, 01:05 PM
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Quick update, all of the special stringers, including the two that serve as yokes for the gas tank, are finished and test fitted into place.



I have to decide now if the gas tank I made (in the background of the photo) is in fact just about 1 or 2mm too short. For sure, the gas cap is too big and needs to be redone. I'll be working on that next.
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  #30  
Old 02-26-2014, 01:32 PM
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As mentioned, I am making a new gas tank for the Bleriot now that the stringer-yokes are done and I can tell the exact size that the tank is supposed to be. I thought I'd toss up a couple W.I.P. photos. The tank is made from aluminum tubing cut to size and the ends are modelled using epoxy putty which cures rock hard at room temperature. I will add the gas cap to the top and then paint this sub assembly next.
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Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-bleriot-scratchbuild-3.jpg   Bleriot XI - heavily modified!-bleriot-scratchbuild-2.jpg  
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