New Year project.........

Read the forum code of contact

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 74

to give me something to do............

My fave rave aeroplanes are the WWII era piston engined fighters, everything from Polikarpov I-16 etc etc etc, through Spit, Mustang, Tempest etc etc etc to the Eagle engined Wyvern etc etc etc, and I have always wanted to build myself a collection of fighter rudders to hang on me wall......yes sad isn't it.....but I don't have good enough info to achieve it.

I don't intend to follow original construction methods/material specs too closely, and they will be more like full-scale models of the rudders, but detailed externally.
What I need is good close-up piccies of the construction of the rudders before and after fabricing, and most especially close-up pics of the hinges, trim tabs, actuators, fabric taping etc.
Drawings would also be useful, as would some basic measurements, particularly of the details, and some idea of the weight of the real thing, so if anyone can help me annoy my wife by doing this rather than yet more decorating, PLEASE e-mail me.

Cheers Me Dears
Mick

Original post

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,553

RE: New Year project.........

Fascinating project, Mick. Good luck with it. A starting point for information could be the likes of TFC, who have contact details on their website;

http://www.avnet.co.uk/tfc/contact/

One thing I would say is that these things can be a bit bigger than you may think - having got close to the back end of a Beaufighter recently, I can tell you that a full size rudder for that beast is likely to be about 8 feet by 4 feet. Okay, that's an extreme, but even a Spitfire rudder is about 5 feet tall. Hope you've got a very understanding missis... ;)

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,907

RE: New Year project.........

of course if you've got that much time you could volenteer to do my maths a level work }>

good luck with this prject, it sounds very intresting

rabie :9

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 74

RE: New Year project.........

A LEVEL MATHS !....blimey, I never even passed my O Level maths !

Still, I've learnt a lot more since then so building a few rudders shouldn't tax my brain too much !

My wife doesn't know (yet) Steve.....lol!

Hmmm, the size of them is quite daunting, but I've got high ceilings so I think I'll be OK......as long as I don't get a hankering for a B17 or B29 rudder...........

Now there's a thought ?

I had already considered asking the likes of TFC, but I thought I'd ask around a bit first to see if anyone else can come up with what I need, but I'm keeping them in mind.

Cheers
Mick

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 781

RE: New Year project.........

Excellent idea! I think I would make the whole fin & rudder, because the rudder is usually fairly featureless & the change of colour such as a fin flash/insignia would add a little extra. I think if you were making a reasonable size replica, then mount it on a wooden plaque. If you were going to build them in say 1/5th scale then for example a Mosquito fin & rudder would be just over 16 inches high & a Hawker Tempest V would be just over 18 inches high, you can always scale them up, if this is to small. I have scale drawings for both of these aircraft, that I can copy, if you want.
Another suggest, for plans, is the Large Model Association. The LMA has a forum, so if you ask there ,then hopefully you should get some help. The web site is http://members.tripod.co.uk/LMASiteUK/ It's worth looking at just see some of the beautiful models that are displayed every year. They might be models, but they certainly look the part- there are not many places that you would 4 B-17's flying together!

Any help that I can give, just let me know.
Happy New Year,

Neilly

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 74

RE: New Year project.........

Hi Neilly.

Thanks very much for the offer of scale drawings, but I already have loads of them for many types.
While perfect (sometimes)for small scale models, the trouble is with most of them is that they don't show enough detail of the detail stuff like trim tabs, actuators, hinges etc to enable a full-scale model to be built, which is what I am actually intending.

I will have a look at the site you suggested though and see if they have anything useful for me.

You're right about the lack of decoration on some rudders, but I've found a few which should make interesting subjects, especially the German types with their huge scoreboards and medal ribbons.

Thanks again...and A Happy New Year to you and everyone else also !
Cheers
Mick

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 781

RE: New Year project.........

Hi Mick,
When you get a rudder made up take a picture or 2 of it & put it on the site. As a modeller, myself, it's always interesting to see other ideas. Keep us posted.

All the best for the New Year,
Neilly