Simon's PZL.22 Flying Winglet **DNF**

[SJPONeill]

...and it's going to get robuster as I add greater support for the fuselage skin...

...a bit of a non-starter tonight...it felt like it might rain this evening so I hooked into the lawns after work: got them done but kicked off a massive dose of hay fever and had to give the cutting of the replacement sponson parts a miss as it was too hard to see...this was as far as I got before tossing it in for the night...

[JohnRatzenberger]

Looks pretty robust for such dainty looking plane.

To the point that I wonder if Simon's model, blown up to 1:1 size, could get off the ground

[SJPONeill]

Have to drink a lot of beer to get enough card to find out...

[VickersVandal]

Have to drink a lot of beer to get enough card to find out...

Sacrifices must be made

[SJPONeill]

Chippin' away...been working long hours in the office which has been making me really tired at night so not quite as much progress as I would like...

I cut out the replacement sponson parts...this is, i think, the best way to cut these parts, cutting away the fiddly bits while the bulk of the part is still held secure in the card sheet and only then cutting out along the long edges...

Sub-asssemblies to date...I sliced up a spare one of the horizontal fuselage formers to fill the spaces between the frames along the top of the fuselage...this should provide a smoother and solid base for the fuselage top skin part when it is applied and hopefully there will less chance of 'ribbing'...

[Molly-new]

Good to see that you went for a build of few parts

Well I certainly got that wrong. It certainly seems to be a complex beast, but you seem to be knocking it into shape.

[SJPONeill]

I think that it's more me at the moment that the model...getting home already quite tired after work so not being quite as sharp as I might normally be. It is quite a simple kit albeit with at least one error in the instructions with regard to the sequence of formers in the sponsors.

I am thinking of adding foam board filler to the gaps between the fuselage corners to provide a smooth surface for the skin...the relatively square design and lack of internal detail beyond the cockpit lends itself to this technique, more used in ship models to prevent the ribs showing through...

[SJPONeill]

Leading from the rear unfortunately...work has been very busy and I have also been trying to make best use of the good weather while it lasted by working outside each night after work til it got dark. It's gone back to normal summer weather now i.e. rain so I've been able to have a decent modelling session tonight...

I mentioned that I was thinking about reinforcing the fuselage with foam, not so much for extra strength but to provide a firmer surface for the outer skins: I wasn't too happy with the thought of the join between the fuselage sides and top being a simple butt join and thus vulnerable to post-assembly cracks and splits. Once sanded back, the foam filling should provide a firm backing surface for the skins...

The fully foamed fuselage and landing gear sponsons. I will let this dry overnight before starting to sand it back into shape...the top and bottom of the fuselage I will fill with two part filler and sand to a smooth surface...

I mirror-printed the parts sheet with the intention of using the reversed parts for the cowling as templates for a tinfoil outer lining to give a metal finish to the bare metal around the cowling - hopefully I will be able to burnish this smooth so that the joins in the foil do not show....

[JohnRatzenberger]

I hadn't thought about mirror-printing; would be helpful when scoring marks need be made on the reverse of an asymmetrical part. I have a workaround but sometimes I lose track of what I am doing. And I can see where a simple block of foam would help keep a part from loosing shape after being inadvertently crushed by heavy, insensitive fingers ...

[splash]

That's a cunning plan with the foam.

[SJPONeill]

Starting to take shape.

The foam is very easy to work with and because it will not be the outer skin I can sand it back quite quickly with some fairly coarse sand paper. I had a couple of pop-offs so you can see at the rear of each sponson the replacement parts waiting for the glue to dry...

Tomorrow night I hope to finish shaping the foam and get a layer of filler onto the finer areas around the top and bottom of the fuselage. If all goes according to plan, I can do any final sanding on Saturday night and skin the fuselage.

In the meantime while I am waiting on filler etc to cure, I will start on the wings...

[SJPONeill]

Well, that was the plan...however Doc Karma clearly has other ideas...just in from a SAR (which is not how I planned my day going) and am knackered...normal modelling services will hopefully be resumed tomorrow...

[SJPONeill]

I got some filler on top of the top and bottom of the fuselage so that I can shape it as a base for the skin. I am house/pet sitting for my daughter over Christmas and working again from Boxing Day. I had intended to bring the model with me as a sane alternative to night time Christmas TV, but left it behind, probably on the table by the front door. Since we are looking at extending the GB until Sunday, I may be able to shoot home and grab it...If not I will continue to work on it in the 'Ruddy Well Finish It' thread: it's too unusual a shape to not complete...

The fuselage looks to be the most complex sub-assembly (famous last words!!) so, apart from finding some wheel candidates in the spares box, it should just be the wings to hammer out...if I fail to complete it within the BG, I may take the unlimited extra time to experiment with shaping the wings from foam as well...

[SJPONeill]

Just overcome by events...and couldn't stretch to completing this even before the extended deadline expires...it's a good little kit though and since it's still on the bench, I'll continue it into the next year...