Re: Scratch built Slingsby King Kite 1/4
Posted: 02 Jul 2021, 10:38
The instrument panel is, just like the pilot, well in sight. However, I had a problem, nowhere I could find information about it. On this photo I could see a tiny piece and there the panel seems to be white.
It is made of two layers of 0.6 plywood, because that can still be cut. After having marked everything, I drilled all the holes with a 1mm drill, including the centre of the holes in the panels that were clamped together. After this, I cut the plywood on the front and back with a cutting compass, cut segments in it and could break out the plywood. I glued the two panels together with the help of a few dowel pins. Then it appeared that the holes were just a bit too small for the instruments and with the tapered handle of a screwdriver and some sandpaper I could make them fit exactly. Then I glued another layer of ply behind it, with 2 magnets to secure it in the plane. Now back to the instruments. I sawed off all the instruments that had been built up so that only the ring(bezel?) with the glass was left. But the compass should actually be a sphere. On Retroplane Eric spore had already done something like that, nice detail. I rounded off a handle of a file (I use everything within reach...), clamped a piece of PET on a board with a hole, heated the plastic, pushed the file up and a tube over and to my relief got a nice sphere. I glued a strip of a photo of the compass in it and painted the sphere black on the inside.
I made the screws from black pins, filed the heads flat and made a sawcut. Now I had all the parts. All was left was the fun part, gluing everything together with PVA . Vincent
===============================================
I also found a white panel on this photo of a Petrel, so it did occur.
I decided to make just something out of it, looking at the other gliders of Slingsby. I had already ordered a set of instruments in 1:4 scale from Aero Cockpit, but I could not use the dials. I still had pictures of the dials from the previous plane, the Slingsby Gull. On the photo of the white instrument panel of the Petrel, the instruments were countersunk? and I decided to make it likewise. The instruments from Aerocockpit were delivered as a superstructure, but that can be sawn off. On the photo on the right the sawn off altimeter and on the left the clock that was not sawn off.
Now I could make the panel proper.It is made of two layers of 0.6 plywood, because that can still be cut. After having marked everything, I drilled all the holes with a 1mm drill, including the centre of the holes in the panels that were clamped together. After this, I cut the plywood on the front and back with a cutting compass, cut segments in it and could break out the plywood. I glued the two panels together with the help of a few dowel pins. Then it appeared that the holes were just a bit too small for the instruments and with the tapered handle of a screwdriver and some sandpaper I could make them fit exactly. Then I glued another layer of ply behind it, with 2 magnets to secure it in the plane. Now back to the instruments. I sawed off all the instruments that had been built up so that only the ring(bezel?) with the glass was left. But the compass should actually be a sphere. On Retroplane Eric spore had already done something like that, nice detail. I rounded off a handle of a file (I use everything within reach...), clamped a piece of PET on a board with a hole, heated the plastic, pushed the file up and a tube over and to my relief got a nice sphere. I glued a strip of a photo of the compass in it and painted the sphere black on the inside.
I made the screws from black pins, filed the heads flat and made a sawcut. Now I had all the parts. All was left was the fun part, gluing everything together with PVA . Vincent
===============================================