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Kit: Scratch (1:48)
These show my progress on the wheels and undercarriage. The wheel spokes come from Toms Modelworks French set. The tyres are styrene halves glued.
The undercarriage is a bit of a guess work. The skid-like member supports flying wires for the lower wing, but there is no clear photo that shows how it is attached to the main undercarriage.
Some more progress. This is the gun ring/mount. I chose to make it from brass wire. I started by first preparing the fuselage top from brass sheet. I cut two cockpit openings in it, bent it to shape and soldered it to the fuselage members.
Next I shaped a .033 brass wire into a ring, sanded it to an almost semicircular cross-section, bent it and soldered it over the gunner's cockpit opening. This is the gun-ring mount.
The next step was to prepare the top ring from .022 brass wire. Next I soldered 4 uprights (.015 wire) onto the mount base. After much fiddling and failed attempts, I got the top ring soldered onto the uprights. The remaining 4 uprights were then soldered in - this was much easier - solder the bottom end, snip the upright to size, gently push it under the top ring, and solder the top. re-melt the bottom joint to relieve the stress of the bending.
The final step was the middle ring. It is simply .006 wire wrapped around the uprights and soldered.
The whole affair was long and troublesome, and I dont think I will repeat it on the second hull. The remaining three cockpit openings will be 'lined' with plastic sheath from an electricity, or phone wire, slit down the its length, and pushed into place.
A few more photos of progress on the Khioni. The cockpit controls are soldered brass, all stock except for control wheel spokes which I cut out of a fotocut PE (sorry Fred).