Ship side Dazzle cam was about the craziest there ever was, its like a bad acid trip but damn it worked! Doc.
There is a solution for the shrinking dope covered fabric problem. We had a solution when covering our large models with dope and silk by adding a couple of drops of castor oil to the dope. It worked great! I had some silk covered models still good after 20 years. BTW, the castor oil smell goes away. Peace, Chaz
The Old Rhine back aircraft is a replica. NASM holds the second aircraft which has undergone a full restoration, including a reskin of the fuselage.
A little more.... After the fabric had been laid out, we measured off the original fabric and put all the seams at the same measurements as the originals. This took a little longer than it would have just to slap it together as the fabric fell, but then it wouldn't have been 'right'. Here Jesse from our textiles lab and our Curator sew the seams for one of the lower wings under side skin. Next, all the seams were ironed so they would lay flat. Once this was done, it was time to lay the fabric onto the wing, FINALLY, progress, or so it seemed The idea here is to get the fabric stretched as tight as possible, evenly in all directions. Originally this was tacked to the wing timber with small brads. For ease of application and to save a little time and sore thumbs, we used a stable gun. These staples all get removed later on.
The next step is to flip the wing over, and trim the fabric down to size. The leading edge, wing tip, and wing root are all glued down using a glue similar to PVA wood glue. This is then 'set' with an iron. The fabric is then pulled again towards the trailing edge, and, just when you thought you were done stitching, yep, more stitching This time it's the trailing edge around the fabric wrapped wire. These are just holding stitches to keep the tension on. The full length of the trailing edge had to be hand stitched. Glad this wasn't a Tri-plane! So after that's all done, the exact same process was followed for the top side of the wing, this time with the darker lozenge print. Here is the last time the wing structure saw the light of day for posibly the next 100 years.
And you call this work / Ive said before and ill say it again, you my friend have the best job in the world At least thats what I think, just aske me !! HAHAHA Brilliant stuff JB, good to see the progress and the sticking to authentic detail even if it takes longer, costs more or is harder to do. Hats off to you and the crew there !! Rat
Has anyone mentioned nitrate dope? Butyrate dope is sometimes used only for initial shrinking and then subsequent coats of nitrate are used for filling the weave of the fabric. Randolph sells non-tautening butyrate but I've heard that it still tightens a bit more than nitrate.
Once the wing was completely covered, we tacked the fabric down to the ribs on the underside of the wing with small brass brads. After double double double checking position, we cut out the fabric for the access hatches. Then, yep, more stitching. This time the fabric to the thin cotton strips that we sewed onto the ribs way back in the beginning. The white cotton strips hanging over the wing are just a spacing guide for the stiches, to get them nice and even.
And the same on the top side, but with out the need for the tacks through the ribs. Then it was time to dope.....
Here's one of the lower wings after having to coats of dope. You can see the fabric has just started to tension up, but it actually looks worse than what it did before any dope was applied. Here's the upper wing, all 9 meters of it, with the plain non printed fabric on the top side And the lighter underside printed fabric on the lower side
After 2 coats of dope, strips of fabric are then doped over all the stitching. After these are stuck down, another 3 to 4 coats of dope are applied to the fabric, until you end up with something looking like this, a finished wing, well, nearly finished.
Ok Jimbob, there has to be some progress! Dont tell me you took holidays when you get to play with this all the time? Man, I would live in there.... Doc.
Been pre-occuppied taking our Hudson back to Mil spec. I'll try to get some more pics up tomorrow. In the mean time, here's a link to the time lapse of the install of the finished aircraft into the gallery. The screen in the background is 24 meters across, with footage by Peter Jackson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRGC0YWCH0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eawm%2Egov%2Eau%2Fvisit%2Fvisit%2Dmustsee%2Doverthefront%2Easp&feature=player_embedded
Brilliant mate, just brilliant. I need to get myself back to Canberra again soon, I have family there maybe I can use that as an excuse? There a Military family too so they 'get it'. Doc.
Due to lack of time more than anything, I will not have the time to go through the rest of the restoration of these aircraft, and I'm sure Ryan doesn't want the hot rod forum filled up with aircraft stuff. So here are a few of the finished product. If anyone has any specific q's, pm me and I'll do my best to answer. And if you are ever in Canberra, make sure you drop by the Memorial.
Absolutely beautiful, I love the pic of the Albatross and the Pfals D.12 is awesome. You have THE job! Doc.
Primo work JB.....fantastic work and attention to detail. You my friend, are very privelidged as im sure you know. Rat
Jimbob, hats off to you and the crew, those are some beautiful aircraft! Is the film being shown on the exhibits big screen the same one on youtube? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpTHFVBlm_A
Hey, Jimbob..... I have a question about the Hudson. As you said it needed to be bought back to its 'real' variant. I was reading the other day that major components of A16-244 (Salvaged in the 80's I think from near Truscott Strip WA by the RAAF?) wsa the major supplyer of components for the RAAF's restoration. I also remember my Brother-in-law telling me about major components he saw with the same A serial in storage when he was volunteering there during the Lanc 'Clean up'. Sooooo Did the parts of A16-244 go to you guys or the the RAAF museum? I know your busy and don't expect a quick or elaborate reply mate. Thanks, Doc. PS, Its gotta be at least a week or two since I said it, I WANT YOUR JOB! and yes I would go to school happily to have it!
Thank you so much for posting. I recognized the camo pattern, but never knew the underside was so "festive". Thanks again.
Yeah,never quite looked at 'Throaties' the same way again..... You know, Lozenge....Lozengers...... Yeah, I know. I'll shut up now...... Doc.
Thanks mate, it was an amazing thing to be a part of. as for that footage on you Tube, No, but I have seen that before, Peter showed us that when we first started designing and planning the exhibition to show us what he could do. The footage that he made for us can only be viewed at the Memorial. He is acxtually a WWI aircraft nut and remanufactures all these aircraft from scratch, including original and replicated powerplants.
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