Beechcraft 18

[Stoneboat]

Not surprisingly, the kit engine firewall is designed for the kit engine. Who'd a thunk it? :laugh:
It fits into a groove in the lower wing half and has a square hole where a square peg on the rear of the kit engine will fit.

The Engines & Things small Pratt I'm using has no square peg, but it does have a round length of aluminum tube I inserted down its throat for this very purpose.

To mount the engine to the firewall I pounded out a round of scrap styrene with the trusty Micro Mark punch, then drilled a hole in the middle that will accommodate a short length of aluminum tube one size bigger than that in the engine, and glued that to the back of the kit firewall.

Line everything up, and Viola! a nice sturdy installation. Cold beverages for the engineering department!

More later on the cockpit. The engineering department is still trying to figure out how to install beverage can cockpit sidewalls. Normally this would be a snap, but this thing has the cockpit nestled between the wings, totally separate from the fuselage sides. :S

 

[Paulw]

Beautiful work.

 

[nsmekanik]

More later on the cockpit. The engineering department is still trying to figure out how to install beverage can cockpit sidewalls. Normally this would be a snap, but this thing has the cockpit nestled between the wings, totally separate from the fuselage sides. :S

Dontcha know, they don't make kits for you to build, they make them for you to buy :evil:

waiting to see how the engineering department wrangles it's way out of this one
:drinks

 

[Sherman 18]

Fantastic work!

:drinks

 

[moon puppy]

Beautiful work.

Agree!

 

[jknaus]

Awesome work
James

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks for the kind comments fellas, 'preciate that.

Dontcha know, they don't make kits for you to build, they make them for you to buy.

My, such cynicism in one so young. :laugh:

 

[Heavens Eagle]

This is really coming along nicely Stoney!

 

[jeaton01]

Thanks for the tips on the Mike West parts and the engines, Stoney, I have the same stuff in hand.

 

[nsmekanik]

Thanks for the kind comments fellas, 'preciate that.

Dontcha know, they don't make kits for you to build, they make them for you to buy.

My, such cynicism in one so young. :laugh:

That's my excuse for all the (massive) amount of not (quite) built kits I have :woohoo: , that they "can" be (in some cases) built is a bit of a selling point though And in sticking with the basic definition of a model, A cheap imitation of the real thing, I do get a bit of sadistic pleasure in watching you turn a loose generalization into a tangible representation :evil: which is a cheesy way of saying I wish I was as good as you

 

[Stoneboat]

I had to blow that post up to 150% to read the fine print. My eyes ain't what they used to be, you know. :laugh:

Re un - partially built kits. I've got a 1:72 Otter, a 1:48 PBY modified to a 28-5ACF, and a 1:72 HU-16B that I'm modifying to a 1:48 Mallard on the shelf of doom. That's the ones I can think of. There's probably more lurking in the back of the cupboard.

 

[Stoneboat]

Thank you all for the kind comments.

Thanks for the tips on the Mike West parts and the engines, Stoney, I have the same stuff in hand.

Mike's kit is really nice, clean, crisp, no bubbles. John, do you have the float kit also, or just the C to D mod like I have?
PS, I took a peek at your gallery. Holy smokes man, there's some outstanding stuff there.

Well, on to the cockpit. First off, I couldn't figure out where the elevator trim wheel was. Tried to find a cockpit shot and finally found one. It's on the main spar carry-through immediately to the right of the Captain's seat, sooo....

I made a little trim wheel from a nosewheel I found in the scrap box...

...Gave it a lick of paint and mounted it in a little bracket made rom scrap aluminum and plastic...

And mounted it in the proper place.

Next came the cockpit floor. This looks disgusting...

...So I cut a section of beverage can to fit the floor cutout...

...And used it to cover that unsightly mess.

Viola! a vast improvement.

I decided to add cockpit sidewalls. As you can see from this pic, part of the wing outline intrudes into the cockpit space.

This is the first model I've ever built with this feature and the less said about it the better. The engineering department worked overtime to figure out a way around it.
First off, there is a little bracket on the sidewall that is supposed to help support the instrument panel assembly.

I performed an exorcism on it. Begone foul bracket!

Then dry fit the instrument panel assembly and run a pencil around the inside profile so's it leaves a line on the wall. Cut some strips of masking tape and use them to make an outline...

...Cut a paper template to the correct size and outline...

...And transfer that to a slice of beverage can, and there ya go, one sidewall. Which butts nicely up against the window sills I added from strips of.015 aluminum scrap.

I'm gonna cut this short since I may have exceeded the picture limit for a single post. Back later.

 

[moon puppy]

BAMN!

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks pup. I had a second post all teed up and ready to go, and windoz ate it. Bill Gates will be up all night soaking his ears in ice water.

 

[Stoneboat]

I hope Bill Gates never slept a wink!

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, sidewalls. Add a lick of paint, well primer actually, and glue in place.

Repeat.

Adding sidewalls does come with a down side. One is no longer able to simply place the fuselage halves down into the 'cradle' between the wings where all them goodies in the cockpit reside. The fuselage halves must be slid backward into position, which must be done very carefully to avoid snagging the sidewalls on the sides of the cockpit tub, but it can be done. Many times, actually. :laugh:

The control columns and wheels have been installed. Those little control wheels are dainty little suckers. Normally they's white, but I just checked the pic of this aircraft and for some reason they've been painted black. Back to the paint shop.
I was going to use Airscale instrument decals on the panel, but there is a decent decal that comes with the kit, so I use it. However I've never seen so many instruments on a twin engine airplane outside of a 737. Here's a list of the scratchbuilt stuff. From left to right, the propeller control levers, the throttles and mixture controls, and below them the carburetor heat controls, made from short lengths of wire squashed flat with a pair of pliers, topped with tiny knobs of white glue painted appropriate colours. Further down the pedestal are the fuel selectors, knocked out of beer can with a Micro Mark punch and below them the two red propeller feathering buttons. The two pull handles on the left side of the pedestal are the cowl flap controls, simply two short lengths of 28 gauge wire, bent and sanded to shape and painted aluminum. The two red dots at the top of the panel are the engine fire warnings. The kit decal had them as yellow, which is a caution colour, but believe me an engine fire is no caution but an emergency, so I added two dots of red paint.

An overhead view of the seats. I used the kit seats but added some Kim Wipe that I folded over a few times and dipped in diluted white glue, then painted the colour of the seats in this machine. (Or as close as I could come to it.)The belts are made from masking tape and the buckles from beverage can. A short anecdote on the seats. Our grandkids were in for a couple of weeks last month. The youngest one (5) wants to be a pilot and he's totally taken with airplanes. I explained to him what I was building - a Beech 18, commonly called a Twin Beech - and he would sit and watch me work. One afternoon his sister (6) came in as I was making a seat. She got her nose down about six inches from the job and asked" Papi, are you making a little chair?" Her brother airily informed her it was a pilot's seat for a Twin Beech. :laugh:

The cockpit to cabin bulkhead required some work since the cockpit halves must slide back around it. I shaved material off the edges, then added an aluminum plate to the cabin side that butts up against the wing spar carry-through. Front...

...And back.

And here's the view the passengers would have as they peer into the front office.

Now. I am determined to put an interior into this thing, come hell or high water. I thought I had it licked, but guess what? Catch 22. The fuselage halves cannot be slid backward if the cabin sidewalls are installed, and you can't have an interior without cabin sidewalls. The engineering department has come up with a tentative idea to rectify this, but it needs more thought. Suffice to say, it entails major surgery on the cabin roof.

 

[moon puppy]

Gorgeous..you going to put the bar in there that Jim Backus kept trying to get to?

Your work always shows an intimate knowledge of your subjects.

 

[phantom II]

Very inspiring work . Takes me back a lotb of year. Seriously don't remember stepping over that trim wheel but I slept a few times since :idonno Explains a lot of mysteries... :coolio

All our twins had plywood floors and nothing else since we hauled cargo . Guess that would not work for yours.

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Heavens Eagle]

This is looking really good! Always a challenge when you start adding in all the stuff that is supposed to be there.

 

[Stoneboat]

Thanks for the kind comments fellas.

Seriously don't remember stepping over that trim wheel but I slept a few times since. Explains a lot of mysteries...
All our twins had plywood floors and nothing else since we hauled cargo . Guess that would not work for yours.

We had plywood subfloors in all our machines - Beaver, Otter, DC-3's and C-46 and PBY. Christian, do you remember where the rudder trim was located? I can't, for sure. I never flew the Beech except for maybe one trip or so, we had Lockheed 10A's, which were from the same era, but I can't remember where the rudder trim was on it either. ldguy
Our L10's had balloon tires which made them great for the sand and gravel strips we operated off for the most part. The one I flew is in a museum. I have also flown the L12 a bit, what a beaut. Rock solid.

Pup, if I build another one of these it'll have a bar. Filled with cold beverages. :laugh:

The engineering department has figured out a way to install an interior. It involves gluing together the fuselage along the roof only, then cutting the roof off in one piece. What needs more planning is where to cut, whether at the top of the cabin window line or at the bottom. That way, I can install the interior, then glue the roof back in place. I've also figured out how I'm gonna attach the floats. I've installed the parts that make up the internal wing structure, and I shall install a wooden block in the nacelle that is supported by this internal structure and the bottom of the nacelle. Devilishly clever.

 

[phantom II]

Wow, that was a really long time ago and I can' t recall. I found the aileron trim but no rudder .
Elective trim motor seems unlikely for that era :idonno

Sorry, Christian B)