MILVIZ Corsair Skins

T

ThomasDWeiss

Members +
still WIP - working on a new template

Milviz Corsair 1.jpg
 
Thanks !!! :)

I like the weathering that came with the paint kit - but I always make my own, that is to me the fun part of making skins.
 
Great work, Tom! It's interesting with the Corsair (and rather very unique to it), that most of those rivets were/are actually spot welds on the real thing, throughout the fuselage and wing, etc. - most rivets were only around the edges of the panels/joints, where as most of the stringers and a lot of the ribs were spot-welded to the skins.

Just as one example, in all of the brightly-marked areas seen in these photos of a freshly rebuilt Corsair rear fuselage/empennage, those are all areas where there are lines of spot welds:
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 1-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 5-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 3-1024.jpg

The bright areas of the metal is where an acid wash has been brushed onto the aluminum to purify the surface prior to spot welding.

More on just the rear fuselage/empennage assembly can be seen here:
http://www.odegaardwings.com/corsair-pictures/


As you can see on the reverse sides of these sections, the skins are spot-welded to the stringers and ribs, with rivets applied in strategic locations and at the edges of the panel (to the longerons and joints/joining ribs).
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 2-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 9-1024.jpg

On these sections of the wings, you can see more indications of lines of spot welding where there is brushed-lines/swaths on the metal that is a different tone. All of the rivets are dark in color/tone.
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 7-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 5-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 8-1024.jpg

Through the main cockpit section, again you can see how, for the most part, the skins are spot welded to the ribs, with riveting only mainly at the edges of the panels.
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 4-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 5-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 6-1024.jpg
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/resto ... 8-1024.jpg
 
Well, there is something I didn't know! Thanks so much John!

This must have been quite a serious weight saving method for the Corsair's structure. Coming from the shipbuilding industry myself, where welding is the primary method of construction, the riveting used in aircraft production always seemed "old technology" to me. Having studied fatigue and cracking of welded connections however, I understand why they are avoided in aviation, where alternating loads are the norm. Connecting ribs to shell however is not a fatigue loaded joint so spot welding sounds like a nice method.
 
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