Mark - Sounds exactly what I'm doing, building an open frame plane, at least part of it. I will leave the wing open at the fuselage and part way out to some portion of the aileron so as to show the retract mechanism and the actuating methods of the ailerons, flaps, rudder and elevator. I'll also leave a portion of the fuselage open for a better view of the cockpit  and planning at least to hopefully have the cowl partially open to show the 14 cylinder P&W Wasp Jr.

Ship building is definitely a skill all on its own. I have marveled at ship models like the Constitution and the unbelievable skill associated with them and judging from your aircraft efforts, that skill resides with you as well. Glad to have you in our little circle of scale modelers. If you have any reference to miniature parts, I would appreciate a link to any site. I may need pulleys and the like. My main stumbling block now is subminiature piano hinges for the flaps as doll house hinges are too large. Thanks for dropping in.
Mike

Mike,

Sounds like you're really moving along on this project, despite it seemingly being slow.  I know.  It take an enormous amount of planning to pull it off in the manner befitting of a true scale model.  As the saying goes, "Devil is in the details."  I had to build the entire model in my mind before commiting to the first cut.

I read your response to my Mustang build and I sincerely thank you for taking the time and effort to write.  I've written a response.

You're welcome Mike...that's what we're here for, to assist one another!!

Hi Gary - My work on the Marcoux Bromberg is an effort to fulfill my commitment to Rudy Profant and build a scale model of his airplane. As was mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Rudy has  passed away and his airplane is in the New England Air Museum in the condition he left it at the end. I feel this strong urge to do this and the original concept was a desk top model with appropriate detail and color to represent his airplane. This urge has grown over time to this point and the airplane will be finished in as much scale as I can muster. My skills have improved substantially over the past two years and working in this mode gives me a chance to go a bit slower and make a bit more realistic model. I was always measuring myself against the other builders, believing, wrongly, I should be able to "keep up". This venue we have chosen is exactly where I want to be in my modeling activities as it gives me an opportunity to try various methods and materials and also returns me to my drawing board - home sweet home. So there will be inordinate amounts of time devoted to this enterprise and any money spent will be fairly modest as this project is put together with many standard techniques and wood available at the local hobby shop. There will be some unusual materials, i.e. am looking for sub-miniature piano hinges that when open will measure approximately 1/8 to 5/32 inch wide. I have had many emails from friends and others with links to various doll house manufacturers but their material is also too wide. May have to find a way to make my own and this is what makes this effort and others like it so rewarding.

On to your problem, I left you a fairly long reply on your P51 post as to my thoughts that may be some hindrances to your success. I'm still rolling this issue around in my head and believe the answer is fairly simple. My methodology is to think about it for a while, stop thinking about it and the answer shows up in places and times least suspected. My only other driving force is a comment made to me by a friend some time back that says "if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never be original".

Talk soon.
Mike

Mike,
If you have a printer scanner all in one you could scan the root rib and save it as a "jpg" file and then insert it into MSWord doc.  You can then drag the corner of the picture to what ever size you want and copy it several times on one page to experiment with size.  Just add the rulers(in msword) to the edges of the screen to get the size you want. By dragging the corners the dimension of the picture stay in the proper relation to each other...  Lots cheaper than paying for the copier time at the store.
Tom

Since it appears that all the ribs are of the same airfoil, I once read an article that really simplifies the reduction process from root rib to the wingtip ribs. 

Simply stack a set of balsa rib blanks on top of each other with the root at the bottom and the tip at the top.  To start, just stick on the bottom blank (facing outward) a piece of paper that has the airfoil of the rib root outline.  On the top blank, stick another piece of paper that has the outline of the rib at the wingtip.  The blanks could be pre-cut like succeeding smaller rectangular shapes.

Start at the leading and trailing edges and cut away the stack of blanks until you have a set of rectangular shaped blanks that, more or less, resembles an Aztec Pyramid with a wide base and a small "peak."  From there, its just a matter of using a coping saw or similar cutting machine to trace out the ribs, carefully following the outlines on the papers stuck on the sides.  You could also use a file, until the whole stack matches up the outlines of the two pieces of paper at the ends.  Then fine-tune it with a touch of sand paper.

The number of ribs will determine their exact size in relation to their location.

This way, you can skip the paper outlines of each rib altogether.

Jes' sayin......   

I agree with Neil, go for it.  If you need any suggestions, we'll be here.  Other than that, we'll just sit quietly looking over your shoulder.

Gary (Skye)