Geoff Gardiner

Bit more done. Some more sheeting on the wing. Installed the flap servo mounting tray. I have trimmed down the dowel plate to fit. Time will tell if this is the correct approach. Fitted and profiled the remaining leading edge strips. More later...

Joining the wings together this evening. I have used aliphatic. More later...

So, flaps next.... I pondered on this for a bit and came up with this method. First off, I 3d printed myself a little slot cutting guide for the hinges which are 3mm beneath the outer surface. Then I prepared the sheeting by soaking/steaming it then wrapping it around a broom handle and left to dry overnight. I fitted one flap with sheeting and then realised it would be easier to fit the 'cricket bat' first, which I did for the other one. Finally, this is how I needed to cut the rib to allow the flap to be fitted. I can patch it up later on. More later...

Bit more done: Cut out the wheel wells and lined them with 1.5mm balsa. More later...

Thanks Jonathan, I try to get a little bit done each day. I have today, sanded the wing tips and leading edge. Fitted the Aileron servo covers. Then took a deep breath and cut out the wobbly bits. More later...

Sheeting on and leading edge and wing tips fitted. More later...

A little more done: Fitted the servos into the fuselage. Then fitted the snakes. I then switched back to the wings. I had to put a slight bend on the retract legs (about 5mm) as they were hitting the spar. I also spent a bit of time making up a cardboard template before cutting balsa. More later...

3d printed some furniture for the office. Needs a bit more painting and 'weathering'. More later...

My thoughts then turned to the battery box. I am going to be using the ally spinner and 4000mah batteries. From what I have read, this combo can come out nose heavy. With this in mind, I decided to lenghten the battery box as follows. I had to remove about 5mm from the sides of the original battery box as the were preventing the hatch from being slid off sideways. I had to remove the cross piece on the crutch as it was preventing the battery from sliding in. More later...

Fitted the magnets for the battery hatch. Put the hatch in place and drilled through the hatch and fuselage Then Finally I glued in the magnets with Cyano

Bit more done today. Fitted the rear upper formers and spine. I wasn't sure what to do with the front deck spine, so decided to cut it on the diagonal to help set the angle of the instrument panel former. I didn't put glue on this part as it will probably need to come off when fitting the 3d printed instrument panel. Glued on the rear deck supports and the square balsa on the underside. More later...

Had me worried for a moment there Ron. You had me checking dates, as I have been feeding them to the small people! If anyone needs some beans, you can fight the children for them ( I'm more of a spaghetti hoops man ).

Sides are on. Fitted the balsa strips on the front underside. These needed a bit of fettling as the ply doubler was preventing them from seating fully into the cutout in the front former. More later...

Glued the balsa sides onto the ply framework today. More later...

Had a spare half hour this evening so glued on the rear assembly. I first put a chamfer on the ends of the rear side doublers. Then wrestled the other parts into place. More later...

I have decided to start on the fuselage build because I am getting through the 1.5mm sheet and thought it better to have the correct size pieces for the fuselage sheeting and patch the wing if needed. Put the battery box and hatch together whilst the sides where gluing. I will add some more stringers to the hatch (from scrap wood) later in the build. Fitted the captive nuts to the wing plate. Started gluing the crutch assembly together. More later...

Some more progress with the wings. Glued on the aileron servo trays and the wing dihedral braces (these needed a little trimming to fit). I have decided to use 6mm silicon rubber sheet to mount the servos on, so I have used the U/C doublers on the other side of the U/C plate to add a bit more strength and give more wood for the screws to bite into. Sheeted the upper wing surface up to R2. This will allow me good access to use clamps when joining the wings. Added the aileron horn mounts to the inside of the top sheet, with some scrap balsa to infill the gap. I then realised that they need to be flush against the inside bottom sheet. So have now removed the infill and replaced with some scrap ply. Started sheeting the bottom of the wing to R1, using the wing cradle for support. More later...

Bit more work done on the wings. I find the kids lego is great for keeping things square. Main spar and flap spars fitted. Leading edge and aileron spars fitted. The aileron spars in my kit were a bit short so I cut a packing piece from some scrap balsa and glued it to R6. Half ribs glued to R2 and R6. More later...

After a couple of years of exile (having no workshop due to house alterations) I am finally back balsa bashing! I have a few builds under my belt but this will be my first Warbirds Replicas kit and I have been looking forward to this since the postman delivered it a couple of years ago. Having cut out and labelled all the parts, I am starting with the wing – taking care to make two opposite sides. More later…

I believe that I am correct in saying that the Mosquito had a similar performance as most of the fighter aircraft and was in fact classed as a fighter/bomber. In terms of models, another advantage of a twin is that you can cancel out any torque effect on take-off by having the electric motors rotating in opposite directions.

The Mosquito gets my vote. Richard, I don't remember which thread you were posting on but a year or so ago you where experimenting with a Mossie build. Did that ever reach a conclusion? A couple of other twins that I have been looking at are: Cessna Bobcat Beechcraft AT11 Kansan

Seems strange that these batteries are appearing in the 'UK backorder sale' list when they are not actually available for uk backorder (I am looking for any 6s 3300mah batteries).

Yes, just UK selected.

I have been looking at 6s batteries. When I go to the 'UK Back order sale' section of the website the majority of batteries, when clicked on, are coming up as available from Global wharehouse with silly postage - am I missing something?

Hi Andy, It's on hold at the moment because I have lost my workshop/building space whilst I re-jig my house. Hopefully will be back on it soon as it is nearly there.