Andy Meade

I learned to fly on RAF Syerston back in the 80's - and no, not the full size! Dad approached the base commander about us two flying off the main runway after 5pm as we lived in the nearby village of the same name, and permission was granted! It's quite surreal thinking back on it, that this huge airfield had only a dad and his young lad stood in the middle of it, going round and round in circles with our high wing trainer. We didn't bother with flying from the peri track, just straight off the main runway.

Once you get her flying, if you want a set of slightly better looking printed exhausts, send me a message! Good progress so far ?

I think she looks super Piers, great job.

I think a couple were really close, don't forget it doesn't need a finish to be flyable - bare foam will perform just as well. A couple of weeks before the start, I changed my intended project to a Cirrus Vision small jet - just the servos to put in now. Fus is glassed and has a light layer of spay on, wings cut, veneered and filmed, as was the tail. A fun project, and a good laugh with guys over the 2 days on whatsapp and the close-out Zoom meeting last night.

In all honesty, I struggle Mike! Yes a laser may help, but the best tool I've found is low-tack masking tape, like yellow Frog tape. then it's just (!) a matter of very carefully going round with your pen up against it. Other one to try is a bendy ruler, the type I used in school for drawing nicer graph curves. I think they have a lead core, so that they can bend about and keep their shape.

Loving these, gents - great work! I've never seen a model Firebrand before, excellent choice.

Hey Mike - looking very dapper in her red clothes! Great finish so far. If you're worried about the air temp when spraying I usually give my cans a bath in the kitchen sink with the hottest water the tap can provide. Loosens up the paint and increases the pressure a touch.

Great work, though I'd try reducing the layer height somewhat to get rid of those steps on the cylinders ?

Yup, quite fiddly at 50%. I'd probably reassemble the engine in meshmixer and run it through the resin printer for a better print at that scale.

I have managed to update the RF board in readiness. Yes I do the same, and have a firmware folder, but so far have only done it on the cable into the back of the TX, which is quick and simple anyway - I've even done it on the side of the slope. Looking forward to the X24.

A fair few flights on mine now, still going very well. I haven't updated to the LUA Ethos version as yet, as I don't need it. I have recently put one of Mike Shellim's F3F templates on to it for my Pike WR - wow! That man knows how to make the hardware sing. Very easy to setup and calibrate the model. Recent launches of the Tandem receivers are most welcome - two 2.4ghz links along with 900mhz backup in one tiny receiver, amazing. I've not tried the OTA function with any of the other receivers, but fancy giving that a go. Going from strength to strength.

Thought I'd have a quick play on my standard settings. Sized at 50% and printed on a CR20Pro, 0.12mm layers, 0.4mm nozzle printing 2 walls, 0% infill, Sunlu grey PLA. 2hrs 5mins print.

Some settings - print with 2 walls, and in advanced "do not ignore thin walls". What nozzle are you using to get 0.25mm lines? Also, when it's so far up front, surely a bit of weight isn't an issue (we're still taking grams). I double checked - it's in "shell" - print thin walls.

I printed one of those a while back at 6th scale for a customer's Albatross, it's a beast! Printing on my Cr10 S4 wasn't an issue, even the 20+ hour parts. It needed an exhaust, I modelled and printed this (splits into upper / lower so can be printed flat on the bed).

Great choice Dave! It'll be just great as a glider I'm sure. Always nice to include motor mounts for those low wind days.

Ah well, I doubt it'll matter on such a small part. I use cheap art-shop mount spray to keep the paper templates on. If it does stick to the balsa well, a quick touch with the perma grit block soon cleans them up.

Great work chief, might even see it on the slope this decade!

As big or as small as you want - up to the user to fit the build into the 48 hours.

I've drawn up a plan for a (slightly) stretched Ohka. Nice and simple with some hot wire cut parts, a couple of 3d-printed details, and not too big to be slow to build. Hopefully will also be tackling the Betty at some point in the future for some air-launched bomb action.

Great work Phil, looking forward to another action-packed season again ?

Some lovely planking work there, she's coming on nicely.

Crikey, I'd make that "rough" side into a sloper Dirk! ?

Hi Robert, The build was last year and she was maidened this year - so quite fresh still really. I got a set of parts laser cut at SLEC, one of the bigger UK suppliers. I'm currently modifying the plan to include the T7 longer nose - a mod I've wanted to do for a while now to see if I can get the AUW down by using less lead up front.

So will we see a move to glassing the beast shortly? Not showing sketches for my chosen Juan sheet just yet! ?

You've just sneaked in under the 9 years meme birthday, well done. Is the nose the only area getting the brown paper & glass treatment? Also, your "one sheet" build notes are in view....?