Russ

I have used the plastic connectors, hold the connection secure but easy to remove when removing wing. And they can be used over and over again.

Balsa cabin supply "protech a plan" a thin plastic sheet that's large enough to cover the entire plan and even cyno doesn't stick to it. I think its £1.95 for a pack of two sheets.   Link below.   http://www.zyworld.com/balsacabin/page2.htm

What ever method you use bear in mind that you may have to remove the the fuel tank at some stage. When learning to fly I had a heavy landing and rolled the model, resulting in the fuel feed tube doubling over in the tank and restricting the flow. It was easy to fix only had to remove the tank to do it.   I also sealed the gap around the bung and firewall with clear silicone selant, the type used around sinks etc. this stopped any fuel getting into the tank area.

You can buy a pack of lead weights specially for this purpose. Stick to anything never to come off!   Available online or from your model shop.  I had a Tutor 40 an excellent trainer, with an OS 46LA and I had to add weight to get the c of g correct. I then upgraded the engine to an OS 46AX  (I needed more power to take off on our rough strip) and had to remove the lead as the c of g was spot on without any extra weight.

You want the resources tab on the BMFA home page and click on "handbook". The handbook contains all the info you need, you get a copy when you join or if you can't wait then you could print the pages you require. The handbook has 76 pages so don't print them all.

I googled ultra mask and their website came up 1st, ordered the tape and paint before reading your non sales pitch. The also have a great stock of war plane colours for many nations.   Mentioned RCM&E in my order.   Russ    

Thanks David, I was unsure wether to paint the inside or out, but now I think I'll paint the outside using ultra mask,

I'm building a VQ Kawasaki that comes with stick on frame structure for the canopy, but I would rather paint the frame, which paint is the best use.

Hi   Santa was good to me and delivered a VQ Kawasaki Ki61. The build quality and finishing are excellent and the components are good except for the engine mounting nuts & bolts and the engine mount (more on that later). The instruction manul is very basic, leaving alot for the builder to work out.   So far I have completed the wing/retracts and I'm now working on the fuselage. For the retracts I've used a Hitec HS75BB retract servo, which works perfectly. There are 2 issues I had fitting the retracts, they wound'nt retract fully and lock up into position so I raised the retract mount, supplied for this is a 1/16 ply strip which I doubled to 1/8 and this allowed the retracts to fully lock into the up position, could drain the battery as the servo will be trying to push the retracts into position?. The next thing I found after fitting the wheels was that they were a very tight fit into the wing recess, which hindered the retract locking into position, so I used a pair of wheels that were very slightly smaller and this solved that problem. Having made these adjustments they work perfectly and look realistic.     Also regarding the wing construction, before joining the wing you should run a piece of string from the wing servo recess to the hole at the fuselage end of the wing so that once joined you can pull the servo extension lead through the wing. This is not made very clear in the instructions! The rest of the wing construction/servo installation was straight forward.   Following the instructions the next step would be to fit the fin/tailplane, but from experience I have found it easier to fit the engine and fuel tank first. This allows for the drilling of the engine mount holes etc without having to worry about damaging the tail section. With regards to the supplied engine mount, I found that by using a 4 stroke the throttle lever snagged on the engine mount, so I bought another engine mount of a different design. I'm now onto the fin/tail, the suggested fitting method is to slid the tailplane through the fuselage from the side, a better way is to cut the small block at the rear of the fuselage and slid it into position from the rear. You replace the small block once the fitting is completed. The full description of how to do this is in the Venus 40 build notes from an earlier article in RCM&E.    Will keep you posted as I progress.   Russ      

I only use OS engines which have a hole in the end of the needle into which you can insert an OS needle extension or make one from piano wire. This is held in place with a crub screw which is located on the needle and loosened/tightened using an appropriate allen key. I do not know if other engine makes have this. Hope this helps.  Russ

Enter me please.

I'll just keep trying, you never know!

Never give up!

Put me in the hat please.

Hi David  Having had a years experince I'm still a beginner!!! My pointers for anyone just staring out would be: Join a club, mine has a years waiting list. Go to their field and speak to one of the trainers/examiners as to what model etc to buy. Don't spend any money until you've done this. Seek advice about a suitable model, I use a Tutor 40, very clear instructions etc. Radio very important if using a buddy system all the trainers at our club use Futaba. I also purchased a very cheap simulator which gave me plenty of stick time. I got very frustrated trying to arrange flights with my instructor due to his other commitments, so I went to Paul Heckles school for some lessons. This was great, as the tuition was excellent and you use their equipment., and you fly fly and fly all day long, well worth the money. Finally  I found someone at my club who is an excellent instructor and is at the field 3 days a week. One thing that is invaluable, meeting fellow flyers for their advice on equipment etc. You will need some knowledge of how the model is built as there is going to be plenty of repairs/rebuilds needed. And lastly it is a long road starting from scratch to gaining your "A" certificate, I would say it is comparable to learning to drive. 

Count me in please.

If at first ................I'm in again

COUNT ME IN PLEASE

count me in

You've got to be in it to win it! hopefully.

My preferences are 1 Hawker Typhoon 2 Stuker 3 Hellcat

I am building an Irvine Tutor 40, but no where in the instructions does it explain how to fit the tank into the fuselage. I expected the bung to fit tightly into the firewall once I tightened the screw in the bung, but this is not the case. Any suggestions?