Gary Clark 1

Sorry to hear of your loss Jon, I hope things go as well as can be for you and the family

I've not been out much due to getting models ready to fly and also that it's bloody freezing! I had I'ce on my wings when i landed a model on sunday!! Anyway, I've been thinking about rivets an if I am going to do them on this model. I am not sure it is worth ot for this size of model? If so, what technique would people recommend? Gary

Thanks Nigel, yeah pretty pleased it's actually getting somewhere after hanging around for years. I have contemplated putting a hatch behind the tailwheel to get access to the central elevator horn. I'd make a fibreglass one if I was going to but I'd only manage to get limited access to the elevator horn as the tailwheel horn is in front of this and blocked by the former that the tailwheel is mounted to. This is quite a bit of work to get access to a part of the plane that may never need accessing so I may leave it out. If i ever do need to get in there, it may be worth making the hatch then rather than now Gary

I got the H Stab mounted today so hopefully get the V Stab on tonight and start shaping the front part of the fin. I wasn't happy that there was enough balsa to stick the H Stab to as below So I added a a bit of fairly light 1/4 sheet to have a bit more purchase for the epoxy I got everything aligned and left to set. You can see the elevator hinge holes aren't very well positioned, not quite all in the centre.....something else to fix. It was only 5 years ago! What was I thinking!! Almost seems like a different builder I will get the fin on tonight and start shaping Gary

Also, excuse the very dusty corsair in the background, she is getting a little TLC to get back flying. All the decals have come off so I see a new paint job on the horizon for that one Gary

And just like that, we have something that looks like a Spitfire! Fuselage needs a final sand to make it all blended and smooth but the overall shape and look is there now I've decided to attach the tail parts before glassing the fuselage so that means I need to get everything aligned and secured then I can complete the front part of the fin that blends it to the fuselage. That will be glassing stage which I will do inside due to the temperature and that clears the bench to start the wing. I have ordered the electron retracts from JetsrteamUK with excellent service from John there. I'll be honest, a few weeks ago I didn't think I'd get to this stage with this fuselage Gary

Hi Jon, I have to agree with the other guys and say the TF one isn't really going to cut the mustard. I have been repairing mistakes in my own Spit build (all my own mistakes I'll add) and that almost got me to the stage of starting again. To get it to a good scale standard then you'd probably have to build a completely new wing, cannibalise the fuselage to move the formers to fix that and you'd almost have built a new model by that stage. I like to buy an ARTF "scale" every now and again to practice flying techniques and bash the circuit all to save my proper scale builds. This is the perfect use for them but the incorrect scale details is painful sometimes. I have a Seagull P-47 for exactly this reason so I'm ready for my Brian Taylor P-47 when I finish it If it is not for bashing around the sky, I would move it on. There will be plenty of people interested I'm sure. I'm one of them! haha Gary

Hi All, I've been working on getting the back end all sorted and ready for the tail parts to be mounted. I had most of the area sorted but I needed to finalise the position of the snakes, ensure the horizontal stab mounts are square and sort the tailwheel. I needed to make a horn for the rudder so cut one from G10 cut a slot in for it The majority of the scale detailing will be done later. couldn't help get a photo from above to look at the "lines" The spit is just lovely! Tailwheel next then I can close up the bottom of the rear fuse and it's ready for glassing. I always debate to glass before I mount the tail or after, benefits are that its easier to manoeuvre about and sand/spray but the negative is that I'll need to individually glass little bits once the tail parts are fitted. Eg the fillet thing in front of the fin that blends it to the fuselage. I've done both ways in the past but can never decide what I prefer Gary

I was interested in that Spit too Jon but was just the distance that put me off. There are plenty of people on here here to help you offload some models! The problem is generally what ones to part with... Gary

I am finally feeling happy with this spit! It has taken 5 years but finally going the way I want. I got the fairings roughly done today but the still need quite a bit of final sanding and also sanding around the edges to almost eliminate the edge around the fairing. Pretty happy with where it is now though Hopefully another night or 2 to get these complete then I can move onto finaling the position of the tail and getting the fuselage glassed. This means I can have a glassed fuselage that is ready for scale details like panel lines and maybe rivets (this scale makes that a bit tough) but also getting a cockpit made up and sorting the canopy but also have a wing to build on the side for when I want to do some actual building. Helps break up the monotony of the whole thing being at the same stage. Gary

I remembered to get a photo of the ply at secured at the front. Everything is coming along nicely now thanks to the help from Gary and Peter I have been looking to try and get some detailed pictures of the rib stitching on the Mk1A so I can start detailing whilst the fuselage parts are setting but I haven't had much luck. I have a few books but not good photos of that area Gary

You'll probably find the legs will bend really easily so you'll need to replace with piano wire to save bending back every flight. I've had a mix with retracts like this, some work for years, some don't work! Gary

You're not wrong Paul! The problem I have is that I leave the big ones open and the nozzle blocks and eventually the glue starts to go off, these little ones help prevent that. Turns out nap time with a newborn is quite handy as I got out again today as my wife joined him so whilst I was waiting for the centre section leading edge to dry so that I can attach the 1/32 ply, I got some other bits done The dowels were fitted into the ply I have inlaid for strength The rest of the centre section is looking a little beaten up due to all the faff I've had and also the amount of times it's been on and off. I'll tidy it up before its glassed and hopefully it will be ok. Whilst waiting for it all to dry, I got the Oratex on the rudder and remaining elevator. The rudder needed a new trim tab so got that done too which means it is ready to start getting some scale details like rib stitching and trim tab shrouds. I will be doing this on the side for when I need a break from fairings!! The fin/vert stab is how I left it 4/5 years ago so it will need a bit of TLC and I'll get the panel line and rivet detail on soon too. More progress today and still positive! Gary

Thanks all, its a busy but exciting time. Hopefully this little one will be into planes because his big brother just loves tractors and bin trucks! I managed to get some time in the garage today and got some work done. I got the dowels in and the leading edge shaped which helped me find a way of fixing the 1/32 ply fairing base at the front which had caused me issues before (thanks to the photos earlier, thanks guys) and I'll get some photos of this later. With the ply in I fitted the formers for the fairings and added a balsa base. I used a rectangular section rather than triangular but it all feels solid and looks much tidier than before. The ply cockpit former is damaged but I'll replace the sides later. It will be sheeted up to the front former then solid balsa to the leading edge. Whilst checking everything was lined up and fitted properly with the cowl, I realised the cowl was approx 4mm too long so I had to trim that and re-fit. Annoying but glad its done and everything is looking much better. I also feel fairly confident that I am on the right track now...famous last words I also started using these little application bottles for wood glue and aliphatic resin, they allow you to place very tidy little glue lines rather big blobs you get from the big bottles it comes in. You can see the beads of resin I placed on formers above Only a few £ on ebay and means you can keep the big bottles sealed to save it going off Gary

I've not had anytime over the last 2 weeks as we have welcomed our new son. The carnage has settled down and I've managed to get 10 minutes here and there to tidy the garage and get the bench tidy and ready to continue. During my many hours of being up at nights and sitting around the hospital, I think I've decided to go for the electron retracts. Does anyone have any suggestions for a better set of retracts? I know we've been through this already but I want to get them ordered soon so I have them for starting the outer wing panels as soon as the fairings are done. Gary

Really like the idea of foam board supports inside Nigel. Never thought of that before but several benefits Gary

Thanks jrman, I've done this before too but starting to overtime this build for some reason! I've inlaid 1/8 ply into the 1/2 balsa leading edge and the 1/2 balsa that's attached to the fuselage. My wife is due a baby tomorrow so this may slow me down a little..... Gary

Question, any issues with using 2 thick dowels rather than the metal plate setup?

That's great help Gary, thanks again. It seems so obvious once you put it up, I'm definitely over thinking this bit so far. the back of the fairings is done, waiting for the little bits of filler to dry so I can sand it smoothe but the shape looks OK Hopefully I can get some time tomorrow to get the forward fairing started and be closer to moving on!! Gary

Really Nice Peter, I wish I could this one finished so I can start adjusting the design 😜 I've started a little progress on the rebuild of the fairings. Lots of little bits around that area needed sorted and not easy when your trying to do it from a shredded plan!! Hopefully the new one arrives soon. one side done underneath. I have cut new 1/32 ply bases but I do have a question, how do stop the ply base at the front from turning up? I don't see that it's attached to anything underneath when off the wing, have I understood that correctly. The part I'm talking about below : Gary

You can scale them in any slicing software so if the shape is the same (should be) then just change the size before it's printed. I do the same with exhaust stacks and cowls I've made Gary

Great info there chaps, those photos make things much clearer. I dried my eyes and got on with it. Got the area around the fairings all cleared up and drew on the position. Turns out they weren't in a symmetrical place anyway so glad I started them again. Thanks to Gary pouting it out, I can sand out the area beneath them. I will cut new 1/32 bases for each side (hopefully I have enough) and I'll glue the front onto the 1/2' balsa in front of the wing which will keep it fixed at the front. I'm actually feeling better about it now I'm starting again around thos area instead of constantly trying to fix problems Gary

So....... I let the frustration get the better of me and I just kept going with the David plane and removed the fairings I wasn't impressed with what was below them but I reckon I can sort it. I cut a new former that was damaged just behind the wing and decided to sort a model for flying tomorrow. I had moved the motor slightly (electric one) and decided to do a quick run to make sure everything was good and straight with no vibration. It was anchored to the front of my bench so just after selecting full power, I was confronted by a flash of white passing me (a ghost would have been less terrifying) which made immediate contact with the big 3 blade prop on my P-47....I obviously stopped the motor immediately to find this The plan for the spit was blown from the bench and promptly shredded by the prop. You'll be pleased to know that the parts missing from the plan average around 2mm in size so absolutely no chance of patching that up. Sometimes you feel the sky Gods don't want you to finish some models... I know I shouldn't have run the motor inside but this is not on the list of consequences I had in my head I honestly don't know what to do now. I clearly need to get a new plan to continue but tonight does not help my momentum but certainly gave me a frustrated giggle. Gary

That makes alot of sense guys, thanks. I decided to plank my fillets instead of a singe sheet but having seen the section sanded out now, thanks to Gary, and also the condition/quality of the fairing being the wing, I feel like that will be better just coming off and starting again too. The photo below shows what I was talking about you can see what i was talking about regarding the standard of the fairings. I'm Getting the feeling that tonight will be a night of stripping wood off and back to the bare fuse. Good job I got new blades for my David plane 😄 I may as well get it to a standard I'm happy with otherwise it will never get finished Your photos are really helpful Gary, thanks for putting them up Gary

Thanks for the input gents, keep it coming! Peter, she looks fantastic, well done. I really like that idea for CG too. I git some work done on the fillets but it's been really frustrating. I've found the 1/32 ply base for the fillets starts to change shape and pull up and away from the wing at the front due to nothing to keep it's shape. Maybe I'm missing something so will have to have another long look at the plan but had to come in before I got too frustrated! I got the cockpit cut out and that looks good with a check of fit of the canopy. Question for the guys who have built this before. I have skinned the top of the centre section with 2 thicknesses of balsa. 1/16 outside of the fairings base and 1/32 underneath the fairings with the intent of them slipping in to prevent a ridge bigger than the panel line would be. Hopefully that makes sense but is that what you have done or just skin it all in 1/16? Gary