Andrew Edmead

Here we go, I've made a start on my Sabre build. I haven't done a lot of building so any critique is welcome. I started off looking through some of the previous mass builds. Picked up a lot of tips. I started off by making a simple bench with a 25mm mdf top and a piece of plaster board. I committed a crime and cut the plan up to make it easier to handle. So started with the wing jig, used some triangle blocks to square it up and pinned it to the plan, only problem its its been on off the plan about three times now. I tried to mark all the ribs etc on the wing skins whist on the wing jig. I found this very difficult and for me it was easier to take it off the jig and mark all the lines on the plan. I also trimmed the skin whist flat which also helped. The skin sat in the jig over night to take the shape, don't know if this helped much. Next job was to glue down the main spar, weighted it down and left overnight. The next day I put the jig back on the building board and pinned the wing skin and spar onto the jig. I now started the dry fitting of the ribs, I noticed a difference between the size of the main spar on the wood list to the one on the plan, It actually turned out to be a perfect fit at 1/8 x 1/4 as on the plan, it looked too small at first glance but it wasn't. Next was to glue all ribs in place and add the top spar, I got as far as fitting the false trailing edge. Now the false leading edge gets bigger towards the root so I assume I just use an over sized piece of 1/8 balsa and shape it when doing the main leading edge??? Just read this back that wont work, need to trim it before the top sheet. I'm going to add my pictures now, below thanks for reading my blog. I have one suggestion, could somebody create a thread with a list of the gotchas and errors as they are found to make it easier for noobs like me. Andy

Can you clarify something please. On my plan the main spars are noted as 1/8 by 1/4 but 1/8 is too small for the rib. On the wood pack list it says 3/16 x 1/4, but for some reason I've bought 1/8 x 1/4 spruce spars. Andy

Thanks Martin, makes perfect sense. I can start the wing now, I've only built one or two kits and neither used a wing jig. Andy

Hi Martin, I have started my build, well the wing jig anyway. I've been following other peoples blogs and I noted that some of them have left the bottom skin slightly wider to allow for the shape of the ribs etc. On your build, am I right in saying that you simply made the wing skin to cover the false leading and trailing edges and then marked all the positions on the skin whilst on the plan before putting it onto the jig, and you didn't make the skin wider than the plan? Hope this makes sense. Andy

Hi Martin thanks for checking that for me, I'm going to look again now but I read your Gamma build blog and you said that it was neater to use 48" balsa fuselage planking. I think you used 36" originally but you had to join the planking.   I think for me it would be much easier to use the longer sheets for planking but your wood list suggests 36". I may have misunderstood. On your wood list you mentioned "10 sheets of 1/8" x 4" x 36" Med/Soft balsa for tail-planes and fuselage planking", I added 10 x 48" sheets, so this could be why I'm getting to £60.   Would you say 8 sheets of the 48" 1/8th would be enough?   ***********Edit*******   I've just read all the posts in this thread and you have already addressed this, So I think probably 7 sheets of the 48" 1/8 should do?   Andy         Thanks   Andy Edited By Andrew Edmead on 17/09/2019 10:01:29 Edited By Andrew Edmead on 17/09/2019 10:02:11

Hi does a £60 spend seem about right for the extra wood ??? Andy Edited By Andrew Edmead on 14/09/2019 23:13:09

I had my first proper look at the plan tonight.... This is going to be a challenge for me!

Mark, it's fine, It's not the 1st of November yet, so I will let you off lol

Thanks Mark, Awesome Pics Andy.. Slightly off topic but my mind was wandering and I thought about what happens to the tanks after being dropped, you may well of seen this before but check this link out, Amazing. **LINK**

Hi Ray, I have gone for the Red scheme now. Andy

The tanks on the Skyhawk look massive, it's a very nice looking aircraft. I'm not sure about having RC tanks, would that mean you would have to drop them before a landing. Knowing me I'd forget and rip the mechanism off or something. How did the mechanism work in the skyhawk?

"Other Andy" I do like the black one, but the red one should be easier for me, I think. However I reserve the right to change my mind throughout the build! But will stick with the the aerobatic scheme. It's been interesting reading up on the Sabre such a lot of history with that aircraft. I will build in the flaps then. I assume you attach the drop tanks on with magnets so they fall off on landing? I'm going to study the plan tonight to get all my materials ready, so I will probably have a load more questions soon. Andy

Martin, to be honest I like the red scheme as it looks a bit more straight forward than some of the other schemes. I'm not sure about the drop tanks, this is not my first model build but it is my first Scale one. Are the drop tanks on the plan? I haven't checked yet? Can I ask a question, did the flaps make a difference? Should I build them it or keep it simple? Andy

Haha yep, I did wonder what you where up to with the Concorde!. Link to my wot 4 build that we talked about. **LINK** And my Wild Thing Blog. **LINK** This looks like a very active forum, Sadly our Club forum has become dormant,