Nick Somerville

You’re right Martin. Sand bags are best, unfortunately not enough dry sand at home so a combination sandbags I had, wife’s magazines, and some of those block pavers to boot. Anyway it’s all stuck down nicely, both sides done. Looking forward now to getting into adding all the bits and bobs inside the wings as its a part of the build I especially enjoy. I made the same mistake as per my Sea Fury flaps and drilled the clevis hole 2mm instead of 1.5mm in the flap horns. Sorted the same way by buying a pair of the scale looking Intairco clevis’s from Jeff at Zedjet. They attach through a 3mm hole so lovely and snug after a redrill. He also had some very nice servo mounts so I added four to my order for the aileron and flap servos. I don’t mind making these normally but recently when inspecting an aileron servo on my P47 with a suspect gear tooth issue, it turned out to be a partial failure of the servo mount that I thought I had made well enough. Great service from Jeff at Zedjet btw.

Hopefully enough weight to ensure a good contact.

Well that used up some balsa! 4 sheets of 48” x 100mm and one 36” length for each side; all 3/32. I shall reset one side at a time in the washout jig, prop in as many places as possible below and then glue with white Gorilla glue and weigh down with sandbags and magazines.

I totally agree re the accessibility of the main needles. I have two small holes atop the cowl and short L shaped extensions poking through for the Fury. I was a bit iffy at first about cutting the holes but as soon as the model is more than a few metres away you just don’t notice. Makes tuning a lot easier, though it’s a cowl off for mucking about with the low end adjustment. One of the benefits of the L shaped extensions is that they give a visible reference of my adjustments.

Blind nuts in place for retracts and leading edges being sanded in readiness for the top skins to be added. The plan shows 1/2” L.E’s but I have just added 1/4” so I can sheet over and then add a second 1/4” L.E. A good deal stronger and actually surprising how much precious wood is saved. The outer balsa ribs have had the noses taped with Frog tape to prevent over exuberance with the sanding block.

Lovely looking through the covering at all that workmanship. Looks perfect for those halcyon summer evenings!

Flaps about there. Super rigid with the twin proskin skins.

Some good progress on the flaps I think. I cut four pieces of Proskin and then marked on the scale rib positions, working from the Bentley drawings. I deviated a little to accommodate the 1/2 x 1/4 hard balsa leading edge as I didn’t want to compromise rigidity there. An old piece of square section carbon stringer was halved to be glued close to the trailing edge and the ribs will be fitted between. I am glad I googled that photo of a scale flap as It details the scale hinge points. One incorporated in the actuating horn, which is in combined with the rib and the other two outboard between ribs. Adapting my usual hingeing method should work well here. To make all the cutouts I marked out one top skin and then taped it together with the other and made a pairs of holes between the ribs using a pilar drill and a fine diamond hole saw. Thereafter a Dremel with a sanding bobbin did the rest with its radius conveniently matching my marking out.

Yes Martin, as mentioned earlier I have a Set of formers, ribs and some other parts from Belair already cut. Still, win some loose some as I am starting work on the flaps and the plan details are a long way off scale. It details 7 ribs and closed ends whereas the full size had 12 ribs and open ends. Photo below of a scale 1/48 metal model FW 190 flap to demonstrate. The upper surface has a semi open structure which I will replicate using Proskin, which will be a challenge to get the openings tidy. The joys of modelling. Had your Fury flown yet Martin?

I don’t mind saying that completing this stage of the ailerons has been a bit of a struggle. The top 1/32nd ply parts have a fair curve to negotiate at the leading edge and no kind of soaking in hot water and applying heat with a covering iron did much to help it around. Lots of sanding to thin critical area helped a little plus plenty of CA and kicker. I was still left with a lip that needed some filler and reshaping but I finally got to where I wanted. The other issue was following the washout outboard of the penultimate rib where the trailing edge curves around. I had cut a wedge of balsa after some simple trig to achieve the correct washout, but following into the tip curve was more guesswork with some tapered trailing edge infill. The carbon tows were squeezed through with Gorilla wood glue that hardens to a very rigid trailing edge and beats mixing micro portions of laminating resin. Pretty much ready for covering now.

Hinges fabricated for the ailerons and dry fitted. The supplied ply horn seemed a tad flimsy so I copied the shape onto pc board and made a pair for each aileron so I can use a sturdy ball link between. It is in the scale position and will be partially hidden by a small shroud where the actuating rod exits the wing.

Wow! Looks the business tucked up in that cowl with the perfectly positioned needles. Happy flying tomorrow.

The joy of Laser cut parts, though sometimes I feel it’s almost cheating. The 3/32 ply skins for the ailerons would not have been fun to prepare so definitely on board with the laser on this task. I have glued in all the ribs except the 3 thicker ones that will carry the hinges. I am out of 2m nuts and bolts that I need for my usual homemade hinges so until an order of more arrives I have set aside that task. The aileron in the foreground has had the last 4 mm of the ribs removed and will be replaced with the carbon tow that is draped on top. Also a scale trim tab need fabricating from Proskin and that can be glued in along with the carbon. I need to add the leading edges and work out a washout packing strip. Along the span of each wing half I have built in 2 degrees and the ailerons account for about 40% of the span, so I figure .8 degrees should be near enough. The flap will also need something similar but for those I will have the wing ribs to work off.

with the basic framing of both port and starboard completed and all webbing added to main and rear spars (though not shown on the plan, I added webbing between the rear spars out one bay past the aileron). The plan shows ply webbing between the back of the rear retract bearer and the top skin of the wing. I didn’t like the idea of any heavy loads being transferred to the upper wing skin so instead opted for gussets cut from 1/2” balsa. Lighter than the ply and heaps of strength for those long legs. Bentley drawings at hand to check the cannon positions. There is a bit to think about now before any sheeting can be done.

Just been reading through, Garry and really impressed with all of your work and progress. Your photography is exemplary and with the descriptions reads like a comprehensive build manual along with all the bits normally missed out. Wish I could keep my space as tidy.

So while the washout jig strip positioning and general first part of the wing construction is fresh in mind I have made a start on the other side. The first wing is propped up in place with the root at zero incidence again and a measurement taken from board to tip and this checked against the relevant drawing on the plan. Just a little tweaking of supports and everything sat in place ready to build off.

Substantial build and great to follow along Craig. Can you elaborate on materials used for the rudder hinges please. From what I can see you have cut the hinges from carbon plate of some sort and then used a removable carbon rod to run through as a pivot. If the rudder is intended to be removed for transport how is the pivot rod held in place.

Nifty work again with the 3d printing there Ron. Have you tried 3d printing servo mounts for going into wings?

Yes please. I could use some of that for my FW 190 control surfaces.

Third model build with retracts and this time I have the exact units as per the plan, which make getting the angles correct a doddle. The maple bearers let into the pre cut slots in the ply doubled ribs were both parallel and flat with no fettling required. Epoxy and some micro balloons to glue in place and the retract clip in to ensure it would all cure true. Lets hope the right wing plays ball as nicely.

Really looking forward to your feedback on the flat twin Ron. I think a flat 300 will be perfect for when I get around to building my Taylor Corsair

That’s the stuff, John. I can’t stop sanding the offcuts just to fill the workshop with the smell.

That’s the basics of the first wing glued up. I set the root rib to 0 incidence and then used my new inclinometer to set the tip to 2 degrees for washout. A 1/8 spruce strip was then slid under all the ribs and angled so that the washout graduates from root to tip. By marking the position of the strip I will be able to set the same incidences for the right wing. I built my last two models wings in two halves each with their own root rib. However despite countless checking when joining the root fit still wasn’t perfect. This time I glues both the roots together and as my bench is long enough will just build off the root for the right wing. Perfect fit achieved. Spars are not spruce but a lovely smelling conifer of some kind whose name I forget.

Nice, i might get one and give it a try. I am always hunting for new props to test ? £20 from Gashangar, which seemed a good price.