Gordon McConnell

Hi Richard, Please put me on the list for the retracts mod kit. I think I will fly without the retracts initially and then do the mod. Gordon

I eventually removed the bubbled covering on one wing and replaced it. What seems to work is using Balsaloc on the wing skin veneer prior to applying the PVA coated, brown paper. I am also convinced that the Gorilla PVA is not the best for this job and next time I will buy some cheaper PVA from the builders merchants. I have got to the painting stage now and will final fit the flying control surfaces prior to the finishing paint coat. I have used Halfords white primer on the lower surfaces and grey primer on the upper surfaces.

Excellent review. Well done.

My vote, if I am allowed one, 😀 would be for a Sea Fury. P47 would be second. Bearcat would be nice but listening to the comments on the twist and turn retracts, maybe not. Getting back to working on the FW190 this week.

Looking superb LiPo! Hoping to get back to mine over the Easter period. If I achieve half of the realism of yours, I will be happy. Envious of your manicured grass strip as well! 😀

Thanks Richard. I am going to do that as I had a look at it again this morning and it is really a bit of a mess on one wing only. 😀 Away for a couple of weeks so it will have to wait a bit.

I have experimented a bit further with the Gorilla PVA. I thinned it very sparingly with only a couple of drops of water and applied it very liberally to the BP. I did not leave it long before applying to the veneer. This has worked much better with no bubbles. I also have done one wing with applying a thin coat of Balsaloc to the veneer and letting that dry before applying the BP/PVA. That has worked well too. I think as Stu has said there are several variations of the method which can be used. In my case, with no previous experience, I am getting used to the process and the finer details which guarantee success. Having expert advice from those on the Forum is a great help to progress quickly up the learning curve. Thanks.

LiPo Man and Ron. Thanks. Will try the aliphatic glue solution as well. Some of the bubbles are very small and good to know they may not be noticeable.

Thanks Ron. I think you are quite correct on the thinning of the PVA. I tried another panel with hardly any water in the PVA and that worked much better. No bubbles visible. Maybe trying to cover the whole semi span was ambitions. Perhaps I would have found it easier to try to do it in two parts to avoid the adhesive drying out. I will try the repair as you suggest. Lots of bubbles to work on!! Thanks again for your good advice.

Having gained confidence, I then started on the wings. I cut out the paper to do a lower and upper semi-span separately, there was no chordwise joints. I am uncertain whether this was a good idea. I slightly thinned the PVA with water and brushed it onto the brown paper. It seemed to start drying on the paper quite quickly so I hurriedly positioned it on the wing and used my finishing iron to smooth flat. All seemed well at first but after drying overnight, a lot of bubbles appeared. I applied the iron again and they went away but only to return later. I am contemplating try to strip the paper off and start again but I might try to cut the bubbles and stick the paper down again. Any repair tips will be gratefully received!!

Getting a bit impatient to get on with the covering, I started on the fin and tailplane. I have not used brown paper before so I was at the bottom of the learning curve. I watched Ron Gray's video a couple of times before starting. The brown paper is from Amazon and is used as masking for car spraying. I also tried some from Hobbycraft but this seemed to soak up the PVA an wet the other face. The fin and tailplane came our well and gave me confidence to complete the ailerons, elevator and rudder. The PVA I used was Gorilla Wood Glue.

The wing dowel is embedded in a block which was epoxied into a slot cut in the leading edge and then reinforced with the wing bandage and epoxy laminating resin. I think that has worked out well and should be stronger than sinking the dowel into the foam behind the leading edge balsa section. As others have done, the rudder and elevator servos have been mounted on bearers made from scrap ply which are glued to square section balsa supports on the fuselage inside walls. The control rods are made up to length and holes cut in the aft fuselage sides to exit to the elevator and rudder control horns.

Slow progress over the last few weeks. I have completed the wing root fairings and filled and sanded them to shape. Also, I have attached the wing servos on their mounting plates with hardwood blocks and small wood screws. The servo wiring has been run in the slot cut in the lower wing surface. I have filled in the slot with some balsa strip as I think that is structurally more sound than leaving it open. The downside is that I would need to cut into it again if I ever have to replace the wiring. Servo replacement is possible as I have made a plug joint in the servo bay cavity.

Ron, Great to see a very successful first flight of your Warbirds FW190. It looks super and it seemed very fast in the flybys and even on landing! I am sure all of us following your build videos are very grateful for the massive effort you put into making these informative videos. Personally, I learned a lot. Thank you for taking the lead and spending so much time of your time on behalf of others. Good luck!

Excellent Dave. You have set the standard!! 😀