David Hazell 1

I just stuck my not even fully painted spit on the scales and she's a proper fatty. With the alu spinner, painted pilot, sound system, a big fat 5000mah battery she is coming in at 3.03kg, or 6lb 10oz. This figure is anticipating me adding another 100g of paint, so I might be able to shave a bit off that figure. I'm worried about this!!! I can drop battery size obviously - do have a couple of 3300 batts, but they're only going to shave off 100g too. I guess I am not a light builder! lose Alu spinner: -114g (plus whatever a plastic spinner weights) Sound system: -115g smaller battery: -100g less paint: -50g? So by dumping the sound system (which I don't want to do!), swapping the spinner for a lightweight plastic jobby (again, don't want to do this), and dropping the size of the battery I might be able to shave off 300 odd grams. Will it fly like a drain cover if I go full fat cornish cream?

I'm going to be attempting to build this at some point. Why couldn't you mount the ducted fan at the front and have the ESC on the wall behind?

I've been down with the covid. I'm just about to start trying to tackle it again. I think that I will just have to sand back lightly and do another coat of primer. I'll pass on my results when I've made a bit more progress...

Use Laser, no nitro?! ?

The plan does show the engine mount canted at about 20 degrees - which indeed would lift the carb a bit and might even house the cylinder a bit better. Agreed the firewall would need fudging about, but I reckon it might just be doable. Whether it's the most ideal engine is another issue though?!

Could be a _bit_ of a squeeze...

Yeah I kinda did give it a light sand before painting. I think I screwed up there. I will do some paint and sand back efforts and see if it sorts it...

OK, question for @RICHARD WILLS and @Paul Johnson 4. I have covered my spitfire wings in brown paper for a bit of dingproofness, and I read on the mustang thread that there's no need to apply thinned non-shrinking dope if it's going to be an electric powered model. Thing is, I gently rubbed down the brown paper with some 1200 grit and it's gone a bit "fluffy". I took Paul's advice and didn't dope it before starting on the primer (white on the underside). But it still seems very "fluffy"! Tis only the first thin coat of primer being airbrushed on at the mo, so will more coverage fix it? How do I rescue this? And advice going forward? Will doping sort out the surface such that it can be sanded smooth? Can I apply dope over this thin coat of primer? Or do I just settle for a fluffy spitfire?! Thanks!

Lovely! ?

Sorry to hijack thread again, but I found by searching for "aluminium flange couple connector" there were many solutions very similar to what @Danny Fenton designed. I went ahead and ordered these from ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363462983497 (I chose the gold 3mm). Five quid a pair, delivered from China. They have arrived and I'm pretty confident they will do the job although will need a relief cutting into the underside to account for the servo screw. Pictures in the google album here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HnLMmPcCaoWhAe6m6

Absolutely stunning beautiful workmanship. What a craft!

I have a question too... I couldn't figure out if I was meant to slice the exhaust manifolds off at that line which is clearly visible... And what's this little triangle bit for between F4 F9 and F6? I've lost it but curious all the same!:

Searching for a bit more detailing info, found this thread which has some nice pictures of a very nicely finished Tamiya kit: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11286.0

Do you still have these? I'd love one for when I embark on my 57" La7!

Thank you Nick, very helpful! I've been doing a bit more scouring of t'interweb to see if I can source an rds adapter solution similar to the one Danny uses. I eventually found a rigid flange coupling shaft on Amazon that looked the ticket, but then realised it was made of hardened steel and probably weighed about 20g per piece. A little more searching and I found these on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363462983497?var=632681119935 I've ordered one (pack of 2 pcs) with a 3mm bore and will eagerly await its arrival from China! Will be interesting to see if it is good as Danny's home fettled version. If it's not any good, I'll definitely be coming back and asking for more help! Thanks again.

Gents, what gauge wire do you tend to default to for the torque rod, and any recommendations for a wire bending tool? I see that the guy who was selling them has stopped doing so ?

aha! I've sourced aluminium spinners for Spit and P51 from @RICHARD WILLS, and some shiny ones from a model shop for a sport model, but can't find anything decently LA7 shaped - where do you tend to shop for them?

Why, would that help prevent nose overs?

I'm guessing the leccy participants for LA7 will be going 3 blade? I'm going to have to stick with 2 blade for my build with a Laser 70 up front, so I've gotten hold of a 3 inch Dubro red spinner from Leeds Model Shop. Pricey at £12 odd for a plastic spinner but there you go.

I've got a painstaking wait until I can get the plane built - going to be a few months at least - Laser will be bagged till then in most likelihood.

OK, so I always tell myself "No question is a stupid question", but I might be pushing the boundaries here... Noob query. I searched for "LASER LUBRICATE" on here to try to find a definitive answer but there wasn't anything directly applicable to the Shiny new Laser 70 in my paws. Nor is there anything in the instruction sheet to tell me: How much lubricant through the breather nipple before first running in? I think I have some two stroke motor oil for a gasser I've never gotten round to flying so will decant some into a little bottle with a bit of fuel tubing for application purposes... Also, Do I have to perform this (and rocker) lubrication step every three hours running? I see in an old version of the instructions it says to do that, but not on the instructions I received with my engine... Oh and What torque should the prop nut be tightened to? I have a decent cycle torque wrench that would come in handy for me to be able to "get a feel" for how tight it needs to be once I have torqued it a couple of times. I will have many more questions but these are the first ones... Thanks in anticipation!

That's very kind Danny, thank you. I'm not at a stage where I need them as yet - just ruminating as to how I might clean up the lines underneath scale warbird wings for future builds... I might come back to you on that offer though!

Hi Danny and others, I've been looking at your amazing work on RDS for nice clean aileron linkages. I don't have access to a lathe unfortunately so I'd have to buy the couplers. I'll keep trying to find cheaper alternatives - what do you reckon to this: https://www.robotshop.com/uk/servo-to-shaft-clamping-coupler-0250-in-24-tooth-spline.html Cheers! Dave

Thank you @Ron Gray and @Bob Cotsford - I have the little 57" kit and your posts have made for an interesting read. I am going to be installing a Laser 70 into the 57" LA7 so lots of this stuff is going to be handy to refer back to. Did anyone get to the bottom of what is a half decent fuel proofer but which doesn't fry your lungs?

I've just got to finish my spitfire and then I can either go P51 or LA7. I think I will do the LA7 first, aptly powered by a (shiny new) LAser 70... Trying to get a list of things together that I will need - I am planning to make a purchase from MSL for fuel and sundries. It's going to be a long winter (though not so cold if the recent weather pattern keeps going). I reckon I'll have two warbirds to maiden by May next year... ?