Phil Winks

600 grit between each coat Chris, needed 3 to get somewhere close to covering, I do spray light! And the underside needed to be properly covered as it's just about sky grey so it's also the Finish coat there Edited By Phil Winks on 20/02/2015 19:29:17

Thanks for the kind comments lads, starting on the colouring in tonight so fingers crossed she'll be close to "maiden ready" by Sunday night

I've now got the required 3 coats of primer applied time to start colouring The finish isn't what you might call Hor'de concours but it will suffice for a model that will probably lead a rough life.

Thanks John and Chris, yes very nearly there, must pace myself to easy to rush the next bit and spoil a good model. Still a few evenings during the week and a few hours next weekend should she her close. Painting can be so much slower than film covering.

I would've though Erfolg that given the friendly atmosphere at Greenacres there will be no shortages for those that feel the need for a launcher though to be fair the average size of a fun fighter is such that most will be able to launch their own, mind you that said, on a busy flight line it is often prudent to have some one do it for, you allowing the pilot to keep a proper eye on the circuit during launch.

what a productive weekend she now looks like this the bottom sheet on and profiled wings fitted, tail feathers fitted servos centred and control rods fitted all surfaces set centre, just need to fit the motor, esc and Rx and some decorating and a few home spun decals and she'll be ready to fly and 138 days to get the maiden in, along with the atom and Dawn flyer from last year. Points to note here, when fitting the wings and tail feathers it is essential to get them all square, the use of a tape measure is essential, It's vital that the rudder is properly aligned as there is no trimming it once fitted, being a "bank and yank" flyer!! I should point out that there is no intention to fit a pilot figure and the cockpit glazing is going to be painted on to the Vac formed canopy. Edited By Phil Winks on 15/02/2015 17:58:21

Thanks Alain and Colin, I aim to please. Cracking on following the process detailed above I've near finished the profiling of the fuselage. I have added a 3mm balsa ring to the front of the motor mount to take up a 4mm gap between the spinner and mount. Better than cutting 3mm of the motor shaft. Also I've got the elevator push rod fitted prior to fitting the bottom sheet aft of the wings, this needs to be fitted now as fitting after the bottom sheet is near impossible if your to achieve a good straight control run from the servo to the exit point. The balsa around the exit slot and the holes in the formers has been hardened with thin cyano to reduce the danger of them wearing and making for a sloppy control run. the holes are made by easing the rod through the balsa while still soft, it helps to sharpen the end first. The Z bend for the servo end is made with the rod in situ using Z bend pliers then clamp this bend to the side of the fuse at the position where the servo will be and mark where the rod exits under the tailplane, this is where the 1st of the 2 45 degree bends will be made, the second is to bring the rod back parallel to the centre line of the fuse. I hard soldered an M3 threaded extender here to take a clevis though a nylon clamp on nipple could be used as suggested on the plan. Also the hatches have been cut out by joining the previously made saw cuts by cutting along a straight line with a scalpel, the cockpit hatch has a locating rod at the rear and a spring catch at the front for battery access and the cowl hatch has a Grp plate tongue at the front and a servo screw at the rear, once again the balsa has to be hardened with thin cyano. Now the pics.

Moving on, I'm now profiling the fuselage forward section, 1st the motor mount former needs to be cut to suit your chosen motor and carefully epoxied in place. Then using the plan, and side elevations from your copy plans make a template and transfer the outline onto the top sides and bottom of the currently square sided fuselage, then remove the excess balsa outside the side and top profiles with a combination of razor plane and sanding block, this will give you the basic shape, then mark the extent of the curves along top sides and bottom, then using these as a guide, and with reference to some good photo's of the real thing, sand/plane away the excess wood to blend the curve, as a wood carver once told me, "when carving an object simply remove any wood that doesn't look like the finished object". eventually, and it can be a slow process, you will see the shape of a spitfire start to emerge. I use 3 basic grits on the sanding block during this process, 80 grit for quick removal of large areas, 24 grit for general fine finishing, and 600 grit for final finishing, also a sheet of 600 of the block is useful for careful final finishing of curves to prevent any flat spots. also it can help to have some external profiles taken from the former drawings to check you have the right profile at those points along the fuselage. Edited By Phil Winks on 14/02/2015 00:04:03