FSK P51-B Mustang

[propogandhi]

Recently came by a load of FSK kits and sold them on, but decided to keep one for myself, thinking maybe the fit or parts will be better with this one, it isn't!. I plan to take my time with this one and try and get her looking as good as I can. The idea behind the build is to enable me to practice my natural metal finish (a practice run for an up and coming project), so I plan to repaint her as a 'blue nosed bastard'.

First job was to remove the factory paint job so I have a solid base coat to lay down my primer, then paint on, I figured this will also save me some weight. Rubbing alcohol was used, and although it took some time, it got the job done.

Had to remove the plastic fairings that came glued to the tail. The alignment on the FSK P51 tail is really very bad (same with as with a FSK mustang kit i had some time ago), and this could not be fixed without removing the fairings completely and removing some foam from the fuzz. This is now done and the vertical and horizontal stab's now glued in place and much better aligned.

I need some air out so made a scale opening, next up I'll need to glue the rudder on and move onto the worst part of any FSK kit...installing the firewall and mounting the motor, followed by the 2nd worst part, glueing the wings together.

More by the weekend i hope.

 

prop.

 

[Danny Fenton]

Hi Prop, coming along great

I am not familiar with the FSK range are they foam?

 

Cheers

Danny

 

 

[propogandhi]

Hi Danny, yes, they are styro foam. Old foam kits I guess you'd call them now. They've been around since the time before brushless, but have steadily added to there range over the year. Disappointedly though, the build quality of the kits hasn't improved great in the time. There is A LOT of work in these little model. I'm not the fastest builder in the world, but all I have to show for half a days efforts at the work bench is an installed firewall/motor and a cut out canopy frame! Admittedly I did spend quite a bit of time soldering up the electronics too and checking the power system, but I'm still of the mind that these kits absorb time like a sponge. But in spite of this, I do have the feeling of quiet satisfaction now at the end of the day, so it can't be all bad.

The motor/firewall and canopy cutting are always the parts you will least enjoy in any FSK build, so I'm glad they are out of the way. Next I'll need to figure out the best way to do the canopy/battery hatch and then think i'll install the elevator servo. I plan to get as much done on the fuzz as possible before the wing needs to be glued on. I figure without the wing in the way I'll have better access to work in the tight fuzz section.

 

prop

 

[Tony Read]

Hey Prop, don't you ever sleep?

 

I was put off the FSK stuff as they looked very fragile. How robust are they?

[propogandhi]

Some progress again. Works been intense this week but now its the weekend and I managed to get some bench time. Wing spars needed a little trimming to allow the wing halves to fit flush together top and bottom. Joining spar was glued to one wing half first. When dry the other panels was offered up and glued in place. So far i've used 5 min epoxy almost exclusively in the build (with the exception of the plastic pasts which where glued with UHU por), and i need to exercise some care and attention when aligning the panels together. In the end all worked out well, in fact i think its the best result I've had with and FSK kit.

Servo installation followed. Trying a emax 9g mg servo. Haven't used one before, but it seems rock solid enough and it popped right into the supplied ply tray. If all goes well with these servo's (I have one for the elevator too), I might well consider these the ideal substitute for the HS-55, if my application is in need of a little more torque. I'd be interested in hearing if anybody else has any experience with these servo's. Tray for the lipo was also added, this will slip in through the canopy/battery hatch vertically, basically as the instructions have it.

Fitting the wing to the fuzz did inevitably require some trimming of foam and plastic and it is not a quick process. But again I took my time and again I'm happy with the fit. The only problem is the vice and lipo I used whilst the glue was drying feel off as the glue was curing. the wing join is fine, but I now have some surface damage to the top of the cowl from the vice falling on it. Fortunately the damage isn't too bad and at least now I can see if the iron and wet paper towel trick works as well on FSK models as it does Alfa's.

With the wing on now I really just need to concentrate on the canopy/battery hatch and the remaining electronic installation. I want to have it ready to test fly for next weekend as I'm back up at my airstrip. So I'll maiden her first, then paint her. Want to get this model done so I can move onto the Savex Spitfire :D

 

prop.

[propogandhi]

Tony, if you build them well, they are good models. They are not crash friendly for sure, but if you are a careful pilot, you'll be fine. BTW FSK are now under new ownership and are making many improvements to there line of models. So if you want a better FSK experience be sure to buy direct from them as the UK will only have stock of the old kits. Shipping to UK is only $20, I'm considering getting there new An-2

 

Link to site:

 

FSK

 

prop.

[propogandhi]

more progress, in fact I'm pretty much ready to start spraying. I need
to decide whether I spray her after the maiden, which means bringing her
back to the workshop in London, or try and simply get the silver and
blue painted on before I take her up to the strip (2hr journey between
the two and one that I only make every month or so). The problem is I
have my compressor only here in London. I'll sleep on it.



Worked on the canopy hatch this afternoon, following what was basically
laid out in the instructions and all went well. Again I did take my time
though. There where some raised rivets on the skin where the canopy
would sit. I figured these would inhibit a flush fit of the canopy so
these were sanded off, masking tape use to protect the fuzz surface
directly below the canopy area. In the end the canopy now fits nice and
flush, which pleasantly surprised me...



The damage caused to the nose was take care of today as well with the
tried and test 'covering iron and wet paper towel' technique. For those
of you that don't know, this is a very simple way of removing indents
and creases from styro foam (same as Alfa models). Set your iron to mid
temp, and soak a folded piece of kitchen towel. Lay the towel over the
effected area and apply the iron to it. It will bubble and steam, which
is what you want. Keep the iron lightly pressed onto the area until the
steaming and bubbling comes to an end. By this point the heat/moisture
should have pull those imperfection right out.

Thats basically it, but I did cut a drink straw down and glue into the
L/E to simulate the guns in the wing. Ariel mask will also be added
before the primer coat goes on. Other than masking the canopy off, this
is the last job before spraying can begin.

 

prop.

 

 

 

 

[propogandhi]

Got home earlier tonight and have now already got the blue on. It was in fact humbrol blue and off the shelf it was rather too dark. So I thought I'd have to mix with some white, but when I added the tamiya thinners, it lightened the paint to what turned out to be the perfect blue! It was a lucky break and I'm please with the results. Before this it had one coat of primer and the silver coats. I masked off some of the panels and either buffed or sanded them to give variation to the natural finish.

I just need to complete the remaining panel 'shading', the add decals, weather and finally varnish. Its of course a bank holiday this weekend, and the weathers not looking great for the start of it, but come Monday I think the weather and I will be ready for the maiden, and that should give me enough time to get her finished, and still have half a day at the Nationals...

 

prop.

 

 

[propogandhi]

Ii got some photo's from my step father, but it was very overcast so the images are very poor, but its something at least. Strangely though, pictures he took of his own design/built model being test flown by me just before I flew the P51, seem a lot better.

 

 

prop.

[propogandhi]

For those of you that might be interested, this model is now for sale as I already have too many similar models and I need to raise funds for a future project. Please search 'FSK P51' on ebay.

 

 

prop.