Tim Mackey Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thought I would kick off this new section with showing how I repaired the damged front end /motor mount of my Ripmax Spitfire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon B Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I'd be interested in seeing this. I pranged mine and it was a bit of a pain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 First thing to say is that after any crash always search for - and collect - ALL bits of the remains. When you have it home, and in the cold light of the following day, after doing any post crash investigations that you can, try and piece back together as much as possible, using tape, or spots of cyano etc. If its foam, beware non friendly cyano Obviously, the difficulty depends on the amount of damage, but I have often heard people cry "its a write off - its impossible to repair ARTFS because there is no plan" etc.Sometimes, these so called write offs need nothing more than a good hard look, plenty of thinking time, and few basic tools and skills to get them back in the air.I usually take photos, and also try to find as much photo evidence of what she used to look like before the arrival, - the WWW and Google is your friend here.Next, I trace around any significant parts on to thin card templates, improvising as best as possible when bits are missing. In this case, one whole side of the front end section was missing, so I simply made a mirror image of the "good" one. Then cut out your card pieces, and trial fit them - you may need to splice, or overlap new sections onto remaining good material - in this case, I used the remains of the front side areas.After a few trial runs with the card templates, shaving and trimming /adding here and there, trace onto your chosen material ( in this case ply ) cut out ( a bandsaw / fretsaw or similar is very handy here ) - and temporarily attach into place.Then I made the front firewall card template, and attached it to the sides, aligning up the motor thrustline as best I could. A hole was marked for propshaft line, via "cross hairs" on the whole piece.I replicated the fixing tabs as best I could, ensuring structural integrity, and also allowing a dry fit of all parts before the PU glue was brought out.Once I was happy that it was looking right, I glued the side pieces in place - holding there position with two small temporary screws. Once dried ( overnight ) I removed the screws, and drilled two 6mm holes right through the pieces ( and through the original material underneath too ) and glued in some short stubs of 6mm dowel. These would act as securing pegs. These were than sanded flush. Edited By Tim Mackey on 08/09/2011 14:15:37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon B Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I've crashed enough models to be quite adept at crash scene recovery now. I repaired it, but it was fiddly...Edited By Simon B on 08/09/2011 13:41:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 I then made small pieces to fit the top and bottom sections, allowing for the necessary space around the revolving motor. Cooling holes, slots, and corners were removed, to maximise airflow. Everything was slotted together "jigsaw style " PU glue applied, and clamps fitted all around, and left to dry overnight. Next up, sand all corners smooth, remove excess glue and material ( dremel sanding drum good for this ), and were good to go. A bit of fibreglass and resin was used to patch up an old cowl, trial fitted, and new screw holes marked - use pieces of card taped to the fuselage sides, mark where the fixing block holes are - onto the card strips - and then slide on the cowl UNDER the card strips. Mark through the holes in the card onto the cowl, and Roberts your fathers brother.I'll post pictures in a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 First up, the damage. She went in hard, as seen by the mud which FILLED the airflow spinner. Luckily, damage was confined to the frontal area only Card templates traced around ply sheet and cut out with fretsaw. Here we see the remains of motor box taped up alongside the beginning of the repairs - side pieces are temporarily fitted, and card firewall is fitted. Sides are temporarily attached with screw after aligningment. All parts fettled to shape, and clamped and glued over-night First look after removing clamps. After sanding and final shaping /smoothing, motor is trial fitted. Cowl patched resprayed and model re-assembled Good as new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I do not believe it! I post for photos, and they are suddenly there, is this magic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Patience Erfolg ..patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bran Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Well Tim, at least you crashed it, my motor mount fell apart in mid air!! SLIGHTLY off topic, but of the many threads on this plane, this was the latest dated one that dropped out of a search for "Ripmax Spitfire". Just went to the Ripmax website to look at the MANUAL for this plane. English website, English link, PDF Manual in GERMAN ONLY. Ripmax at their best............................as always............................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Alan, Just tried the link to ebookbrowse and got an unsafe site message. Have you used the site without problems? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 had it bookmarked for a while, but not used it as such, just tried it, and my virus checker does not flag it up, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Ok thanks will try it out John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Got the instructions up this time. It was when I tried to download the pdf it changed sites and wanted to download a download accellerator that I got the message. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Worked for me without download accelerator? If you want a copy PM me an e-mail addy and I'll send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bran Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 yup, worked straight away.............TA! . Ironic that the Ripmax download is in German only since the major reason why we are not all talking German now is ........................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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