Andy Blackburn Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 I've not done anything on the JP (or any build) for 10 or 12 weeks; I don't know about anyone else but I find it impossible to do anything in the workshop when it's hot - just can't do it, and in any case most free time in summer is spent flying. However, I've spent the week painting and assembling the cockpit furniture etc. : This isn't the best cockpit I've ever done but it's not too bad. I think, on balance, I'm going to leave off the instrument panel because only a very small part is visible and there's not much detail on the rest of the cockpit, so I think a detailed panel might look out of place. And in any case, you can't see it in flight. Edited By Andy Blackburn on 16/08/2014 12:20:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Looking good Andy - looking forward to seeing this up close soon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McLaren Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Yes, good to see its moving on Andy. Any more progress to report after the cold and rainy bank holiday? Must have been good building weather, even in the deep south!. Is it going to be ready for the 13th? You seem to be so close to the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 Yep, got a fair bit done, although I did have a day off at the Nats last Sunday. Barring incidents, it'll be done by the 13th - knowing my luck, though, I'll probably have to maiden it on the day . Canopy is now on: - attached with canopy glue as the original was attached with Solartrim and was forever coming loose. It just needs the framing and I think I still have most of the original frame shapes on tracing paper in my desk drawer... I've spent the available time this week finishing off the covering (mostly): ...and I think it looks OK. Not perfect - there's a small mistake on the top surface (not visible in the picture) - but it'll do. There's just the part of the tailplane that sits between the elevators to do, and then the covering is finished and I can start putting it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 This was the last bit of covering that needed to be done: The elevators are probably a little further apart than drawn because of the aerodynamic balances, so there was a larger-than-expected control surface gap - easily fixed with a couple of thin strips of wood. Thinking back to all the trouble I had with Profilm earlier on in the build, I used Solarfilm to cover this last bit - and it was no trouble at all. This was my solution to the rudder horn issue: - basically, it's a nylon snake that's been sanded to a slight cone so that a clevis can be screwed on and then cyanoed, attached to a CG short control horn (cut down to half size) that has had a corner sliced off so that it fits. It'll be painted silver when the detailing is done, which brings me to: Not quite finished, but not far off; in this condition it weighs 26.6 oz including 1.5 oz of noseweight; let's call it about 27.5 oz when all the decals are on, but I can lose about an ounce of that by replacing the tip tanks with the plug-in wingtips. Should be able to get the missing decals etc on next week in good time for the PSS event a week on Saturday. If I was doing it again, I'd think very carefully about lightweight modelspan tissue and sanding sealer, finished with car aerosols or enamels/acrylics applied with a large, high quality brush - I suspect it'd be considerably easier, and possibly no slower in terms of time spent on the model, as opposed to time spent waiting for stuff to dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kettle 1 Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Nice Andy good to see another one finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 I'm going to call this finished on the basis that I would have flown it today if the ISA PSS event was on: There's maybe a bit more I could do with panel lines and the like, but that can be done later; in this condition, it weighs a tad over 27 oz including a 2000 mAh NiMh and an additional 1/2 oz of noseweight - I've meddled with the wing incidence a bit so I'm not 100% certain where the c.g. should be, am hoping that I can remove the extra 1/2 of of lead after test-flying. I did try and paint the lights on the leading edge of the tip tanks but it didn't go well (turned our to be a right mess, actually) and I had to clean it all off again; I'd be interested in hearing how other people have done theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Edwards 2 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Damn fine job ! I don't know why I sound surprised, I expected nothing less hahah Shame about the Ivinghoe comp today, fingers crossed for a maiden on the 27th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McLaren Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Very nice Andy. Strange how its a different colour in every picture! I hope we get a chance to see it fly on the 27th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Yes, I think the colour variation is down to the interaction of dayglo and silver film with an iphone camera. There's probably something I can do to fix this, but I never read the instructions as a matter of principle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 "I'd be interested in hearing how other people have done theirs." Andy, On the tip tank lights, I dropped the nose of each covered tip tank through a piece of stiff card cut with a 12mm hole in it, checked alignment for square then drew around the card with a medium bullet permanent marker. This created a black 'edge' - thicker than a panel line - upto which I hand painted the gloss red and green using good old Humbrol Enamels... they are a little 'cartoony' but look fine and a good thick coat of enamel permanently seals the covering overlaps on the nose section too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Ah! Phil, that's brilliant, thanks very much. The lights usually show very dark in daylight so I was going to use a coat of matt black and then a mix of 50:50 gloss red or green enamel : clear lacquer, the intention being to end up with a dark tip with a slight colour tint. Good idea to seal it with clear lacuer afterwards. Edited By Andy Blackburn on 17/09/2014 14:56:07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 These are better photos; tanks on: ...and tanks off, replaced by shaped wing tips: Obvs, it looks better with the tanks on, but is slightly better in light lift or thermals with the tanks off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Andy, It seems that all your struggles with the film covering were well worth it - a lovely finish and very neat appearance. I look forward to seeing this one in the flesh. Perhaps we need a JP 'reunion' next year, for those examples still flying and any new ones to join the squadron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McLaren Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 I was privileged to see Andy's maiden flight yesterday on the south slope at Ivinghoe. The forecast was 14 to 15 mph, but we measured around 30 gusting to 40 on the edge of the slope. The conditions were rather turbulent, keeping quite a few models on the ground, but Andy was determined to give it a go, and he made the choppy conditions look smooth and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Well done Andy - the new model looks great - another JP is (finally) born!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Price 2 Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Well done Andy. That looks so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Actually, I'm very pleased with it. Scotty kindly agreed to do launch duty, and I'm happy to say that it was one of those occasions where one instantly feels at home with the model; if anything, it was smoother and more stable than the original of 10 years ago! The only obvious faults were just a hair too too much aileron differential, and very slightly more aileron movement needed; other than that, it felt really well-balanced. It can be steered very nicely with just the rudder (definitely worth fitting), and seems to be able to fly a bit higher than Steve's example so maybe the drag-reduction program (wing fairings, slightly rounded/thinned intakes) has worked. I wouldn't want to move the c.g. any further forward but it still required a fair bit of down trim (but then, most JPs seem to need it) so maybe in future the wing-tail set-up should be zero-zero. On landing, I managed to execute two perfectly good circuit-and-overshoots but then when it came to the landing proper, dropped it upside down in a thorn bush - basically pilot error. Um... There was a bit of puncture damage and a dented leading edge, I'm going to repair it this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 I don't believe I've ever crashed a model on its first flight before This is the damage being fixed: Not a lot of overlap on this film patch... But it shouldn't be too obtrusive after a few panel lines have been added: I'm not going to touch the dayglo area because it's a bit translucent and a patch would be very obvious. On balance, could have been worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Ouch! A nice repair though Andy. Congrats on the otherwise great maiden too. I must get down to the Beacon at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 The problem with something like the JP is that I tend to fly it a lot, so it gets a lot of wear and tear. Or in this case, a mid-air with a foamie... Here's the crease right across the top wing skin: film removed: Wing skin removed: replacement wing skins in place: ...but you need some reinforcement/positioning pieces to carry the wing skin strength through, otherwise it'll be really weak. Blu-tack is useful for holding stuff in position whilst the glue dries: ...ready for the replacement wing skins: before pinning down, we need to make sure that the washout is preserved so a 1/16" -> 0 washout wedge is taped under the wing in the normal place: Glued with PVA - for reasons of strength - and pinned in place with loads and loads of pins and a hammer to make sure it stays flat for 24 hours: ...24 hours later: + too much filler: ..sanded more-or-less flush: ...and covered: - there are some minor blemishes but they're not visible is this photo. I'm hoping that it'll be less noticeable after the panel lines are (finally) added. Edited By Andy Blackburn on 25/03/2015 18:36:53 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Edwards 2 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Superb repair skills there ! In some ways it's nice when they get beaten up a bit, it removes some of the stress of flying them to an extent. I've had planes that have been flown inside out, and owe me nothing ! On balance they are the most relaxing to fly. Anyway ... back to the Tonka now ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kettle 1 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Nice repair Andy, good to see the stages you did to get it back in good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McLaren Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Expertly done Andy. Not even an overlap in the solarfilm visible! I agree with Scott. There's still time to finish that Tornado! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wim Severens Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Hi Andy, I am looking for the 1/12 pilots that you had installed in your first Jet Provost. I checked Pete's Pilots,but only the vizer-down version is available in 1/12. Can you please tell me where they came from? They really make the difference in an already magnificent model! Friendly regards, Wim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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