Warbird Replicas Spitfire LF mk IXc

[parridav]

So did I

[RICHARD WILLS]

Thats right chaps , Ive got a little list ! So you want be forgotten .

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by RICHARD WILLS on 09/04/2020 17:13:00:

As this lock down business will drag on for a bit , I'm considering doing a short production run of Spitfire kits .

If anyone wants one , pm me .

Regards

Richard (Warbirds)

Sadly (or not really) I'm deep into the building of my Tempest project but having seen the results of the build of one of these models first hand, don't hesitate to commit if you're looking for a lockdown project!

[RICHARD WILLS]

Update : Spits will be with me on Tuesday , Going out on Wednesday/ Thursday .

Glynn , has come up with a very simple flap update so I will get him to post some pictures .

I recommend increasing the dihedral to 2.5" under each tip . Just looks a little nicer .

Also lock the front of the undercarriage plate in with a wrap around the front end of it of Fibreglass cloth or brown paper and PVA , Other than that , they go together very nicely .

Richard

[Glynn]

Well here is my progress on adding flaps to the Spitfire wing, due to having time on my hands I have thought about how to do this the easy way and with minimum materials. So to start I have infilled with Lite Ply between ribs 2-3, 4-5 & 5-6, 20 mm from the rear spar. This will give a flap depth of 60 mm at the root end down to 35 mm near the aileron. The gap between ribs 3&4 is for the control rod. You can do this before or after the top skin is put on but ensure you keep the tabs on if you do it before.

I did the next step after the top skin was in place, I used 1 mm plastic card which you can get from almost all hobby shops, an A4 sheet will do both flaps, place a straight side of the card up against the new infill so it lays flat on the rib ends and draw round from underneath following the trailing edge of the top sheet. This will give you the correct outline.

Trim the ends of the card about .5 mm to give clearance between the ribs 2 & 6, I have used Metal Pin Hinges, easy to put on the infill evenly spaced using CA glue and a small screw for security. Offer up the flap and mark where the hinges are, I cut out a small indent in the card so when flap is deployed there is no gap between flap and wing surface.

The next step took a little time as I had to find a way of attaching the hinges and control horn which are nylon to the ABS plastic card which is really smooth and I didn't want any screws on the flying surface. I experimented with different glues, epoxy and heat welding but the one that works great is this glue, Gorilla Brush & Nozzle, it's very thick and Richard couldn't break the bond when I gave him the test piece and really tried hard.

I simply sat the flap upright along the infill, lay the hinge on the card and marked where it would be then applied the Gorilla Glue to the card and pressed and clamped the hinge for 5 minutes, one hinge at a time. This will give you a friction less flap. I have made a new servo hatch where I will use a 9 gram servo, and this will keep the underside of the wing clean. I will update with more as I progress.

 

 

Edited By Glynn on 30/04/2020 21:20:50

[RICHARD WILLS]

I like the simplicity of this so much , that I'm going to put some of the plastic sheet in each of the kits going out next week in case people fancy having a go . You don't really need them if you keep the weight around 6lb, But they look cool and do give you the option of reducing the landing run .

Great work Glynn .

[Paul Johnson 4]

Nice one Glynn,

Just remember that the radiator cowls will be over the flap servo cover. Might pay to put a door of sorts in the radiators. As I have discovered if you can't get to it.... you will need to later!

[Glynn]

Hi Paul

Yep your right, so I'm thinking a service hatch in the radiator and of course I will never need to use it then, the flaps should be quite reliable as they will only be used a few times each flight. Unless of course your flight consists of mainly go arounds like mine does.

[Martian]

I like that it,s really neat you could also add a little detail inside to it you wanted to

[Paul Johnson 4]

Posted by Glynn on 01/05/2020 11:12:30:

Hi Paul

Yep your right, so I'm thinking a service hatch in the radiator and of course I will never need to use it then, the flaps should be quite reliable as they will only be used a few times each flight. Unless of course your flight consists of mainly go arounds like mine does.

Another mystery ... if you don't have access you'll always need it....

If you do have access you'll never need it....?????

I suppose it's like visiting the boys without the haribos....

Talking of which have they get cabin fever yet and tied Richard up in the garage????

[Glynn]

The boy's are still trying to get over the fire raising attempts of Richard lighting the BBQ, they are keeping their distance as they know Richard has the magic of Fire (eventually)

[Paul Johnson 4]

He never listens does he...I told him Lipo's weren't meant for that....

[RICHARD WILLS]

Yes well , the BBQ was one of those throw away jobs that the lady wife had been hiding for a year , consequently , half way through the bangers being cooked , it gave up . So what did I do? Super heated the under performing coal with an electric paint stripping gun . Worked a treat , might just use the heat gun next time and skip the barbie.

[RICHARD WILLS]

Anyway , back to the wonderful world of the iconic Supermarine Spitfire ! I am getting a few more people asking for kits than I expected . The first chaps are all catered for but I might have to do a second run ten days later for the overspill .

Secondly , after wiping the nose off one of my original Mk9s last year , I decided to replace its snout and give it a MkV make over , in keeping with its three blade prop . So I got Glynn to mould some fish tail exhausts.

They look fab , and being ABS you can just airfix glue (solvent weld ) them straight on .

I am avoiding going to the post office with small parcels , but if anyone is thinking about doing early marks , this open up some more options . For example , I could imagine somebody wanting say , the Decals for MkV "JHC" normally flown by Charlie Brown (not Snoopy's friend , the other one ) and at the same time having the fishtail pipes and a three blade prop . All that could go Hermes , for example .

What do you think of the Stacks ?

[Martian]

They look brilliant Richard

[Trevor Crook]

Posted by andrew exton on 10/04/2020 08:22:06:

Posted by Trevor Crook on 10/09/2019 17:29:14:

Lovely looking model, envious of the skills to build it! I confine myself to building sports models, and buy the more complex ones as ARTFs I'm afraid. I have the Avios MkV, which is probably quite similar in size at 1450mm. That also weighs 6lb, and I find that the scale 80 degree split flaps help massively with the landing. If this design caters for them, I recommend they are fitted and used.

you should try one at least in your life .the kits are really straight forward in real terms , not flown mine yet but ive had spitfire , p40 ,p47.,la7 from many years ago & all flew great , got the ju88 to finish (cosmetic ) & fly , always wanted the P51b but missed that boat

andy

Edited By andrew exton on 10/04/2020 08:23:53

Edited By andrew exton on 10/04/2020 08:24:38

I must admit it's tempting, Andy. I'm just working my way through a little Phoenix Models sport scale Chipmunk, and quite enjoying it. If I tried a kit it would be something other than a Spit as I have the Avios. I think there was a 109 in the range, but I thought production had stopped?

[alan p]

Signed up

[Glynn]

I have made the servo box but I have to wait for some servo horns to arrive before going any further, I will post more pictures when they arrive.

Edited By Glynn on 03/05/2020 14:42:43

[RICHARD WILLS]

Some of the first batch of Spitfires will be on their way to you chaps tomorrow . I have put in a couple of pieces of 1mm plastic card in case anyone fancies having a go at the flaps .

I will also give some tips on modifying the build slightly . Having built and flown a few of them , I have done a little experimenting . You may prefer the mods , to the standard route , although it is only fine tuning .

[RICHARD WILLS]

Some of the first batch of Spitfires will be on their way to you chaps tomorrow . I have put in a couple of pieces of 1mm plastic card in case anyone fancies having a go at the flaps .

I will also give some tips on modifying the build slightly . Having built and flown a few of them , I have done a little experimenting . You may prefer the mods , to the standard route , although it is only fine tuning .

[RICHARD WILLS]

Ok , so like I said , over the years I have bent and repaired quite few of my Spitfires. The one Im going to show you was built in 2006 ! Test flew with a nicad battery , did 300 flights with an OS52FS before it suffered a battery failure at the end of its landing run , Throttled up and took off on its own! Didnt get far as you can imagine .

So after two new noses , it wont look exactly like your "just out of the factory " models .

However , it does always give me an opportunity to experiment . So here are some mods Ive done over the years that you may like to try depending on how confident you are .

[RICHARD WILLS]

[Andy Gates]

Received my kit from Richard last night with suitable social distancing.

As a rule I don't do kits, most of my machines are built from plans. My last 2 kits being a Stevens Aero RV4 and a Galaxy Models Escort trainer (eek!)

Well done Richard and team for an excellently produced and presented item. Wow is all I can say.

I want to get started but already have a build on the table so sadly the Spitfire will have to wait a little while. The other thing I will be doing is looking to save weight, as Richard knows, I love to fly lightweight and fly around at the low speed end of the flight envelope. The wait will also give me time to sort out motor / ESC / battery combo, servos and of course the all important paint job.

I did quite fancy the bright red of G-FIRE from my boy hood airshow days which flew with G-HUNT and G-FURY if I remember correctly. I have also be reading a book about Buck McNair so I may go with one of his machines, or maybe one of the Malta ones.

Keep going chaps,some great machines being built here, shame more people do not do the same.

 

Edited By Andy Gates on 06/05/2020 10:48:48

[RICHARD WILLS]

This will look different because it was rebuilt from the cockpit forward with junk . However the MOD is to allow the battery to come in from above rather than under the chin . Personal choice of course .

The bottom half of the cowl is permanently glued to the model , the top half is secured with magnets . I didnt make a great job so Im sure you can do better . A scrap structure is glued inside the top of the cowl to keep its shape and mount the magnets on . I used foam board as its easy to work with but light ply or even balsa would be ok .

The battery box needs to have its rear top open so that the can be pushed in and then under F1 . It is vital that the battery ends up right up front , as far forward as it would have coming in the front of the cowl .

The removable top will have panel lines as per the real thing , so as long as it sits on top nicely , there is no visual disadvantage . Since you may have more options than me , you might be able to squeeze the speed controller down the side of the battery box . I couldn't because I thought about it later, so mine lays on top of the battery ,

I

[RICHARD WILLS]

Next tip . The Spitfire when properly built should just get away with no ballast and weigh 6lb . The problem is , it has long back end , so any weight down there is a problem .

1) fix the tailwheel straight , save weight by keeping it simple , do NOT castor the tail wheel . You will regret it .

2) The sanding down and shaping of the rear underside of the fuselage needs to be significant , The section should be egg shaped and that will mean sanding right into the triangular balsa that is shown in section 28 of the manual .

3) When you get to section 17 in the manual , the central crutch has pretty much done its job in that your fuselage will be straight . At that point you can enlarge the lightening holes . The crutch is only a building aid so you can afford to lose a lot of it behind the cockpit .

4 ) Covering and painting the tail surfaces may be the issue leading to the requirement for nose weight , So go very light on the covering and painting back there . I have tried making a built up tail but after weighing it there was no real improvement . Light sheet as supplied isnt the problem ,its what happens next .