Concorde Speedbird Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 This could be a long one... I've done a blindfold-scale Spitfire and I decided to do a Mustang next, preferably larger and more accurate. The Brian Taylor plan depicts a fairly complicated but very accurate model, and it is the latter that has drawn me to it. I got the plans (2 sets) and parts from Sarik. Subject is Ferocious Frankie because I used to see it frequently when growing up in Suffolk (annoyingly the aeroplane has just moved to Turkey, would have liked to get more pictures of it). I'm going to do the best I can and see how much detail I can (or can be bothered) to add. If it goes really well, who knows, I may even enter some stand off competitions. But that is not the current plan. I'm not starting until the Swift is done, but that won't be long and I thought an early open would stem some discussion. Anyway, pictures: Retracts are from the USA (rather apt) because Unitracts seem to have disappeared. Tested them and they work well. The legs sit in the scale position, but the mounts need to be redesigned to take these. Annoyingly the motors will be visible in the wheel wells, first scale blemish! Looking forwards to getting this build underway, I shall start with the wing first. The main undercarriage with separately hinged doors and hiding the aileron actuators are the first couple of challenges! Jacob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 This post will be quite dull, it is mainly so I have it on record. The first challenge I am investigating is the undercarriage. My retracts have the correct leg length and pintle angle, but the retraction angle looks like it is 90 degrees rather than the correct 86 degrees. However, I believe I can make it work without modifying the units. The extra 4 degrees yields an extra 6.7mm arc length of retraction at the centre of the wheel. By retaining the correct angle with wheels down (perpendicular to the runway) this means the wheels go 6.7mm too far into the well when compared with what it should be. However, if this clashes with the well, I can lower the whole unit by 5 or 6mm and still remain completely in the wing when retracted, because the Mustang retract hinge line is set quite high in the wing. It's a cheat, but it would be nigh-on impossible to notice unless I was stupid and posted on the internet that I was going to cheat... I can still make the undercarriage leg doors work too because they are separately hinged and attached to the legs with sprung telescopic mounts, so the doors can sit flush despite the legs moving a tad more. I'll make a test rig using scrap wood cut to the same dimensions as the wing to determine the best position I can put the bearers before building the wing. This way I will know what I am doing when building the wing. Hopefully I am correct and this will work! Told you it would be boring... I'll start on the test rig and get some pictures tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Sounds like a sensible fix. At the end of the day no one will notice and once retracted it wont show at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Sunday Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I've seen a couple of your models in your photos. Beautifully finished so I am book marking this build and will be following along. This isn't the same Brian Taylor mustang I built but I did attempt at a ferocious franky finish as well. I've built 2 Brian taylor models now and I'll say this, he takes a lot of the guess work out of it. Best of luck and keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 Thanks Jon, hopefully a nice Laser 120 comes in stock fairly soon! That's very nice of you Shane, do you have any pictures of your Mustang to share? Hope you enjoy following along! Started on the retract test rig. I only need the area from the centre to the outermost mount of the retract bearer in front of the spar, and only one side too. . Firstly, an MDF board. The 'wing' will be attached to this upside down at the dihedral angle, so the leg can easily be mounted with the correct stance. Some of the laser cut ribs can be used in the rig because they will need re-fabricating once I decide the new bearer position. Others are re-cut, as shown below. Not the finest cutting but it's fine for the rig (the laser cutting is beautiful). The lower three will be used in the rig and modified for the actual wing. What I have so far, not a lot done because the Swift is priority one currently. I got one of the units out and in real life it looks better than I thought (woo!) to get them in the right place. Hopefully I will get some structure built tomorrow so we can start pondering what the situation is. I'm confident that with the rig I can devise a solution which looks like the real thing with both gear up and gear down. I can also test the doors when I get around to doing that with the rig too. Jacob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I'm afraid I probably wont have 120's until April. With our factory move things are going to be seriously disrupted for at least the whole of March. Its going to be a tricky few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 That suits me well anyway since I have the wing to build. Hope everything goes as smoothly as possible, my 80 has been perfect since you fixed the glider tow string ingestion, thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Jacob, you probably know this, but for the proper scale retraction sequence you will need a sequencer for the inner doors - they close after the wheels come down and (obviously) open before they close. FMS do this on their foamy P51, I don't know if the sequencer is available as a spare. Others must be available, I think I've seen them from Hobbyking. The retracts you've bought look really nice. I'm sure you will produce a model to match them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Posted by Concorde Speedbird on 12/02/2018 22:47:07: That suits me well anyway since I have the wing to build. Hope everything goes as smoothly as possible, my 80 has been perfect since you fixed the glider tow string ingestion, thank you very much! Ok great i will see what i can do. Just stay away from tow line in future Trevor is also right about the doors. HK do a sequencer that will work P51 style. they are only about 8 quid i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 9 Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 who did you buy the retracts from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 I look forward to following along, should be a lovely build Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Following... another on my to-do list. Is that the -B or -D variant CSB? Martyn Edited By Martyn K on 13/02/2018 13:22:08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 On my "to finish" list Martyn. Mind you its only been about 11 years at this stage Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Danny that's a serious number of garden books and no aircraft books , Jacob I'm following to love the Mustang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Hi Martian, guest bedroom, the friend that visits the most is into her gardening the Aeroplane reference library is in another room Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 That fuselage would be best powered by a glow Rolls Royce Merlin Danny, imagine the sound! But the Laser will do for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Imagine? I have heard it There is a Benedini sound system in there with a massive sound box and Blaupunkt speaker Cheers Danny Edited By Danny Fenton on 13/02/2018 16:44:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 Sorry just got back from work. Trevor- Yes I was aware- I may be able to do it through programming on my Taranis transmitter which could be interesting, if not then I will get a sequencer. Thanks a lot! Cheers Jon! Phil- They are from Century Jet in the States (got to have some American-ness in it I suppose!). Company doesn't have the best reputation but I am pleased with these retracts- I also had them custom modified for the leg position and pintle angle. Danny- Great to have you on board, please point out all my errors so I can rectify them! Cheers Martyn- thanks, it is a D so bubble canopy. Thanks Martian! Denis, he does do a good job doesn't he?! There are loads of videos on youtube of aeroplanes with sound systems to replicate the full size engine sound, it's worth a look! I shall get some more done on the rig after dinner, back later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Try this - put the inner doors on a mix tab channel with the same switch as retracts and use a 4 point top hat shaped curve with slow set long enough to allow for retract/extend time of the main leg. At least it works in Companion simulation! Edited By Bob Cotsford on 13/02/2018 19:26:36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 Thank you very much Bob, that is brilliant! I'll give that a go when I get onto the doors. Rig building time. Note that the workmanship is not to usual standards because I used whatever scrap I could and it doesn't need to be for the purpose it is being built for. Tracing of the plan: And the build It is too far to the right in this picture. Already it can be seen that rib 4 will need to be cut for the motor and rib 5 changed to mount the bearers in a better position, but it looks reasonable. Next is to mount the rig at the correct dihedral and incidence angle, but it was getting cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Minor update It was looking like I was going to have to delay the start of this build due to a house move (hence lack of updates), but that is not occurring now so I can get going again! Also, I have managed to acquire a BNIB Laser 120 from a fellow forum member. It's beautiful and it easily fits fully in the cowl, obviously cooling will need to be planned carefully. Got all the important bits now. After my two week holiday and once I have done messing around with Wot 4s that are hogging the board, I can make a start on the Mustang wing (and continuation of the retract rig, getting these mounts right is going to be critical). What could possibly go wrong (don't make a list...) Jacob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 I've been itching to get going on this one so I took a little break from the Wot 4. I have been anticipating a geometric battle to get the retract angles correct, but using the rig it was actually very easy. The finished rig: Notch in the bearer for the shaft- note that significant reinforcement will be added on the other side of the bearer when put in the real wing. I had to bring the bearers up 3/4" because the mounts are different to the retracts shown on the plan (which is a benefit because it adds more material in the ribs). Fits in nicely when retracted: The wheel fits in the well- a slight bit can be seen here because I had not finished adjustment. And wheels down looks very good. Looking at the Bentley drawings, rake might be a few mm too far forwards compared to the full size, but this is probably due to the rig being less accurate than the wing will be (and slightly forwards helps ground handling which is good). Please excuse the arm: The legs are very heavy so I might be tempted to try and get some lighter ones at some point, we shall see. Now I can modify the real wing ribs and start building the wing, very pleased with this so far. I have not decided if I am going to try out RDS ailerons or have conventional connections. It would be nice to hide the connections... Jacob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 Not much spare time today so just prep work for the wing build. I have two copies of the plans so one copy is cut up for build use, the other is kept clean. Dry assembly, all parts line up well. If you squint there is a Mustang wing there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Sunday Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I had been wondering when you were going to get back at this. I like your ideas when building the retract jig looks to have worked out well and will be worth the time spent on it I'm sure. WHat brand retracts did you end up with? Keep them posts coming and just know... We'll be watching you. Shane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 Century Jet retracts from the states. Decent but no threadlock on any of the bolts so I will apply that myself. Dry assembly of the real retract mount: And then I glued just the retract mount area to make sure it is right before the rest of the wing assembly is built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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