The Annual Dark Nights Fix-up.

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by GrumpyGnome on 14/11/2020 09:58:46:

Model Shop Leeds posted on Facebook that they have recieved a balsa shipment.

GG

I had a look but it appears to be collection only, no shipping

[leccyflyer]

Finished the motor mounting on the Kyosho Spitfire. The space frame made from threaded steel rod with aluminium tube spacers and a pair of AXI radial mounts is very solid and rigid, but adjustable to a fraction of a mm using washers to pack the back of the front mount. At the moment it is set up with the thrustline normal to the firewall and that gives a nice fit of the spinner to the front of the fibreglass cowl. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

[jeff2wings]

Forgot to say what the No 2 project was

RM 36 Swinger ll

[Dale Bradly]

The TN Spitfire progresses, has had it's rhinoplasty, and other than needing a clearcoat to seal the latex paint, is ready for fitting of control gear/engine. (And just remembered i better add exhausts too)

In it's previous life, the whole airframe was covered with iron on, the fuse is now (as will the wing in future) be glassed with epoxy, then weave filled with WBPU before paint. The control surfaces/tail feathers remain the original iron on, just painted.

The wing remains a work in progress, as i currently have the bottom cut open as i evaluate if & how to fit retracts.

Yes, it's based on a PRIX colour scheme, although i'm not chasing accuracy. ("Cartoon scale" is a favourite description of mine)

[Geoff S]

Posted by Dale Bradly on 15/11/2020 06:53:49:

Yes, it's based on a PRIX colour scheme, although i'm not chasing accuracy. ("Cartoon scale" is a favourite description of mine)

My favourite description is 'stand off a long way scale' which describes the Flair SE5a I'm restoring quite accurately. Though I am adding a few extra scale type features like tail rigging (real) and wing rigging (elastic) in the hope of making it look a bit better.

Geoff.

[jeff2wings]

Bit more done on the swinger, wings stripped and recovered and servo mounting repaired, fuselage being prepared for spraying, when that's done I will leave it to fully harden before it's fuel proofed ,so then l will be back to that fokker again!

[leccyflyer]

More work on the Kyosho Spitfire refurb - got the aileron servos mounted, the snakesall sorted an installed for the rudder and elevator, the tailplane mounted and the damaged lower bout and hinge line of the rudder repaired. A bit of everything today, lots of bitty little jobs, but continuing to make gradual progress.
Schoolboy error ordering the oleos for the retracts yesterday, measuring the length including the 5mm mounting pin, which makes them ca 20mm too long. The order was already completed, but luckily they also had the right length on stock, so I ordered those and that means I'll just have a spare set to put in the drawer.

[Mike Bell]

I'm finally getting round to starting the Jungmeister fuz rebuild. Below is the starting point.

Covering stripped back a bit.

Raggy edges cut back to form the joint for the new front end graft. Should be able to get some nice thin ply doublers in place across the joint to make it strong.

I'm currently tracing fuselage sides and formers etc ready to start cutting new bits. I feel a bit more enthusiastic about doing it now I have started.

[leccyflyer]

Fettled the retracts on the Kyosho Spitfire refurb. which turned into a much bigger job than it seemed at first since one of the factory retracts mounts was very weak indeed. The early version of this ARTF had notoriously weak retract mounts. This second hand example had been recovered and one of the mounts was pretty solid., the other was very weak, That meant I had to cut away the existing mount and replace with a hardwood bearer which will spread the load across three wing ribs. I also reinforced the cutaway rib with a liteply doubler. It took a fair bit of trimming and joinery buy I'm happy with the result. Decided not to tear out the other side as that seems fairly solid. Hope I don't come to regret that. The Hobbyking oleos sit a couple of mm proud of the wing surface, but it would require even more major surgery to sink the mounts further into the wing and the ribs don't have enough beef for that anyway.

 

Edited By leccyflyer on 27/11/2020 17:41:49

[Geoff S]

Well, I've refurbished the Flair SE5a and it's ready fly under electron power rather than glow It's detailed more here but you can tick it off the list.

I have a Hangar 9 P47 in a similar state to Mike Bell's Jungmeister but that isn't on my current 'to do' list. I have a couple of Peter Miller design new builds on the stocks first - Li'l Cub and a Rans 9 Chaos.

Just hope 2021 will offer more opportunities to enjoy them with few (or no) restrictions

Geoff

 

Edited By Geoff S on 04/12/2020 15:00:57

[GrumpyGnome]

Discovered the prop shaft on my SE5 is bent and cannot find a replacement; it's a bolt on adapter so the motor can be rear mounted. I can't reverse the shaft that sticks out of the back as it just will not budge. And the motor is too wide to allow me to front mount it in any of the motor mounts in my spares box. So I can either:

a) build a motor mount that allows me to mount it behind a new firewall

b) buy a replacement motor and keep the existing one for another model.

Will try a) as it's cheaper! Although a lot more work... and delays the 'remaiden'. No problem as I have other things to fly .

GG

[J D 8]

Joining in with the dark nights fix up with a couple of old models. Several old models were donated to the club. They were mostly IC trainer types but two took my interest.

A little unfinished prop jet [ Told myself a while ago that small and fast were getting outside my flying ability these days but Hey Ho. ] and an Easy Pidgeon for relaxed flying.

[leccyflyer]

Didn't do a huge amount yesterday, just 3D printed the instrument panel for the Kyosho Spitfire and repaired the wing leading edge sheeting around the retract mounts. So that's all fettled now ready for repairing the covering with a couple of large patches, ready for painting. . I'll print the underwing radiator today

[leccyflyer]

Little bit of work on the Kyosho Spitfire, magnetic holdfasts and recovering on the battery hatch, prep the fuselage covering for paint, get the wing ready for patching the covering. 3d print the underwing radiator and reject it as a wee bit too small. Redo the underwing radiator and radiator flap files for reprinting.

[J D 8]

Done some on the prop jet F15 above. Did think that the bell motor that was mounted on the nose was not up to much giving only 65 watt. Replaced with a rear mounted unit with about 155 watt available on 1300 3s. Should give it some zing weighing just 1lb ish. Will get it flyable and try it out before going for a finish. Not sure on CG

Edited By J D 8 on 12/12/2020 21:30:26

[leccyflyer]

Recovered the bottom of the Kyosho Spitfire wing - really don;t like Solarfilm now, compared to Profilm and the excellent HK film, but managed to scratch together enough scraps of a similar blue to the existing covering, that will then give a fairly uniform surface for paint, after a wipe with my last precious stock of Prymol.

Underwing radiator print is at 91% printed just now and I'll put the radiator flap on to print over dinner this evening.

[Bob Cotsford]

I've not really done a lot lately, a little progress on one wing of the P-40 but enthusiasm is a bit low at the moment. To date I've removed the sloppy plastic retract unit and it's bellcrank, cleared away the broken vac-formed plastic leg cover, removed the balsa wheel well ready to re-locate it and cut all the ply needed for the new retract mount. Oh yes, and fitted a 1/2" wide * 1/4" ply spar brace across the retract bay. Who would have guessed that BlackHorse would cut wingspars as 1/4" wide strips of 1/8" ply?

Half a day's work spread over several weeks! I have sorted out a couple of other project though.

First was to move an old computer desk from the shed up to a spare bedroom, install my building board and some under shelf lighting and start migrating tools up there leaving the living room coffee table free for maintainance and in the hand jobs that can be done in front of the TV.

Second, I've installed ISRM RF upgrade boards in my FrSky X10S and X12S transmitters and started uploading the latest firmware to all my receivers - not a small task! Why did I feel the need to upgrade? Why not? I like tinkering

[Mike Bell]

Made some progress with the Jungmeister fuselage rebuild. A front end module was put together then grafted onto the rear fuz assembly. I was worried about getting alignments right but it was easier than I anticipated.

[Lindsay Todd]

Finally made a start on the Kyosho Spit 90 repair, as the front end is completely shot first job was to try and piece together the remains of the former/s to make some templates. not great as most was matchwood but at least i managed to decipher one

this has at least allowed me to identify the outside shape and some datum points in the fuselage so i can get a couple of lines marked that i know are square and good references for everything else. The structure will have to change internally with new reinforcement but a new front former has been made and spot fixed with cyno to set its position, from this i can now work backwards.

I have also been able to re assemble the engine mount box and identify its position by piecing together part of the front former and overlaying this. the box can now be trimmed to fit the new front once the structure is secure so generally a good start.

I need to work out the shape and fit of the front wing dowel fixing and former next then start keying everything together again. Typically its all about taking measurements and making templates at the moment rather than gluing bits together.

Linds

[leccyflyer]

Good work Linds

With my Mini AstroHog complete bar the registration letters and pilot repainting and the Kyosho Spitfire at the paining stage that leaves the HVP Henschel Hs129 as the third of my fixer-uppers for 2021. However your recent article on the Gnatty means that i'm thinking of inserting my Gnatty refurb and wing replacement into the fray. Thanks for the inspiration.

[leccyflyer]

With foam rollers in the post for the repaint on the Kyosho Spitfire, I put that to one side and started the repairs on the HVP Modellbau Henschel Hs-129 which had been badly damaged in a heavy crash several years ago.

Weighing up the tail, I don;t think gluing it all back together was a good option strength wise, so it was a case of removing the stubs of the broken horizontal stabiliser, to form a pattern to fabricate a new one. This took a while, but ultimately I was able to get enough of the stabiliser out to lay it on paper and make a template. The original was quite weak 1/8th sheet, but I've cut the replacement out of a strip of quite hard balsa along the hinge line, added hard balsa tips and filled in with some nice light 1/8th sheet from stock. There might be a small increase in weight, but I'll deal with that. The pieces are joined with Superphatic and are sitting on the bench overnight to cure. I managed to salvage the original split elevators, with their control horns, which are operated by a Yshaped dual pushrod end.

The rear wing bolt mounting had also come adrift and needed to be reglued and repaired. Also the poor pilot's harness hadn't protected him and he'd hit the windscreen hard. There is some cosmetic damage to the nose, but the more pressing issues are with the motor mounts and cowls. I also plan to replace the Permax 450 brushed motors with contra-rotating brushless motors and replace the fixed gear with retracts.

[Graham Davies 3]

I've finally started work on my Pitts-e, seen here in the company of my Alley Cat.

Both were on my list of three 'fixer-upperers', although I'm still undecided if I want to do anything with the 'Cat. It is possibly my favourite all time model and has racked up many hundreds of flights. I'm feeling it may be honourable to retire it gracefully.

Anyway, the rather psychedelic colour scheme has been stripped from the Pitts, and it's been converted from 25-glow to electric. It was never much of a performer, largely due to the ASP32 at the time being a friday special and having just enough power to get out of its own way...

Awaiting servos and ESC, but should be ready for a photo tomorrow.

Graham

[GrumpyGnome]

Eventually received a motor mount for my SE5 so can finally fix it. After I fix my Alt DLG - making nose little larger so I can move batter forward and remove a few grams of lead; and making a canopy for my little Nigel Hawes Tucano, which I seem to have thrown away in one of my 'tidy-ups' (no doubt I will find it once finished!).

Will be adding some rigging and simple telemetery (LiPo charge) to the SE5 as well.

GG

[J D 8]

F15 now with rear motor and ready for a test flight before any finishing. Under arm launch or welding glove I recon.

Pigeon wing under repair. Old twister Medevac woken up to give fingers and thumbs a workout.

[leccyflyer]

Well the lightweight Henschel horizontal stabiliser came out far too bendy, so I remade it in medium-hard balsa in one main piece with a rear extension. that turned out just 2g heavier than the lightweight one and much stiffer - still 8g lighter than the broken tail that it replaced.

Put some plastic filler into the cracks in the nose to build it up and will leave that overnight. before a light sanding with wet and dry. Might weather the nose rather than trying to recreate the original paint, but will know better once it's done.