Nick Somerville Posted December 3, 2021 Author Share Posted December 3, 2021 (edited) Sometimes the smallest tasks take the longest. It took me several hours of fiddling and colourful language to get the little 3m nylon nuts and bolts in place for the hatch hinges. Access was particularly tight and I lost count of the number of times I dropped the pesky nuts inside the wing centre section. Had chosen nylon as in the event of an unscheduled trip through longer grass they might break off instead of ripping the hinges out. Also the curvature of the gear doors and wing meant aligning for a free movement required some wedged shims. I have 3m steel bolts on the doors at present but think I will replace these with nylon too, once I buy some more. Now, how to go about finding the optimum location on the bay wall for the pneumatic actuating device and the ball link on the gear door. Once I do sort that out I can line out the door and move on to the upper leg cover. Edited December 3, 2021 by Nick Somerville 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 When I fitted upper doors to my Mustang I think that I sewed them in place despite having some hinges like yours, because of limited space. They are operated independently by digi mini servos via a sequencer. Not to be recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 4, 2021 Author Share Posted December 4, 2021 There is a great article by Phil Clark (Fighter Aces) on RCSB on how to get your gear door geometry correct. https://www.rcscalebuilder.com/tutorials/gear_doors/default.htm However, I went for trial and error and as the top ball link connector has a few mm of adjustment I had some give and take. With the pivot point of the actuator set as low as possible in the well everything looks to be within a turn or two of ideal. Phew! The door horn is some copper clad pcb board silver soldered to a right angle with holes drilled to improve gluing with epoxy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 I found those KST servos at Phoenix MP. From the pic they were Mk1s but on speaking to the guy they are the red and silver Mk2s so I have ordered a couple to replace possibly dodgy ones in my Chippy. At £25.95, old prices, they look to be good value and they have loads of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 6, 2021 Author Share Posted December 6, 2021 Following on from the gear doors I have been having a go at hinging/actuating the upper leg covers and setting the main leg covers in position. The main covers are attached to the sprung/moving part of the u/c legs and the Sierra gear came with a pair of collars with a imperial bolt protruding for this purpose. The Imperial allen bolts were not quite long enough so I tapped the threads in the collars a little larger to take some 3mm threaded rod. A pair of hardwood blocks spacers and a third fixing point nearer bottom of the cover allows for some adjustment to get it all sitting nicely. There is no attachment point on the legs to fix a ball link to, so I made up a pair of ply half collars to take the link and have glued these in place with cyano. A little epoxy fillet on the edge will provide some extra support once I am certain the geometry is correct. It will be interesting to see if glue alone will be enough to hold them. If they fail I can always add a thin alloy strap and use the ball link to hold it in place. With the link in place and the upper cover hinged everything moved ok, but I did need to relieve the top corner of the main cover to clear the arm during part of its travel. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 I use silicon sealant as an adhesive for undercarriage mounts, works really well as it allows a little flex, I have found a good quality silicon gives a more rigid hold than the cheap stuff. I have found Jewel Silexo to work well, an aquarium sealant. Great job Nick. Cheers Danny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 Thanks for the tip Danny. I used silicon on my P47 leg covers but on these there is too big a gap, due to gear sitting lower in the wells, hence the threaded rod. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 Added the alloy straps to the legs as better safe than sorry. All gear doors and covers now lined and painted. I am running out if things to do on the wings. Took a deep breath and fished out the bathroom scales. With everything except the throttle servo, prop and batteries I am up to somewhere in the 22lbs region. Hard to say exactly as I had to weigh in parts and I am not sure if it really cuts the mustard that way. Wth a rod under the fus and the engine in place with the hefty spinner, but no wings, she is balancing pretty much spot on the c of g. Be interesting to see what difference the wings make. Either way I am confident that it won’t be a big difference and therefore auw is going to be no more than 24lbs. I’ll take that! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 24 isnt bad but i would expect some lead to be needed once the wing is on as most of it is behind c/g. Its funny you mention weighing the parts though. A friend and i have a standing joke about that as it never adds up for some reason. They always end up heavier. My gut feeling is 25-26 is still a likely outcome. Still not bad considering all the details though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 I am going to be disappointed if over 24lbs Jon, but lets see. I am going to mention the separate weighing comments to my better half as she hates bathroom scales ?. Soon as the weather picks up I can assemble it all and have a proper weigh in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 I use digital luggage scales which are easy to use and very cheap on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Throttle servo in place. A little fiddly getting the geometry right but it’s a nice direct link. Also one side of the numbers and lettering sprayed on the fuselage. Good to get to this stage as blue all over was getting boring. I’ll do the other side next and then it’s the Skippy roundels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 So last of the airbrush work completed. Just a final top coat of gloss clear Klasskote to fuel proof the lettering and roundels and I can put away the spray equipment for another year. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Looks magnificent in that livery. Final weight yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Looks great! I'm really looking forward to seeing this one in the flesh Nick. Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Looks great Nick, really well done Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 First class build Nick, I have a Chiltern Sea fury to finish off sometime. I Have followed your build with great interest, undercarriage is very good, just one thing, are you going to put the rest of the mounting screws in? Cheers Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 Thanks Eric. Sure they are in now. 13 hours ago, Martin McIntosh said: Final weight yet? Soon as the weather picks up I can assemble it outside and sort out the CofG and let you know. Also a few things to add. Receiver, batteries, tank, air bottle, spinner to cut so I can mount the prop and the final gloss coat over the whole model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Hi Nick, this is my scratch built Seafury it is electric powered 56" span with a balsa and ply frame foamboard formers and sheeted with depron covered in brown paper. I scaled it up from a small plan. it fly's great and looks the part in the air, it is the 5th Seafury I have made. looking forward to No. 6 which will have a 30cc twin petrol engine. Also looking forward to seeing yours in the air, all of mine have flown well so yours should be good as the bigger ones fly better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 Eric, that looks terrific and amazed at the fine outline and surface given your build techniques. Actually looks like a bigger model. Mine is my first Sea Fury and second warbird. It does have all the right proportions to be a great flier so I am not too worried on that account. Roll on springtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Thanks Nick , the area where the exhausts come out was made out of a Forster's can, I heated it up to anneal it and the interior is coated with what seems to be a shellac, this burned to the colour it is now which looked about right without painting. The top of the cowl is the hatch where the battery goes it also is an air intake to cool the battery but not noticeable when in the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Somerville Posted December 14, 2021 Author Share Posted December 14, 2021 Everything put together today bar the propeller and the total weight without balancing is 23.15lbs/10.5kg Very difficult to check CofG as I shall need to set up a proper rig of some sort or get hold of some digital kitchen scales and use the weighing at each wheel etc technique. However at a guesstimate it is about 1-2 cms aft of where it needs to be. Batteries currently placed behind the firewall. So to move the balance forward I could install the two batteries further forward either side of the engine box, or is this unwise due to the heat in that area? Also the cowl fixing is very secure, so some flat strips of lead could be added inside the front lip giving the longest possible moment arm. Thoughts appreciated. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 I’ve got a few I/C ‘planes with the batteries inside the cowl area, they’ve been like that for a few years now and no issues. Lead fixed to the cowl is not, imo, a good idea as there will be a lot of force on the fixings especially on landings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hazell 1 Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Absolutely stunning beautiful workmanship. What a craft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 Make a cradle using 6mm studding, attached and braced to the front of the firewall. Allows for adjustment using locknuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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