Big foam Spitfire

[Daren Cogdon]

So, back during the lockdown in 2020, I acquired this big foamy Spitfire model in a part-built condition.

 

I think it's made from EPS or something similar - definitely not polystyrene, as it's much denser and coarser than that.  The tail feathers are Depron, as far as I can see.  

  

The fuselage isn't in too bad shape, but the wings look as if they have separated through being stored in a warm environment.  They do have carbon fibre rods in the wings for strength, though.

 

Can the wings be salvaged, or should I be looking at making some new ones?

 

[Daren Cogdon]

So, I haven't touched this in a LONG time for one reason or another.

However, I took the bits out of the shed to have a look at it, and see if I could do something with the wings.

 

I started off by cutting the wings apart so that I could try to resolve any issues.  

I sanded off the old glue, and whacked a ton of UHU Por onto the leading edge and main wing parts before gluing them together. So far, they've stuck, but I'll give it a good 24hrs before I take off the tape.

 

 

[Daren Cogdon]

So, I took the tape off the wings, and they've stuck fast, so I've done something right, anyway! Next thing I'll probably do is to cut a dihedral brace for it and look at ailerons and the servos for them.

I'm intending on fitting 9g servos close to the tail surfaces, and cutting a channel down the fuselage for the wires. It seems like an easier thing to do than mucking around with fitting them further forward and running snakes through the rear fuselage.

Need to think about fitting the electrics in the fuselage, too - especially where the ESC and battery are to go. I have a motor and ESC which I salvaged from an old Extra 300 which was quite hefty, so I reckon this will work OK.