Phil Beard Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Thought I'd start building the Andy Conway PSS BAe Hawk T1 which is considered by some to be the ideal starter PSS model. The photo shows the short kit that I acquired from Neil Gilles of www.igull.co.uk and also the required canopy can be acquired from www.vortex-vacforms.co.uk. The plan is offered online from the Power Scale Soaring Association at www.pssaonline.co.uk Have started this between doing jobs on my F86 Sabre whist waiting for things to dry on that model. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Fuselage sides being put together and sanded flat at the scarf joints. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 Fuselage nose is made up of 6, 12.5mm thick balsa pieces. Which from the pictures you can see I've cut and sanded to roughly the required outline of the centre fuselage spine for the nose using this as a template to draw around for each piece prior to sanding to shape using a circular sander to save time and ease of doing. Centre fuselage spine shown with Fuselage Frames F1 and F2 added. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Tailplanes have been cut out and sanded to section together with the end pieces which have been cut out and sanded to shape ready to be glued onto the end whilst filled areas on the F86 Sabre wing are drying ready for sanding. Note the tailplanes are made up of 2 pieces of 6mm balsa bonded together and sanded to the given section. Will start looking at the parts required to be made for the control mechanism which need soldering and epoxying into the tailplane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 Well been getting on with the fuselage sides as always make sure you're not making 2 port or starboard sides. Before anyway says, yes people have done this!!! First time also I've used a cereal box as part of a build which has glued nicely down, I did sand the humps in the folds in the box to make sure it was flat. Have also cut out the 3.2mm balsa doublers as seen in the photos and if you've bought the Short kit from www.igull.co.uk you'll find spare material big enough on 2 of these sheets for this. Well I did. Hope this blog may encourage others to start this model with their introduction to PSS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 Forward fuselage between F1 and F2 progressing. Don't forget to cut the recess into the side near F2 for the main fuselage side and doubler to fit into when being glued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 (edited) Fuselage build continues with Frame F3 being added to the fuselage side and the rest of the frames being cutout. One issue I've found with the drawing is if you cut the aft balsa double to the size show on the drawing it's slightly too short on the forward end and so doesn't meet up and form a position next to F7. Things rectified with a little addition on balsa in those positions for me but highlighting to those that may follow this to build theirs. These bits were supplied by Neil Gillies of www.igull.co.uk and I'll let him know. Note F6 is shown upside down and I'll show a photo next time showing the chamfer along the bottom edge which this photo doesn't show due to it's orientation. Sabre wing in the background nearly ready for glassing. Edited October 30, 2022 by Phil Beard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 As promised a better picture of F6 with F6B glued onto it showing the required chamfer. Other photos showing the rudder build and it being sanded to the required section ready to be added onto the fuselage once it's finsahed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 1, 2022 Author Share Posted November 1, 2022 Build continues with shaping with razor plane and sanding of the shape between F1 and F2 using a template from the drawing to check shape. Forward of F1 the 12.5mm balsa sheet has been added and will be shaped to section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 2, 2022 Author Share Posted November 2, 2022 Nose sanded to overhead section as shown from the template made from the plan. Also you can see from the photographs the hardware that is used for the wing to fuselage join up that is then fastened to F6 and F6B using screws. May not get further update for 48 hours as I'm glass clothing the upper surface of my F86 Sabre wing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 F6 initially glued to the fuselage side and then sides started being glued together starting at F7 and working forward gluing F6 and F3 to adjacent fuselage side. Whilst sides are gluing together cutting out the engine intakes as can be seen from the photographs of the plan using 12.5mm balsa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Engine intakes have been cutout and sanded to initial shape. These need gluing together and thinner parts glued prior to being sanded to final shape. Received accessories today for the Elevator mechanism and also the 2 pilots that need to be put together from Vortex Vacforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 Balsa Fuselage base cut out from 4.8mm Medium Balsa. Engine inlets cut out from 3.2mm Plywood from the scrap wood box. Wingtips cutout from 12.5mm balsa and then sanded to initial shape. Engine intakes being glued together prior to sanding and adding the plywood intake and sanding to final contour and the gluing onto the fuselage side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 (edited) great progress Phil! Just a bit of advice if you are film covering - best to tack glue the intake fronts on, sand and shape final on the model, then ping them off - makes it much easier to get film neatly around the bulbous compound curves and inner rads of the intakes and of course to get some film behind them around the splitter fairing too. Edited November 6, 2022 by Phil Cooke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 Like this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 (edited) Phil thank you very much for your input and a couple of questions. Firstly I won't be using film but will be glassing as I've found this really good after my current experience with the Sabre wings. I still think as suggested I'll tack the front engine intakes on glass the fuselage and front engine intakes separately then permanently glue them in place. One question regarding the intakes and the drawing, the side view as below shows them finishing above the lower fuselage skin but the section shows them finishing at the bottom. The drawing gives you the shape to cut out which I have, just think this maybe another drop-off in the drawing. Unfortunately this gives so flats on the bottom of the front engine intakes. Have you a photo showing the bottom of your intakes by any chance? Key point to anyone following this is that these parts aren't symmetrical so make sure you make a port and stbd Front Engine intake. Check which way up is correct by laying the part over the plan as the upper curves less that the lower. Edited November 6, 2022 by Phil Beard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 This is the best I have Phil, sorry I no longer own this model so I cant go and retake/measure - but you can see clearly the intakes dont fall as low a the bottom of the fuselage or wing saddle. I think the side profile on the plan is correct and the section view at F3 holds the error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 This is also the case on the real one :-0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 Phil I'm in agreement with you in respect to the sectional view at F3 being in-correct. Thanks for the photos as they really help when stuck or not sure. I'll need to start thinking about paint scheme for both the Sabre and the Hawk. Put some photos of those I like below. Happy for more suggestions but don't want to do a Red Arrows one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 Lots of nice schemes to choose from, finding one thats not been modelled before is the challenge! Not essential of course Phil! Seen the Hawk gallery on the PSSA site? - a few more in there! I've always liked this one from 100 Sqn - dont think this has been modelled yet, not on the slope anyway (maybe in the turbine community??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 Phil thanks for that. Have to say that it's a nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Aft fuselage exhaust pieces cut our of of 12.5mm balsa. As you can see form the attached drawing 9.5mm + 12.5mm doesn't equal 27.5mm. Therefore used 2-off 12.5mm balsa and will add a 3,2mm extra at the end and sand down to length. F3B added to the fuselage and used some 6mm dowel in the hole to make sure they align before fully clamping up. Remember to remove dowel as any glue seepage will end up with this being glued firmly in place. F4B as a spacer is then added once F3B is firmly set and then F5. Don't glue the bottom of F5 to the side at this stage as 12.5mm balsa inserts need to be fitted later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 F4 added to the fuselage and the engine side fairings cut out of 12.5mm balsa and sanded to shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 9, 2022 Author Share Posted November 9, 2022 F3 top half needs to be glued into place using the angle guide to give the correct angle onto the bottom piece of F3. Once glue is dried insert the 3.2mm x 6.4mm balsa strip into cutouts in F3, F5 & F7 and glue into place as show in the photographs. Individual engine intakes need to be grouped into 2 sets of 3 and glued together as shown in the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Beard Posted November 10, 2022 Author Share Posted November 10, 2022 Now to start building the wing also. You'll need to cut out the angle template for W1 this should give the right angle for W1 so that you've 12.5mm dihedral under each wing, plus also make the wedge for washout under each wingtip which needs to be in place during wing build.. See photo's of the template for W1, dihedral requirement and the Wedge for washout. A spruce spar 3.2mm x 3.2mm is required top and bottom of the wing and I ripped mine from 3.2mm spruce sheet using a circular, this saves lots of money and time being able to cut to size any required strip from sheet balsa or spruce. W1 to W7 we're sanded within the top and bottom notches to allow the top and bottom spar to sit within at the correct angle. Drawing was annotated so that the ribs and spars could be positioned correctly once the 1.5mm skin was placed upon the drawing. Lines on the drawing were extended so that the skin could be cut to the required shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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