The Big Question ?

[Paul Johnson 4]

6 minutes ago, Eric Robson said:

A 109E for me, I still have a Richard's Spitfire to start which may take 12 days as its not a quick build 🤔 

Aaaah shudupa ya face...

[Eric Robson]

It will have to wait till the 109f is repaired the battery fell out and it turned into a lawn dart.

[RICHARD WILLS]

42 minutes ago, Chris Walby said:

Richard, List your top ten that you would like to build and we all get them to rank them in our preference then number crunch that lot and come up with the preference you started with!

 

My vote is let the Green chap decide, TBH who would be prepared to argue with him! 

One thing that is interesting Chris . If you look back at the entire Warbirds section on this forum , there is some clue in terms of the number of views .

So if you just look at the titles , some threads die off after a few hundred views , which of course is understandable .

However if you say look for threads with 5k or more views ,it gets more interesting . 

This is a quick summary 

Warbirds Replicas (WR)  P51    77k !

WR Spit                                      37k        To be fair , there are several WB Spit threads . 

DB Spit                                       17k

Cambrian Spit                            12K 

DB Hurricane                              7K 

WR Foam Mossie                        7K 

WR Ju88                                      18.8k

WR La7  (63" version )                11.5k

A word of caution though , I think (Paul will confirm this) the WR Bf110 was bigger than any of the above by a margin . The plane flies very nicely and has lots of options and different paint jobs but we still only sold around 28 .  So views and interest don't always convert to hands up . 

In the list above though , all of those viewings are big numbers so at least we , as a group are providing entertainment !

[martin collins 1]

I like Chris`s suggestion, there are probably more than one out of a top 10 i would build rather than just  stick my pin in one but if there was a 109 i would build that wherever it came on the list! Just a suggestion for those wanting a Jap aircraft without the round fuselage headache for Richard and those that build it, how about a KI-61, very similar to the 109, so much so that the Americans thought it was a license built Messerschmitt, tons of great colour schemes to choose from. I would also build one of those as well wherever it was on the list, in fact i already have a couple 😁. Maybe a P-40 (not too round) to go with it, i would buy one of each of those............

[leccyflyer]

4 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

Before I leave the musing as to what might follow the 190 /Tempest dog fight double, I feel I must ask one obvious but possibly overlooked question.

This kind of happened before when we went all round the houses and then people put their hand up for a P51 .

So here is the question . 

When I were a lad , I couldnt get enough of the Battle of Britain film , Spitfires/109s Hurries and Heinkels . Later in life I remember drooling over the OK models/pilot models  109 and Spitfire . 

Does that mean that a "Proper " 109e and Spitfire with all the whistles and bells would be a suitable consideration ? Or is that too mainstream ?

I would want them to look exactly like this 

Yes, that would do it for me. It's impossible to have too many Spitfires, or Messerschmitt ME/BF 109Es in my opinion and I have a lot of the former and a fair number of the latter, but the would both be on my wish list going forward, as you describe them. I'm especially badly missing a 55"-60" Bf109E in my fleet.

[leccyflyer]

22 minutes ago, martin collins 1 said:

I like Chris`s suggestion, there are probably more than one out of a top 10 i would build rather than just  stick my pin in one but if there was a 109 i would build that wherever it came on the list! Just a suggestion for those wanting a Jap aircraft without the round fuselage headache for Richard and those that build it, how about a KI-61, very similar to the 109, so much so that the Americans thought it was a license built Messerschmitt, tons of great colour schemes to choose from. I would also build one of those as well wherever it was on the list, in fact i already have a couple 😁. Maybe a P-40 (not too round) to go with it, i would buy one of each of those............

What a coincidence, I was just looking at a free plan for a 41" span Ki-61 this afternoon, published in AMI in the early noughties.

[Paul Johnson 4]

The Bf110 has had 23k views but doesn't include the huge number of views, i believe it was well over 100k before the website reset all these views as the system was updated.

[Nick Cripps]

How about a Ju-88 in a scale to match the Fw-190 so that we can build one of these 😉

 

[Eric Robson]

25 minutes ago, Nick Cripps said:

How about a Ju-88 in a scale to match the Fw-190 so that we can build one of these 😉

 

I sent Richard that picture a few days ago as a suggestion for a take off dolly but I don't think you'll be seeing one.

[Paul Johnson 4]

33 minutes ago, Nick Cripps said:

How about a Ju-88 in a scale to match the Fw-190 so that we can build one of these 😉

 

Come on Nick that's a little bit extravagant for a take off dolly

[RICHARD WILLS]

I can guarantee that the smart Alec ( or Adolf)  that designed that, didnt do his own test flights 😕

Good job it had a blow out .

[DaveB1]

I'm never normally one to follow a herd or go mainstream, but I slipped up by not joining in with the P51 build so would love to have done one of those. Equally I've never done a Spit, so one'll have to be done at some stage.

I do like that Hein and and P40 though 🤪..........

This is not much help is it !?    Bottom line is I prob would'nt do a 109 as I'll have two FW190's but would build anything else

[andrew exton]

on the fence with the spit / 109 but would probably say yes if the bank manger said ok 

i have the wr spit flys great once i finally got it set to how i like it though our field does knock hell out of the retracts & also clipped wing due to losing a fight with car door 🤬

im more into the pacific fighters but like you say round fuzz .

do like the ki_61 p40 combo though .

P51s i cant have enough off 

Spits would dearly love one of the griffon powered versions as opposed to a merlin version (that would probably offend quite few folk )

 

this probably doesn't help richard one little bit 

andy

Edited December 29, 2023 by andrew exton

[Graham R]

A new Christmas read. I'm surprised that the Hurricane hasn't been mentioned. It was the workhorse of the BOB.

[RICHARD WILLS]

Paul , tell them . 

[Graham R]

Is there going to be dissent in the ranks?

 

[Graham Davies 3]

42 minutes ago, Graham R said:

A new Christmas read. I'm surprised that the Hurricane hasn't been mentioned. It was the workhorse of the BOB.

You're not the only Graham that got this book for Christmas! Fantastic read, and I'm locked-on to build a Hurri now...

[Lipo Man]

A possible tip for fellow FW190 builders (unless I’ve got something wrong…). I’ve cut a clearance slot in the former that guides the cowling fitment to allow the battery hatch to fit unobstructed. Not seen mention of this elsewhere so I may have the wrong end of the stick?

 

[Eric Robson]

I took easy way out and sanded the tongue flush before gluing the front ring on. You may find it awkward to fit the hatch with the longer tongue. I bevelled mine on the underside to make fitting the  hatch easier. It is a good fit and I can't see it coming off in flight. 

[Lipo Man]

17 minutes ago, Eric Robson said:

I took easy way out and sanded the tongue flush before gluing the front ring on. You may find it awkward to fit the hatch with the longer tongue. I bevelled mine on the underside to make fitting the  hatch easier. It is a good fit and I can't see it coming off in flight. 

That sounds like an easier solution! I may end up doing that anyway if the hatch is too tricky to fit. 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Yes sorry guys  Phil the kit cutter added the tongue which is a good idea but didnt add the corresponding slot . 

On the prototype I simply had two small dowels ( a kebab skewer ) . Simple option as you can just drill two holes . 

Having said that mark where the slot should be , drill a hole at either end of the slot and join with a hack saw blade . 

[Flying Squirrel]

Has anybody got pictures of the servo installation? Mulling mine over and I can't find any info on how to mount them on any of the threads.

[RICHARD WILLS]

1 hour ago, Flying Squirrel said:

Has anybody got pictures of the servo installation? Mulling mine over and I can't find any info on how to mount them on any of the threads.

HI FS , if you go back to page 31 of this very long and convoluted thread you can see where I put the servos . 

I just used a couple of strips of the off cut hardwood from the kit where the formers had been cut . 

If you make up the pushrods as shown on the plan and note that the slots where they exit the fuselage sides are also shown on the plan , the two push rods will end up in the same place in the fuselage which is where you will put the servos . 

(The rudder pushrod is longer than the elevator ).

[Lipo Man]

Another beginner question: how to shape the tail fin and horizontal stabiliser? I can simply round the leading edge, but what about the trailing edge? Do I carve to a sharp edge like the wing, or something more “blunt”? As usual a picture is worth a thousand words!

Edited January 1 by Lipo Man

[Ron Gray]

I think that a new thread is required "WR FW190 build tips", anyone trying to find answers by wading through this and umpteen other FW190 build threads will soon get lost!