Warbird Replicas FW190 newbie build (or possibly some wellingtons)

[Lipo Man]

This is probably going to be a build thread for a Warbird Replicas FW190 kit - unless that box by the tree is a new pair of wellies. In which case it’ll be quite a short thread. I’ll find out tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

[Graham Bowers]

You do realise the kit is in a box that's in a box?? Thus presenting an opportunity for a little sleight-of-hand!

[Ron Gray]

11 minutes ago, Lipo Man said:

In which case it’ll be quite a short thread

If they are wellies then that depends on if they are lace ups.

[RICHARD WILLS]

You must have a wonderful wife . 

Mine always buys me make up candles........

[Graham Bowers]

2 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

You must have a wonderful wife . 

Mine always buys me make up candles........

Four?

[gillyg1]

Four ?

As in four wellies in the box 🤔

was thinkng its a large box for a pair of wellies-- unless " lipo man " is a large bloke 😉

[Lipo Man]

59 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

If they are wellies then that depends on if they are lace ups.

Lace ups are a bit new-fangled for me. My current pair are home knitted. You can’t get them in the shops…

[Graham R]

If they are wellies , should be some knee pads to go with them😀

[RICHARD WILLS]

four candles

https://www.google.com/search?q=four+candles&oq=four+can&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgBEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgCEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQyBggDEEUYOTIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDINCAgQLhivARjHARiABDIHCAkQABiABKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:229507aa,vid:gi_6SaqVQSw,st:0

[Don Fry]

3 hours ago, Graham Bowers said:

You do realise the kit is in a box that's in a box?? Thus presenting an opportunity for a little sleight-of-hand!

Careful, naughty lists exist, hung from a prop boss until you agree to clean the bathroom.

[Chris Walby]

A box that size would be a pair of waders...

 

We were chatting and drinking coffee this morning at the club (although one person did fly!) and though it would have been appropriate to wrap the box in brown paper (over order a roll) so it could be used later on in the build process! 

 

PS Did someone mention Tesco brown paper was a good choice? Other inferior produces are available!

[Graham Bowers]

1 hour ago, Don Fry said:

Careful, naughty lists exist, hung from a prop boss until you agree to clean the bathroom.

I've just been asked (commanded ;-) to clean the oven. Destiny ?

[Don Fry]

Don’t dirty it in the first place I say. Or are you an eater or producer. Eaters clean the thing. That’s not the naughty list. My first circle of hell is no home made biscuits. 
Leave the cellotape alone. Simples. This is your conscience speaking. Leave Satan’s devices behind.

[Lipo Man]

Good news and bad news this morning. Sadly I’m condemned to another year of wet feet due to no new wellies. However, on the upside Santa had delivered what the family have described as “a box of sticks”. New year project incoming!

 

[Lipo Man]

Grabbed a spare hour this afternoon to unpack and examine the kit. Hugely impressed by the quality of the parts - laser cutting is immaculate and pieces slot together very precisely. The design is also very simple - minimal parts count to produce the shape. I couldn’t resist starting so I’ve got the fuselage sides together. I used CA to add the little doublers and extension pieces at the rear, and a thin coat of PVA brushed onto the ply doublers at the front. Not sure if I’ve put enough glue on but I’ve left it weighted down and I’ll check in the morning. Fingers crossed!

 

[Chris Walby]

Hope that's not a fire hazard there..I use old lead acid batteries as they have more weight to volume. Then again if the ammo box does have 7.62 cal a lipos might be the least of your problems!

 

Appreciate the posts there Lipoman, 🙂

[Lipo Man]

Righty ho. Back from family visits so spent an hour in the workshop. Basic framing up of the fuselage was very quick. Added the formers to the central crutch with CA then glued on the main side pieces (doublers already fitted) with PVA wood glue. I don’t have those fancy clamps that the pro builders have, but packaging tape seemed to work just fine. I’ve left it in a warm dry place for the glue to dry before carrying on tomorrow. So far, so good. 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Looking good so far . Sticky tape is just as effective, as are elastic bands . My wife is always looking for her clothes pegs too . Dont know why ...

Your own design has photo bombed by the way . 

Maybe he's a bit put out ?

 

[Lipo Man]

2 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

Looking good so far . Sticky tape is just as effective, as are elastic bands . My wife is always looking for her clothes pegs too . Dont know why ...

Your own design has photo bombed by the way . 

Maybe he's a bit put out ?

 

Inadvertent. I’d had to dump it somewhere out of the way of festive guests. Don’t worry - I’ll probably have crashed it before I take more photos!

[Lipo Man]

A bit more progress this afternoon. Nose framing done and motor mount installed. I cut a slot for the battery hatch to protrude through the former that mounts the cowl - but another builder suggested simply shortening the tongue on the hatch which would be quicker and easier. Some sanding and shaping on the frame and the landing skid next. 
Oh - added a little fillet in the tail. Very pleased with the fit as I’m not very experienced with woodworking…

[Lipo Man]

As I’ve never built a kit like this before I’m doing most tasks for the first time. That naturally means that I’m making it up as I go along - sometimes good ideas, sometimes not. However, here’s one that worked really well to trim the cowl evenly. I roughly cut off the “flat” excess part, then got some bits of wood until a biro would be positioned in the ideal place with the cowl upside down next to it. I then kept the biro still and rotated the cowl so the biro drew an accurate cut line exactly parallel to the front face. Cut to that line with scissors and voila! Worked like a charm. Makes up for some of the less useful ideas…

 

And as usual, a picture is worth a thousand words. 
 

[Lipo Man]

A bit more progress today - first the  cowl. After trimming I used the gold gorilla glue (the foaming sort) to glue the cowl to the former. Placed the former on a plastic sheet and sat the cowl on top and left it to dry. This way I can make the cowl removable if I decide to do so to (allow access to the motor). 
Next I added the fuselage upper sides. I used PVA wood glue to give me time to adjust the fit, and used pins to hold everything in place. I CA’d some little offcuts to give something for the sides to align to - it was a bit fiddly and it’ll need a bit of filler but it really wasn’t hard. I also added little supports for the thin bit at the front that widens out above the exhaust areas to strengthen these bits (as others have done). 
Next the thin wrapped ply to make the curved nose. Richard said this bit is very satisfying - couldn’t agree more! The thin bendy ply is laser cut so precisely that it went on perfectly at the first attempt using PVA wood glue again. The fit really was perfect and ordinary clothes pegs are enough to hold it in place while the glue dries. 
Last thing today was trimming the front gun cover plastic section so I can see how it all looks. Kitchen scissors were more than up to the job - remove the excess at the sides, then the flat front and back faces. I then just trimmed bit by bit until I had a reasonable fit.
So far so good! Considering I’m new at this it seems to be going well - clearly down to a really well considered design. Plus my immense talent, obviously, but I’m forced to admit it’s probably mainly due to Richard’s attention to detail. Highly recommended. 

 

[Lipo Man]

The hardware supplied with the kit seems very comprehensive. I’ve guessed the four smallest screws are for the battery hatch latch. 
I’ve also reached the moment when I can prop up the bits to see what it will look like. Of course this serves no useful purpose and is simply a waste of time. And of course I had to do it. Looking great so far - very chuffed!

 

[Lipo Man]

A point for any fellow new to balsa builders. There are lots of helpful tools that experienced builders will have that we don’t. For example I’d love some of those clamps to hold parts together while the glue dries. And I’ve seen people carving out the foam in the wing core using a heated wire (on a soldering iron?). Anyway, I’ve managed without either of those. I taped parts together to hold them while the glue dries and I simply hacked out the foam with a craft knife. It doesn’t look very tidy but it works. The one tool I would recommend buying is a small plane - mine is branded “David”. Carving the facing pieces on the wing is made dramatically easier - enough that I think it’s well worth it. Makes lots of curly shavings that apparently make excellent fire lighters!

[Lipo Man]

I have finally hit my first problem - the fit of the wing to the fuselage. I joined the wings yesterday with the provided fibreglass strip using epoxy. That seemed to work fine and everything looked great (and was impressively rigid to boot!). However, when this evening I went to offer up the wing to the fuselage it was slightly “too long”. I think there are two minor issues combining here - first I suspect I wasn’t careful enough getting the former F5 square to the crutch - so it’s potentially angled slightly forwards at the bottom. And second I wonder if I’ve not taken off enough when shaping the leading edge, such that the wing itself is slightly too long?

Whatever the cause I got out the Dremel (actually the ALDI knock-off, but same difference!) and took a little off both the leading and trailing edges of the wing.
Bottom line - it now fits! Phew. And I can finally put the bits together - it seems to look like it should.