Warbird Replicas FW190 newbie build (or possibly some wellingtons)

[Lipo Man]

First time with all the bits together and the wing bolted in. I have to say I’m very chuffed! For a first attempt at this kind of build I’d say it’s going astonishingly well. Only one hiccup so far and it really looks the part. If like me you’ve never tried this kind of build I’d encourage anyone to have a go - it’s very rewarding. 

 

 

[RICHARD WILLS]

I think you've made a cracking job of that and in double quick time. The wing seat could do with a bit more length perhaps . Or the easier option is to slice off the trailing edge where it lies under the fuselage . The only other mod I would make if another batch goes out would be the raising of the cockpit sides by 10mm . 

She certainly looks the part now. If you are going to brown paper and you're not sure , feel free to pm me .  

Alternatively you may be a dab hand at glassing .

Richard 

[Lipo Man]

3 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

I think you've made a cracking job of that and in double quick time. The wing seat could do with a bit more length perhaps . Or the easier option is to slice off the trailing edge where it lies under the fuselage . The only other mod I would make if another batch goes out would be the raising of the cockpit sides by 10mm . 

She certainly looks the part now. If you are going to brown paper and you're not sure , feel free to pm me .  

Alternatively you may be a dab hand at glassing .

Richard 

Very much not a dab hand at glassing - I’ve been strictly foamboard and depron until now. I’m going to try the brown paper treatment - I may wait for a YouTube explainer!

[Ron Gray]

It will be on there!

[Lipo Man]

A few more jobs done - and some more newbie discoveries! Today I want to get the control surfaces hinged - so I was planning to go to the hobby shop to get some Mylar hinge material. I’ve used it once before - I bought some SLEC hinges that have a slightly fuzzy surface that wicks thin CA into the join with the balsa surface. Inevitably I knew I had some left, but of course couldn’t find them…

And this morning two miracles occurred. One - I looked for a fourth time in the drawer, and this time they were there! Hurrah!

Miracle number two shows how basic an issue could be for a newbie. I didn’t have enough left to do all the surfaces, so I went on the website for the hobby shop to see if they were in stock. The first thing that came up was a roll of hinge material rather than little individual pieces. The image rang a bell - there was some stuff like that in the box with the other hardware, and I thought it was leftover packaging. Luckily I didn’t bin it, as it is clearly the material for the hinges! Excellent!

One other tip - I cut a relief in the horizontal stabiliser to allow for the elevator joiner to rotate smoothly. And now I can bevel the moving surfaces and finish up ready for covering. 
Every day is a school day…

 

[Lipo Man]

And more good news for newbie builders. The brown paper/PVA covering isn’t hard at all! I was going to wait for Ron’s video guide, but I was running out of other jobs so had a go at the stabiliser this evening. I did a test on one of the aileron cut outs from the wing and it seemed to go fine so I went straight to the elevator. Obviously being flat that’s as easy as it gets, but the ironing was easy and the paper seems very well stuck - and it really does feel like it has stiffened the elevator. I’ll try the wings tomorrow!

On an entirely unrelated note, does anyone know how to get PVA off a domestic iron. Asking for a friend. 😳

 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Give it a rub on the wifes best frock. 😉

[Murat Kece 1]

Buy a new and better iron😂

[GrumpyGnome]

If you fly anything other than foam, a proper covering iron will be a revelation, and makes life so much easier........

[Ron Gray]

Covering irons are great but a dry travel iron is just the job for covering, including brown paper, on large areas.

[Eric Robson]

One thing you must avoid. KEEP THE CYANO AWAY FROM FOAM.

DO NOT USE IT FOR THE AILERON HINGES ON THE WING. I use pva and cocktail sticks for the wing hinges. As the ailerons are balsa cyano is OK 

[Lipo Man]

4 minutes ago, Eric Robson said:

One thing you must avoid. KEEP THE CYANO AWAY FROM FOAM.

DO NOT USE IT FOR THE AILERON HINGES ON THE WING. I use pva and cocktail sticks for the wing hinges. As the ailerons are balsa cyano is OK 

Thanks for the advice - in the nick of time too! 👍

[Ron Gray]

Personally when using Mylar type hinges I no longer use cyano, I use Gorilla Glue clear (brown is fine just clear away and that has ‘foamed out’).

[RICHARD WILLS]

The most common mistake with the brown paper is to thin the glue too much . If we could use it neat , it would be better , so only the bare minimum of water . 

Dont use pound shop glue either . Use a decent brand like white Gorilla glue or Evostik PVA . 

The next "school boy error" is to be caught using the wife's iron or dressing in any of her best frocks while covering . 

I know this sort of action has supposedly become more tolerated , but I can tell you from bitter experience that it wont wash at Warbirds HQ.

If you do enjoy the freedom of living on your own , then perhaps the exhilaration of "ironing" in a floral print number with matching sling backs is for you . 

Eddie Izzard once suggested it to me , so there must be something in it ...........

[Don Fry]

Lipo man, I don’t see why your predicament is a cause of humour. In poor taste.

i expect that’s a steam iron. Fill with deionised water, turn knob to steam setting, and start irioning something rough, hessian sacking or similar. The glue will not last long. 
any way this factination with ladies clothing is disturbing. Nothing like the concept of being a furry, different ball game. woof. 

[RICHARD WILLS]

3 hours ago, Lipo Man said:

Thanks for the advice - in the nick of time too! 👍

Eric is referring to a mechanical "lock " rather than relying on glue . A bit like racing cars and motorbikes drilling through vital nuts and then push through a split pin so that even if they come loose they cant escape .

The technique with the mylar hinges is to cut a round edged rectangle or oval (the rounded corners prevent snagging ) of mylar , cut a slit in the main surface edge and moving part (aileron for example ) fit the hinges . Then get a 1mm drill or near as dammit , and drill from the top about 5mm in from the edge , piercing the hinge . 

Top tip is to hold a wooden block under where the drill exits to save splintering the surface . 

Next step is to work some pva into the hole and push the cocktail stick through . I find a razor saw or old hacksaw blade is the best way to trim the stick flush . 

Hope that helps . 

[Ron Gray]

A slight mod to the way Richard has described pinning, I measure the depth of wing (aileron etc) to be drilled then mark the drill bit with some masking tape about 3mm less than the measurement just taken. Then drill through the bottom surface up to the masking tape which ensures that the top surface doesn’t get punctured. The cocktail stick pins are then glued and inserted from the underside only. Doing it this way ensures that there are no visible marks on the top surfaces which makes it ideal for ARTF models.

 

And as for drilling through vital nuts……………………….😲

[Lipo Man]

I made breakfast in bed for the current Mrs Lipo Man, and iron-gate has been happily put in the past. Many thanks to all the Warbird Replicas hive-mind for the kind words of relationship advice! 🤣

And so onwards and upwards. My top tip for fellow newbies - I’ve fitted and tested the aileron servos and closed up the slot in the wing. However, before I sealed everything I threaded a piece of strong string to each servo box. That way if I do need to replace a servo I have a plan B if the servo extension wires come undone when I try to extract the servos. Seemed a sensible idea based on previous experience…

 

[Ron Gray]

4 minutes ago, Lipo Man said:

if the servo extension wires come undone when I try to extract the servos.

Use servo clip locks, or what I do is remove the outer casing (female) from the servo cable, join them together then use heat shrink over the joint to secure them. A lot smaller and lighter that way plus they won't pull apart. For ultra lightness do the same but instead of the heat shrink you can use dental floss and tie them together.

Edited January 9 by Ron Gray

[GrumpyGnome]

If you're going to 'pin' mylar hinges on the ailerons, I'd have thought you'd need to pierce both skins to add any strength....

[Ron Gray]

If you need that much strength then the gluing of the hinges is somewhat suspect. In my experience the gluing of the pins through the body of the wing / aileron is sufficient, but there again I hardly ever use hinge pins any more, used to back in the day but not now.

[Eric Robson]

When you say through two skins GG are you referring to the veneer skin?

I pinned mine through the 1/4 " balsa aileron spar. 

[GrumpyGnome]

The picture showed no balsa facing in the aileron cutout on the wing. So, yes, any pinned hinges would need to go through two veneers or it's just a cocktail stick into foam, which is pretty pointless.

 

Through a balsa spar then, as Ron says no point in going right through.

[Lipo Man]

Wing covering this evening. Again - not too hard. Radial slits for the curves at the wingtip, and I went straight over the servo box then slit the covers free with a sharp blade. For a first attempt I think it’ll do fine - let’s face it once it’s in the air none of this will be visible!

 

[Ron Gray]

That’s an excellent job, well done.