Warbirds Replicas Hawker Tempest V -Mass Build 2024(part two) .

[Ron Gray]

Nice

[Eric Robson]

More holes than Aero chocolate 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Im adding some balsa triangle at the lower edge of the rear fuselage sides. This will allow me to sand the lower corner to a gentle curve . It also provides further stiffness to the rear end . 

After that , I can add the second fuselage side making sure one side is not ahead of the other by checking that they both arrive at the rearmost point in unison . Note that the long former at the bottom of the first picture inserts into a circular hole in the central crutch and then is twisted through 90 degrees to sit across the rear fuselage . 

Edited March 9 by RICHARD WILLS

[andrew exton]

great im still in for one 👍

 

andy

[RICHARD WILLS]

The next stage is not difficult but needs to be taken slowly . We are going the create the rounded rear fuselage upper with two 3/32" balsa skins and then add a thick but soft balsa lid . The idea is that once the lid is on , is that the shape can be sanded to leave no flat sections , so the whole lot will look like one smooth curve . 

The long balsa skins run from the front of the tailplane to the front of the cockpit . The formers at the front of the cockpit are made from two laminates in order that there is a step for the skin to attach to but leaving room for the next balsa skin running forward to the nose . 

We are asking the balsa skins to conform to our curved formers which they will be reluctant to do in standard form . 

The trick is to wet the outside of the skin only . Allow the water to soak in for a few minutes then start gently flexing the balsa into the curve you want . 

Keep the inside dry as this will remain slightly smaller , so the water expands the outside causing a natural curve . 

Your going to need some pins and tape for this part . 

It does require patience , but bending wood is useful skill and is strangely satisfying . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

I didnt take enough pictures at that stage but here are some later shots of the rear fuselage nicely rounded . 

The thick balsa spine does overhang the thin curved upper fuselage sides so when its sanded you do end up with a very tight and tidy joint . 

In these pictures you can see I have added the fin to tailplane fillets , but we will cover that in a few posts time . 

 

 

[RICHARD WILLS]

A little "fill in job " perhaps while you're wating for something to dry . 

The battery box . 

Self explanatory really . You dont need to fit it yet as it might be in the way .

[RICHARD WILLS]

Back to the fuselage to show you how the wing mount plate looks . This , as I said before must go in when the second fuselage side is glue to the central crutch . 

I may move the bolt forward 5mm , lets see how it works on mine first . 

[Chris Walby]

Looking absolutely fabulous there Richard and you are way faster than me on the building board 🙂 I was going to hum and harr, but the realisation that I don't have anything with a clipped wing nailed it for me (easily convinced after flying the FW 190), 

 

Put me down for one and I'll see if James and John want to join in.  

 

Might have the FW190 finished in time to start Tempest at this rate!

[RICHARD WILLS]

Righto Chris . 

I also use to hum and harr but that was before I learnt the words . Nowadays I feel more comfortable Dillying and Dallying . 

Everybody should have a Tempest really when you think about it . The 190 is great fun but the wonderful Sea Fury style plan shape of the Tempest with full invasion stripes looks the business in a curving low pass. If you can get a least a pair up, or even more , then so much the better !

Edited March 10 by RICHARD WILLS

[RICHARD WILLS]

Moving to the front of the fuselage , you will notice that there is a 5mm square spine running down the middle of the top in order to have something to support the front deck balsa skins . If you nip back to Paul's 3D design drawing on the previous page , you can see that the front section is removable in order to access the battery bay . 

That means that the front formers which form the ends of the removeable hatch must not  be  glued to the former right next door . The removeable section also has 

5mm square bottom rails so that the hatch section remains stable when removed from the model . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

The next stage is to skin the upper nose with 3/32 balsa . The general idea is to do one side first and peg (or clamp ) the top to the 5mm square spine . 

As before , we need the balsa to conform to our formers , so I cut the wood slightly over size , then wetted the outside and held it round a bottle with elastic bands . 

Next day , hey presto !

[RICHARD WILLS]

I skinned both bays on the model then sawed carefully through the spine at the back of the hatch to release that section . Doing it all on the model meant that it all looks continuous from the outset .The removeable battery hatch wasn't a feature of the full sized Tempest 😁

This method of creating top decks in the lightest , strongest way is a feature of many of my designs . The Spitfire and Mustang both use it . 

Once you have built a couple of Warbirds Replicas models you will find these techniques become easier each time . 

I couldn't help propping the canopy on . We all do that don't we ? 

Anyway , I think you'll agree she is starting to look like a Tempest . 

[Eric Robson]

Looks like the Wills Hawker factory is on double time , it must be the none alcoholic drink you form the balsa round, or is that for the boys? 

Looking good Richard but I think an ark is required up here the rain has not stopped all day. 

[Paul Johnson 4]

Same here.... Seaplane anybody?

[RICHARD WILLS]

Did you say floats ? It was the only time I got a company vehicle . 

They even said I could use it for holidays so I took a week off . Three days to get there and three back meant the hotel bill was as cheap as chips . 

Edited March 10 by RICHARD WILLS
forgot text

[RICHARD WILLS]

The last thing to say about the milk float was that the "Farmers Wife " had to be removed as the Police said it could be construed as soliciting .

Linda , the Farmers wife , said she was well known in the area and that any publicity , good or bad was welcome .....😬

[RICHARD WILLS]

Anyway , getting back to our fabulous Hawker Tempest .

Lets have a look at the 3 view . You can see that a significant characteristic of the aircraft is the wing, when viewed not just in plan view, but also from the front . 

To that end I'm going to nip over to the wing parts to show you how to make that lovely clipped wing ellipse outline with the appropriate dihedral angles and joints . The version below shows a variant after our one , the difference being ,we have protruding short cannon muzzles and no starboard wing rad.

Edited March 11 by RICHARD WILLS

[RICHARD WILLS]

As I said before , the core of the wings will come pre made like the Fw190 in computer cut foam with veneer skins . The advantage is its quick and light for you and more forgiving to retracts , should they be fitted at a later date. Because the foam cores are better at absorbing landing impacts than a built up wing . Which makes this a good way to go for "entry level" warbirds . 

In addition to the basic core , we will add a laminated leading and trailing edge . Both leading and trailing edges will have a precut ply core incorporated so that you simply sand the balsa around it to match the much tougher plywood . That way , everbody's wing will turn out as prescribed . 

If you find the foam veneer cores are slightly too thick at any point on the edge , simply pinch the two veneers together with thumb and forefinger and at the same time run your "hand clamp " along the whole edge . It wont be much out .

The assembly works well but there is potential for a cock up here . Its very easy to get the order of the laminates wrong or make two left hand leading edges . So careful marking before glueing and laying both wings out in mirror form would be worth considering . 

On your kit version I will laser on some numbers or names of each part in an attempt to keep you on track . The plan will show the laminates in section but it roughly goes like this : 

Bottom layer is 3mm balsa , next above is the ply cores , then two more layers of 6mm balsa on top . 

I built up the leading and trailing edges off the plane then fitted them and left overnight . 

A small plane is the safest way to take off the excess and then a long sanding block . It doesnt take long and is actually quite satisfying (and I dont like sanding ) 

The ailerons should not be detached so treat the whole wing as one piece . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Once all four leading and trailing edges have been made up , you can glue them onto the wing , held in place with elastic bands . 

Its important to keep all three parts flat on the desk , so some weight is a good idea . 

You do need to let it dry properly before any attempt to carve or plane . You can see here that the uppermost laminate of the trailing edge is smaller so that you dont have to sand off so much wood . The wood is very soft so it comes off very quickly . It didnt take me long to make two elliptical wings . 

As I said earlier , its rather rewarding creating such a lovely shape . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Brace yourselves for the next bit .

I always wanted to be in the magic circle , because they always had pretty assistants and they got to saw stuff up that wouldn't normally be allowed . 

As it happens , I have a collection of saws in my special drawer (but sadly , no pretty assistant )

The great Paul Daniels would say at this point .

"You're gonna like this bit , but not a lot ."

Edited March 11 by RICHARD WILLS

[RICHARD WILLS]

I actually enjoyed this bit . From the drawing I drew a line 10" from the root of the wing but parallel with the root section . 

Then I whipped out my magicians saw (any other saw will do ) and calmly cut the wing in half ................

Now I realise that doing that or even the thought of it may send you into spasm . So on the kit version , to "take the edge of it " , Im going to precut through the top skin so you just separate the rest . 

Like the lion a in the Wizard of Oz , you will get braver . Ive done this about twenty times so I actually enjoy it now . Funny old world isnt it ?

The wing looked good up to that point and very "Spitty " 

Lovely . 

 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Now if you nip back to the 3 View further up this page , you will see that we need to get some dihedral in there . 

The easy way to do this is to get a nice new sheet of sand paper and lay it on a flat surface . You then stand the outer section of the wing on its inner most edge (the one you just cut through ) and then drag the wing along the sand paper while holding it canted over by about 5 degrees . 

It works very quickly so take it easy . 

So to clarify , you are dragging the foam edge from from trailing edge to leading edge and back, whilst leaning very slightly (the wing not you).

With the fatter inner section flat on the bench , the outer panel should have 35mm lift at the tip . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Now obviously we have weakened the wing so we need to put a little strength back in . Ive done this before too , so no problem .

On the plan it will show two 4" long ply dihedral braces . One is right up against the leading edge , effectively "splinting " the thick leading edge and allowing it to take the stresses as it would have before the sawing incident . 

The other is further back in the thickest part of the wing . 

The easiest way to cut the slots is with a regular hacksaw blade . 

[RICHARD WILLS]

Once the little dihedral braces are in , even without glue , they hold the wing nicely together . 

I shall mention now that I will be using the "golden syrup " Gorilla glue for the wing joins and the dihedral braces . It reacts with moisture so I paint a little water on one side first . Epoxy would also work. 

You have to admit that although to some it may seem a little unorthodox , it's a very fast and effective way of making an otherwise complicated elliptical wing . 

Dead accurate and tough too.

I took care to pin the leading edge so that the ply cores lined up and also put a clamp on the trailing edge joint . The inner panel is weighted onto the bench . 

Finally I stabbed a couple of big pins in so that an elastic band could tension the joint . 

Anybody out there spooked by the method or need a little reassurance ?