chris meek 1 Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 I sourced a 3d printed pilot roughly the right size off of Ebau once painted an obligatory ‘in the office’ photo was needed! Tbh I enjoyed the painting process and he’s not too shabby looking for a first effort. started on the wing centre section - seems ok apart from ribs 1 to 5 needed the rear spar slots either put in, or re positioned - not sure if there’s a fault in the file at the cutters but in all honesty it’s a minor issue that’s easily solved. Unfortunately I’m back at work for a few days so nothing more will be done until next week now.. hopefully get the top sheeting sorted on the centre section. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 - Moderator Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 That's a fine pilot, looks ready for action. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 20 hours ago, J D 8 said: That's a fine pilot, looks ready for action. Thanks - found it fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 So it turns out that sheeting the centre section didn’t take as long as I expected! A couple of hours last night and top is sheeted, flaps made up and ready to finish off/hinge this morning. Then it’s on to the engine nacelles ready to fit.. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Spent the day fitting the flaps and making up the engine nacelle formers - total weight is now 3.4lbs, hopefully still on target for around 10lbs total weight… 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 Busy couple of days - outer wing panels sorted and attached, its surprising just how big this is! 🤣 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 So back to the beaufighter build! No major visible progress at this stage, yesterday’s job was making up and fitting the servo mounts for flaps and ailerons… After a delivery from SLEC (first rate customer service as usual!) today I’ve been cutting out and fitting the lower sheeting on the port outer wing. Hopefully a delivery tomorrow of some servo extensions and Y leads and I’ll get the lower sheeting finished off. Once that’s done it’s on to the nacelles which means I get the pleasure of some planking. 🤔 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 After spending the morning programming my transmitter finally have movement in the Beaufighter! Next week will be finishing off the centre lower sheeting and I need to reverse the port flap servo so it looks nicer instead of a kinked linkage - waiting for a signal reversing Y lead to come through the post before I can do that, and cut out and hinge the ailerons but it’s good to see it start to come to life…. IMG_0274.mov IMG_0276.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil martin 1 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) Hi Chris, congrats on the build progress. Great thread, im looking forward to seeing the finished article! Really liking the brown paper method too, I may consider it on mine. I watched the Ron Gray FW190 video on brown paper application and it seems to work really well. I'm also building the TN Beau, it's my first ever proper build, took a bit of a gamble but all going well so far. Like you I had problems with the kit and spar slots were missing on the ribs. Seems to be a common problem as I've read other beaufighter threads reporting the same issues so it must be an error in the design. You're currently at about the same stage as me, I've just finished engine nacelles and theyre ready for planking, currently working on some DIY wing fairings. Loving the build so far, the Beaufighter is a personal favourite so am looking forward to getting it in the air someday. I say "someday" as I'm about to move house so all rc equipment and tools are being packed away for now, I reckon it'll be a couple of months before I'm back on it. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy your build log, it's certainly looking good so far 👍 Edited May 5 by neil martin 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 Thanks Neil lovely build and I appreciate the comments! I was planning on adding some wing fairings as well but got too enthusiastic about the covering and completely forgot to add any! I suppose I could add some above the covering though…. The beaufighters one of my favourites as well (that and the mosquito) - I may opt to build the larger John Ranson one after this, or maybe go for another attempt at the mosquito. Either way it’ll be a coastal command strike wing aircraft. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 (edited) So, I’ve been making slow progress this week but the ailerons are cut and hinged. I had an idea to use commercial sprung oleos and a piece of aluminium bar to make my own undercarriage setup. After a lot of effort this is the result… I started on one with using a tap and die set to cut a threaded hole to put a grub screw in to secure the piano wire pin - unfortunately when I tightened it the first time onto the pin it let go, felt like the thread in the aluminium had let go. Fortunately I found an old stash of metal epoxy so I’ve used that to glue all the parts together (including the mounts into the retracts as they didn’t have grub screws either)… Itll be something I need to keep an eye on but fingers crossed the joints are all strong enough! I’ve not tested it in place yet - waiting for the epoxy to fully cure overnight. 🤞🤞🤞 oh and one lesson I’ve re - learned….. don’t hold the piece of metal you’re drilling! Funny how the only hole I managed to drill dead centre was into my thumb…. 🤦♂️ Edited May 10 by chris meek 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARD WILLS Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 I've got similar on my Heinkel 111 . Over 100 flights no problem so you should be fine . looking very promising Chris . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 So everything seems to be working nicely! Got to admit I’m pretty pleased with myself for how it’s coming along! The plan for next week is to drill/insert the wing mounting bolts, then plan and fit the battery mounts ive already cut them to shape and the plan at the moment is to make them removable so I can access the retracts. Then it’s on to start nacelle planking! IMG_0299.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 (edited) One last thing for this week - I had one of the retracts stop working….. A bit of a panic last night thinking about how to solve the problem which included having to cut away the lower sheeting to check the servo lead from the retract…. Not something I was wanting to do! Having slept on it I think I’ve found the cause - the rear balsa former for the lower nacelle was rubbing up against the wheel when it was ‘up’ - I think that this binding has caused the retract unit to shut off…. A small amount of trimming back the former and the retract is back to working again! Hurray!!! 🤣🤣🤣 One thing I’d say to anyone who hasn’t built much before - you’ll get challenges in a build but more often than not with a bit of time and thought (and asking for help in the forums!) you’ll find a way around most problems…. Worst case scenario is you’ll have to cut something out or build something new! Really would say to anyone who’s thinking of building from a plan/kit to just go and do it and you’ll have something that you’ll be proud to say ‘I made that’ 💪💪 Edited May 12 by chris meek 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 so a quick update for today - wing mounts have been drilled and sorted - battery trays have been fitted. I weighed it and had a double take moment - thought it would be a lot closer to the 10lb suggested auw! But after three different times the weight so far is just over 5lb so I’m more than happy… I reckon that hopefully I’ll get it finished and balanced (with a fair amount of weight in the nose!) for around the 10lb mark… 🤞 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil martin 1 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Hi Chris, looks great 👍 How did you glue the tail plane in? Did you glue just the area at the back of the vertical stab or did you add some support to the front? I'm considering adding a brace as it looks like it only really relies on support from the fuselage skin which isn't much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 13 hours ago, neil martin 1 said: Hi Chris, looks great 👍 How did you glue the tail plane in? Did you glue just the area at the back of the vertical stab or did you add some support to the front? I'm considering adding a brace as it looks like it only really relies on support from the fuselage skin which isn't much. Neil it was something that I was worried about as well - the upper fuselage sides at the rear are pretty thin and according to the plan the horizontal stabilisers just sit on them. I ended up adding doublers to the insides of them as a saddle (can’t remember the thickness I used unfortunately!) and using epoxy to glue the vertical rudder post down 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 Battery trays complete, wing leading edges shaped and planking begun… not as much time this week to do stuff but overall I’m happy with progress 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 Planking progress so far…. Doesn’t show major changes for the amount of time spent doing it, but I find it strangely enjoyable 🤣 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 Very frustrating but VERY satisfying...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I flew mine today, nothing like a couple of Saito 4 strokes, this is the stand that I keep it on, plenty of room in the car for it. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil martin 1 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Lovely Beau Paul....have you ever had an engine die during flight, how did it behave? Bet it sounds great....big fan of Saito engines 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 No, perfect, yes, yes. The first job was to clear my favourite engine protection fluid, run them for a few minutes, let them cool down, tank up and fly. 'But' I nearly got caught out in my aeros, where it nearly ended up at a tree trimmer in the bottom of the loop, the elevator isn't so good when coming out of a loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted June 4 Author Share Posted June 4 Lovely looking model Paul…. I’m opting on going electric- that’s another bit of head scratching to come to check out I’ve got a powerful enough setup! I had mine put together tonight again to keep me motivated, like I’ve said before it’s not perfect but as a project in building it’s been a useful learning experience and hopefully it will fly ok…. Tbh I’m a full on beaufighter fan now - there’s a bigger version on the sarik site that’s looking very tempting! 🤔🤣 Hopefully getting some decals delivered soon from Pegasus models- very helpful folks there and they were VERY patient with my ineptitude in sending them what I was looking for…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris meek 1 Posted June 4 Author Share Posted June 4 1 hour ago, chris meek 1 said: Lovely looking model Paul…. I’m opting on going electric- that’s another bit of head scratching to come to check out I’ve got a powerful enough setup! I had mine put together tonight again to keep me motivated, like I’ve said before it’s not perfect but as a project in building it’s been a useful learning experience and hopefully it will fly ok…. Tbh I’m a full on beaufighter fan now - there’s a bigger version on the sarik site that’s looking very tempting! 🤔🤣 Hopefully getting some decals delivered soon from Pegasus models- very helpful folks there and they were VERY patient with my ineptitude in sending them what I was looking for…. this should have said PYRAMID MODELS — predictive text on my phone and rushing a post…. 🤦♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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