Nijhuis 46" Spitfire

[Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage]

My workbench is covered in wood shavings and saw dust from the lysander stab tips

[Andy Gates]

Your nose and lungs would have been much worse without the mask.

 

Looks really good, keep going.

 

The elevators should be plenty strong enough, they do not take much force unless you are flying her hell for leather.

[Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage]

Make sure the weight balances dont hit the ground when flaring the landing

[Simon N]

Nice one Iain !!!         

Edited By Simon N on 30/10/2009 22:51:54

[batcho99]

Just fitted the wing bandage. 25g/m glass cloth 50mm wide. I used epoxy thinned down with methanol, a method my future father in-law told me about. He gave me some methanol in an old pickle jar so now I have a wing that stinks of pickled onions

The glass cloth looks see through on this photo. It feels very strong when dry. I wont be doing snap rolls with this model so should be plenty of strength.

 

[batcho99]

Hello all, it's been a while since i posted in my build thread, winter season at work gets very busy. Anyway, quick progress report and a few pics.

I've had a go at doing the wing to body fairings, it turned out to be quite difficult to cut the wood to the correct shape, I got there in the end tho. I wet the balsa through so I could roll it easier.

Pictures were taken during the sanding process, i'm filling the fuselarge joint to make it flush.

I've also fitted the servo's in the fuse, digi's for the tail end and standard for the throttle.

 

The shape is coming along nicely

I've also been to Halfords and got a couple of tins of spray paint to try for camo colour, leaf green and maple brown, the lids look faily close to what I want, I got a bit off with the trade card too

 

 

 

[Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage]

Heres hoping i get a bursary for university, spend it all on servos!

[batcho99]

Hi chaps. It's been a while since I did any work on this build. I've just covered the wing with Silver Solartex and I think it looks pretty good. I've never used Solartex before and found it alot easier to do a good job than Solarfilm, specially round the wing tips and awkward areas.

I haven't bothered with the center air intake/chin scoop because I think it might get damaged on landings

 

A bit more shaping to do on the fuse then i'll get that covered too. Not sure how to attatch the canopy yet, any suggestions?

 

Iain.

[batcho99]

Another update. I've been busy flying alot recently so not had chance to do any balsa bashing. Also kind of got hooked on some depron fighters, but thats another story.

Anyway, I was looking at the fuse this morning and I wasn't sure how strong the wing fillets were going to be, so I decided to put a really thin fibre glass strip on the under side to add strength and make me feel better

I've painted my pilot too. I made a back rest for him to add a little bit of scale detail. I dont know how scale it is but it looks alright.

 

I really want to get this in the air before the end of summer. Its taking me forever, but i'm still enjoying the build. I've kind of 'over flown' this year so I dont mind doing some more building to get the projects off the bench so I can plan a winter warbird build

 

Iain.

Edited By batcho99 on 05/07/2010 12:34:42

[batcho99]

I've finished covering the fuse, yey. I had a stand down the other night from work so I thought, while i'm gettin paid i'll do the ironing

I think next time I build a model i'll just fibreglass it, the finish will be better than silver solartex in the end. I'm worried about the paint lifting off if the covering comes loose at any point. I have used balsa lock at all the awkward areas so hopefully it'll be ok.

 

 

I'm waiting for some chartpak graphic tape to turn up so I can experiment with panel lines so for now not much other progress to be made. I could possibly have a go at making a couple of cannons?

One job i'm not looking forward to is fixing the canopy. I've had a few bad experiences with canopys.

 

Iain.

[batcho99]

Oops, i've moved the pics above.

 

I've finally got some paint on the underside of the spit.

I put the 1/32 tape down on the skin first in a few areas to add flap lines and a couple of panel lines to add a little scale detail. I am really practicing for future builds and would like to see how it turns out.

 

Then some paint was added. As you can see, once removed, the 1/32 tape helps to leave a nice panel line. If I had fibre glassed the model then I would have put the tape on before it was primed, then removed the tape and painted over with the final colour to give panel detail.

 

It was now time to fit the canopy. I decided on a few small screws over glue. The canopy has always lifted at the front, so I have put a small balsa strip inside at the front and put two screws through to hold it in position.

Its nearly there! Another look with the wing on

I'm looking forward to putting the paint on the top surfaces. I really had to drag myself away from the idea of 'invasion stripes'. They would look good but you see them alot on spits so i'm going without them.

 

Iain.

[batcho99]

I've just fitted all the control surfaces permenately and attached the control rods. The canopy is fitted and masked up ready for spaying. The fuel tank is in and so is the battery. Just got to mask it all up now and prep for some camo I can wait to see it with paint on. The underside has turned out better than I thought. The Tamiya masking tape leaves perfect lines, much better than standard masking tape.

I'm not sure if anyones still interested in this project as I haven't had a single reply for months. The misses thinks i'm wasting my time here?? I have dragged it out a bit but I have enjoyed it and seen it thru.

 

Iain.

[Simon B]

Iain, i wouldn't worry.  I got worried no-one was paying attention to a build thread of mine, but there are a lot of silent viewers like myself on this thread!

[batcho99]

I've sprayed a couple of layers of paint on the top side today. It hasn't gone on quite aswell as I would have liked. It was really shiney when I used the aerosols, so I decanted some paint into jars and used my airbrush. Not a wide enough spray really but it took the shine off. I'll have to purchase a small spray gun for the future. Now to do all the roundels and bits! I'm not going ott with this one tho.

 

I didn't follow a true spitfire pattern, a bit of a mix.

 

Iain.

[batcho99]

I sprayed the wing top roundels on after cutting some masking with an adapted compass. they didn't turn out as I hoped because my airbrush sprays too narrow for a large area, I also had trouble with some old paint so I put another coat over the top with some new paint. Before I painted anything I primed the areas again to make the same base colour.

After an Average outcome with these roundels I decided it may be easier to try cutting some solarfilm to do the side ones, heres how they turned out.

I was lucky as I already had these colours in the hangar.

Its coming along now. Just the lettering and lower wing roundels to do now, oh, and the yellow l.e. with red gun patches. I still haven't got the cannons built yet. I've been using a couple of spitfire books and the internet as reference to do the finishing. Not always of the same aircraft tho so for you die hards out there, sorry it's not exactly a mkix, but I'm having fun and thats what it's all about. I'm also learning lots along the way. It's been a bit different than knocking together a wotty!

Iain.

[Hugh Coleman]

Looks Pretty good to me Iain,

I use the masking method on all my static scale models.  I would not use any thing else now.

You'd be suprise how weathering can make every thing blend better too.  I like your camoflage job too. 

 

Hugh

 

[batcho99]

Cheers Hugh. I'm probably going to do some weathering, it'll be good practice for future builds. I really didn't want to do too much detail because I want to fly it, soon But it would look good. Going flying today instead of working on it.

 

Iain.

[batcho99]

Very nearly finished Less cannons, dummy exhausts, red gun patches, and some weathering. If you chaps can think of anything else I need then let me know. I'm quite chuffed how it has turned out. Cheers TN for a great model. Just hope it flys well. It doesn't feel very heavy so the 32 engine should do a good job of pulling her round. Cant wait to get some air time on it. Heres a few snaps.

 

Iain.

[Mudflap]

Ahh, the TN spit, this was my first build, and I thoroughly enjoyed it  Flys well too, I used veggie power.

If I can work out how I'll add a piccy...

Looking good btw 

Mud

 

 

Edited By Mudflap on 09/08/2010 19:30:55

Edited By Mudflap on 09/08/2010 19:38:43

[Mudflap]

Here we go..

 

[batcho99]

Nice one mudflap. I hope to have some aerial photos for you in a week or so. Your spit looks great. Great fun building mine, really enjoyed it. I can finally clear the workbench and start the next build, or finish off a few half built models that i swore I would finish before I started another!! That was a few years back!!

Oh, what was the hand launch like? Any problems?

 

Iain.

[Mudflap]

TN designs are ace to build, after the spit I built his Lanc(with the help of the short kit), and then his B17 (scratch built), but I sold those last year having moved away from leccy stuff somewhat. Every time I see Tony I ask him to double his B17 plan, i'd love to do a big version. He says he hasn't the time

 

Hand launch is fine, a good firm throw at a slight incline works well (I got a friend to launch mine). A similar thing to fly as the Ripmax Spit.

 

Mud

[batcho99]

Brill. I'll let you know how it goes. I've got the TN Tiffy plans begging me to build them! I wanna do a BT hurri first tho, after finishing the other few i've got on the go. I'm a building addict!!

 

Iain.

[Mudflap]

Posted by batcho99 on 09/08/2010 20:48:12:

I'm a building addict!!

 

Iain.

 Yep me too

I'm halfway through a 100" Dauntless (Jerry Bates), then I start a 1/3 scale Avro 504K (short kit hidden in shed) then I start a 1/3 Pfalz D.X11 (hidden upstairs lol). That's me for the next few years

[batcho99]

Yey. Its been up and had its maiden. A very successful flight too. The engine hadn't been run for a long time so it needed a quick tune on both bottom and top end needles, it was also running on different fuel than it used to. Once that was sorted I did a range check and then cut the engine for a top up of fuel. It was now time to get airbourne!

With the engine running again and all pre flight checks done all it needed was a chuck in the air. I had volunteered my dad as the first one to throw it, none of the other lads wanted to do it for some reason?? Engine on full revs I asked for a good 'run and throw'

It went up like a rocket!! I was very suprised how much power the .32 SC 2 stroke had. With plenty of height gained I levelled of to find I needed a few clicks down elevator and a couple of clicks on the ailerons to get 'hands off' flight. Blimey she was slippery, even at half throttle she was a bit quick for scale flight. It cant have much drag at all! A few passes, loops, and rolls let me know what to change the throws to when I've landed.

Now for the fun part. First I slowed her right down at a decent height to see how she would stall, she didn't really do anything nasty as the elevator was pulled back so I attemped the first landing! From the left into wind I slowed her, and slowed her, at a very slow tick over she just went right past! Oh no, I have to throttle up my 2 stroke that hasn't run for ages! It spluttered and spluttered then picked up just in time. The second approach the engine was cut early and a fast heavy landing was made. No problems tho just a bit of grass in the radiators What a great plane. I am going to enjoy this one. You should all have one, get building Cheers TN.

 

 

Iain.