zephyr0908

I have recently bought a Hangar 9 Spitfire ARF and i wanted to make it really good scale looking, i started by taking off that horrible glossy finish by alcohol sanding (mesh type sandpaper and rubbing alcohol) then applying a coat of Flat Clear Lustrekote, the finished thing is impressive, then i made the machine guns (8) because Douglas Bader used only machine guns instead of machine and cannons. But the most remarkable thing was the modification of the cockpit kit, i removed the floor and bought a Top-Flite Spitfire Cockpit kit, i had to modify it a little bit, i even had to put the floor the opposite way so i didnt have to cut the foot pedals, i also bought a Hobby-Lobby scale instrument panel kit for British 1/5 Scale Warbird. So anyone who has thought of modifying this airplane here is a little help.











I will keep posting on the future modifications, i will be installing a KeLeo Creations Live Exhaust

da Rock

Looking good.

Where did the cockpit come from?

And what pilot is that?

zephyr0908

The pilot is one bought from HP Pilots, it was painted by a scale modeler, the cockpit is the TOP-FLITE for the MK IX version

stuntflyr

Zephyr,
Neat looking model.
Could you give us step by step of the dulling technique you used for the covering?
Thanks,
Chris...

zephyr0908

Thank you very much Stuntflyr, this is what i did to dull the candy looking ultracote covering, First i started by sanding the entire surface with a 600 grit sandpaper so it scraped the glossy layer of the covering, then i cleaned up the surface with rubbing alcohol, i dont know what isopropyl alcohol would do to the covering so i used what i knew would go perfect. Then i sprayed a light coat of Lustrekote Flat Clear, you have to wait for a reasonable time to handle the wing afterwards.
Things you have to consider before doing this process:
Make sure the covering is very well attached to the wood and that its well shrunk
Make sure you dont have to put any more layers of covering afterwards

If for any reason you have to re-shrunk the covering do the following
Get yourself an aluminum plate, i use aircraft grade aluminum because its the one we use on the university, and with a heatgun (NEVER WITH COVERING IRON) start shrinking the covering making sure you use the aluminum plate to prevent heating areas you dont want to heat (aluminum is best because it dissipates heat very fast), this is the only way to shrink the covering without making damage on the paintjob
Hope this helped you

stuntflyr

Thank you Zephyr.

Are all of the small detail markings included with the Hangar 9 ARF?
It is the best looking Spitfire AF in my opinion. (Thank goodness it does not have D-Day stripes!!!!!)

Thanks,
Chris...

zephyr0908

Jajaja LOL
Thank you very much stuntflyr, we used the same method to paint the spinner, it turned out to be awesome, it didnt chipped the paint, thanks for the complements, we have put a lot of effort on this little baby, today we made the test run on the keleo exhaust and we recorded a tape that i will be up`loading to youtube, and with your question, all the markings are made from testors custom decal kit laquered with flat clear lustrekote

zephyr0908

Well here is the video i promised with a couple more pictures
The video
[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuxTNMxYlB4]TEST RUN[/link]



The machine guns

heavy duty links

MAndren

My Feedback: (1)

Here is a modification I did to my Spitfire. I changed it to a Mk IX. I clipped the wings, made a new rudder and repainted. I added invasion stripes, changed the exhaust and used Testors Dull Coat to dull the finish. I still need to add guns a few panel lines and weather it.



Matt

zephyr0908

Real nice Mandren it looks like the Top-Flite MK IX. Did you use the cockpit kit or did you just leave just like it came from the factory?
What engine are you using for that baby? Did you weigh your model? Mine is weighing 4,2 kilograms i don't know how much pounds will that be but it says that it is slightly heavy and the cg is nose heavy so i will be putting the rx battery (3600 4,8 NiMh Hydrimax 8 0z battery) all the way back so i dont have to use any unnecessary lead weights

MAndren

My Feedback: (1)

I used the cockpit that came with the plane and only printed an insturment panel and glued it in place. I did add a oxygen tank behind the pilot. My Spitfire is electric and I used a E-Flite Power 60 with a Thunder Power 6s 5000mAh pack. My Spit came in at 9 3/4 Lbs and is still a floater with the flaps down.

Matt

zephyr0908

cool, i just made the weight conversion and its more or less the same weight so i am more relaxed about weight problem, now i have the issue of CG thanks for the info

thiagopivoto

Hi All,

I'm doing some scale modification in my Spitfire too. This is my oxygen tank.....


I'll put more pics...


Good flies !!!

Thiago

thiagopivoto

Hello Guys,

More pics for my cockpit modifications...


Thiago

zephyr0908

Really nice, it seems that you have just started the modification, really cool, tomorrow i will have the second flight of my spit in a local Scale Event that i'm organizing, i will post pics of the event

NoFlaps

My Feedback: (131)

Has anyone considered putting a 20 cc in this plane ?
Love the Mods...keep up the good work~

zephyr0908

Flying with a .91 4 stroke gives you perfect power, i have even heard about someone that fle with a 1.25 saito and had inmense power and inmense problems with flutter, even at the point of almost losing the model, i think that 20 cc is too much for this baby and you should never atempt to do this, unless you make great modifications regarding resistance and joints

pingpuckchew

What size spinner could I use - besides the true turn or david series spinners was looking at the Dubro 3inch.? Another question is what size tires can i put on? The stock H9 look cheap and wanted to get something more scale like.?

zephyr0908

its recommended to use a parabollic type spinner, they are more like the fuselage line, i used dave brown 3,5 inch parabollic type. Use robart scale wheels, the 3 inch ones fit just into the wheel well another thing you should think of is modifyng the retracts and use robostruts, they help a lot in bumpy landings

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Wow! You are doing such a great job on the Spit! Mine just got in a few days ago and I do think it is a great looking airplane it does need to have the shine knocked off. This one will be built for the Warbirds over the Rockies. Not sure how much modifying I will do but very impressed with yours! Keep us up to date! Bob



Have a great day, I know i'm going too!

zephyr0908

Thank you very much for your comments, please send a video of the airshow so i can see that beauty on the air, i had a scale flight with a p-51 and it looked amazing

wedgewing

awesome job on all the mode posts. I am building right now for electric conversion. just has that spare time last night I thought i might have all winter and didn't. hopefully the wing is done by the end of the weekend. thanks for sharing a nice glance at what this bird can become

zephyr0908

ohh by the way i finished the model almost completely, it nos has weathering and panel lines, i will upload images later

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry to be so impatient, But still waiting to see your spitfire beauty completed! And do hope to see some video on it! Great job! Bob


Have a great day! I know i'm going too!

0z0

Hi Bob, those are some pictures of the Zephyr´s Spit finished.