N1EDM

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Thanks for that tip... great photo.

Bob

Mustang Fever

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Thanks, John. Is there a brush on paint that I could use to simulate that?

I'm thinking about doing panel lines, too, as Faye Stilley has a really easy, good looking way to do them with 'kote.

Here's the spinner after its stay at the body shop. I could never do this myself. They sprayed it with an etching primer, then gray primer, and put about six coats of the TopFllite Cub Yellow on it, baking it after each coat, then clearcoated it.

pmillerusa

WOW, what a thread.... [X(]

I've been following this for the past month or so, knowing I wanted to pick up one of these kits.

Momma and the kids surprised me with the kit last week, so its game-on now. Was able to get the tail feathers wrapped up pretty quickly and am working on the first wing-half now.

I'll get a few photo's this afternoon of the progress and then be along for the ride with this thread.

Thanks to all those that have posted to this point; a really great resource.

- Paul

Redwulf__34

Hey Bob,
Looking GREAT! I'm very impressed with your iron on covering. It looks good.

Could you post a pic of your ailerons? I'm curious how you beveled the edges and kept your gaps tights.

Sean

Mustang Fever

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Thanks, guys.

Sean: I tapered the ailerons to a point and am using CA hinges. I'll be putting a strip of gray covering on the underside of the ailerons and elevator to seal the gaps, and the same kind of thing on one side of the rudder hinge line after it's mounted permanently.

Mustang Fever

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This is probably the best pic I have of the hinging arrangement. The elevators are the same- the LEs are carved and sanded to a literal point, then hinged with CA hinges. I always follow these steps when doing it:
1. centerline the LE
2. draw a line on top and bottom where the point should end.
3. carve the point with a razor plane, and then just finish sand it.

Redwulf__34

Thanks Bob, Thats what I wanted to see. That's more or less the way I do all mine.

I've got a set of drawings for the RCM Ki-61 Hien rolled out on my table right now. I'm just "looking". The ailerons hinge at a pretty fat part of the trailing edge. I didn't think that normal tapering would work. I've seen other methods used and was curious if you used something different on the Pony.

Sean

pmillerusa

A few photo's catching up to current progress.

- Paul

Mustang Fever

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Go for it, Paul.

Not a lot of progress recently- had to work a couple of days to pay for:
-Another canopy after the Topflite Cub Yellow paint ate it. (I did a sample, too, and it was ok. Go figure. [:@])
-A pilot after the cockpit kit never arrived.
-Another roll of OD ultracote
-A couple cans of Testors yellow, different shades for the canopy. I might try doing the frame with cub yellow ultra trim. Would match better, if I can bring it off.

The camo scheme is just plain slow work, and I make all kinds of mistakes, mostly blowing the overlap and having to put little "cheat" pieces in to get it to look right. Oh, well, first time.

Mustang Fever

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Had to order another roll of gray UltraCote today- I didn't think about the bottoms of the flaps and ailerons when I decided that I had enough left. I guess I've been doing this too long. Anyway, the new canopy will be here tomorrow and I can take a break from covering.

pmillerusa

Bob,

That's really looking nice!

I was able to get the second wing-half framed up, but am waiting for the retracts still. I may shift to the fuse' next to keep moving while I wait on the gear.

My son has a trainer going together at the same time so I am spending half the time on my bench and 1/2+ helping him. He's just about to covering so I'll be able to focus a bit more on the P-51 here soon....

Riddle4U

Bob, looks good! I hate it when you have to buy an entire roll for just a little a little more material. I used to have a L.H.S. that sold by the foot (they opened up new rolls as needed). I notice in the last head-on photo, that your model sits up high on the robart struts. I am doing scale inner and outer gear doors..in order to get the wheels in the proper retracted position I modified the oleo links for wider opening and inserted an extra spring of less stiffness. First I cut a few coils off the stock spring and then added a short length of the softer spring. Result: the gear is lengthened to retract into proper position in inner wheel well, and when sitting on the extended gear, the strut compresses enough to allow outer wheel well door to align to mid-wheel as seen of most Mustangs sitting on the ramp. Also, I ground the Robart strut above the wheel to except 3 1/2 inch wheels instead of 3 1/4. A scale wheel would be 4" as stated in the instructions; I don't know if Robart ever came up with a strut for fitting a 4" wheel.

Mustang Fever

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Riddle: That looks like a neat trick.

The 3/8" Robo Struts only go up to 3.5" I used the 7/16" ones, and they can be had to fit 4" wheels, which is what I used. That made doing gear doors kind of impossible, but I was more concerned with good ground handling, as this bird will fly mostly from nasty grass fields.

Riddle4U

Sounds like you made the right compromise for your conditions. I am using the Bob Violett Models F-86 jet retract and seperate air cylinders that was suggested as an option in the TF manual I got (quite a few years ago). As you can see, I shimmed up the original strut with two succesive layers of brass tubing, one of which extends the total strut length into the gear mechanism (my final o.d. is probably near 7/16"). I ended up with a robust looking strut of scale dimensions (except wheel). I am sequencing the inner doors and using a slightly smaller than scale wheel, I think it will all fit nicely. Oh yes....I fly from a paved strip, so I hope it all holds together, but it'll have less stress than a grass field.

Mustang Fever

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That looks pretty good, Riddle. Did you use the TF retract rail setup, or do something of your own?

Riddle4U

It was pretty much all custom designed, in fact I think I smoked an entire carton of cigarettes while looking at plans..measure...look..measure...smoke..(you got the idea)[sm=47_47.gif]. I have pics somewhere, but they were taken before I bought my first digital camera. I'll try a picture of a picture if anyone is terribly interested. Build season is here so I will get around to current pictures in the next month.

Mustang Fever

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I think I took about 6 months to engineer how mine went in. If I'd been a smoker, probably about a half truck load.

Mustang Fever

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Getting the correct color (cub yellow) on the machine gun housings and the canopy framing has been a very long process. There is no paint available that won't attack the plastics.

You're not supposed to be able to cover heat sensitive plastic, but I had nothing to lose, so I went ahead and did it. I cut the "guns" off the moldings for those parts, to make the job a little easier, and because the original has no guns, just silver caps over the holes in the fairings. Then I clamped them in a padded carpenter's clamp, and clamped it in a vise so they wouldn't get away from me while I used a heat gun to "stretch and stick" the covering to them. I laid a strip of chrome trim on the leading edge behind the parts, and thin CAd them on.

pmillerusa

Looking good! I wouldn't have imagined you could get away with stretching the covering on them, but it looks like it came out great!

So what's left..? let's see this thing in the air!

Mustang Fever

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Paul:

I have to do the canopy, the ailerons, and flaps. Waiting on another roll of gray ultracote for the ailerons/flaps. The new canopy arrived this am. I'm going to use ultratrim cub yellow on it, and seal the edges with clear urethane. (Another Faye Stilley trick.)

Strykaas

Impressive work

Mustang Fever

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Thanks, Strykaas.

I pretty happy with how she's turning out. Did the canopy frame with ultratrim today, and the more I got into it, the easier it got. I used thin CA to glue it on, and I used acetone to clean off some excess during installation, and I think some of it ran down inside, thus the "glop" on the inside behind the pilot's head. I'm hoping it will evaporate, but with my luck, I'll have to tell people he got airsick.

Mustang Fever

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She's done. Finished covering and installing the flaps and ailerons today, and made a balance check after securing the 1450 mAh battery in the tailwheel well. I'm astonished. This is the first Mustang I haven't had to put lead into one end or the other. It came out bang on the TF recommendation of 3-7/8" aft of the LE "break". Guess that monster motor in the nose was not such a bad idea after all.

Can't say when the first flight will be. Depends on where we go in the next few months, as my home field is just not suitable for fast, scale models. It's quite likely the maiden will take place at the next TRAMPS Dawn Patrol in Traverse City, Mich on Memorial Day Monday.

If we get some half decent weather this winter, I'll take her outside and run up the engine, and tack a photo or two of that on this thread.

Riddle4U

Outstanding job Mustang fever!! I like it! I have been revisiting my mostly framed TF. I hope to provide something for all to watch as you have done. Of course, tune up on a good challenging sport plane (tail dragger preferabaly), before going for it. Your plane will fly wonderfully, I am certain!!! NICE JOB!!

Best regards, Eric

Mustang Fever

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Thanks, Eric.

I'm going to try and get a lot of stick time on my H-9 Camel.