Value Hobby P-51 GS
12-16-2012, 11:29 PM
#1
Value Hobby P-51 GS
I started talking about this plane in another thread and I did not want to hijack that thread and decided to start my own. I will copy information from the other thread to get this started.
I found something very interesting during some research. Value Hobby has a 80" P-51 that looks just like the World Models and it only comes in one color scheme (similar to Crazy Horse or Petie 2nd) that is different from the WM schemes. It sells for $299. I have not found anything for reviews or other info on it. I contacted them to ask if it was a variation of the WM P51 like The Wingsmaker series. The reply was it is not WM but consider it a clone. H-m-m-m-m I wonder if it is the same manufacturer? Anyway...I went for it and it has fillets. I'm curious how close it will be and I will report when I receive it.
I had an offer for my WM Dolly and sold it, but still want to build another. Hopefully this one from Value Hobby will fit the bill.
I found something very interesting during some research. Value Hobby has a 80" P-51 that looks just like the World Models and it only comes in one color scheme (similar to Crazy Horse or Petie 2nd) that is different from the WM schemes. It sells for $299. I have not found anything for reviews or other info on it. I contacted them to ask if it was a variation of the WM P51 like The Wingsmaker series. The reply was it is not WM but consider it a clone. H-m-m-m-m I wonder if it is the same manufacturer? Anyway...I went for it and it has fillets. I'm curious how close it will be and I will report when I receive it.
I had an offer for my WM Dolly and sold it, but still want to build another. Hopefully this one from Value Hobby will fit the bill.
12-16-2012, 11:31 PM
#2
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
So...I received the Value Hobby 81" P51 GS. It seems very nice. I will take some photos when I start building it after the holidays. It was delivered in two boxes. I inspected everything for missing parts or damage. No damage and the covering looks well done. On the preliminary inspection, there does not appear to be any wrinkles like we normally find with large ARFs. Here is a rundown of what I know so far.
Good points - It has a different color scheme that will look different than the normal TWM ARFs. It looks as well built as TWM P51 GS. The fuselage has wing fillets. The gear doors are not the flimsy fiberglass ones I'm used to seeing. These appear to be made from light ply and covered with better attachment parts. It also comes with 500lb bombs and drop tanks. The control surfaces are not pre-glued and it comes with nice large plastic pinned hinges.
Not so good points - It did not come with instructions or parts list. When I inquired at Value Hobby, I was sent a .pdf of TWM P51 GS intructions. The parts list in the manual does not match for the following reasons. This plane does not come with a 5" spinner so it means go to TWM or Dave Brown or Tru-turn or TopFlite. I chose Dave Brown and ordered one. This plane recommends a 20-30cc gas engine and does not come with a motor mount. It does come with parts for a vibration mount setup for a gas engine. Fortunately I have a mount in my acc. drawer. I have yet to determine if the 27oz fuel tank has a gas or glow stopper. The pilot sent in the ARF is a large civilian pilot bust. It does not come with the transparent cowl. It also uses the dual elevator pushrod setup. I will use a TWM bellcrank shaft with a carbon fiber drive rod and 4-40 rods to the elevators. It worked great on my last one.
If you weigh it out with having to buy a spinner, motor mount for glow engine, it is not such a great savings. However, I don't have to build wing fillets and it will be a nice plane with tanks or bombs.
More to come...
Good points - It has a different color scheme that will look different than the normal TWM ARFs. It looks as well built as TWM P51 GS. The fuselage has wing fillets. The gear doors are not the flimsy fiberglass ones I'm used to seeing. These appear to be made from light ply and covered with better attachment parts. It also comes with 500lb bombs and drop tanks. The control surfaces are not pre-glued and it comes with nice large plastic pinned hinges.
Not so good points - It did not come with instructions or parts list. When I inquired at Value Hobby, I was sent a .pdf of TWM P51 GS intructions. The parts list in the manual does not match for the following reasons. This plane does not come with a 5" spinner so it means go to TWM or Dave Brown or Tru-turn or TopFlite. I chose Dave Brown and ordered one. This plane recommends a 20-30cc gas engine and does not come with a motor mount. It does come with parts for a vibration mount setup for a gas engine. Fortunately I have a mount in my acc. drawer. I have yet to determine if the 27oz fuel tank has a gas or glow stopper. The pilot sent in the ARF is a large civilian pilot bust. It does not come with the transparent cowl. It also uses the dual elevator pushrod setup. I will use a TWM bellcrank shaft with a carbon fiber drive rod and 4-40 rods to the elevators. It worked great on my last one.
If you weigh it out with having to buy a spinner, motor mount for glow engine, it is not such a great savings. However, I don't have to build wing fillets and it will be a nice plane with tanks or bombs.
More to come...
12-16-2012, 11:36 PM
#3
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
Just a little update on the VH P-51 GS. The vertical stabilizer is built as part of the fuselage. You just hinge the rudder...that's a plus. I also noticed the horizontal stabilizer has tabs on the bottom where it meets the fuselage. Since I'm using the instructions from TWM, it does not have any info. I believe it would be to screw into the fuse. I'm going to permanently epoxy the stab on so I may just cut off the tabs.
By the way...this is what it is modeled after. Used to be "Queen B" and now is Excaliber. I've ordered nose art for it and I have everything else to make it look like the photo.
I promise progress photos as I build. Just doing all the preliminary stuff for now.
By the way...this is what it is modeled after. Used to be "Queen B" and now is Excaliber. I've ordered nose art for it and I have everything else to make it look like the photo.
I promise progress photos as I build. Just doing all the preliminary stuff for now.
12-16-2012, 11:39 PM
#4
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
I have begun to unpack the beast. As you can see it comes in two boxes. The wings are nicely covered with invasion stripes. It includes the aluminum wing tube.
The fuselage box contains everything else. It all looks very nice and as stated before, not one wrinkle anywhere. That is unusual for a Chinese ARF. You can also see ther vertical stab and it is nicely done.
I took a photo of the 800cc/27oz fuel tank and the gear doors. The doors are either light or aircraft ply covered with the film used on the plane. They look good in comparison to the fiberglass ones. The fuel tank came with a reddish/brown stopper and el cheapo gas fuel line. I changed the stopper to glow with glow fuel tubing. I also replaced the aluminum tubing with brass and used larger brass tubing for the fuel pickup line to accomodate my OS 160 2 stroke.
I'll start on the wing later this week.
The fuselage box contains everything else. It all looks very nice and as stated before, not one wrinkle anywhere. That is unusual for a Chinese ARF. You can also see ther vertical stab and it is nicely done.
I took a photo of the 800cc/27oz fuel tank and the gear doors. The doors are either light or aircraft ply covered with the film used on the plane. They look good in comparison to the fiberglass ones. The fuel tank came with a reddish/brown stopper and el cheapo gas fuel line. I changed the stopper to glow with glow fuel tubing. I also replaced the aluminum tubing with brass and used larger brass tubing for the fuel pickup line to accomodate my OS 160 2 stroke.
I'll start on the wing later this week.
12-17-2012, 01:18 PM
#6
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
Yes TWM P-51 has a flat bottom also. But when you attach the belly pan, that takes care of it. They are all fun scale so the outline is not really scale, but close enough for this price. They still get a wow factor at the field.
12-24-2012, 04:30 PM
#7
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
Well...I guess I couldn't wait so the wings are started. After removing the aileron and flaps from the wing panels, I cut away the covering from the hatch cover areas and the retract and wheel well. The covering was cut about 1/4-3/8" from the edges to wrap over and iron down.
The Robart 701RS gear sets right in the mount. The mounts are well made with thick plywood and plywood ribs. Much better built in this area than my original. The mod to the mount was adding a piece of hardwood to the notch as that is really close to the edge of a mounting screw. You can see it in the photo with the gear sitting on the wing next to the mount. The mounting rails were recessed about 1/8" to set the gear mount a little lower so the wheel will sit in the well. I then had to cut out most of the section between the wheel well and mount. Once it was cut out to accommodate the strut, I then did additional reinforcement to tie it back together. I used some 1/6 balsa to line the V notch for the scissor and then mixed a slurry of epoxy and milled fiberglass to tie the ribs, sheeting and retract mount together. Once the epoxy cured, I used some silver paint to dress it up. As shown in the last photos, it all fits quite nicely. Now to mount the door on the strut.
I cut 1 1/8" from the Robostrut to match everything up. The wheels that came with the plane are too large for the Robostruts so I used a set of Dubro 4" that I had in the wheel drawer.
Just an additional note...I must have been thinking of holiday food or something as I cut the V on the wrong side of the strut (scissors pointing front) and had to rework it . It's all better now.
The Robart 701RS gear sets right in the mount. The mounts are well made with thick plywood and plywood ribs. Much better built in this area than my original. The mod to the mount was adding a piece of hardwood to the notch as that is really close to the edge of a mounting screw. You can see it in the photo with the gear sitting on the wing next to the mount. The mounting rails were recessed about 1/8" to set the gear mount a little lower so the wheel will sit in the well. I then had to cut out most of the section between the wheel well and mount. Once it was cut out to accommodate the strut, I then did additional reinforcement to tie it back together. I used some 1/6 balsa to line the V notch for the scissor and then mixed a slurry of epoxy and milled fiberglass to tie the ribs, sheeting and retract mount together. Once the epoxy cured, I used some silver paint to dress it up. As shown in the last photos, it all fits quite nicely. Now to mount the door on the strut.
I cut 1 1/8" from the Robostrut to match everything up. The wheels that came with the plane are too large for the Robostruts so I used a set of Dubro 4" that I had in the wheel drawer.
Just an additional note...I must have been thinking of holiday food or something as I cut the V on the wrong side of the strut (scissors pointing front) and had to rework it . It's all better now.
01-13-2013, 05:50 PM
#9
RE: Value Hobby P-51 GS
Well...I caught a flu bug and have not spent much time in the shop. However, after installing the new retracts with the mods required, I decided the gear doors were about 1.5-2.0" too short. I made some new ones with 1/32" ply and 1/16" balsa then covered them with silver covering from my scrap bin. They look fine for an arf. Now I'll start working on the control surfaces and wing servos.
BTW...since the Robart 701RS are spring down, I use a wire inserted into the wheel well (see in photo) to keep the gear in the up position.
BTW...since the Robart 701RS are spring down, I use a wire inserted into the wheel well (see in photo) to keep the gear in the up position.
