prgonzalez

Today's progress...

1. Filled low spots on top side of wing.
2. Installed top side of flaps.
3. Installed one LE side and sanded to shape.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

not real familiar with EZ-coat I did mine with water based polyurathane and .56oz fiberglass worked great

ForcesR

I thought I would post a few pictures of my TF Spitfire build progress to date. I basically have completed the wing, all that remains is building the MLG doors and final sanding of the wing sheetingand finalsanding andshaping of the leading edge. I will wait until the fuselage is completed to finish of the wingand the Monokotecovering process. Icovered the aileron servo doors and flaps with Monokote flat dove grey just tosee how it looks. The winglooksreally good with the 6 degrees of dihedral that I added to the wing. The LG has a splayed stance which was expected,it still looks OK to me. Now on with the fuselage build.

Roger

prgonzalez

Hi Roger,

Really nice.  I see you will cover with Monokote.  What paint are you planing on using over MK?

Pedr

ForcesR

Good day Pedro, I do not planto paint over the Monokote covering. The colour scheme I plan on doing with theMonokote is; bottom covered with flat dove grey, top ofwing and fuselage will be flat olive drab/flat tan. The flat dove grey looks ok for the bottom of the wing and fuselage but I think it is way to light of a grey for the top of the wing and fuselage. It's to bad that Monokote does not produce a darker grey like sea grey or artic grey. My favorite camo colour scheme for a Spitfire is olive drab/sea grey.

Roger

prgonzalez

Okay, if I undertand your color scheme well, you will be doing MK over MK for the fuse and top of wing. Right?

ForcesR

Pedro yes MK over MK. I have always had good resultsusing MK,the Camo scheme will not be a problem for me. As long asone traces out the patterns first,then cut along the pattern lines,overlap the ends of the pattern cutMKby at least 1/4 inchthen iron downas per normal application.I alwayshavethe darkest colouroverlap the lightest colour; hence the lightest colour is alwaysat the bottom of thejointing seams.

This is the colour scheme that will adorn the Spitfire.

Roger

ForcesR

I'm hoping the monokote camo colour scheme will look as good as the monokote covering job I didon my P-51D Mustang.

Roger

prgonzalez

Very nice scheme. I have a 12" model toy that I will use for my scheme. I will take a pic and post it later.

I have been on and off working on the SF these holidays. I am not done with the wings yet. I need to do final sanding and test fit flaps and ailerons. Meanwhile, I have started the fuse to gain some time.

Edited to add photos.

ForcesR

Hello Pedro, I thought I would bring this to your attention before you got to the point of installing the horizontal stab. I am very surprised that this was not mentioned by one of the other TF Spitfire builders.

There is a discrepancy between what the drawing shows and what the manual shows when fittingthe horizontalstab. The drawing shows the leading edge of the stab butting up against frame #10 of the fuselage.

The manual on page 36, step # 10 shows that this is not the case, the leading edge of the stab is seated roughly 1/4 inch from frame # 10. I believe the manual is correct and the drawing is wrong? Also on page 37, steps # 15, 16, 17 show the same 1/4inch spacing between the stab leading edge and frame #10.The reason I say this is when the stab is seated inits saddle, as isshown in step # 10, the trailing edge of the stab aligns with the trailing edge of the die cut 1/4 inch fin spacer. The leading edge of thefin spar should butt up against and beglued tothe fin spacer and the trailing edge of the horizontal stab?

Maybe one of the others builders can chime in here and correct me if I am wrong in my assumption.

Roger

prgonzalez

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the tip on the stab. I have to re-start the fuse and I will oder some of the die-cuts today. I made atwist of over 1/4" in the aft section of the fuselage after glueing one fuse skin. I thought about going forward and compensate the twist later, butre-doing the frame of the fuse is not a big task. Therefore, I decided to re-do the fuse and be more careful next time. This will be a two weeks delay. In the meantime, I am preparingthe wings for glassing.

This is my first warbird and all I can say at this time is this building has more details to look for than any other building I have done before. However, it is a very rewarding learning experience.

Pedro

ForcesR

Good day Pedro, I am very sorry to hear of the twist that was introduced into your SF fuselage. It is veryimportant that the fuselage is pinned flat and tightly to the build board before sheeting the fuselage. The P-51D Mustang was my first ever warbird build and I found the instructions were much better clarified in the drawings and manual then this Spitfire kit.

As mentioned, I am very surprised that none of the other SF builders found or mentionedthe discrepancy between what the drawing shows and whatthe manual shows for the horizontal stab seating. Every photo I have seen posted of other builders Spitfires shows the horizontal stab leading edge butting up against frame # 10. Allowing the stab leading edge to butt upagainst frame # 10 introduces more stab incidence then the required +2 degrees. This extrainduced incidence may contribute to the many reported nose oversduring the take off run? Also it may explain why many Spitfire builders have reportedmoreelevator uptrim was required then expected,for level flight.

I am going to send an e-mail to Topflite to bring to their attentionthe discrepancybetween the drawing andmanual concerning the correcthorizontal stab seating. I will let you know what they saywhen theyreply.

Roger

prgonzalez

Hi Roger,

The die-cuts are on its way home.  I will follow your observations and will check incidende with meter before seating stab on the fuse saddle.  I have glassed the top of the wings and I am happy with the results.  I need to do a final sanding and probably need to apply one more coat.

I will read the P51 instructions to find out more tips and avoid another twist on the fuse.  Thanks you for the tips.

Pedro

jimm

My Feedback: (1)

Has anyone tried making a box under the firewall box to mount some or all of the servos or battery to try and move some more weight farther forward?

ForcesR

Hello Pedro, I have not heard backfrom Topflite concerning the proper seating of the horizontal stab.I went ahead and installed the stab according to the instruction manual andphoto's. Pedro are you using a magnetic building board to assemble aircraft? If you are, a pinandcork board is much better to use whenattaching and bending sheeting tothe fuselage, less chance of causing a twist in the fuselage.
Here is a few photos of my progress with the fuselage. Must be a glitchwith this forum today, seems it turned my paragraph intoone long sentence and the picturesI posted are huge, compared to my previous posted pictures.

Roger

prgonzalez

Oops...Pressing Enter too fast.

prgonzalez

Jimm,

Depending on how much weight I need in the nose of the plane, I am planning on installinga micro throttle servo and battery in the front andextend the engine mount if necessary to avoid adding lead.

I do not remember which thread, but I have seen some pictures here on RCU with a small box for battery installation.

Pedro

prgonzalez

Roger,

Very nice progress and finish.

Did you confirm stab incidence when seating the stab on the saddle? At the end of the daythat's the true indicator of the correct stab position.

Pedro

ForcesR

Good day Pedro, I don't have a incidence meter but I am confident that the stab is seated correctly as per the instruction manual illustration photos. The stab saddle is designed with an upper and lower steppedshelf and I am sure the stabs leading edge is suppose to rest on the lower shelf.I strongly believethe drawing plan is wrong showing the stab leading edge butting up against fuselage frame #10.
I am still waiting for Topflite engineering to reply to my observation. I suggested that a technical notice should be issued to address the proper and correct way for the stab to be seated in the saddle. If I am wrong and the drawing is correct, oh well its to late now, the stab is secured in it's saddle.

Roger

prgonzalez

Roger,

I have not done much progress on my build.  We had family visiting us for the holidays and we had a busy and fun time at home not leaving many gaps for working on the model.   I was able to glass the top of the wing though.  I also received the new die-cuts for re-doing the fuse and received the DEPS push-rods from Central. They where on back order.  I should be good to go and re-start building in the next week or so.

Pedro

ForcesR

Pedro, as you know family comes first, themost important priorityin life. I finally received an e-mail from Topflite R&D. They are reviewing my observation and will have an answer to me by early next week. I will let you know soonest if my stab seating in the saddle was the correct procedure or not.

Roger

ForcesR

Good day Pedro,

Topflite R&D has confirmed thatmy observation is correct in finding that the drawing plan shows the incorrect seating of the horizontal stab in the stab saddle. TF is as dumb founded as me as to why this mistake in the drawing was not brought to their attention way before now?

For allbuilders that seated the stab with the leading edge of the stab butting up against fuselage frame # 10.The stab is seatedin thewrong location in the stab saddle and morestab incidence has been inducedthen the required + 2 degrees.This may be a contributing factor in the reported nose overs during the takeoff run. It may also explain why moreelevator up trim was needed to fly level thenwhat wasexpected.

Topflite will be releasing a Technical notice to address the problem.

The photo at step # 10, page 36 of the manual shows the correct seating of the stab in the saddle. To correctly seat the stab in the saddle the leading edge of the stab must rest on the smalllower step of the saddle, not the upper step. When seated correctly in the saddlethe leading edge of the stab is 1/4' back from fuse frame # 10.

If you are currently building the Spitfire there are 3 items in the manual that need to be corrected:

(1). Page 35, step 2, it states that the fuselage sheeting should be long enough to extend past the plywood stab saddles by 5/8". This has to be changed to 7/8".

(2). Page 36, step 1, the die-cut 1/4"balsa "Fin Spacer" must be increased in thickness to 1/2". You can make another fin spacer from scrap 1/4 balsa and glue both together to make the fin spacer 1/2" in thickness.

(3). The horizontal stab must be seated correctly in the saddle. The leading edge must rest on the lower step of the saddle. When it is seated correctly, the leading edge of the stab will be 1/4" distance from fuselage frame # 10. See page 36, photo at step # 10 shows seating and 1/4" spacing.

Roger

Mpizpilot

My Feedback: (45)

Wow,thanks. Just copied that to my notes. Just unrolled the plans for this one getting ready to go.

cvial

thaks a lot Roger! I am going to check that stab right now!

prgonzalez

Roger,

Way to go man. Thanks so much for the headsup.

Pedro