Idigbo

Got my paint delivery today ;D so the panel lines were applied to the wing and tailplane. These are a mixture of ali foil tape and chartpak lining tape. Once lined, the tape was sprayed over with hi build primer, three thin coats. Once dry, the wing was wet flatted to reveal the tapes, then the tapes peeled off.

Ian.

Dbp7966

Hi ian,

I cannot wait for this to be at the Warbirds meets, it looks stunning now so god knows what its going to look like when its done.

I very happy Spitfire owner.

Cheers

DB

Idigbo

Cheers DB

Got a coat of silver on the topsides outside in the glorious British sunshine, this will be wet flatted and another coat applied. This silver paint has lots of pigment in it and I use it as a final primer on silver models, or any model that needs weathering back to reveal metalwork.

Ian.

Idigbo

Now the underside. Made up the servo covers and have drawn out the panels etc. The shell ejection chutes were drawn out then cut out. The sheeting around the hole was then chamfered off internally to leave a thin edge like the skins of the full size.

The servo hatches are in the approximate position of panels of the full size, though they have all been jiggled about a bit since the U/C isn't really in the scale position etc. But the idea with this model is to end up with a practical model that looks scale enough, flies right and remains completely usable.

Ian.

alanc

You get better and better Ian, cant wait to see the finished product, Wayne is a lucky lad,

Prekin

My Feedback: (19)

Hello Idigbo,

what kind of spinner do you have on your Spitfire? It is spinner from ESM, which is recomanded for this airplane?

Idigbo

Prekin, the spinner is the one available for the kit, nt 100%scale, but good enough for this. Got the cockpit framing and stiffening sorted, pleased with the fit and the reversing mirror, polished ali for the mirror itself. Got the other side of the exhausts too, so one side is glassed in, flip it over tonight and glass 'tuther side in.

Ian.

Prekin

My Feedback: (19)

OK, thank you.
Your Spitfire looks very nice!

Dbp7966

Come on Redshaw, stop keeping us in suspence

DB

Idigbo

Found a bit more time for this. All panel lines and hatches are on the undersides, radiators on and dressed up a bit, pitot tube made, it removable and pushes into two plastic tubes built into the wing much earlier on. Hopefully get some top coats on soon. Pleased with the look of the undersides, no horns and hatches visible. The radiators have been blanked off inside with some ali mesh, they look a bit odd when you can simply see through them.

Ian.

Dbp7966

HiIan,

Looking great like the little touches, this will be one hell of a ARTF

DB

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

Sweeet!

Love it!

Casey

Idigbo

Had a decision to make regarding the mounting of the switches etc. I really didn't want them external, but the only panel to fit them was behind the CofG. Went for this panel and will have to compensate with a bit more ballast. Be worth it though. The hatch is top hinged and held shut with a strong magnet, pretty standard stuff. There is a stay fitted oo, o hold the door up when leads are plugged in etc. This stay is simply hinged through a tube on the door, and runs in a hole in the hatch surround on the fuselage. Since the bend angle in the wire at the door is 85 degrees instead of the 90 degrees, the wire runs in the hole and a kink in the wire then acts as the stop for the stay. To close, simply squeeze the wire and shut the door. To open, since the door itself is quite flimsy, a very slight push in the middle of the door allows a fingernail to get under a bottom corner to pull the door off the magnet. Seems to work a treat. The switches can only use the lower half of the space available though, hence they are on an angle (and conveniently easier to see and get at) since the canopy actuator runs in the middle. I've been very careful with the weight and it feels quite solid and practical.

Ian.

Dbp7966

You are spoling me Mr Redshaw

Looking the DB's

DB

Idigbo

Got the final top coats on the wings, plus I've wet flatted and raised rivetted the fuselage ready for its topcoats. Started to flush rivet the wings too. I also dressed up the insides of the flaps, just to make the boring flat internals look better when they're down.

Ian.

Idigbo

Got the fuselage top coats on, so thats all the main components painted. Just the U/C doors to do, but got to make them yet so it'd be hard to paint them! Also got the sliding canopy servo installed and set up, pleased it works smoothly. Thats all the servos in now apart from the throttle and choke.

All surfaces are glued on now too and I'm very pleased with all of the linkages and the way all the bits wiggle. The elevator is closed loop internally, the rudder closed loop too. I was going to do a pushrod on the left side for the rudder as per full size, but decided against it on weight grounds. So one side of the rudder horn is scale, the other not so!

Idigbo

Heres a few pics of the fuselage in its new silver top coat.

Dbp7966

Hey man, I need to get a cockpit in this

Idigbo

Stole some shed time over the weekend and got some stickers on to please DB, Flightline Graphics did a lovely job of the paint masks as ever, plus some time for more of the flush rivetting, marvellous fun ;D ;D

Ian.

Dbp7966

Hey Ian,

Them Decals look great

She's really comming to life now.

DB

Dbp7966

Just to show how Ian's work against the real aircraft, I think you will agree she is a work of art.

Well Done Mate

Idigbo

All markings now on. Must say the masks for the complicated roundels worked superbly. I was picky with them since I didn't want any overlapped colours on the roundels, so the masks had to be perfect, and perfect they were, very simple to use with good results. Flightline Graphics really know their stuff. Just got to refit the motor and retracts, fit the tank, throttle and choke servos and finally mount the Rx, then the dreaded balancing act!! Not too worried really, what it needs it needs.

Ian.

Idigbo

Heres a couple of pics assembled, just gear doors and some internals to sort. Certainly is a scheme that stands out from the green / grey, brown / green examples. Keep having to look back to make sure all the roundels are on the right way round, its an ocd thing! Quite pleased with how the white painted mesh blends in from certain angles. I'll work the CofG out tonight, shouldn't be too far away from the factory measurement bt I guess it'll need a drop or two of lead.

Ian.

Idigbo

The balance point at the minute, without batteries, tank, throttle and choke servo's and Rx is about 30mm behind the 153mm stated in the storybook. When I've balanced ESM models in the past, I've always found my ideal position is a tad further back, meaning less ballast, but we'll see.

Ian.

SJN

Fantastic