CARF SPITFIRE ASSEMBLY and SCALE DETAILING
08-15-2016, 02:18 PM
#52
Hello I am posting this for my close friend and flying buddy (Krazy Kanuk) I am sorry to say Brian lost his battle with cancer July 29 / 16 .God bless you Brian , Fly high buddy .
08-18-2016, 11:27 AM
#58
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: , NY
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Hi Nicoladestro. I just read the very sad news about Brian. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. To answer your question--Kolm sells an install kit for the 150 with a wooden cut out/silhouette of the engine. This makes centering the engine with a small offset quite straightforward.
08-18-2016, 12:59 PM
#59
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Este, ITALY
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Thank you.
I am evaluating the dla116 in line engine. It is cheapest than kolm. I will try to make a fake wood engine with my cnc machine in order to centre everything.
Thanks again.
Regards.
I am evaluating the dla116 in line engine. It is cheapest than kolm. I will try to make a fake wood engine with my cnc machine in order to centre everything.
Thanks again.
Regards.
01-24-2018, 10:08 AM
#60
Well I am going to pick up where Brian left off, After his passing he left me the spitfire to finish . It's taken me a while to get to it but I will post some of my progress . he purchased a Kolm 77 for the spit but I did not think it enough so I purchased a Valach 120 inline .
01-24-2018, 10:20 AM
#61
You can see in the above pictures I started the functional exhaust , the cooling system is done and I mounted a 60mm cooling fan to help things out. Brian wanted the tropical version because that is the plane the Canadian ace flew" Buzz Burling" . The carf spit really has poor detailing on the cowl and I though it looked terrible with the top of the hood being cut in half so I removed the upper front portion of the fuse and joined it to the cut off portion of the top of the cowl , it now has a much smoother look , also the awful raised screw heads that carf had molded in will all be ground off and replaced with aluminum fasteners made to look like the dzus fasteners that were used on the spit . this also gave me great access to the inside of the fuse
Last edited by RAMMJETT; 01-24-2018 at 10:43 AM.
01-24-2018, 10:29 AM
#62
I also had to redo the sliding canopy as Brian was having trouble with it . what I did was make a lightweight brass frame and screwed the plastic parts to it . works fine now . he also had the fuel filler mounted to far forward . he mounted the fueller at the front of the fuse ,this is actually in the middle of the top of the engine cowl . So I made a new more realistic looking filler and recessed it into the fuse as the real spit was ,this time locating it in the fuel tank.
01-24-2018, 02:14 PM
#64
Yeah to me the best part of the spitfire is that long sexy hood , It just looked all wrong with the thing cut in half and a row of misplaced frankenstien bolts running through it . Even the sides look better now . I would like to think of a way to make the side panels full length also but it seems the best I can do is grind of the fake screw heads and make the join as hidden as possible . I went for the Valach for 3 reasons . first it has a single carb to help with setup/reliability , secondly it's a bit lighter ,and thirdly it was easier to run functional exhaust . you would have to use the tropical filter to run the Valach because there needs to be a small hole cut for clearance .
02-01-2018, 07:49 AM
#65
a little more work , mounted the landing gear ,was a little tricky because of the angles used on the spitfire . I am thinking of converting the gear to electric (dose anyone have experience with LADO products ,they make actuators for conversions) anyway I am am making new gear doors as the Carf ones are big heavy ugly things (big flat piece of plywood with glass on both sides ) I will be making the new doors from aluminum and they will actually weigh 20g less each , yeah hard to believe that a composite part is actually heavier then the real material LOL. anyway I also have the formed inner liners for a little more detail .
Last edited by RAMMJETT; 02-01-2018 at 08:07 AM.
02-01-2018, 08:05 AM
#66
took a couple of shots of the front of the plane to give you a idea of the access to the front of the plane with the hood removed . you can see I have the throttle and choke servos in place . also I machined a better looking fuel filler and recessed it into the fuse like the real spitfire .next will be to mount the fuel tank under the filler , the fuel pump and fuel filter will be mounted inside the plane on the back side of the firewall , the ignition will be mounted on the tray beside the the throttle and choke servos . I will wire the cooling fan direct to the receiver output . the fuel pump and ignition I will feed off the ultra IBEC . this way the fuel pump will only run when the ignition is on and the cooling fan will run until the receiver turns off . fan draw is 20mah the pump draw is 30mah so not much sense having extra batteries .I have been running my ignitions through a ultra IBEC with no trouble for years .
Last edited by RAMMJETT; 02-01-2018 at 08:11 AM.
02-09-2018, 12:26 PM
#67
Well I tell ya, you have to want gear doors real bad to install them on this kit , I would say this kit is a total botch job as far as the landing gear blocks and
the shape of the supplied gear doors , not to mention the gear mounting blocks were at different heights in both wings . thankfully the landing gear blocks were
1/4" too low to even let the landing gear lock in the up position , the blocks also need to be ground to allow the wheel to be pushed forward in the well.
quite shocked at the poor alignment of these items, for the price of the kit I think they could do a bit better job. I have decided to go electric on the landing
gear and have the actuators on the way .I have also mocked up some fairings to cover the landing gear Mounting bolts . I can't believe that CARF would have
you leave the holes wide open??? anyway this is how far I have gotten..
the shape of the supplied gear doors , not to mention the gear mounting blocks were at different heights in both wings . thankfully the landing gear blocks were
1/4" too low to even let the landing gear lock in the up position , the blocks also need to be ground to allow the wheel to be pushed forward in the well.
quite shocked at the poor alignment of these items, for the price of the kit I think they could do a bit better job. I have decided to go electric on the landing
gear and have the actuators on the way .I have also mocked up some fairings to cover the landing gear Mounting bolts . I can't believe that CARF would have
you leave the holes wide open??? anyway this is how far I have gotten..
02-09-2018, 07:54 PM
#69
The kit was purchased 2016 . I don't want to get to down on Carf ,there is a lot of nice detail and most of the parts are really nice .
So far I have found if you want the canopy to open you will need a spare canopy . The landing gear block alignment is out to lunch .
cowl detail is way off scale , they actually have star screw heads sticking out 1/8" all over the cowl. The spitfire used Dzus that
sat flush . With a kit like this, it begs for detail ,I would rather CARF omitted some detail then use details you have to spend
hours grinding off to fix. Anyway all problems are fixable but totally unnecessary .Would not cost any more to do it right .
So far I have found if you want the canopy to open you will need a spare canopy . The landing gear block alignment is out to lunch .
cowl detail is way off scale , they actually have star screw heads sticking out 1/8" all over the cowl. The spitfire used Dzus that
sat flush . With a kit like this, it begs for detail ,I would rather CARF omitted some detail then use details you have to spend
hours grinding off to fix. Anyway all problems are fixable but totally unnecessary .Would not cost any more to do it right .
02-09-2018, 09:04 PM
#71
My Feedback: (2)
I agree. It's easier to make something right the first time. I have no idea why manufacturers produce such stupid stuff when its totally unnecessary.
I asked if it was a new kit because I've been looking at the CARF Spit for a while.
Sorry to hear of the issues.
I asked if it was a new kit because I've been looking at the CARF Spit for a while.
Sorry to hear of the issues.
02-10-2018, 07:21 AM
#72
Don't be scared off by my comments ,it's still a very complete kit and well worth doing , I just don't understand why one would not make the canopy
so it could be cut without buying another very expensive canopy . I don't mind fabricating but having to repair problems that are build in is a bit
disappointing .
so it could be cut without buying another very expensive canopy . I don't mind fabricating but having to repair problems that are build in is a bit
disappointing .
02-10-2018, 10:22 AM
#74
They made the frame joint between the windshield and canopy cover so thin you need to sacrifice one or the other
or there will be no flange on one side . . stupid really for such a detailed plane that begs for a sliding canopy .
Even when using 2 canopy's it a bit of a problem because you are extending the overall length .
if you look at my canopy picture the sliding part of the canopy has the full frame on it and its very thin , the front windshield is another
canopy set with the full frame left on the windshield side. on the windshield side I also used a bit of scrap from the cowl trimmings to make
a flange that the canopy can slide under . hopefully this makes sense .
or there will be no flange on one side . . stupid really for such a detailed plane that begs for a sliding canopy .
Even when using 2 canopy's it a bit of a problem because you are extending the overall length .
if you look at my canopy picture the sliding part of the canopy has the full frame on it and its very thin , the front windshield is another
canopy set with the full frame left on the windshield side. on the windshield side I also used a bit of scrap from the cowl trimmings to make
a flange that the canopy can slide under . hopefully this makes sense .