Just finished and flew this new model from world. See my review of the kit on this site. It is, in true World fashion, a beautiful model. With an OS 70 Surpass it was very tail heavy and required alot of weight in the nose.
The servo mounts for the retracts gave way on the first landing and had to be be rebuilt. Be very careful to inspect your model. I found the glue joints weak and that the glue had never hardened! It was an easy fix, and the Spit sustained no damage, but it was a real downer after a spectacular first flight.
I have notified World and they are advising the manufacturer. Has anyone had a similar experience?
Check mine out!
Tally Ho!
-Paul

Hi Paul,
I am in the midlle of building my WM Spit,first that is some job you did ironing and waxing your spitfire,its a beauty.How did you rebuild your retract mounts,and where were those weak points you mentioned?I am using a Magnum 91 4stroke and am anxious to fly it.
When you cut your decals did you cut to the edge of the decal?Again your ship is a beauty,and is currently my desktop background-Thanks
Carl

Carl:
You are going to love this model. I flew mine again yesterday and after a slow victory roll and climbing 180 deg turn the ohhhs and ahhhs from the pit area were abound!
I would suggest replacing the mounts for the retract servo with hardwood, and before doing this reinforcing both the inboard and outboard ribs with light ply as far forward (to the aluminum rod) and as far aft as you can go. Then epoxy them in liberally! This will reinforce the whole area, and make it secure.
As for the letters, I confess that I "borrowed" them from a PICA 1/5th model kit that I have. They are in the markings of Air Vice Marshall Johnnie Johnson, one of the RAF's most highly decorated Spitfire pilots. He led the 144th Canadian squadron over the beaches at Normany in 1944. I have a signed Robert Taylor print by him and so I've always wanted to build his spit.
You can order all these decals from Pica (www.picaweb.com).
As for the gloss, I wish that it was a flat finish. I am searching for ways of taking the sheen of the covering, but have not found a technique that works yet.
Good luck with your spit, send me pics when complete.
-Paul

Paul:
Thanks for the info on reinforcing,will do.Here in NY no one has been flying
at my field,coldest winter in 10 yrs.As far as flattening your shine,I will try to use 1200,or 1500 grit wetsand paper or an ultrafine scuff pad,on a large piece of monokote, at my body shop in the next day or two and will let you know.
I just received my VQ P-40 Curtiss Kittyhawk,looks like a great plane too,I like the retracts on this one they are oleo struts with 1"wide tires,well thats next.I'll let you know on the flatenning in the next day or two.Happy flying

Carl
P.S.Iwas wondering how you got different markings than I did,will check pica out!

Paul,
Tried the wetsanding of finish didnt work out to well,its flattened but not good looking,
well for now you will be the "Spit-Shine In the Sky".Enjoy your Plane.
Carl

Thanks Carl. Perhaps World will produce their next version with a more scale fuselage, wing fairings and a military flat finish. Wouldn't that put the kit masters to shame?
-Paul

Hello,
Great looking Spit. I have a Spit with flat paint, looks more like a warbird. But I can't find flat paint to match for touch up, BUT I have found a FLAT CLEAR paint, Havent tried it, It should dull it, Maybe. I'll let you know later.
George

Just tried the Flat Clear, it started to buckle the paint, must not be compatable with TopFlight paint,
Be carefull with it

Paul, Id cry if I saw a plane as good looking as yours crash[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

Adrian:
Thanks for the compliments. They are timely however because the model did in fact crash last Sunday. I had just rolled it over to inverted while performing a split S when it suddenly went into a spin and headed straight in. Fortunately it did not hit the rather hard desert ground and landed in a mesquite bush. All that was damaged was the strarboard wing, the fuselage, engine & cowling were not damaged at all.
I have no idea what caused this! I have performed this maneuver many times with other aircraft. I do not think that it was a tip stall because it would not respond to any control input. I checked the battery and it was low but well over 4.2 volts
I did order a new wing from World and it arrived today, so the spit will fly again!

-Paul
(ex Canuk from Hamilton, Ont.)[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Hello,
I had about 30 flights on my WM Spit before it went in. I found the entire tail feathers had come off. I just turned base to final (WELL ABOVE stall speed...16.5mph with a radar gun) and the model pitched up and rolled inverted and went in. I was able to get the power completely out before it hit. The wing came off and the tail feathers came off. The was no damage to the tail at all and there was a factory glue joint that had no wood left stuck to it, so the jury says the tail fell off. I have it all back together and it should fly again in the next couple weeks.

I think that we must have obtained the first batch or crate of these models. The quality of my Spit was definately below what I've come to expect from World! They sent me a new wing and I nticed that the fit & finish on the replacement was far superior to my original. The servo mount for the retract was secured much better! (I still reinfoced it with light ply however).
Quite strange that the tail "fell" off after just 30 flights. Did you report this to World?
-Paul

No I did not report it...maybe I should. My LHS said I'm "lucky" that my plane sustained so little damage and that I should have no problem getting it back in the air again....wow.

I reported the problem to Airborne Models and they said I would need to send the wreckage to them so they could inspect the plane. I have the ready to fly again so I guess that isn't gonna work out...

I've been thinking about this kit on and off for about a month. I've got some birthday money. Typically I'm a kit- basher, as I can never leave well enough alone. I never had a World model, but I have had spits and a host of ARF warbirds. I find that many ARF's have inferior hinges or hinge material; I've even had some delaminate, so I never use their incidentals (hinge material or hardware) For CA hinges I like Radio South. For horns and clevises, I prefer Sullivan.

The detainable shine on your warbird just needs to be shot with flat clear. Cheaper films sometimes soften and wrinkle but a little heat will usually shrink it again. Fully sheeted surfaces can be rubbed down with fine steel wool to kill the shine.

I oftentimes strip the covering off my ARF after the first blemish and recover it the way I like, strengthening and adding detail as I go. Koverall is wonderful stuff for open frame structures and nothing but lite glass will do on fully sheeted surfaces. Paint is either TopFlight or Cheveron. A hardcore warbird requires Cheveron paint because of the color selection and flat finish availability. As finishing touch, don’t forget to weather it!

All that being said, and after your current experiences, do you recommend the kit? The only drawback I see is the way the cowl is mounted; it seems to be sleeved over the fuse in the photo, which is the ugliest method of mounting a cowl known to man!

Yes, the cowl is sleeved over the fuselage.
Also, this plane comes pre-hinged with WM metal hinges. They have barbs on them and are epoxied in place.
I really do like this airplane. I'd be curious about the kits that are available today. I bet they ironed out a few bugs. BTW, this plane has an aluminum tube spar-very nice. Not the small pieces of lite ply that you have to glue together and install....

Thanks, I think I'm going to order it. I also think I'm going to have to kit-bash it. There seems to be enough good things about it to make it a worthwhile project. The cowl set-up has to go! I had a Koysho Spitfire a few years ago, it was also great, right up to it’s untimely demise when I tried an outside loop too low to the ground, but I like the looks of the Spit IX better!

Thanks for the intel.