Just started my TF Spitfire build (Gold , finished the stab and working on FIN and Rudder. Here are some pictures.

Looks good. I would be interested in following your progress since this is a kit I would like to build in the future.

-tychoc

Welcome to the world of the TF Spit. I am finally approaching the end of my build, currently adding panel lines and other final details. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give a shout. I'm sure you've come across it, but I'll go ahead and mention it anyway. Be sure to check out the very informative spitfire build thread by Tubig.

Good luck and great building.

Scott

I'm interested in sanding tips and how to get the contours dead on etc.. I've made a couple of custom sanding blocks and a templete to check the elevator curves. I wish there was more information on how sand and build.

I do refer to the Spit build from the person from Twain. It has been a great help.

Here are pitcures of the Fin and Rudder. After looking at the pictures i can see where more sanding and filling is needed. I use my finger touch to find dents and dips and use filler. Any pointers would be welcome, i could use them.

ray

Hi!
Well ! Sanding is an art and you just have to learn it.
A good start is to have a long (30cm or longer) aluminum U-shaped bar and wrap the sand paper around it. Those T-shape aluminum bars from available from some hobby suppliers are no good.
It's also vital to have good sandpaper. The best sandpaper I have found during my 30 years in this hobby is a Portuguese sand paper from Indasa, called "Red line, Rhino dry".This sand paper is sooo good compared to everything else on the market, even compared to 3M sanding paper that you will be amazed.
It's available in many different grades from 60 up to 1200.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

Does anyone know if this paper is available in the states?

I have not seen it anywhere here locally in Texas, but it's slime pickings for wood working and hobby stores.

It's for sale on ebay right now:

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/Indasa-Red-Line-Wet-or-Dry-Sandpaper-80-grit_W0QQitemZ8260306681QQcategoryZ41369QQcmdZView Item]http://cgi.ebay.com/Indasa-Red-Line-Wet-or-Dry-Sandpaper-80-grit_W0QQitemZ8260306681QQcategoryZ41369QQcmdZView Item[/link]

Well i'm moving along on the wing. Been referring back a lot to the TF spit build from Tubig. lots of great pointers there. He has details of the wing built on page 3 of that post. I've attached some pictures of the wing, left and right side. still sanding the bottom of the right wing.

I've completed the center wing section. The TUBIG thread was extremely helpful here again since the manual and plans did not clearly show how the wing joiners attached. I made a couple of simple changes. Since the kit provided me with an extra center rib and doublers i added them to add strength. You can see this in the pictures.

I must say that the TE sheeting is extremely delicate and easily broken. i found myself adding glue to fix some cracks i created. the other thing that got me is when i was sanding the bottom, prepping for the bottom skin, my table was not 100% clean and i made lots of marks in the top skin. This mean i will need to do lots of filling and sanding. it does not take much to dent the skins at all. The servo is mounted, i used a futaba 3151 servo for the flaps.

To get the bottom ready for sheeting I remembered a few good hints from TUBIG. That the bolt plates raise above the ribs. I used pieces of sheeting and kept sanding the rib notches to get the bolt plate close to even with the sheeting. Then i made a template of the bolt plate and cut out a smaller size hole in the sheeting. You can see where the cutout did not align over the bolt plate. (pen Marks). I then adjusted the cut out and got it really close. I need to take pictures of the final product (center section).

ray, looking real good!

you probably already know this, but before doing any filling and sanding of dings and holes first steam all of the sheeted areas. steaming will help raise small dents and dings back to the level of the surrounding balsa. then all you need to do is use a raking light to find the other problem areas. it'll save you a lot of unnecessary filling and sanding.

Tubig,

Thanks for the pointer, i will do it. I do have a question, what do you use to make the steam? How do you apply it? Any pointers here would be great..

Attached are pictures of the wing joined together. I've installed the retracts and spent a lot of time adjusting the wheel well so the wheel would be hidden. You can see in the pictures that i reinforced the rib that i needed to trim. This made it easier to work. In the end the rib may need to be completely trimmed as i've seen in TUBIGs model.

Your progress looks great.[sm=thumbup.gif] I too ended up removing all of the rib in the wheel well to gain complete clearance. If you add a well wall, it will help to strengthen the area. When I did this on my spit, it lead to me needing to add a tube for the servo wires since the wires were no longer accessable from wheel wells.

Scott

Was curious what brand and type of retracts You are using, neat work.

ray, i just use a regular tea kettle and slowly move the surface a couple of inches above the steam. i move it at about 1 inch/second but sometimes i'll momentarily pause the surface over the steam if the dent is deep/large. keep in mind that if the surface has been cut, gouged or punctured then steam is not going to help. only where the balsa has been "flattened". another method is to apply a damp cloth on the surface and use an iron to create the steam.

I used Robart 605HD 90 Degree Mains w/3/16" Wire and Robart 650 Straight RoboStrut (3/8"). I cut off 1/2 inch from the Robstrut so that only 4-1/2 inches would extend past the skin. (Per the drawing)

Scott

Do you have any pictures to share, specifically in building the wing. This could help me immensely.

Thanks
Ray

Hi Ray,

I too found Tubigs' thread to be of great help. I posted a number of photos in Tubig's build thread. In post # 135 is a photo of the wheel well and also shows the tubes I used for the aileron servo wires. As you can see, I had doped the interior bays as suggested in the TF instructions. If I were to do it again, I would have skipped that step as once the wheel well walls were added it is not needed. I also have some photos at various stages in my gallery.

Scott

Ok, been spending lots of time and brain power to build the wheel well. It's hard to finally make a hole in the skin panel. But here's what i did after much loss of sleep. I took a 4 inch PVC pipe. I soaked the balsa wood in warm water for a half hour then wrapped it around the pipe, rubber banded it, and let it dry. Once dry i removed the wood. wrapped wax paper around the pipe and then rubber banded the wood back onto the pipe. Then i glued the seams with thin CA. when dry this gave me the round wheel well. (again this was after lots of experiments with many sizes first).

I figured the wheel well was on a 20 degree angle, that put it close to the angle of the wheel strut. I cut the PVC pipe at an angle so i could use it to create the ellipse on the wing panel. Then i enlarged the hole to match the elliptical line. Then with lots of test fitting and adjustments to the wing hole and rib i was able to get the balsa tube into the wing at the angle i wanted. You can see this in the pictures. Once in i glued it in place and cut off the excess. I used the cut offs as reinforcement to the wheel well. Then i sanded both sides to match the wing contour.

I need to now build the enclosure for the strut.

Hi Ray,

Your results look really good. I hadn't thought of PVC as the form. It's been a while since I did the wheel wells and I don't recall what I used as a form. As I recall, I made mine around 3 5/8" - 3 3/4". It makes the well closer to scale, but makes getting the alignment more difficult. I learned a lot from adding the wheel wells, and I believe that it will translate to better results on future builds. One think I wish I had pointed out to you was to have created a fiberglass sheet over the area to use as a gear door. The general method for this would have been as follows. Before cutting the skin for the wheel well, attach some iron on covering (monocote/ultracoat) over an area about an inch bigger than the gear doors. On top of this, lay up about 4 layers of 6 oz cloth. Once cured, you will have a sheet of fiberglass that matches the contours of the wing exactly, from which you can cut out for your gear doors. I too learned of this after cutting out my wheel wells. I ended up spot glueing balsa inside the openings then made the fiberglass skins. I reinforced the skins with some basswood and made strut mount hardware from brass and JB weld. Here are a couple of recent photos

Scott

im building my spit to be verry light and fast...and verry scale

hehe my gole is to build the lightest TF SPITFIRE and for it to be very scale.
im thinking of trying to get the exhaust to come out the headers on the cowling but havent got to that part yet i still have a lot more drilling on other parts to do and build it..

I followed your advise and got one wheel covering almost complete. I used printer transparency to cover the wheel opening and taped it down then applied the fiberglass over it. I will have some photos soon. It's slow going since this is my first complex build. I built a Great planes PT 40 but it did not require as much brain power. I'm learning allot and definitely taking the long road. Thanks for all your help.

PS: that's my son in the picture

Ray

ray, i thought i would post your question and the photos here since this is for your model. these are what i took during construction. is this what you're looking for?