RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

I am back
I was away for a few days. I just took over as captain of an oil spill response vessel on the Delaware canal. The good thing is that the ship will go out only two days a month so I can finsh building without much interruptions. The spit will move then from my basement to my office on the ship.
After an extensive research I think you guys are right and the air retracts are the most convenient way to go, as I cannot find a practical and reliable way to install mechanicals in there. I am looking into either B$D or Eurokit made in Italy( good looking gear, and the price tag is not too bad either) I also think I came to a solution for the motor and opted for an AXI electric plant. Anyway I am going back to the build and hope to be finished with the wing centre section by the end of today
Cheers from Maryland
Patrick

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Hi guys
Tfarmer I saw your thread on the covering. Let us know what solution you adopted and how it went. My centre wing is done and I am at the road block as I think I cannot go any further now till I do a big ordering of servos and retracts.
BTW on the Ezone web page I saw a cool article on making aluminium hinges, pretty much the same setup I put in my Nieuport Ultralight, I would be very interested to see pictures on how the original hinges look like.
About the rudder tip shape I spend a few days downloading everything on the Mk IX and it seems that the tip from TF is allright, but at some point in the evolution of the Mk IX they opted for the pointy rudder tip, and I am not sure yet at what point. Also I will extend the flaps toward the fuse to make them look like the real thing.
Well in the lull of building I am trying to catch up with the documentations on the spitty.
Cheers from Maryland
Patrick

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Im going with monokote. We have a guy in the club that is a real ace at it. Between flights this weekend we had a class on how to make it look right. So we will see how she goes. Im almost there.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Did you guys really tap the maple blocks that hold the wing on?

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

yep. works great. i prefer tapping my own blocks. coming together nicely, keep up the good work.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

ok when in Rome.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Here are a couple of photos of my wing faring and of the wing mounted to the fuselage. I used a technique similiar to the one described by Dave Platt for creating a very close fitting seam between fuse and wing. Unfortunately, I did not photograph the process. Basically, I made a smooth transition between the fairing and the wing by building up a taper from the wing to meet the fairing with micro balloons, using a strip of waxed paper as a parting film, then sanded flush. It left a bit too wide of a seam, so I then coated the fuse side of the seam with wax and covered the area with more micro balloons to make a close fitting seam. The seam is about the same size as my simulated panel lines and blends the wing smoothly into the fuse.

Scott

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

scott, your fairing looks very nice! the gap will close up even more with a little paint so it's gonna look real good when painted. just a word of caution, if you paint the model with the wing and fuse joined (like i did) make sure to separate them right after you spray or the paint may peel if left to dry and then the model is disassembled (just ask me how i know!). or you could possibly run a razor down the line to help separate the paint before disassembling. great work!

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

:D:D:D

I know what you mean. I really sweated it when I used parting wax to close up the gap with the epoxy and micro balloons. I wasn't fully sure if I was going to end up with a close seam, or a serious disaster.

Scott

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

ya that looks great

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Did those photos cover what you wanted to see?

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

ya i wanted to see how/if you did any blending. I just got done putting the moldings on and i will be blending it when it dries. It looks like it will be a bit of a job but way it goes. Thanks for posting them.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

I got some of it done last night. Im not very happy with it. Guess this just means i wont mind as much when it gets crashed.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

can anyone tell my why the firewall is not square? I got the engine on this morning and for the life of me i dont know why they did this.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

TF has already built in alot of right thrust into the firewall so it won't be square to the sides. is this what you're referring to?

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

yes it is. why did they do that?

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

to counteract torque effects. be aware that the spinner might not fit the front of the cowl correctly due to all of that right thrust. i had problems with mine and it still doesn't look right but others who've built this model didn't have the same problem. just something to look for as you build. be careful not to "push" the cowl over too far to make the front of the cowl match up with the spinner as then you'll have a "bend" in the fuselage from the canopy forward.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

I too have ended up with a gap between the spinner and cowl that is wider on one side than the other. I was able to minimize the bent nose effect by mounting the engine slightly off center and the spinner is also not perfectly centered to the cowl, but in all, looks reasonable. If I find the torque problem not too bad, on my next TF build, I may reduce the amount of right thrust too.

Scott

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Well i have started covering the spit. In 4 hrs of work i managed to get the top side vert stab covered and the rudder. I may have to redo the rudder the curve at the top is real tricky.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Got the base covering on.

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

all i got left is mount the engine and paint the exhaust

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

I noticed when attaching my control horns i don't have any screws provided that are long enough to go through to the top of the aileron or the ver stab or horz stab. Im i not supposed to use the backer plates that cam with the control horns?

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Hi tfarmer,

Have you gotten airborne yet?

Scott

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

hey there farmer when I attached my horns I used the wood screws provided after piloting the holes I used thin CA to reinforce the holes when I was ready I used a small bit of epoxy to cement the horn to the aileron for good messure. have to add I glassed my bird so I didn't feel the need to remove any covering if you do use epoxy I would remove a small amount of the covering under the horn for a better grip, for me the plastic backing just wasn't the look I was after I also did my ailerons like tubig's ,sheeted for a more scale look

RE: TOP FLITE SPITFIRE BUILD
 

Bringn her in hot!