Alex48

Hello

The first thing to say about this kit is the molded detail is fantastic lots of scope for extra scale detail. Its a good size too!

This is the first SM kit I've worked on that's not been painted. My advice would be to not bother getting the white gelcoat version unless it's going to a professional painter as the surface requires many hours of work to get it ready for paint. SM do such a lovely job on their pro painted ARF's I think the extra money is definitely worth it. I'm just glad I don't have to be involved in the final finishing of this model as it's going to be a massive job but I'm certain it will look amazing once painted up

The undercarriage is a work of art, SM really do produce some of the best stuff avialable today. I'm waiting on the newly designed tanks and will post any problems I face as when they appear.

Some photo's of how it came out the box...

Alex

DelGatoGrande

My Feedback: (23)

Goodluck with the building Alex![8D]

Alex48

Thanks George, I've certainly been kept busy the last few months...

A few more shots before I start. The fuz is standing next to a 1/5 scale P51 which I've been building for years it's the same scale as the F86. They must have been an awesome sight to the guys that converted from the late mks of piston engined fighters to these...

JetsRC

Congrats Alex.... Keep the pics coming...

Alex48

Right then, managed a bit of time on the F86 yesterday and I have to say its a really nice model. The size is impressive! The ailerons are over half a meter long, the wings are huge.... Makes the Ultra bandit look small......

I talked a bit about the finish of the gelcoat and I'm pleased to report with a bit of attention its come up nicely, it's time consuming though, I spent a good hour on the empennage but it was worth it just to see how it came out. While we're at the back end I had to adjust the holes in the fin and both stabs for a better fit to their respective surfaces. Another thing I found was that to get the fin off for transport you have to take the stabs off. But to get the Stabs off you have to take the pipe out. A tad time consuming for getting it in and out of your car. The Stabs are secured through the carbon rod and metal tube with a single M2 bolt. I'd rather have these glued on than rely on an M2 bolt so I'll have to rethink the fin retention system. You can see the holes these bolts go through in the first picture. Have I missed something obvious? What do the guys do that have one of these already?

It's worth mentioning that the fit between all the molded parts is very good. The gear doors fit nicely as do the speed brakes. The slats work nicely a very precise fit meaning no slop but free movement. The flaps are the same and it's possible to get loads of movement. It should land nicely with all these bits dangling out.....

When I was told a 200SX was going to power it I thought it was over the top but having handled the model I think it will work well..........

Cheers, Alex

Alex48

Been slow going but everything's done that can be without having the turbine or radio. I've reinforced all the robart style hinges with brass tube, painted the inside the usual grey, cleaned up the airframe, fitted the cockpit which required a lot of dremeling for a nice fit, reduced the size of the frame work for a nice scale appearance and trimmed the inside of the frame work for a decent look. All was sprayed a matching grey to the cockpit. I've also cut the canopy glazing...................Just a matter of dropping all the goodies in now.......

Cheers, Alex

AndyAndrews

What was the scale purpose of the extra hub on the outside of the wheel hubs on the mains?

Alex48

I presume it was the arrangement of the brakes, not entirely certain here's a picture with the outer shroud removed......I'm sure someone will know why they did it like this.

Alex48

Hello

Been fitting the drop tanks this morning. The instructions say the supports for the pylons are located 340mm at right angles to the wing root. This is incorrect they are actually located 440mm from the wing root. Luckily It was easy for me to check because its the gelcoat version, could be more difficult to see on the ARF pro versions....

Cheers, Alex

Alex48

Hello

The drop tanks are all installed. The pylons will need to be glued permanently to the wings IMO as there is some lateral movement to the pylon when the tank is attached. We don't want these fluttering away especially as this model isn't exactly underpowered. It looks good with them on though.............

The innards have arrived today. The plan is to have this powered by a 200SX which I think will work well with the model in Ali's hand's. Radio wise PowerBox Spektrum Royal with all its associated displays etc... 12000mAh's worth of Lipo's. JR8411's all round except on the elevators which will have 8711's. At the heart of the air systems will be the v4 EV5U pro valve. Jettronic dual action valves taking up the slack for the speed brakes and canopy.

Cheers, Alex

Duncan

Come on Alex, i thought you would of finished this and the UB by now. Slacker !!

Duncan

Alex48

Watching you build your Viper must have rubbed off

Duncan

lol touche !!!

Still it's had 2 more flights on sunday and hoping for some more this sunday

jetpilot

My Feedback: (48)

A P200? Oh man! why weight it down with that!
mine flew very well on a 33lb titan!
Scott

Alex48

Glad the Vipers going well, must come up to Luffenham one day..........

Hi Scott.......Just doing what I'm told I do think it will be awesome to watch him fly it with this lump in it.

Alex48

Not much progress...the wings have the servos installed just need to sort the flap linkage.

Because the F86 has the duct running through the center of the fuz space is at a premium. I suppose I could just chuck everything in but it wouldn't be practical and would look messy. So Ive made a new tray for the receiver and battery's and built a box to put all the day to day stuff in that will be accessed by a hatch.

Cheers, Alex

Alex48

Hi Guys

The installation is nearly there, just need to install the turbine and route all the wiring nicely as it looks a bit of a mess atm but should look good :xx

Had a bit of a mare with the linkages on the rudder and elevator resulting in the supplied bits being thrown out of my 3rd floor work room anyway after a what must have been 4 hours of work I finally got there. I used some carbon tube and high quality carbon molded ball linkages and horns from Fighteraces resulting in zero slop. The elevators are powered by two 8711's. I did a similar thing with the rudder. Like every SM kit I've built I had to move the torque rod forward by 10mm to get it in line with the pivot point of the rudder. Not an easy job on this particular model. The effort was worth it as we now have three internal linkages which are slop free. I can see why many have been installing the rudder servo in the fin as it's certainly a quicker easier method than what I had to do. Wouldn't have been as rewarding though

All the gadgetry is going in. Ive made various ply shelves for it all to fit on. It will be very easy to reach everything all is completely accessible without the need to take half the model apart to get to which would have been the result of not building a hatch into the side of the fuselage.

Any waffled on enough, some pictures of the install so far...

oh yeah its now having a 160SX as the 200 has gone into something that really needs it............

dude1966

Nice installation, looking the goods.

Regards,

Gregory

olnico

Hi Alex,

I see two wing tubes on your plane. Did you modify it yourself or did it come like this from Skymaster ?

Alex48

Hi Oli

It came with two. I think only the prototype had one. It does really need two IMO and I would have added one if it hadn't come like this.

Cheers, Alex

olnico

Well Alex, I don't think that only the prototype had one tube because I've seen 5 of these planes so far and they all had only one wing tube.
If Skymaster has decided to improve the design, then it's a really good news and I might buy one of these.

Morne any feedback on this ?

Alex48

ahhhh didn't know that, then it appears they have improved the design. This is part of the reason I really like SM they listen...........I'll take some more pertinent photos for you if you like.

Cheers, Alex

Harley Condra

My Feedback: (4)

They are the brakes.
The F-86 brakes are of the "Segmented Rotor" variety.
The stators contain the friction material, and are keyed to the axle.
The rotors are keyed to the wheel, and are segmented to allow for thermal expansion as they are heated during application. The rotors and stators are stacked alternately.
The thickness of the stack is dependent on the aircraft weight and landing speed.
This is a fairly common arrangement on jets, and has been around for many years.

MNModels

Oli,

The front peg was changed to carbon spar. Main spar still same thick carbon tube. I still fly the prototype with 1 mian spar with only 16mm diameter compare to the thicker main spar of the production models. Weight is 20kg now with all scale detail and lights.

Had a terrible crosswind and stalled the f86 and it hit the tar flat on. None of the ply landing gear blocks were damaged - but the rear fuselage cracked in 1/2 and the landing gear had to be send back for repair. The main spar was still intacked. This tell me something about the qaulity of ply and materials now used by SM. If it were any other - themains woulld have been through the wings with a bended alluminium spar...

SM statically tested the f86 with over 250kg of sand bags before single spar release. Now it is even better although an overkill in my opinion.

On the brakes ... please make sure you scuff the surface of carbon discks. If not - the shiny epoxy will meld and glue itself to other carbon disk. This will lock wheels permamently.

Take care Oli..

Morne

olnico

Thank you Morne,

That's a very good news.

Having two spars is all about efforts repartition and structural durability.
If you have had two large aluminium tubes when you stalled the plane on the runway, you would certainly have bent the wing tubes and not split the fuselage in two.

I'd rather go for the second option and change two tubes within 5 minutes at a very reasonable cost than having to repair a complex composite structure.

As I said before, the carbon rod will not fail. It will act as a blade and have the tendency to go through the structure. That is because the thin cross section creates amazing shear efforts on the structure. Now that this cross section has been doubled, I am much more confident in the durability of this plane.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH SKYMASTER FOR LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS NEEDS.