lord lucan

Kieth..

....is that Blackfly on those Nasturtium's..

CHEF-UK

Lord Lucan..................No not at the moments although I am expecting it at any point. I have my bug spray ready. Every year its the same the damn black flies come and sit on my flowers. I have ants [:-][:-] though that I have just found near my patio so have been out with the ant powder, looks like it's been snowing now.

If i see any black flies, ill give them an A-Z and send em down to yours

morro

Chef-uk, how is the spit going I have just finished reading through this site and the problems that you have encountered on the way hope things are running a bit smoother now. I have built this kit and one thing that i am careful of is the tail heaviness, let me know if you need advice all the best.

Todd

CHEF-UK

Sorry I have not updated this page for a while, thought there was enough time in the day but seems not at times. after building up the left wing panel i started on the right wing panel which went together a lot faster after knowing how to do everything. Only hard bit is making sure the retract bearers follow the correct angle especially as on the right wing plans there is no bearers marked so I trace the left and copied over to right.

CHEF-UK

Started on the centre section now, went together easily, have now cut the hole for the flap servo, just have to sand it smooth and screw in the flap servo/plate.

Getting to the "fun" part soon, installing the retracts.

squeeguk

Hey Buddy

Looking really good. A word of warning about the retracts. I thought I had them sorted, but constant moving of the retract bearers and I find that the left wheel sits 5mm further back than the right. They are still the same distance from centre. I have to wigle them now to get them right. Draw lines on the retract bearers to indicate up to where they sit. Don't do this until you have joined the wings as it seems difficult to push the bearers in to the centre section without a lot of work.

Also, do yourself a favour and make a hardwood jig for drilling the holes into the bearers, this wil ensure that the left is the same as the right. Double check the length of the retracts and their position from the wheel centres to a datum point, ie. the centre of the centre section and the front sub leading edge of the centre section. This will ensure that your plane doesn't sit lopsided when you have your retracts extended.

After you have skinned the wing bottom. make a jig for cutting the holes so that you can use it on the left and right again. Don't use the hole marked on the plans as it is way too large.

Hope this helps when you come to do your retracts.

PS: Did you get the book and pics this morning?

CHEF-UK

Luis,

just sent you a email on the above. Thanks for the extra knowledge on the drilling etc, I shall bear that in mind. I am building more to the plans than the instructions as they differ somewhat at times. So I hope the plans are correct.

Book and photos arrived today, many thanks for that shall have a good look through it.

Good idea about the JIG for the retracts though, at least that way both sides will be equal.

PS Luis, I hope yours is looking the same as mine, if not I want to know what I did wrong

squeeguk

Yours is looking great. Mine will probably be different, coz I have changed a couple of things. I have cut away a large portion of the sheeting above the retract mechanism to make a hatch there, not scale I know, but I want to keep it looking neat and still have access to the retracts units.

I will see if I can get a camera and post a pic for you.

Keep it going, it's looking good. I am hold now until I receive my incidence meter and so on, should be here sometime this week.

Cheers

CHEF-UK

Well, today I put in the Wing dowels, wing joiners and wing bolt plate. God was it a bloody nightmare doing the wing joiners, the photos in the manual dont show the joiners that well, no side view of that area on plans. All i can say is Thank you TUBIG for having your build on the web so I could an idea of what to do.

They eventually went in and i clamped them all up then realised that I put them in with the dihedral the wrong way round[:@][&:] so quickly swapped them over. was not a fun time at all. All that I have to do now is put on the lower centre skin and make up the flap pushrod and solder it. Then the centre section should (hopefully) be done and correct.

I used ammonia (9½%) mixed 50/50 with water for softening the skins, wow that stuff is potent. I dont think I will ever put my nose over the bottle and smell it again![:'(][:'(]

tubig

yea, that was a pain but it looks like you did a nice job with it. my wing joiners ended up being a little off in that a couple of them stuck up slightly above the wing surface of the outer wing panels when joined but easily sanded down.

CHEF-UK

Joined both wing panels together yesterday. that was a fun time Sanding, cutting aligning etc to get everything right. Must admit I am gratefull for Top Flite to include the jigs. Sure does help when joining them together. Anyhow eventually they went together okay. I did one panel at a time with epoxy (1 hour). I'm not quick enough to do both at same time.

Now they are all dry I have measured them and everything seems equal with each other. Going to sand the excess epoxy off that is on the raised wing joiners and now onto the installation of the retract system.

On the last photo you will notice a new 'tool' that I have in my workshop. (bottom right) It is called a 'Bracken' very rare..........You give it Balsa or anything for that matter and within a few minutes the balsa has a distressed look on it, apparently great for weathering effects etc.

DMehalko

My Feedback: (42)

Looks very good, you seem close to the building stage where im at with my sea fury.

Keep up the good work!


David

morro

Looks like the the dog has some say in the construction as well, good work, I am tempted to get this kit.

Todd

squeeguk

Hey Keith

How are things going, haven't heard from you or seen an update for awhile?

I have cut out the hatch on the left side of the fuse as per my 3 view pics and made a little box which I have mounted, this has my retract fill valve, pressure valve, battery charge plug and radio on/off switch in there. Just got to figure out how to do the hatch cover, Any ideas, anyone???

Looking good. I have gone as far as sheeting my fuse bottom now. Got the retract air container in and some other odds and sods. When you get to that point, call me, I got some hot tips for you.

Looks like I might have to get back on and complete the wing before I can continue. I must post some pics for you to show you what I have done? Will try by this weekend.

B.T.W. what are you using as filler?? I am not impressed with the stuff I got.

Drop us a line and let us all know how things are getting on?

Cheers

Luis

pranger

Excuse me for jumping in here, may not be the right forum but seeing as it's a TF Spitfire...

Anyone else having problems with the quality of the wood and cut? The ply wing crutches on my spit looked like bananas and no matter how much alcohol (for myself and the wood) or Windex I tried there is no way I can get them flat, also bottom formers F2, F3 and F4 all extend past the main fuse stringer by about 1/16... []

BTW Keith, yours is looking great!

CHEF-UK

Pranger.

Hi. As regarding the wood. I am no expert, but mine has been fine. i have *YET* to have found anything in the wood department any different or badly machined.

Perhaps you had a few bad bits in there. All I can suggest is to get some more wood and remake the bad pieces. Or you could always contact Top Flite and see if they would post you out the parts that you have that are bad.

Thanks.

squeeguk

Hi Stringer

Yes that is so. I have the same problem with mine. This is on the bottom and top of the fuse, correct. I just left mine as is and figured that's the way TF want you to build it, and so far no problems.

Cheers

Luis

CHEF-UK

sorry I have not updated this thread in a while. I have been playing with the retract system. Getting it all lined up etc. Now I have done it though I have a slight problem as some of the RobartStrut is above the wing level. I know on Tubigs model he has sorted it. So I need to read through his thread and understand what to do.

They went in ok. Just had to do some carefull measurements after I got some advice from a fellow modeller on here.

I Dont have a proper pump so pressurise the system. any one got some clever advice on something that will work. Like maybe a hand/foot pumb. The problem is attaching the tubeing to the pump.

pranger

Chief,

Not that I'm an expert but it looks from the pictures you have the retracts reversed? I would have thought the lever arm on the struts would be at the rear, but then again I'm usually wrong

Ian

CHEF-UK

Pranger, I know what you mean and I have checked on later model spit's apparently the torque arms, what have you were pointing forward.

squeeguk

You are quite right there Keith, they should be pointing forwards. On my plane, I initially also thought they should be to the rear, but on further investigation they should point to the front.

Looking good mate, nice to see you taking your time with this. I wish I had spent more time preparing my retracts, I didn't realise how much of a mission it can be to get right. In the end though I am pretty much spot on, but a lot of preparation before you sheet the wings either top or bottom will go a long way.

Keep it up.

Cheers

Luis

saramos

Hi Kieth,

Robart sells a small hand pump that has the proper fittings for the air system. It's kinda spendy, but handy. I was able to use the pump to just release the retracts from their locked position, and I could move them freely while I fitted them in.

As for the gear extending outside the well when fully retracted, I had the same problem. I ended up shimming the retract mounts so they set deeper into the wing. I ended up having to remove the rib under the wheel. I added wheel wells, which also reinforces the area.

I picked up a coffee table book at Barns & Noble titled Spitfire Flying Legend by John Dibbs & Tony Holmes. Lots of great photos. Looking at the photos, it appears that the gear protrudes below the wing on the real plane too. The gear door bulges quite a bit to cover them.

Scott

tubig

it looks like you had an easier go of it with the retracts by using the robarts. i used the cjm's and the air nipple on the air cylinder forced me to install them permanently or else cut into the bearer for clearance. i think you'll like these better. mighty fine job.

squeeguk

Hey Tubig

Not that easy with Robarts either. I had to cut into the main spar to enable me to take the retract body out, otherwise it would have meant permanent assembly too. On second thoughts, it would have made it much neater than what I have now. I have a huge gaping irregular shaped hole which I need to create some sort of cover for now.

As for the pump Keith, get down to argos and buy a little 12V electric pupmp with fittings. They cost around £20 for a decent one. The nipple supplied with the retract air system will then attach to one of the fittings supplied with a piece of tube. The advantage to this is that you have instant air from your flightbox at the field at the switch of a button, and no pumping.

Hey Saramos, your wheel wells look really neat, how did you do them? On mine the wheel sits close at the back and really far from the front wall, otherwise the wheels wouldn't go in. Are your putting gear doors on?

Cheers

Luis

tubig

i had the same deal with mine. i believe it's probably the same with all of these due to the retract angle and the angle that the bearers are put in the ribs. i have a very oblong hole in the wing and that's with making the clearance between the tire and wheel well only ~3/32".