That big open "smile" is not very scale.... Hellcats had two dividers in there. Split the airflow up to supercharger and oil coolers, I beleive. Sorry I don't have any pics of my cowl sitting around, but if you check the picture below you can see how I added two pieces of balsa wood to simulate the splitters. 5 minutes work and IMHO it improves the front of the plane tremendously...

Andy

You're right Andy, the vanes you added look great.

Thanks Richard. Good info as always.

Ram-Bro, the cowl of this model is molded with cowl flaps in the open position. Between those and the muffler exit, I think there might be enough air flow. 4 to 1? I don't think there is that much. There certainly is not 4 to 1 if you leave the full frontal area open. I'm adding a dummy radial to mine to close up a lot of that space. I think it'll fly better too after closing off what is essentially a big parachute up front.

Tom

Some of what I have been up to, lot's of slow work! I sanded the fuselage down pretty good, lost some weight there. Cut much of the ply junk behind the servo tray out. Extended the cockpit and cut the small windows. I'm molding a scale cockpit kit for this plane, it's for the hard core ARF basher really. I don't expect to sell many for this plane, but it will fit other 1/8 scale Hellcats. It's not a lot of work bashing this plane, working with a glass fuselage makes things much easier, so for me it's not much trouble at all to add details.

I also added a ring of balsa to the cowl lip and sanded it back quite a bit to make the opening bigger and more scale shaped.

Also on the fuselage I patched the openings for the stock pushrod exits, the rudder one is especially unsightly! I just used small pieces of glass cloth saturated with 5 min epoxy. Just make sure you sand the inside first. Hal is a little ahead of me on the fuselage panel lines, I'll add those next after I fill all the other stuff on the fuselage.

I finished my landing gear extensions and have them installed, the hit the trailing edge piece! It will sit higher and help make clearance for the drop tank.

I will be fixing the cowl lower intake!

Dion

Hi guys,your cats look great!wish i would do all that extra work,but im starting a meister fw190A,just bought everything to do the build,so im putting all effort and cash into that project.Anyway my hellcat flies awesome with the g-26,only need 1/2 throttle for fast realistic flight.I dont have retracts yet,but i did use some robart struts i had laying around,cant wait to see how she flies with the retracts,the only thing i needed to change was the throw on the elevator,the stock recomendations are not enough for me,cant wait to do some cool stuff with it to see what she can handle,it surprised everyone and me at how stable she flies and it sounds awesome with a gasser,not to mention the dependability.I did take time to repaint the entire plane and glass some parts.Hopefully it will be a good everyday flyer for me.

Well I guess I'll add one more flight report. Mine got maidened Thursday in the AM. Had already set up to take the day off work, Fentress was open so off I went. I had previously set up the engine and retracts, so with some final nervous measurements of flight controls and a range check, we were off.

Taxied out, final control check and lined up on centerline. Opened the throttle and we were off. Some rudder to keep it straight and the tail was off and flying before ai knew it. Ran it along to get some apeed then we were up and off. The 120 with the 15x6 is a good combo but not all that fast, will be looking for an 8 pitch prop to keep ahead of the Zeros. Just a couple clicks of elevator and alieron trim and it was flying hands off. I was a little concerned about the stab incidence, but it seems fine. I did notice a tendency to roll in a loop, might need to tweak the elevator setup just a bit. Went high and did some stalls, definetly a warbird! Drops a wing pretty abruptly but gives plenty of warning before it does it. A couple high speed low passes and it was time to get in the pattern. Since I have approx. 12000 feet of paved runway I elected a no flap approach. Got in the groove and reduced power, the plane settled into a very nice decent. Flared out and touched down... OH MAN a bounce, but rught back on. Just a little too fast on touchdown I guess. Very nice.... The second flight I was able to pay attention to things like the retracts going up, and try some more stalls with gear down. Al in all seems to be a very good flying plane with few vices. I got the second landing a little more on-speed, but the plane certainly seems to have more lift than it needs. Next time out will have to try some with flaps... wind came up and I decided to switch over to the CAP.

I did notice, however, the CJ retracts didn't seem to hold air as well as my Robarts..... My P-39 usually has air left in the gear from the previous flight even after an hour or so. I don't think it's a problem in the air, but just something ot keep an eye on.

All in all I'm very pleased with it...... I'm really looking foward to getting the 120 better broke in so I can rev it more and put a little more prop on it.

Andy

Andy I had the same problem with my CJs , so before I add my robart air line keepers I put a dab of clear silicone around the tube and then push my keeper on , I found that the seal is much better and I am not looseing any air at all .

I have two sets of CJM gear. One in my Corsair and the other in my P-38. I have found the CJM valve to be the source of my air-leak in the P-38 (Corsair never has leaked). Compared to robart valves, the clearance between the slider and valve body is much greater. This allows for more play and makes it easier for side loads to compromise the O Ring seals. After much time spent with this unit I fixed the problem and the plane holds air over night (tested the gear up and down) and still gives maximum # of cycles. The solution was to use a slightly heavier grease ( I used Harley Davidson Wheel Bearing Grease that I had in the garage) on the slider. Be careful to not over grease the slider, but get a good coating on especially between the two O Rings. Next you must have a very well aligned servo arm that does not put any side loads on the system. Choose your linkages carefully.
Hope this helps some.
Dom

I only use Robart valves with my CJ gear and still found slight air escape at the line connections . I do agree with you , I think the CJ valves do have too much play and may result in air escape as well .

Dion, I hate to jump on the band wagon so late, but are your "accessories" for the Hellcat still available?



Regards, Pete

P.S. Incredibly nice work as usual!!!!!!

They are, just click on my name and then my web page! Thanks for the compliment Pete, nice to have you following along.

Hal, post some pictures dude! I kind of feel alone and I know you're doing some great work!

I finished up the final dimensions for the cockpit, shown in the first picture. As stated before the canopy will fit the standard plane with no modifications, but if you want a scale cockpit you will need to move the cockpit back 3/4" and then cover the front slanted panel with some Flight Skin. It's just a fiberglass sheet .012 thick, great stuff!

I also filled the giant hole for a muffler at the firewall, just used some florist's foam and sanded it to shape. After glass cloth and resin I sanded it smooth.

Hal sent me a template for a ply former for the cowl, worked great. I just rough cut the inside so I could adjust it. I mounted the cowl further back so the nose doesn't look so long, can't do that with those big 4 strokes. I still have to open the areas where the cowl flaps are for cooling. The mounting screws will be inside the cowl also.

Next will be cockpit floor and cockpit, panel lines, glass wing and mount to fuselage, attach tail group and paint!

Dion

This shows the usupported shape of my cowl and with the lite ply installed. The ply makes the cowl much more sturdy. Any one who needs a pattern I can provide it via email. Incidently , the Brian Taylor 64" Hellcat cowl fits the CMP and I used it to make the first cut.

This is the left side showing the overlapped (simulated)panels on the fuselage. They were made using auto body glazing putty over two layers of masking tape. The right side is the same but primered.

Hal and Dion....isnt this supposed to be an arf?, You guys have started a whole new market Arf Arfs( almost ready to fly Arfs). here is th elastpic Iwill post of my Hellcat. No more weathering to be done and just maybe the gear doors. You guys have been a great help and inspiration...maybe these will help yoou guys to. I used aluminum tape to do my panel lines. Went relatively fast and was pretty clean. Check out my thread if you need somepics of how it looks gonig on.

Guys i had the same problem with my deluxe valve from cj on my reeves spitfire,i dont think ill buy from those guys again,to many problems.

Bro, Looks great! I've been through your thread already, great stuff, thanks! Man that tank is close to the ground! No hard landings! Full scale Hellcat was the same way, kind of an afterthought I guess.

Nice work Hal, keep it going! Thanks for the pictures you sent also!


I've finished with the cowl modifications for my engine cooling strategy, I used the 2 lower cowl flaps. Using that great stuff Hal told me about called Flight Skin, I cut new cowl flaps. Thought if I'm doing the bottom ones may as well do them all so they look the same. Always thought the top ones especially looked lame anyway. The top cowl flaps are just for looks, no air passes by them, all that is done by the bottom flaps. I stuck some more foam behind the firewall and cut it down so lot's of hot under cowl air can get out. The rest of the plan is to use the dummy engine as a baffle to direct air directly over the engine. The cowl mod really helps the look of the plane, can't wait to see it in it's colors!

Dion

Hi,
You sure are doing a great job of refining the basic CMP F6 ARF. Just a small suggestion-perhaps the lowest surface of the drop tank should be about at a level with the wheel axels, just a bit above. It appears that you have yours rigged somewhat low.
Great cowl!
Jim

hookemut, I think your right. I will just have to not have carrier landings anymore. I know I wont be flying offof grass. Imight have to put on larger wheels. These are smaller than scale by about 1/2 inch. By the way my kit is the Wing Hellcat and not the CMP...

wow -this is great stuff , all the planes look great , Hal that is a cool way to get the panel lines ,
Dion , really nice work , I know you were looking for a real unusual scheme , did you ever see the orange scheme with white tail ?
It apparently was an unmanned drown test version . its in the Squardren signals publication of Hellcats

Dion.... no Canopies on your website? I'd like to get one...

Andy

Thanks LDM! Things are going to start looking real good in a bit when I do the paint! My favorite part!

Andy, I am just now finishing the production plug for the canopy, it needs to dry completely or it could get damaged. I'm shooting for some time later this week and it's looking good, thanks for your patients.

Dion

Dion, Thats' what I'm waiting for. Simply inspiring craftsmanship my friend. Your Cat makes me want to disassemble and bash mine!!!

well, the large FEDEX truck pulled up to my house today and asked if I had a forklift to unload this package from a Luke Zollner. I said no I don't, but I have a "cherry picker" (used to pull engines out of cars), to which we both unloaded this HUGE box......

seriously, I did think the box was a bit large, but was VERY happy with the contents. The stuff Luke provides, I must say, is far and above better than what you would see in commerically available kits. I am DEFINITELY on the list for a canopy and now am thinking of buying another CMP Hellcat as mine is right at the paint stage (I stripped all the covering off and used .75 glass cloth and DEFT lacquer finish). I can start fresh with the new Hellcat and incorporate most if not all of Luke's changes. Still, I have that GIANT Saxton Hellcat hanging from the barn rafters....

randy

I 2nd all the praise heaped upon Luke by all. His work and parts are certainly praiseworthy. Just waiting for the next post!

I have added some pictures of my modified cowl opening. I used a Dremel to enlarge the hole so that a plastic container top would fit inside the hole. Then from the inside I built up the lip using the plastic top to hold the filler ( Sig epoxilite ). After it dried I removed the top and sanded the lip until it was smooth.

Thank you! Take that thing apart and bash it!


Thanks for the story!lol Glad you like your tanks and things, if you need anything for the new one as far as drawings and stuff either myself or Hal can help. I'm sending Hal everything I have so he can follow along, and he has actually given me some great ideas, thanks again Hal!

Thanks iiiat, I appreciate all the kudos and I have so far thoroughly enjoyed this thread and build! Sorry iiat, this is just an update on material![&o]

The canopy mold is done and the first 2 are on there way to the great Northwest, Seattle area! I don't have anymore plastic but my order for more plastic sheet got to Birmingham yesterday, so that is where I'll be this morning. When I get back I'll make a few and put them on my site, then I can get back to work on my Cat!

Great work Hal, thanks for posting. Great way to finish out that cowl opening! I hope to finish most of the cockpit today so I'll have the parts and your canopy out by Friday at the latest.

Dion

Really hard to get a good shot of a clear canopy, all kinds of glare and distortion.