Clark Spitfire begins
05-01-2003, 07:02 PM
#51
3 views
I got mine from Aero Detail book they are one of the best ref books out there. they put out by japanese but usually have english translations too. if you want to email me i can zip them up and send to you
Joe
Joe
05-01-2003, 10:13 PM
#53
3views
Cost is arm and a leg and your first born 
Just email me at [email protected] they are on seperate sheets not supre great for competition because of that but they are very accurate for using for building
Joe
Just email me at [email protected] they are on seperate sheets not supre great for competition because of that but they are very accurate for using for building
Joe
05-04-2003, 08:45 PM
#55
Clark Spitfire begins
Finished up the elevators and rudder today. Covered with Nelson Lite Fab, used 1/2" surgical paper tape for the ribtapes. Put the stitching on with Elmers white glue in a syringe. Made the trim tab control with some turnbuckle ends I had laying around, a little ply for the control horn and bent the fairing from soft aluminium. I'll give the fabric a couple of coats of dope and it will be ready for paint. I also static balanced the elevators with some lead in the front of the aerodynamic balances. Don
05-04-2003, 11:21 PM
#57
spit
Looking good Don. I really started on those 3 FWs today. last night did soem prep work. got the 3 stabs framed getting ready to do the fins tonight then work on the rudder and stab and hop[efully get them all done tonight or tomorrow. they going really fast for 3 at once.
Joe
Joe
05-05-2003, 03:39 AM
#58
Clark Spitfire begins
Burl, The mule is running late this week, I'll probably see it tomorrow.
Joe, I think we should always do two or more of the same model at the same time. It takes about 1/4 the time to do a step on the second airplane after you have figured out how to do it on the first. If I had another one of these Spitfires to do right now it would take half the time as the first one. I'll check out your site later. Don
Joe, I think we should always do two or more of the same model at the same time. It takes about 1/4 the time to do a step on the second airplane after you have figured out how to do it on the first. If I had another one of these Spitfires to do right now it would take half the time as the first one. I'll check out your site later. Don
05-05-2003, 06:49 PM
#60
Clark Spitfire begins
Jeff, Sounds great I hope you can fly it soon. One question I have. Did you use the stock tailwheel or did you make a steerable or lockable mechanism? I'm thinking of making a locking pin on mine. I don't think it will be that hard to do. Don
05-09-2003, 03:25 AM
#62
wing
Looking Good Don. I'm just abt done vectoring the ribs for the Reeves spit and i must say they are the weirdest and funniest shaped ribs I have seen yet. they all have some kind of angled tails on them etc. Will know more once i get the kit cut and start building but i like the way yours looks better.
Joe
Joe
05-09-2003, 04:14 AM
#63
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Joe said (Looking Good Don. I'm just abt done vectoring the ribs for the Reeves spit and i must say they are the weirdest and funniest shaped ribs I have seen yet. they all have some kind of angled tails on them etc)
If you are talking about what I think you are then those little tails are toward the inboard section of the wing, if so then they are what makes the Reeves wing more scale than the Clarke one. The center section of the Clarke Spit does not have that curved sweep of the fuse bottom and wing joint around the flap area. As far as I could tell that is the only major non scale part of the kit. I was actually going to buy a Reeves plan to mod the wing on my Clarke Spit but the glass fuse would not take it. It is only minor though and hardly noticeable once the carb intake is fitted. I think that though it looks weird right now you should end up with one of the few Spit models with the true scale section in that area. Whatever it is let us all keep each other posted and see how we can help each other out on these great kits. By the way prof I looked at your web site and saw the picture of the Clarke merlin, was that a stock picture or the actual engine that you are going to use. If it is your actual engine then it has the wrong exhaust stacks for a mk Ia. John does make the correct stacks and I am sure he would swap them out.
Don, great work and I hope that I can make the elevator/stab mod as easily as you made it look.
Jeff, let us know how the engine runs as I have not even fired mine up yet, especially how the ducted cooling works, also are you using the Metalon in the fuel mix that John recommends, I got some from B&B specialties.
good luck all
Paul
If you are talking about what I think you are then those little tails are toward the inboard section of the wing, if so then they are what makes the Reeves wing more scale than the Clarke one. The center section of the Clarke Spit does not have that curved sweep of the fuse bottom and wing joint around the flap area. As far as I could tell that is the only major non scale part of the kit. I was actually going to buy a Reeves plan to mod the wing on my Clarke Spit but the glass fuse would not take it. It is only minor though and hardly noticeable once the carb intake is fitted. I think that though it looks weird right now you should end up with one of the few Spit models with the true scale section in that area. Whatever it is let us all keep each other posted and see how we can help each other out on these great kits. By the way prof I looked at your web site and saw the picture of the Clarke merlin, was that a stock picture or the actual engine that you are going to use. If it is your actual engine then it has the wrong exhaust stacks for a mk Ia. John does make the correct stacks and I am sure he would swap them out.
Don, great work and I hope that I can make the elevator/stab mod as easily as you made it look.
Jeff, let us know how the engine runs as I have not even fired mine up yet, especially how the ducted cooling works, also are you using the Metalon in the fuel mix that John recommends, I got some from B&B specialties.
good luck all
Paul
05-09-2003, 04:32 AM
#64
spit
Thanks Paul that might explain the little tips but there are also 2 that curve upwards. I guess when I do more research and build the thing it will all make sense. I am up more on the luftwaffe than the Brits I am trying to broaden my Horizons :0) As for the engine you must have me cornfused as I dont have any engine pics up yet actually nothing on my spit page as of yet as I been working on my FW 190's all 3 of them and just posted pics.
Joe
Joe
05-09-2003, 04:57 AM
#65
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Joe,
those two I think are what make the difference,creating a double compound curve under the fuse. As for the engine I was sure I saw the picture of the parts you were planning on using before you redid the page, I looked at it when sent you the picture of Bill Dunns Spitfire IIa. No matter, are you still thinking of using a Clarke Merlin on the Mick reeves kit? That would be a great combo if you can get it to fit. Have fun broadening your horizons, Spits and other British birds are my passion and I have two mid construction right now but on hold till work slows down. My intention has always been to have mainly British models which I love but somehow, who knows how I only have a tigermoth, yet I have three German( airworld 262, a stuka and an old small fw190 arf) and one Italian so I need to get back inline. You guys are inspiring me to get back to some serious building. I did just finish a worldmodels GS ARF that I kitbashed into an RAF mkIV just to keep me going though and I just uploaded the shots onto RCU.
Good Luck
Paul
those two I think are what make the difference,creating a double compound curve under the fuse. As for the engine I was sure I saw the picture of the parts you were planning on using before you redid the page, I looked at it when sent you the picture of Bill Dunns Spitfire IIa. No matter, are you still thinking of using a Clarke Merlin on the Mick reeves kit? That would be a great combo if you can get it to fit. Have fun broadening your horizons, Spits and other British birds are my passion and I have two mid construction right now but on hold till work slows down. My intention has always been to have mainly British models which I love but somehow, who knows how I only have a tigermoth, yet I have three German( airworld 262, a stuka and an old small fw190 arf) and one Italian so I need to get back inline. You guys are inspiring me to get back to some serious building. I did just finish a worldmodels GS ARF that I kitbashed into an RAF mkIV just to keep me going though and I just uploaded the shots onto RCU.
Good Luck
Paul
05-09-2003, 05:06 AM
#66
merlin
Naw Paul I cant afford that nice merlin I prob slap a zdz 80 in the beasty maybe a G62 but prob the 80 remember though it is 1/4 scale I will be enlarging it to 1/3.5 scale for me so need a little more beef in the nose. the 1/4 scale is just for my kit cutter so he can laser kits for the guys that want them whenever I do a plane for me i always give him the normal sized vectors too along with the enlarged ones.
Joe
Joe
05-09-2003, 12:53 PM
#67
Clark Spitfire begins
Prof, Those wierd lokking ribs are the for the center section. It does curve up in that area on the real one and the bottom of the fairing is concave. Paul I looked long and hard at mine to do the correct contours but would take too much engineering. Most people don't know how it looks and it is not noticable in most three veiws unless they show a cross-section of that area. Makes those inner flaps a pain to build also. I am making scale ailerons and will get some pics as I go along.
Paul have you started your kit yet? Just curious what you think of it. Don
Paul have you started your kit yet? Just curious what you think of it. Don
05-09-2003, 02:30 PM
#68
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Clark Spitfire begins
Well...my frustration continues...could not get my Merlin started again last night. I have already replaced both pick-ups taht went bad. Now, it appears that the timing is way off. So, now I have to check/reset that.......aarrgghh...that's why I like magneto
05-12-2003, 01:36 PM
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Hi prof,
sorry about the mix up but it was Airrays site that had the clarke merlin with the late stacks for a mk1a spit.
Don, I started on the Spit and got all the fiddly pull pull rudder and elev controls fitted , a real pain but worthwile in the end for the weight saving, only thing is the rear control rods were too long and once fitted are a pain to shorten due to their size and hardness they can,t be threaded in situ. They are premanufactured pieces with bends etc on them so I did not triple check. My solution has been to cut it and solder a more scale joint on it. Not a big deal but indicative of some parts of the kit. I think it is the best value for money around and a well designed kit, after saying that I think here and there you find little problems not due so much in the design as in the fact that the kit is manufactured on order and some parts things are not quite the same. John sent me a new hinge system for the plane based on the one from his hurricane, it all looked fine until I made the horizontal stab and realised the hinges would be too wide for the thickness of the hinge area. I worked out how I am going to do it and John actually asked me if I wanted the new system and I would be the first, he also offered to supply the old system too. The point is that this kit still requires building but I do like it a lot. My fuse is strengthened with heavy composite mat around the wing fillets unlike others clarkes that I have seen which gives me a lot of faith in its strength but made for a lot of fitting with fuse formers. John seems to modify things as he goes sometimes. My plane is on hold right now due to work constraints but I have every confidence that it will be a great plane and great value. The only worry I have is the engine as I have not even started it, I hope Jeff can allay my worries in that area. By the way Jeff is your kit an older version or did you get it straight from John? I am just wondering about the engine you have. Let us know when you get it started and how it sounds and looks.
Good luck all
Paul
sorry about the mix up but it was Airrays site that had the clarke merlin with the late stacks for a mk1a spit.
Don, I started on the Spit and got all the fiddly pull pull rudder and elev controls fitted , a real pain but worthwile in the end for the weight saving, only thing is the rear control rods were too long and once fitted are a pain to shorten due to their size and hardness they can,t be threaded in situ. They are premanufactured pieces with bends etc on them so I did not triple check. My solution has been to cut it and solder a more scale joint on it. Not a big deal but indicative of some parts of the kit. I think it is the best value for money around and a well designed kit, after saying that I think here and there you find little problems not due so much in the design as in the fact that the kit is manufactured on order and some parts things are not quite the same. John sent me a new hinge system for the plane based on the one from his hurricane, it all looked fine until I made the horizontal stab and realised the hinges would be too wide for the thickness of the hinge area. I worked out how I am going to do it and John actually asked me if I wanted the new system and I would be the first, he also offered to supply the old system too. The point is that this kit still requires building but I do like it a lot. My fuse is strengthened with heavy composite mat around the wing fillets unlike others clarkes that I have seen which gives me a lot of faith in its strength but made for a lot of fitting with fuse formers. John seems to modify things as he goes sometimes. My plane is on hold right now due to work constraints but I have every confidence that it will be a great plane and great value. The only worry I have is the engine as I have not even started it, I hope Jeff can allay my worries in that area. By the way Jeff is your kit an older version or did you get it straight from John? I am just wondering about the engine you have. Let us know when you get it started and how it sounds and looks.
Good luck all
Paul
05-12-2003, 01:58 PM
#71
Clark Spitfire begins
Paul, I also did the stock control system. I like it as it is light and positive, havn't hooked up my rudder and elevator yet so havn't encountered the control rod issue. I used Robart hinges on my elevator and rudder. Used brass tubing to extend into the stab for more gluing area. The bulkheads were a pain to fit, a lot of fiddling around. Just finished framing the wing structure and started fitting the gear. Here is another area that requires some fitting. I wish he could re vector some of these parts for a better fit as it is hard to adjust the plywood ribs after they are glued in. Otherwise the wing has gone together very well and the jigs keep everything straight. Made up the wing skins last night, there is a lot of balsa there. Wood in my kit is very good and light so no problems there. Don
05-12-2003, 02:37 PM
#72
Clark Spitfire begins
Don,
Looking good of course, but having talked to you, I would expect that you would settle for nothing less.
Jeff, that sucks, have you considered sending it to Clarke? I was bouncing around the same ideas about sending the one I will get to Brison, so that they can shed any operational light on it I may need, as this will be first fully enclosed, in line twin. Would love to see the cooling set ups that you guys are or will be running.
Paul: You are right about the stacks, however, I am replicating the below aircraft.....cheating yes, but this presentation really appeals to me.
Looking good of course, but having talked to you, I would expect that you would settle for nothing less.
Jeff, that sucks, have you considered sending it to Clarke? I was bouncing around the same ideas about sending the one I will get to Brison, so that they can shed any operational light on it I may need, as this will be first fully enclosed, in line twin. Would love to see the cooling set ups that you guys are or will be running.
Paul: You are right about the stacks, however, I am replicating the below aircraft.....cheating yes, but this presentation really appeals to me.
05-13-2003, 03:11 AM
#74
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Don,
looking good my friend! are the Taylor plans helping
you any with the aileron setup? hope so, as they are
quite nice. I didnt set mine up that way, but Sean did
and you can see his pics on his website.
Todd
looking good my friend! are the Taylor plans helping
you any with the aileron setup? hope so, as they are
quite nice. I didnt set mine up that way, but Sean did
and you can see his pics on his website.
Todd
05-13-2003, 11:23 AM
#75
Clark Spitfire begins
Todd, The Taylor plans have given me some good ideas. I'm still not sure if I'm going to use his linkage or go with an arm off the end of the aileron that I can hook up internaly in the flap well. Will sheet the bottom of the wing and then get on that project. Don