RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Brad

You mentioned that you know the importer of Warbird Colours paint here in Oz, I need RAF colours paint for my 1/4 scale Spit and my 1/5 Tempest can you let me know his contact number or email address

cheers

Alan

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Allan,
Here is a link to Barrys contact details as per hes web site.

http://www.warbirdcolours.net/Contact.html

And Home Page,

http://www.warbirdcolours.net/

Cheers Mate,

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Just had a bit of a play today. No building as such, but started looking at the cockpit and how I will build it.
I want to end up with something that resembles a Spitfire cockpit and am not as with the rest of the build going for full on scale.
As long as it is full depth with a decent instrument panel and seat with a few other bits and pieces I will be happy.

I started off by taking a picture of some frame shapes from my detail plans supplied with the kit. I worked in 'paint' on the computer and resized them and trial fitted them to the fuse making some adjustments and trimming as required. I ended up with a cardboard former that will be the basis of the instrument panel assembly. I have some 0.6mm ali sheet I will construct it out of and some plastic 'Evergreen' sheet I will line the inside cockpit walls with.

Oh, got my pilot as well.:D

Cheers for now, have to watch the great race.

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Hello out there in SPIT land

I am looking for a British Pilot. Already put together and clothed with realistic clothing and the chute, and the life jacket and all.

Any suggestions.

Almost have the wing finished.

Thanks

Bill

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Dr Bill

Great advice for color paint systems not costing a fortune!

You say you have (almost) fiberglassed the wing. What did you do about the fiberglass reinforcement of the joints. After painstakingly aquiring 1/2 oz cloth to cover the wing the instuctions want me to cover with 4oz cloth from wheel well to wheel well! Do I really need to do that or can I limit the heavy stuff to a couple of 4" strips over the joints.

Cheers

Len

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

try : hppilots.com

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Use the heavy cloth as Yellow recommends and then cover the entire wing with light weight cloth. You'll have a smooth surface for detailing.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Good luck with your quest Bill. When you find one please let us all know!!!;)
A good looking 1/5th scale British pilot is just not avaliable in my opinion?
Those boxed 12" ones with all the gear look [:'(]

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

For Len,

Here is how I covered the YA Spit wing.

5 oz cloth from wheel well to wheel well. At the lateral edge I will pull out about a good 2 centimeters of weaving that runs fore and aft. This helps with the fairing later. Let that set up, and the next day sand the edges. I really, really, really squeegee the heck out of the cloth and leave almost no resin in the cloth. Remember that once the cloth has been wet, and saturated, and you squeegee the heck out of the cloth – the glass fibers are still saturated. I will use a deck of playing cards for 99 cents. 2 cards at a time will do half a wing, or wheel well to wheel well. Then the next day sand the lateral fibers [ the fibers out just past the wheel well ] so that the fibers blend into the resin that you will extend another 5 centimeters out so that the balsa is saturated.

Then I laid out ¾ oz cloth out to the wing tip [ TO THE WING TIP ]. I over lapped the 5 oz cloth by about 3 centimeters. A huge mistake that a lot of builders make is trying to fair ¾ oz cloth out on the “fiberglass tip” portion of the wing. Go all the way out to the very tip / edge.

On the top I laid out 2 oz cloth 6 to 7 centimeters past the dihedral joint, and this covered the mounts for the gear.. Did the same with pulling out the fore and aft weaves of fiber, to later make the fairing easier. Let that dry for a day and sand. Then I laid ¾ oz cloth, over lapping the 2 oz cloth by 2 to 3 centimeters. The fairing of this is really simple. And squeegee the heck out of this. You should squeegee so much that you see fibers, not resin sitting on top of the cloth.

Then after that all dries then sand – by hand - just a tad to take off any high spots. Then I did a “hot coat” on the top, let that dry and then did a hot coat on the bottom.

So then this morning I sanded for about 2 hours or more – yikes. I never sand by hand, used to though. I use a 4-inch by 4-inch vibrating sander. The wing looks great. I did the same ¾ oz over the ailerons, as well.

Len, I would go ahead and cover the bottom from wheel well to wheel well, especially if you followed the advice of others and added the reinforcement for the “inner” landing gear rails. The reason for the 5 oz cloth is – that if you catch a wing tip pretty hard the wing will break across the wheel well. The other place that the wing will break is across the mid portion of the wing from the inner aspect of the aileron and then thru the aileron servo housing.

Another Tip. On all the YA models that I have built I always place one layer of 2 oz cloth over the balsa of the vertical stab. We all have run off the end of the runway or to the side of the runway, the wheels hit the grass and the plane tips over, and whack the stab hits the ground and on the YA models that balsa will break. Placing the 2 oz cloth on the stab will give just enough strength to prevent this.

Hope this helps.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

British Pilot

Ok you guys put me to task. Yikes. 1 hours surfing last night.

I found what I am looking for.

Search terms for those that want something like this but maybe something else. First ... we call these things pilots, in the other world these are called action figures. Use seach terms such as: "action figure + british pilot" or "action figure + pilot" , you do not have to use the quotes. More of us searching will help.

So here are two links for "action figures + british pilot"

British Pilot

http://www.jaguarmodels.com/bbi/bbi21121.jpg

http://www.jaguarmodels.com/bbi.htm The night one down. [that was kind of funny ... the "ninth" one down]

For those that are looking for something like this keep searching and let us know what you have found.

www.live.com was a better search than google. Google brought up too much crap.

Thanks

Dr. Bill

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Bill
This guy (the pilot) will stand about 12" tall and works out to be 1/6th scale. He will be too small for the Spitty i my opinion.
I have just received a pilot from the States and he is 14" tall and just looks ok in this huge cavern of a cockpit.
Do a search in Warbirds and Warplanes on pilots and see to what lengths guys go to to achieve a great looking proper sized pilot.
Just my own thoughts. Do what you want mate and buy what you want. We are all free.:D

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Bill
If you do want one of those 12" pilots go to www.fighteraces.co.uk The site is good for other scale stuff too.
nudger

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Dr Bill (and Bob H)

Many thanks for the info....Wont be getting around to fiberglassing it for a week or so.. (Engine just arrived) ..and you can be sure I will squeegee it really well. This is my first major glassing project and I don't want to end up with a "Surfboard" ( as the locals in my club are quick to say!!!)

Cheers

Len

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Len I am now using what I consider a better method of applying the Resin to the cloth. It's not my idea so I can't claim credit but I now use a small roller. You can buy small foam ones at Home depot or similar places or you can order very good ones online from the same places that sell fiberglass cloth and resin. I must say its just like painting a wall with a roller. VERY easy with no additional build up of resin etc. Makes for a super smooth finish.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Wow! One months work. Yikes.

Here is what I have.

Glassed wing - ready to prime, paint, mount ailerons, servos etc.

Ailerons and flaps completed.

Horizontal Stab glued into place.

Tail done.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Wow! I have been working on mine for a couple of months now Bill and have achieved 1/4 of what you have done. Well done Mate and keep up the great work. Those pictures would make a great advertisment for the strength of the kit :)

I have finally had enough time to complete my tail sections and now the elevators are covered. As in the pictures you will see the trailing edge 'wedges' I added just before covering. These were to add some surface area at that point for the covering to adhear to. They are on the bottom only and have worked out fine. I did no do this on the rudder, and although well stuck I thought I had better do it to the elevator as the air flow forces on them are much more critical than the rudder if things come away and start flapping while pulling out of a dive say.

I have ordered some 3/4oz cloth for the covering of the wings and tail plane and when this arrives I can cover the tail and so be basically complete there till a bit later when I will fix it in place permanantly. I will want the engine mounted and basic radio install done before afixing it so reducing the possibility of hanger rash.

Next will be drill spinner backing plate and prop to suit engine so alignment can be achieved.
The wings might be a good idea too to help line the tail up. Oh well,,,,, one day at a time.[sm=frown.gif]

Cheers,

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Got to have a look at the engine install today. First step was to drill two holes out of the Yellow supplied spinner. I had previously purchased a 3W 55i drill jig from Model Design here in Australia and it worked a treat.
http://www.modeldesign.com.au/detail...ngineacc&id=21

After removing the rear carby and relieving the fire wall just a bit to clear the reid assembly at the back of the engine I clamped the spinner/engine to the front of the cowl ring and marked the holes as required.
Now I will be asking Leo about the advantages of having the engine rotated to the right before I make my final decision on it's orientation. (Edit, I have answered my own question. I went back and looked at Leo's instructions and saw the exhaust he used so requiring the engine to be rotated to the right to help keep it in the cowl as well)
A good fun afternoon after a great mornings flying.

Cheers,

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Brad,

Dave Platt has a 1/5th scale pilot suitable for a British airframe. I have one for my Platt Spitfire (still in the box) and the size is right but the resin cast figure will need a lot of work to get rid of the casting flash and other globs of stuff to make it look right. Then, of course, one must paint the entire figure. It's a bit on the heavy side, too, but that can be remedied by hollowing out the back of the trunk area. If all else fails in your search for a pilot figure, you can check with Platt via his website.

Al

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

I could be wrong but some of the Vailly Aviation pilots reminded me an awful lot of the Dave Platt offerings, except the Vailly ones are not cast from resin. Not accusing anybody of anthing, just making observation.

Brad, the Spit looks great as usual.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Brad

Are there any incidence referrences on the Yellow Spit ?..........for main plane and tail ??

cheers

Alan

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Hey spitmad,
There is no reference to incidence on the actual Yellow plans, but there are figures stated on the scale/reference drawings supplied with the kit. They state "2 Deg to the dihedral break to -1/2 at the tip"
There was no figure for the tail at all.[:o]

Yeah, cheers to ya Chad, I'm liking the way it looks and is working out.

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Ok thanks Brad

The Model Design Spit I am building has +2 deg at the dihedral (measured as there are no documented numbers) howver the "destructions" indictae 0 or +1.5 at the tail plane..........think I'll go with 1.5


cheers


Alan

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

spitmad,
Check this out Mate. I just placed the center section of the wing under the fuz and set it to 2deg on the bench then slid the tail in and measured it.
Check out the pics. 1.5deg!!!!!:)

Cheers, and please start a thread of 'our' Aussie bird.

Brad

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

Hi guys
does any body know what the fuse is made out off,epoxy or polyester resin-for bonding purposes.Thanks Nudge.

RE: The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
 

My YA fuse was made of polyester and I believe they are still made of that resin.