MikeQ

Thinking this will the camo scheme

Hi Lol, how come you can put a good bit of effort in and apparently make very little visible progress 😂. Anyway, servos all mounted and AMT working. Going with pull pull on rudder. Fuselage all closed up and wing belly pan finished and model sanded down. Just the tail pipe, gun ports and tail, wing fairings to sort. Will probably glass fuselage and fun/rudder separately before assembling and finishing up fairings all round. mike

Unaccustomed as I am to scale modelling. I might have went a bit too far 😂 Tamiya sanded smooth fine with micromesh. Some decals applied with microsol/microset and some not. Predictably, the ones without not very durable but the ones with applied much better and edges of transfers seem to hace disappeared. Must have tried 20 different pens for panel lines. Some better than others. Its all going to gt a coat of satin 2K so shouldn’t be a problem. easy to overdo it on dodgy weathering effects 😀 Next up, pastels and oils for weathering effects. Gives you more confidence to try things on a pop bottle than a real model.

Finally getting around to ‘beginning to finish’ this one. Test spraying a primed pop bottle full of water. Tamiya TS and AS spray can paint, decanted for use in airbrush. Just wanted to see what colours looked like so not too neat or even. think I’ll go with the light coloured underside. will also be useful as a test shot for weathering, panel lines and all that. not my best skill set, along with metal work 😖 PS Drew up and 3D printed some nozzles for decanting. Bluetack and straws was too messy. Will attach stl to post later

Hello anyone used aluminium arrow shafts for making pushrods? If so, can you recommend a source in the UK. Googling it shows plenty of suppliers on line but if any one has real world recommendations all the better. Also, if anyone knows a source of steel 3mm left hand threaded rod (then its possible to make a turnbuckle type pushrod like the Control Line stunt guys use). cheers mike

Hi the wife (honest) picked up my DX8 Tx by the Antenna and snapped it off. Is it just a case of buy a replacement or are there any gotchas as far as opening the TX up etc. https://sussex-model-centre.co.uk/products/spektrum-dx7s-and-dx8-antenna-spmr75012 Cheers Mike

Hi as about to ask the same. I have 12 SWG piano wire (2.64 mm measured with calipers) and I need brass tube thats a sliding fit. The nearest K&S is just too small or just too big. Mike

Hi Bit more work on Sabre. Just need to sort bending of the tail wires and complete and refine the fairing shapes etc. Shouldn’t be long before move on to glassing fuselage. mike PS Also need to sort tail pioe 😂

Hi haven’t finished the cabanes and wing struts etc yet. Not my favourite … metal work 😆. Currently overthinking the wing strut attachments. Not too keen on the usual FreeFlight scale way of doing it but can’t think of a better way. Wing will have ailerons, just need to ‘cut them out’. Will require some extra sub spars etc. servos mounted in the wings. Will use a lemon caseless Rx, 2S 150-200mAh, BlueBird BMS101HV servos. cheers mike

Hi its last year since I bought any Radio gear. Have I missed the bus or are Lemon Rx not available anymore. Either that or I’ve forgotten how to use Google. mike

Hi yeah, its like a mini jig. For smaller models. 3D printed them. 4mm studding with lock nuts and wing nuts. Good for small models. I’ll probably brace the bearers a little once i’ve managed to get all the gubbins up front and wherever it goes to balance. With a replica Mills up front its not going to be doing any Loops. mike

Hi Lol, doesn’t look like much progress but on all morning with hinges. Elevators and rudder hinged with Robart 306 1/2a hinge point hinges. Some things just can’t be rushed 😂 295g (10.4 oz) at this point but balances where it should at this point. Reckon I can save 15g on wheels. Heavy ones on there right now. mike

Hi the tailplane uses laminated 4Ib density 1/32 outline. The core is 5Ib 1/32 QTR grain. Its pretty light but strong construction. Its what the scale FF bods like Bill Dennis typically seem to use. I’ve used pretty much 4-6Ib wood apart from 1/8 spars. Even with all the ‘reworks’ it will still be stand off scale. Not quite as ‘far off’ as the Mercury original though 😂 Hopefully won’t need too much nose weight 😃 I’ll cover with Jap Esaki lightweight tissue over 10u mylar. mike PS I’ve seen a ‘proper Mercury Tiger Moth’ flying free flight and was a really good performer.

Bit more

Hello picking up in this project and what with Hippocket forum going a bit oear shaped thought i’d post here. Started out as an RC conversion of a Mercury Tiger Moth but I redrew the outlines and laser cut new ribs with different spar layout etc. Power will be Irvine Mills 75 with RC carb, more of a two speed affair 🤣 Micro servers and Lemon Rx. Should be a few oz heavier than FF target weight but will still be OK hooefully. If only those legendarily vast fields of KielKraft long grass still existed, I’d have built it FreeFlight. Will post some figures later

I fly Freeflight, Control line (badly) and Radio. Have done for 45 years. But to be fair to the ARF only guys, its a bit of a job getting into building, even from kits. Just ordering bits and bobs turns into a massive headache. Its all mail order and you can never get everything from one place, Then theres the costs of tools and wood and and and. I don’t blame people for going down he ARF route. A lot are pretty good quality these days and way cheaper than building from plans or even kits.

Lol, theres a saying amongst fighter pilots “There are pilots that fly fighters and then there are fighter pilots” There is a difference but who cares if you are having fun. Mike PS Did i mention I was on the front of Aeromodeller Magazine 😂 PPS The only people who annoy me in this respect are the 5min HobbyKing wonders who only fly electric and complain about noisy glow motors. Or even worse, old farts, who were perfectly happy with glow motors back in he day but are now electric quiet flight zealots 😡 and can’t keep heir opinions to themselves on the field.

Hi Wings glassed and fuse just about finished. Drop tanks glassed and given first prime and rub back. Just have to do the part I’m not looking forward to. Tail feathers and fairing. mike

Hi. Yeah, theres plenty of youtubes etc out there. I’m not much of a scale bod myself but can appreciate the results. like this guy

Hi i would definitely recommend tissue over some form of mylar. Never used doculam but i have seen club mates larger models, like Junior 60, covered in doculam and tissue. Very smart. One thing though, I had the impression it might be a bit on the thick or heavy side for 36”? Not sure what the other guys think? 10micron mylar from Freeflight supplies (Mike Woodhouse) might be a better choice? I’d use Non shrinking or 20% max shrinking dope. I would also stick to the light grades of tissue too. Unfortunately lightweight Jap Esaki tisssue isn’t availabke anymore although Woodhouse may have sourced an alternative by now? One of the big advantages of tissue over film (mylar or doculam) is that the tissue doesn’t go brittle after a few years. cheers mike PS. Do a search for printing camo schemes on tissue on google and Youtube. A lot of the scale Freeflight guys come up with amazing results using a printer! HippocketAeronautics forum would also be a great place for advice on same (although it lost a lot of content due to a crash recently)

Hi Chris thanks for the heads up. I’d seen the Freddie B Sauce on the other threads. I’ll keep it in mind. How is your build going? cheers mike

Maybe ... not sure.

Hi Frank a lot of these old motors look like junk compared to modern motors but one mans meat is another mans poison and all that. There were and are a lot of CL kits/designs aimed specifically at the OS35 and similar motors. Max power isn’t necessarily whats wanted for these models. Tractability and predictable behaviour are more important. in good condition it will be a very useful motor to the right people. Control Line is still on the go ... although only practiced by masters of dark arts. A bit like Freeflight (and no, I don’t mean the FF nonsense after hours at the RC nats🤣) its definitely not one for the bin. Put it on ebay or Barton Control Line site for sure. https://www.ebay.com/itm/125953046581

Yes Someone on Barton Control Line site would quite possibly snap your hand off depending on condition. Failing that, I have a Mercury Cobra it would fit in nicely 😀 Mike

“I love the sound of peel ply tearing in the morn8ng” 😀 On with glassing the wings. The slight dimples peel ply leaves are easily knocked back with 300-400 wet and dry. WestSystems 105/206 and 25g cloth from East Coast Fibreglass supplies. mike