Robert Parker Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Thanks Tony, It's taking shape now and I'm looking forward to the upper sides, in planking this time. I know there will be a slight weight penalty with the extra glue, but I was not at all happy with my first attempt using sheet. Underside now completed, just need to attack it with my razor plane and add some lightness and smooth out those curves. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 Hi All, Been able to spend some time this week on doing away with the sheeting and to plank the upper sides, well did not take that long but I did use almost all of my pins to do so. It has resulted in a straight un-stressed fuselage and I have added the top deck sheeting and nose block, now where's my David's plane and sanding blocks. After shaping and sanding I'll fit the tail plane assembly. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Hi All, I have attacked the fuselage with my David's plane and sanding block and sand paper and it's looking good I must say. I have cut out the tailplane seat and loose fitted the tailplane assembly. I'm not going to glue together until a little later to avoid any mishaps as I am getting a bit tight for space. I made card templates taken from the plans to get the shape of the nose Here we are almost ready fuselage and tail just the wings to go. Must admit this has been a pleasure to build so far and a credit to Tony Nijhuis for the design. It has been quite a quick build almost like a fun fighter, there is a fair bit of work involved in the wings. I did not get this much done with my Topflite P40 in the same time frame. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Hi All, Made a start today on the wing, very straight forward so far The spars change from 9 x 9 to 4.5 x 9 for the last three bays with a splice joint. 1/16th shear webs between the ribs. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 looking very nice sir. impressive building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Hi All, Top sheeting added to outer panel done and lifted off board. i have started on the centre section but I have run into a small problem. The ribs that were cut out for me have the notches in the wrong places for the rear spar or not cut at all, never mind I will cut new ones and crack on with the build. More photos coming soon Regards Robert Edited By Robert Parker on 02/03/2014 12:26:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Hi All, Back again after making new ribs for the centre section. The centre section although 1 piece is built in halves as the plan only shows half of the centre section so I have left the spars run on and marked the centre on each. Once dry I will lift the partial assembly off the plan, turn over the plan and cover the plan with baby oil which will make it transparent enabling me to build the right side of the wing. Again 1/16th shear webs but this time to both sides of the main spar forming a box beam. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Hi All, Just a quick update. I have added one of the wing dihedral braces and the trimming for the flap. This side is now done so I'll flip over the drawing and start again when the glue dries. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Hi All, What a treat we have had with the weather over the weekend with glorious sunshine, I had forgotten what it was like. The garden is now certainly looking better now after a day pottering and tidying up. I did manage to get some building done and have now completed the basic structure of the centre section all bar the wing brace. Top sheeting next and then on with the outer panel. This side went a little easier as I had made / altered all of the ribs when I did the other side. Materials I have used are as follows just in case your interested; All sheet 4" x 36" 20No 1/16 Medium 4No 1/16 Soft 6No 3/32 Soft 6No 3/32 Medium 3No 3/16 Soft 2No 3/16 Medium 2No 1/4 soft 1No 1/4 Medium 1 No 3/8 Medium 2No 3/8 Soft 1No 1/2 Hard 4No 1/2 Soft 6No 1/2 x 1/2 triangle Some 1/16 birch ply Some 1/8 Lite ply - servo trays 2off For the ribs and formers you will need 5No 1/8 sheet - Ribs 3No 3/16 sheet - Formers 1No 1/16th sheet - Tailplane ribs For all of the spars, leading edge, trailing edge and any other small sections all have been made from the sheet material listed above. So far this quantity seems to be about right Are any of you building / going to build one of these? Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Stratton Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hi Robert, having followed your excellent build blog, & your wood list is handy too, and depending on how yours turns out, and if I could get a cnc kit of parts from Messrs Belair , I think I could be tempted to build one, it's a nice sized model needing a pair of .40-.50 4s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hi Glenn, Thanks for the reply, this is my first build blog and hope everyone is enjoying it as much as you. I know that I have mentioned this earlier but it is a very straight forward build (so far), must admit the nacelles may be a bit of a challenge, but there are only two of them and I have the glass fibre cowls which will take a lot of the work away. Keep watching, it's going to get interesting soon putting it all together!!! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Hi All, Just finished sheeting the top rear of the centre section. The front will have to be sheeted once the nacelles basic structure has been fitted as these pass through the wing just in front of the main spar and just a little to catch the end of the upper end of the planking. I'm very tempted to start the nacelles, but must joint the wings first to get the dihedral right. Hope to start the outer panel tomorrow. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 lovely work and super progress Robert,looking forward to the nacelles myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi All, Just a very quick update. Last wing panel made and sheeted, just need to clean up all of the mating faces and check the dihedral being equal to both sides, the plans don't give the amount of dihedral so I'll get the braces in the right places and take it from there. Where does all of the spare time go and so fast too. Back soon with another update and details Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hi All, The wings are now joined. However, was a good move regarding building the nacelles. My thoughts were to join the wings and then build the nacelles afterwards. My reasoning for this was that I wanted to join the wings on a flat surface and support the tips. Having sheeted the top skin I was not happy at not being able to clamp the joint of the wing panels and the braces. So I ended up supporting the centre section on some scrap timber I had and measured then to ensure that they were both the same and made some props for the tips. The timber gave me clearance for the clamps. Now that I have a 72" wingspan in a confined workspace will make it more difficult to work on without damage or knocking something. All glued up and clamped and alignment checked. Close up of the clamps And flip it over and fit the supporting legs for the tips and allow to set. We now have a basic wing, next the nacelles what I have been looking forward to building. The basic parts all marked up. I'll have to buy a set of retracts before fitting the plates to the nacelles just in case the cut outs are the right size. And were off. This may be a little time consuming but worth it in the end I hope The wing marked out and waiting for this section to be cut out . The back former passes through the wing. Looking at it that is going to be one large balsa block that sits behind this former and ends just before the flap cutout. That's for now back with more updates later. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 looking very very good sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Thanks Tony. It's coming together at a nice pace and I'm enjoying building it. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Hi All, I have just completed the basic structures of the nacelles and all has gone well. A quick mention to 4-MAX for a very quick delivery of the retracts, ordered Monday night arrived Wednesday a great service. More about these later. I have fitted blocks between the top and bottom spars where the nacelles fit to increase the gluing area. I could not make out on the plan if there was or not so I went for it anyway as i assume there will be a lot of stresses transferred at this point. Better safe than sorry. Next is a trial fit of the nacelles along with the positioning of the engines, I'm going for an angle of around 45 degrees anti-clockwise from vertical this should throw the silencers to the same position as the full size hedgehog exhausts, position the fuel tanks and the retracts. Regards Robert Edited By Robert Parker on 26/03/2014 20:57:37 Edited By Robert Parker on 26/03/2014 20:58:14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi All, Another update on progress so far. Well the nacelles have gone together, test fitted and engines mounted, nacelles altered slightly and modified a bit plus a bit of I should have done it in a different order. So I needed to know the angle of the engines and the silencers would miss the wing which made fitting the captive nuts a little tricky. In hindsight and for those of you who might build this plane the answer is yes the silencer does miss the wing at 45 degrees anti clockwise so fit the captive nuts before fitting the formers. I clamped the engine mounts to the nacelles and pinned the nacelles to the wing as below. Having glued the captive nuts in position and in doing so I knocked off a couple of the formers. Next, I trial fitted the tanks, I have opted to fit larger tanks and gone for 9oz instead of the 6oz ones as shown on the plans for the .25" size engines. To be able to fit these tanks near to the centreline of the engines I have had to cut out the underside of the formers and fitted a partial tank bay floor to hold the tank in place. Tank bay floor in place and the retract fitted Retracts used e flight's 60-120 size 90 degrees. when these arrived I realised that the supplied legs with pre-bent damping coil would not be suitable as these retracts would suit a Hurricane, Spitfire or Mustang etc, and to use them the retract would not operate correctly as the coil would hit the body of the unit before fully retracting. I could not reverse the leg as the coil would foul the former. So new legs to be made to suit by yours truly. I have now glued the nacelles to the wing and completed the top sheeting of the wing. Next I hope to start the planking of the nacelles and revisiting the wing. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A. Barry Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Robert, very nice, where did you locate the plan from, I have searched Tony's site and My Hobby plans and I can not see his advertised I must have missed the W/S of it, somehow Thanks, keep up the good work Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi Barry, I have had the plan for a very long time, however, it is still available along with the canopies and fibre glass cowls from Traplet publications, R C Model World. plan £20.99 cowls £ 31 Canopies £11.99 I have a copy of R C Scale International which has a plan build review dated November / December 2000, which I'm using as a guide, pretty good too written by the Tony himself. Hope this is of some assistance Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Sorry Barry, plan Number: MW 2605 Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A. Barry Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 AHH now I got it,..... 70" that's a great size, did you think about E.P.??? I'm an I.C. nut myself but EP gives a bit more relilablity I'll watch with interest, I have too many projects on the shelf already, but one never can tell thanks again Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi Barry, Yes I did consider EP, but I wanted to build and IC twin as I have not dared to build one before. I have built and flown three EP multi's, two of which were Tony's his 72" Lanc MK 1.5 (a bit of both versions) and his small Wellington 60" plus an Easy Built Catalina. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Parker Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi Barry, Yes I did consider EP, but I wanted to build and IC twin as I have not dared to build one before. I have built and flown three EP multi's, two of which were Tony's his 72" Lanc MK 1.5 (a bit of both versions) and his small Wellington 60" plus an Easy Built Catalina. Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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