Toshiro Saruwatari Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 After flicking through the pages of Q&EFI May issue, PSSA's Jet Provost Mass build article caught my eye. Liked the idea of a mass build, as well as building and flying a side by side two seater jet, read chubby, jet trainer. So, contacted Phil immediately and registered as a member of PSSA and ordered my copy of the plan and a canopy to Traplet. Turns out I am the first member of PSSA in Japan. Yes!!!! At first, I had thought about ordering the wood pack as well, but shipping and handling fee was not reasoble enough to justify it. Spending close to 20,000 yen on a short kit. No, too expensive. I was hoping to get started cutting and buildin in late April or early May, during the Golden Week vacataion season, but the wonderfully charming brown box did not arrive at the door until May 8. After studying the plans, decided on my build plan and got to work. Bulkheads cut and ready to start building. Dont you just love your band saw? Wonderful tool. Simple tool like odd piece of aluminium angles work wonders as well. Fuse as it is today. 25mm triangles just cannot be found in Tokyo. So decided to improvise and came up with an alternate build method. Bottom planking ready. I extended the rib outline and other major lines of the wing on the plan to use as reference for copying the plan to the balsa sheet. Old kits had these lines printed in them. Those were the days. There was no way I will be attending the event, even with frequent flyer miles, but was hoping to maiden her on June 1st at my favorite slope here. But that also wont happen, So, until today, I wanted to invest all my free time into building her, but decided to spend some time to post my progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Jones Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Nice work Toshiro and welcome to the mass build! Looking forward to progress updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Toshiro - great to see your Jet Provost blog started on this forum!! We look forward to seeing your model progress and although I know you can't physically be with us on the Great Orme this coming weekend, you'll clearly be with us in spirit and I will ensure you are mentioned in any presentations at the end of the event on Sunday. I think the fact that JP's are being built on mass globally is a wonderful result far beyond our initial expectations of the PSSA mass build!! Keep up the good work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I hope you enjoy building the JP in Tokyo as much as I enjoy eating Sushi in Cheadle Hulme England. Where do you fly in Japan - slope soarers - are you a member of a club? Is there a website. I am the webmaster of the Leek Moorland Club in England - **LINK** Maybe I can do an article about it on the site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshiro Saruwatari Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 While all of you are having fun at the slope, I am stuck with family obligations. This weekend, I 1,Took apart the decking floor of my balcony. 2,A trip to the local Ikea with my wife and bought some decking tiles. 3,Used a high pressure cleaner to clean tbe balcony foor and then, gave it a primer and top coat. Silicone caulking added to joints as well. 4, Decked teh balcony with tiles, built a bech, and after takign a refresshing shower, BEER! No progress with the build, but this should keep the most ipinionated individual of the house happy for a while, so she shouldnt complain about me making balsa dust inside the house. Hope you all have a good time at the slope event. Lift! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshiro Saruwatari Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 A little progress. Cut out the parts for the tail feathers. I didnt have any 5 mm balsa, so decided to use two sheets of 2.5 mm. Cut the parts out so that the grain direction of two sheets will not be completely pararell. Hope this will add some strength. For the fin and rudder, I cut the parts out so parts joint will be at different locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I am impressed. From your DIY, I am also guessing you know a lot about looking after and finishing wood. All pretty impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Hi Tosh.... I take it you will be checking the PSSA website for updates, and a review of our weekend. It was a jolly nice time as ever. Good luck with the build my friend, looking good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshiro Saruwatari Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 Thank you all very much for your encouraging comments. My build is chugging along, but at a slow pace. I have a question, rather a request for help. Can someone provide me with rough dimentions, like shoulder width and depth, head(helmet) diameter of the pilot figures used. I will use thouse numbers as a starting point to buld mine. Just couldnt find a right pilot for my JP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Hiya Toshiro, keep the build pictures coming we are enjoying watching your model develop back here in the UK! There was a bit of debate about the correct size of pilots in more than one post on here. The model is 1/12th scale so that's a good start but some pilots sold at 1/12th scale appear bigger than others. Across all the builds it would appear that in the UK 'Petes Pilots' and 'Vortex Vacforms' have led the way, though others have been enrolled too! Ive just remeasured - my jet pilots are 48mm high and approx. 45mm across the shoulders, they fit very nicely in the cockpit on width, they may be a little tall though for true scale? Of course you could always cut the depth of the cockpit out a little more whilst maintaining the fus side position for the canopy!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshiro Saruwatari Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Thanks Phil. Any additional info with helmet diameter? I know that a PingPong ball's too big for her. A littile progress over the weekend. This is from last week. Used toothpicks as reinforcment fot the rudder and elevator. And today, made some progress with the left wing panel. Sanding jig from scrap balsa for R1. Turns out spar slots dont line up. Duh. Well, thats an easy fix. Slow, yes. But making progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm woodcock 1 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Konichiwah, Toshiro, Nice blog on your build, isn't building from plans what it's all about, especially at the, hopefully successful, maiden flight. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kettle 1 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Toshiro - how's your Jet Provost coming on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toshiro Saruwatari Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 I havent given up yet. After reading about all the fun you have all had at the event, yes, I was stalled. As you all know, and have probably been there and done it yourselves, it really takes far more energy to get a stalled project going again. I was hoping to get some buildign done during the summer vacation, which ends today, but got no where. Too much requests (ORDERS!) from the boss of the house to do repairs and chores around the house. Repairing a broken sink, toilet pipe(Aghhaa), trimming black berries, attaching opening and closing mosquito netting to the door, etc.etc. Maybe I can CA some ribs tonight. Hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kettle 1 Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Well at least it's on your mind Toshiro, you will find once you start and do the littlest thing on it you won't be able to stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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