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DB Spitfire Build


Tim Flyer
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By the way one thing I haven’t mentioned earlier but I’m sure most modellers already have their own methods are my DIY elastic band joiners. The elastic bands are useful for sheeting and even holding the sheets while you mark a pencil cutting line . I use bits of bent wire cut offs to join the ends of elastics so they can be easy released ( its good to wear glasses when releasing for eye safety!) 

 

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Edited by Tim Flyer
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I’m still doing the fuselage sheeting as I haven’t had that much time to spend but it seems to be going ok. I have started to mark where the canopy goes and will later cut the curve in the top sheeting.


The centre section of sheeting seemed to fit ok and I hope it won’t interfere with the wing fairing. That seems the most complex part of this kit and most important looks wise! The thin sheets of ply are stitched together, but more on that later !

 

Once all the sheeting is finished I will then have to do a little bit of fettling on fitting the wings and checking all is in line and wing bolts fit before starting on the fairings

 

At the very front of the fuselage the top triangular ply supports for the engine firewall seem a bit light (as the firewall has no top bracing, so I will put a sheet of thin Birch ply backing on each . I’m not worried about adding a little weight to the front .

 

Here is where I am at now 

 

 

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All the main sheeting is now done. What I’m up to now is some tidying up of joints and fitting the wings to the fuselage.

 

First I had to put the wings together. Up until this stage I hadn’t done that which was a bit of a mistake although I had fitted the wooden spars in and eased them so they fitted . Checking the spars is important before adding the ply inner wing sheeting as access to the spar sockets is limited after sheeting.  I had to spend some time fettling in order to get the wings to close properly together. With two separate wooden spars there is no room for even slight error. I do think an alternative design with a simple aluminium tube spar set in place while building, would work better and make construction easier. 
 

Now my wings fit together I’m just adjusting the edges so they fit in the fuselage. That is also a very precise fit and needs carful sanding and easing in . 

 

Once this is done I will start working on the wing fairing. I’m not yet going to sand the full leading edge in case it gets damaged in my workshop . This plane is a tight fit in my limited space. 
 

I ordered an instrument panel and a rivet and panel lines kit from Mick Reeves Models on Friday. I’m thinking of having a go at making this a bit more detailed than my usual rushed finish. 
 

Here is a picture as I am easing the wings in . 

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I had a bit of time to start on the wing fairings now I finally got the wings to fit in properly. Wing fitting required some quite careful sanding due to tight tolerances and a number of contact/bracing points in the design. 
 

The wing fairing instructions seem actually quite vague and not particularly logical but looking at photos has helped.  Firstly I cut the template from brown paper in order to mark the fairing corners on the fuselage. I then had to cut slots in the side sheeting to fit the central rear fairing central reinforcement pieces. The instructions are quite muddled in this area and seem to suggest early gluing ...  not a good idea until you have everything set out!!! 
 

I am waiting for the reinforcements to set then I will stitch the fairings together(as shown on the plan), put the wing in the fuselage and check how it all fits before adding glue. The fairing needs to be clamped to the wing while the glue sets . 
It might be a few days before I get time for the next bit. 

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Edited by Tim Flyer
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I have got a bit further with the fairing now. I started off by stitching the rear upper fairings and then the side fairings into the fairing formers which were shown in my previous photo. I did that with no glue while stitching.
 

After I was happy with that I carefully applied wood glue with a brush under the rear fairings then pinned and held them in place to set with pins clamps and elastic bands. 
 

Today I glued the front fairings in using thin cyano wicked through the holes in the ply. The very front fairing is added later . Obviously I put a polythene sheet under the wing to prevent a permanent fixed wing?
 

I must say that this part of the build was fun as visually it makes a big improvement and the model is starting to look like a spitfire.

 

My next job on the fairings is covering with brown paper and PVA after doing minor filling and sanding. The very front fairing is added after the front cowl fitting and lower front balsa fillets are added. I might leave the papering until then. 
 

I’m guessing but I think some of the ply panel lines are best left rather than totally eliminated, in order to give a scale effect. Eventually I will be glass covering the whole fuselage. 

 

 

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Hi Eric Thank You very much for your reply. I only stitched the rear fairings to the rear fairing brace which has aligning holes in it for that purpose.   The instructions/plan mentioned cross stitch so I made my best attempt! The main wing fairings were glued with thin cyano, using the small holes to wick it in while carefully pressing with my free hand . Thankfully I remembered to put gloves on ??

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Cheers Alan . By the way. regarding the stitching on the rear. That is just to hold it all in place while gluing. I brushed wood glue in the holes and along the seam. That gets into the joint and sets. Now it’s all set I have sand papered it and the stitches disappear ready for the brown paper covering. 

Edited by Tim Flyer
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I have covered the wing fairings now with brown paper and pva. This is the first time for me to use that method as I have either used glass or film in the past . It seems to work very well and is fairly light free not messy and seems very ding resistant. After it dries seams or imperfections can be taken out easily with 240grit ( I hadn’t done that yet when photos taken).  I’m tempted to do the whole fuselage with brown paper(just got more to recycle with an Amazon delivery today )?. The other good thing is it presents a smooth surface so less filling than with glass weave. 
 

I will do the wings with glass and epoxy for extra strength.

 


 

 

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Edited by Tim Flyer
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