1/4 scale Sea Fury

[David Jones]

The sheeting was then added, sanded to shape, and the radiator inlets were cut out. The ends of the central part of the leading edge were then blended into the outer parts which are stepped back. This was done using the laser cut balsa fairings and filler. Not shown on the plan is a built up fairing on the underside of the oil cooler. I made this up from balsa formers and a 1/16” ply plate, all flared in with filler.

[David Jones]

Taking advantage of this very nice weather, I was able to take the model outside today so that I could fix the wing to the fuselage, and drill the wing mounting plate for the wing bolts. Once satisfied that all was aligned, the holes were drilled and the M6 captive T nuts were fitted. The main landing gear was then installed and the model was stood on its’ feet for the first time. This was definitely a photo opportunity not to be missed.

[David Jones]

I’m sorry about the quality of the pictures regarding light and shadow, but it was that sunny my cheap camera couldn’t cope. It was very warm too, hence my lack of clothing in the “give it a perspective of size” shot (the model, not my belly) taken by my wife.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

If we ever do a calender, THAT is one of the months !!!

[David Jones]

It’s been a few weeks since my last update, this is due to the fact I’ve had a break off the project. Many months ago I promised Mike Altham I’d give him a lift with the Nimrod if he got stuck with anything. He did get stuck, more for time than any other reason, so I’ve finished off the wing panels for him. Now that they are out of the way I’m back on the Sea Fury.

I decided to turn my attention to the front end of the fuselage to get It into some sort of shape. The front wing seats were glued in situ, along with the exhaust recess panels, once these were fitted I completed the sheeting on the bottom of the two front formers.

[David Jones]

I then made up the fairing on the underside of the centre section where the leading edge meets the fuselage. I’m not 100% convinced it is right, profile wise, and may decide to revisit it later, hence the lack of filler to blend it in.

[David Jones]

I completed sheeting the fuselage as far back as the tail wheel and then made a start on the wing seats at the trailing edge. I am reliably informed the wing seat fairings shown on the plan are not true to scale so, after studying numerous photographs I’ve deviated slightly from the plan.

The bottom of the fairings are made up from 1/32” ply. I cut out several card templates and fiddled about until I was reasonable happy that I’d got the right shape. The ply was then cut and tack glued in situ. After much head scratching and debating the yea’s and nay’s with myself, I decided that they looked close enough to scale and called it a do. I’ve tack glued removable profiles from 1/ 4” balsa to give me an idea of the final shape of the fairing, which I will make up using blue foam. That will be a job for next week as I will now be busy getting ready for Elvington.

[David Jones]

The 1/32” ply wing seats were extended to the leading edge and sections of blue foam were cut to a rough shape and glued onto the wing seats to form the fairings. Once the glue had set, they were sanded back and white filler was used to blend them in and sanded to a final shape.

[David Jones]

Balsa and filler was then used to build up the fairings underneath to blend in with the trailing edge of the wing.

[David Jones]

As mentioned a couple of entries ago, I wasn’t happy with the fairing on the underside of the centre section where the leading edge meets the fuselage, so I’ve re done it. I think it looks more fuller than before plus, I’ve added three stringers to give the sheeting more support.

[David Jones]

I’ve returned my attention to the front end to sort out the cowl and to make provision for cooling. The first thing I did was to mount the throttle and choke servos. These were mounted on wooden brackets immediately behind the firewall which has resulted in the linkages being short and straight. I’ve set the linkages to a length where, when the servo arms are in a central or neutral position, the throttle and choke are half open. This results in the servo travel being equal across the range.

I then finished off the engine box by fitting the bottom plate. I’ve cut a hole in it to make easier access to the area inside the fuselage behind the engine. This will be blanked off with a removable plate. Holes were then drilled around the front of the engine box and into the firewall and 1/4” dowels were glued in.

[David Jones]

The next procedures are courtesy of Phil Clarke of Fighteraces. I’ve copied his method of adding cooling baffles and mounting the cowl. To help with directing and smoothing out the exit rout for the hot air inside the cowl, the 1/4” ply stretcher plate was tapered to the front and a piece of 1/32” ply was glued in place to direct the airflow out through the exhaust outlets.

[David Jones]

Apart from fixing the 1/4” ply cowl mounting rings to the front face of F1, there is no mention on the plan as to how the cowl is retained on the fuselage. Due to the depth of the cowl, the main fixings need to be near the front, but accessed through the open front end when the prop and spinner are removed. Four mount plates, two on top and two on the bottom of the engine box were added. These have aluminium brackets bolted to the front ends to mount a removable cowl mount ring to.

[David Jones]

A 1/4” ply ring was then made up and three 1/4” ply tabs were added which will act as fixing points. A second 1/4” ply ring was then made up as the main cowl ring, this will be glued inside the cowl. On the rear of this, five 1/16” ply baffle plates were then added, these fit snugly between the cylinders and are intended to block all incoming air into the cowl apart from the air that passes directly over the cylinders. Three of the baffle plates line up with the mount tabs which will be used to secure the cowl with 6 mm plastic bolts into M6 T nuts.

[David Jones]

This assembly was then bolted together and the cowl was fitted to check that all was aligned. The removable cowl ring is slightly undersized to allow the cowl to pass over it freely, while the main cowl ring is a tighter fit.

As the rear of the main cowl ring sits firmly up against the front of the removable cowl ring, blind holes were drilled to locate over the fixing bolts and the rear edge was chamfered in order to produce a gap for the glue to go into, and which makes an internal fillet.

[David Jones]

Hardwood location lugs with brass tubing will be bonded to the rear of the cowl and will locate in the cowl ring at F1. A liteply plate was fitted across the front of the engine box to protect the electronic ignition unit and a further angled plate was fitted in front of that to further direct the airflow out of the cowl.

[David Jones]

The fuselage has been away to my mate Alan Greaves who has glass clothed the front three quarters. The rear end will be glassed once the tail plane and fin have been added, along with the final pieces of sheeting. The whole lot will then be given a second coat of resin. In the mean time we’ve managed to squeeze a holiday in and I’ve made the flaps. These have been made up from 1/32” ply with balsa ribs for support. They are bottom hinged with Kavan large scale flat hinges and pegged with 1/8” dowel. The fibreglass control horns, which will carry M3 ball links were then fitted to all the control surfaces and the servos have been “hard wired” and fitted in situ.

[David Jones]

Before I fit the tail feathers to the model, there are a number of jobs that need to be done while the fuselage is easily handled. First up was to fit the air tanks, I’ve made a frame up that splits so that the tanks can be removed if necessary by simply removing an M3 bolt which locates in a captive nut. This frame supports the tanks at the rear and they are supported by cut outs in F2 at the front.

[David Jones]

Next up was to locate the 50 oz fuel tank. A plywood box was made up to carry the tank, with a removable ply strap at the back.

[David Jones]

A ply plate was then glued into the fuselage to carry the tank, which is secured by M3 bolts and captive nuts mounted in hardwood bearers along the sides at the bottom of the tank box.