Large Model Association Forum

Since the Longhorsley outing, various small jobs have been done plus final detailing on the fuselage is well underway. As well as the usual 'soldering iron & brass tube' applied rivets, various small raised hatches & panels have been added in Flitemetal (testing the product in preparation for a forthcoming CompARF P-47 that will be 100% aluminium covered), plus the multitude of larger 'Dzus' type fixings have all be added using CNC cut vinyl fasteners sourced from a contact in the US. With around 300 per side, this alone has been a lengthy job with each one being individually applied after marking the necessary even spacing around the edges of the required panels.

With no detailed drawings being available showing rivet patterns etc.......various black & white 'in production' photos of the full-size have been used as many show in quite a lot of detail what was going on on the surface. The Arthur Bentley drawings have also proved useful as his 335 set contains an isometric cut away type drawing showing the main rib, former & longeron positions.

Patchwork of colour now complete on the underside of the fuselage & the forward engine cowling panels...............

The 2 stab halves have been the 1st to receive their 'aluminium' finish after doing a small test piece 1st. Three very light mist coats are applied with a light flat between coats with a wet 3000 grade flatting pad. The slight variations in tone are clear to see over the multi coloured base coat.

The 'wash' hasn't been applied with my usual water based wash and a flat back here as I didn't want to flat too far & take the aluminium off. So, as the aluminium is a cellulose base, I used a Humbrol enamel (oil based) wash with the excess wiped away with a soft cotton cloth soaked in white spirit, this having no detrimental effect on the aluminium. I wanted quite a heavy dirty build up as the stabs are just ahead of the rear engine exhaust stacks, so the mount of dirt, oil etc.... flying back towards them would have been considerable.

This photo sequence shows the results after 1, 2 and 3 light coats on the 1st of the 2 wing panels......

The 4th shows it lightly flatted in airflow direction with a 3000 grade pad which has 'streaked' the surface very slightly which is what I wanted. This shot was taken outside in natural light (7pm so a bit dull).........the patchwork effect though subtle showing up nicely. The application of the wash will further enhance it.

Both wings panels now complete (including functional landing lights) + a wash of dilute enamel paint & white spirit. All remaining small jobs on the fuselage also complete, so aluminium finish being started on that tomorrow.

RLM 81 & 82 camouflage on stabs & wings now complete.

.....and a shot of the finished wing undersides prior to marking's being applied. And before you ask, yes, the ailerons should be a painted as opposed to natural aluminium. Apparently they were built in a different factory to the wings & were supplied fully painted with the traditional RLM 76 on the underside......the elevators are the same.

Camouflage paintwork now complete on the fuselage..........paint masks from Nigel @ Flightline Graphics have arrived today, so on with all the markings next.

I've been using the services of Nigel @ Flightline Graphics for years for paint masks.........excellent quality, fast helpful service........makes the application of markings very straight forward.

All done with the paintwork & weathering now.........just the fuselage to clear coat & it's final installation time. Clear coat is 2 part Klass Kote epoxy matt on all upper surfaces & Klass Kote satin on the aluminium underside.

A month since the last update & plenty of progress.....

Klass Kote epoxy clear coat added at the end of July & left to fully cure for a week before any handling.

The inside of the fuselage has been given a coat of Klass Kote grey epoxy primer..........not only does this fuel proof any exposed plywood, but it's also tied the surfaces up from the patchwork of ply, glass, Hysol etc........to give a nice even all over finish.

Servo installation & routing of cables & airlines.....

Rear engine, muffler & assembled composite fuel tanks ready for installation......

Fantastic work Phil! Such a neat and well thought out build!
Cary

Phil

That's not a model airplane that's a piece of art.

Karl

Very nice Phil. I can't really tell from one of the images but is that clevice soldered to the rod or is it threaded rod?

All linkages are done with M3 threaded rod.......I don't like relying on soldered jonts on models this size (unless it's silver soldered).

Phil

I agree with Phil on using threaded rod but I do not even rely on silver soldering linkages as it can cause a brittle joint and I have had 2 failures of aileron rods breaking in flight on 2 aircraft, one resulting in the write off of my Ziroli Dak. I have done a lot of jointing of metals by various methods and know all about quenching inducing brittle states in metals, so I was surprised at the failure as I had allowed the joints to cool slowly, other joints were tested and found to be ok.

Dave

Almost there.......last few jobs to be done this week then it's up to Longhorsley on Sunday for final inspection (& hopefully) some engine runs & taxing......

Initial CG check (Vanessa rig method) last week showed we're around 15mm ahead of the recommended CG. This was done gear down, so with gear up and with the Powerbox still to be fitted (just behind the CG), I hope final checks will be about bang on without the need for any ballast.