Guillows Spitfire park flyer FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shell shock,

Where are the pics to your P51? Yeah man, I'm calling you out! Just kidding, but you ought to start a thread on it. Ok here is one more pic, last one of the frame I promise, final sanding done (I think) I will cover it in the next week or so. I installed the plywood firewall, not so easy to cut with a razor knife/leatherman and a craftsman cutting tool. Sandpaper cures all though. Much to my dissapointment I was missing my canopy and while searching around for it I stepped on it!!!! Dang! I managed to massage it back into shape, but now it has a cloudy crease in it. Stupid me, wonder if I can get another one. What do you guys think about landing gear? I made up the set that came in the kit and they look kind of ugly to me and since this is a park flyer I doubt I will be doing any ground takeoffs and landings will be rough on landing gear. Thinking of keeping them off.

no man, your right, i need to post pics. i was going to.. but a party and a quantity of jager and beer sought that i was quite incapable of very remedial tasks for awhile. So with clear though and a clean liver, today i shall post pics

Shell Shock

shell shock wrote:@Kim: hey kim, this is a great idea! i think i will have to steal this idea for my p51

@cribbs74: wow man, that is looking real good! you need to post a video of that flying.

Cheers all
Shell Shock

Hey Shell Shock,

You're welcome ! ...but this isn't mine. It's old-school from the earliest days of putting hinged surfaces on model planes.

Kim wrote:
You're welcome ! ...but this isn't mine. It's old-school from the earliest days of putting hinged surfaces on model planes.

Sewn hinges and Z-hinges from fabric were what we used in the days of yore, before plastic was invented. The sewn hinges, if done correctly, were tight, but totally bind free --- the surfaces would just flop around until the pushrods were installed.

andrew wrote:

Kim wrote:
You're welcome ! ...but this isn't mine. It's old-school from the earliest days of putting hinged surfaces on model planes.

Sewn hinges and Z-hinges from fabric were what we used in the days of yore, before plastic was invented. The sewn hinges, if done correctly, were tight, but totally bind free --- the surfaces would just flop around until the pushrods were installed.

Yeah...NO hinge stress on the servos to any throw setting! We'd experiment with 90 degree deflection on an old R/C Cox 210 RTF...discovered "Elevator Stall" !!!!!!!

Kim wrote:
Hey Shell Shock,

You're welcome ! ...but this isn't mine. It's old-school from the earliest days of putting hinged surfaces on model planes.

Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention. So what type of thread am i supposed to use? Is it just sewing thread?

shell shock wrote:

Kim wrote:
Hey Shell Shock,

You're welcome ! ...but this isn't mine. It's old-school from the earliest days of putting hinged surfaces on model planes.

Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention. So what type of thread am i supposed to use? Is it just sewing thread?

You really ought to use fine/medium carpet thread. Upholstery shops have it...used in heavy-duty applications like harnesses and such. DO NOT use cotton sewing thread as it WILL rot and break. If you have trouble locating some, PM me your mailing address and I'll send you some. Also, it's a REAL good idea to practice on a fake set of control surfaces (go ahead and use cotton thread for this). Like acquiring any skill, it may take a little practice to get it right.

Something else I forgot to mention, if the appearance is a problem, you can "Hide Them in Plain Sight" by painting a black box over them. Maybe not true scale in most in serious scale planes, but usually good enough with sport planes.

So, essentially nylon or polyester?

Coats and Clark Dual Duty Plus Button and Carpet thread -- available at WallyWorld or any sewing shop.

For small planes, the finer thread works fine. For .15 size and up, I used the heavy duty carpet thread. Generally, it's sold as cotton covered polyester.

Nice! this will actually save me time and money.

Sorry for the hijack XP

Yeah. me too! Sorry Ron ! Gonna copy some of this and start a new thread over in the Model Building Topics...

Hijack away!!!! Seriously, I have done it and will probably do it again. Not on purpose mind you, but sometimes we get caught up in the moment.

Thanks!!!

Me too ! I sorta like watching stuff take off...especially since this and Mark's Group are about the best spots for talking about these little planes!.

Still gonna copy some of this alongside in a new thread...maybe make it easier to find...maybe not...

Ron:

I believe that another canopy is available from Guillows. Try them and see.

I've asked "Santa" for the Spit #403 kit from Guillow's. SHE usually, but not always, grants my wishes, so I'm optimist. I found it in-stock and availabe at www.oakridgehobbies.com for $32.99 + postage as opposed to Guillows at $44.99 + postage.

Hope that you caught the helpful information here on doing camo finishes.

Now try to locate a decent air brush sel -up w/compressor, hoses and accessories.......

SD,

Hope you have been good! seriously though 32.99 is a good price, can't wait to see the thread.

Yes I did catch the camo paint info, I am a little ahead of you so I will keep you posted on how it turns out. Keep in mind this is a first for me, at least you can learn from my mistakes!!! Although you sound to be pretty experienced anyway.

shell shock wrote:no man, your right, i need to post pics. i was going to.. but a party and a quantity of jager and beer sought that i was quite incapable of very remedial tasks for awhile. So with clear though and a clean liver, today i shall post pics

Shell Shock

Man, you could have bought a new engine for the price of all that alcohol! All you have to show for it is some embarrasing stories and a hangover!!! Just kidding I've been 19 before, I get it.

Ron:

There is absolutely no way that I would attempt camo finish without an air brush set-up. Even with that I would experiement first by "camo'ing' one of my old and very tired planes which are cluttering my 10' X 10' den.

(Visualize a "camo'ed" 4-channel Super-Cub EP w/48" span)

The experience gained would be well worth the the investment of time and $$$$$.

SuperDave wrote:Ron:

I believe that another canopy is available from Guillows. Try them and see.

I've asked "Santa" for the Spit #403 kit from Guillow's. SHE usually, but not always, grants my wishes, so I'm optimist. I found it in-stock and availabe at www.oakridgehobbies.com for $32.99 + postage as opposed to Guillows at $44.99 + postage.

Hope that you caught the helpful information here on doing camo finishes.

Now try to locate a decent air brush sel -up w/compressor, hoses and accessories.......

Yep, went to the guillows site and they have it for a whopping $1. May go ahead and get a new cowl too , just in case I happen to make a rough landing. Thanks SD!

SuperDave wrote:Ron:

There is absolutely no way that I would attempt camo finish without an air brush set-up. Even with that I would experiement first by "camo'ing' one of my old and very tired planes which are cluttering my 10' X 10' den.

(Visualize a "camo'ed" 4-channel Super-Cub EP w/48" span)

The experience gained would be well worth the the investment of time and $$$$$.

A super cub army scout plane? it's possible.

I will try it elsewhere before I do the real thing. I am planning on doing an olive drab monokote for covering and then painting/airbrush on the camo scheme. I will then apply the decals and go over all of it ith a fuel proofing spray. Hope the decals hold up

From what I have experienced (I built 5 guillows models this year)
I gave 3 away to kids who wanted a start in the hobby.
I found that the cowls are prone to splitting as is some of the wood but maybe this is just what happens to old stock thats been shipped from the US!

nitroairplane wrote:From what I have experienced (I built 5 guillows models this year)
I gave 3 away to kids who wanted a start in the hobby.
I found that the cowls are prone to splitting as is some of the wood but maybe this is just what happens to old stock thats been shipped from the US!

maybe I will grab 2 cowls?????

Yeah thats a good idea.

I really need some advice here, I know I promised no more frame pics, but I went ahead and tacked on the landing gear. In my opinion they look cartoonish and not really befitting of a scale model. I think they belong on a push toy. Anyway, I have 2 options...finish out the model sans gear or find some wheels that look more correct. Do they make any that small? what about tail wheels? I am looking at some tail wheels on ebay now, vintage stuff prob 1/2a but they may be too big. Any ideas? Opinions? Thanks for looking.