RAF FE8, Scaleplanes 1:72

[IanB]

Thanks Terri! As someone else mentioned, it would look fine if there wasn't a nice bright white roundel next to it to compare it to!
Anyway, it's staying as it is now!

I had planned to attach the upper wing today, so the first step obviously was to add the cabane struts. I used Gators grip to give me a little time to get them set correctly, then a tiny drop of thin CA to fix them in position










Unfortunately I then knocked off the little brass pin on the rear pair whilst fine tuning the wing alignment. I CAd it back on but decided to leave it alone after that  to ensure everything was set properly. Work was done on the battle instead!



Tomorrow?



Maybe...



Thanks for looking in, and stay safe!



Ian

[lone modeller]

Why is it that we always seem to be able to knock something delicate off a model just when we are trying to be most careful?

Looking very good indeed Ian. Will look even better with the top wing on - then the fun can start with the booms and tail unit!

Stephen.

[IanB]

Stephen, it does!

The day has arrived!



Time to fit the upper wing. First on just the cabane struts plus the two outer front struts to keep it level.











Spacing looks good, alignment looks good! I'll let that sit for a couple of hours before continuing with the rest....



I feel like I'm on Blue Peter...I haven't actually waited since that last post 'cos it's actually "one I prepared earlier"!

Anyway, once the first two struts had had a chance to set properly I continued with the other 6. A tiny drop of Gator Grip was added to the strut holes (not the strut end, just in case I didn't get it in first time - that would clog up the pre-drilled rigging holes. Ask me how I know...)



This is what I had to aim at (using a sharpened tooth pick)







The struts were added alternately left and right to keep it balanced, and after a fairly straight forward session I ended up with this. 















The struts are all in line, despite the first pic. Viewed from the end they are parallel.



It looks like something Bert Rutan's Grandfather might have designed!



Anyway, that's it for this one for today. Thanks for looking in, and stay safe!



Ian

[RAGIII]

Excellent work on fitting all of those struts! Looking Fantastic!
RAGIII

[Alexis]

Now she is starting to take shape , excellent job with the struts and mounting the top wing !


Terri

[IanB]

Thanks Rick and Terri! Unfortunately, as I'm sure you noticed the upper wing is too high!

I know exactly where the error came in. The Datafile gives the "gap" as 4'6". Oh goody, I thought, now I can get it exact! So I measured everything to give me a gap of 19mm between the wings. Without reference to the plans. Or measuring the distance between nacelle top and upper wing. One simple check would have showed that I was doing it wrong! I think the "gap" referred to is between the lower (or upper) edges of the spars, not the physical gap between the wings!

I did decide that accuracy had to come first (you didn't really doubt that though, did you!) and removed the upper wing this morning. By the way, 2mm is 50% of the correct gap between the top of the cockpit nacelle and the bottom of the upper wing, just to give an idea of how large the error was!

Holding each strut as close as possible to the join I popped them out one by one with no problems. If anything it highlights just how fragile these models are, and how much strength the rigging adds! Only one of the pins came off in the hole (the rear cabane, which I had CAd on when it came off) and since that hole goes right through I was able to push it through with a piece of brass rod.



Part 1 complete: wing removed.







To shorten the cabane struts (which I left in place on the nacelle) I clamped a steel rule in my desk vice, which, by the way, arrived last Friday. I'd forgotten I'd even ordered it as it was ordered on Feb 28th! The cabane strut was rested against the rule to support it and I gently removed 2mm with a micro saw. I did take a pic showing the difference, but my camera ate it. Sorry!







That is now correct!



Here's 2mm chopped of the ends of each strut.







I had to do each one individually as the pins are slightly different lengths so I couldn't just put the end of one pin against a reference and chop it.



As of writing, the struts have all had new pins added and are nearly done with touching up the paint. The next session should see the wing re-attached.



Thanks for looking in, and stay safe!



Ian

[smperry]

Bravo! on a great save. You had the skills and tools to do it right and the intestinal fortitude to tackle the job in the first place.  Great piece of modeling.
sp

[Borsos]

What a great progress on that machine.
Andreas

[Alexis]

I have made that error a few times , even on my FE-8 build . I even have my inter struts set to far forward . Did at first by then it was to late to fix .

Nice progress on making the repairs and glad to hear you caught it before it was to late .


Terri

[IanB]

Thanks folks & welcome back! 

As promised, the upper wing has now been reattached, with the correct gap. (At least if it isn't correct, it's now a small enough error not to notice!)



















Much better!



And a quick comparison:









That was definitely worth the effort.

With a bit of luck I'll be able to start on the rigging tomorrow!



Thanks for looking in, and stay safe! 

Pubs now open here, albeit with restrictions, so a beer is in order!



Ian

[Alexis]

Thumbs up Ian ! That is perfekt , good luck with the rigging and don't go crossed eyed ....leave that for the beers  Enjoy



Terri

[RichieW]

Beer definitely deserved after all that eye straining, patience testing micro surgery. It looks absolutely superb!

[lcarroll]

    Quite a nightmare that you handled with ease Ian, very nice recovery and super modelling!
Cheers,
Lance

[smperry]

That correction went perfectly Ian. I am so impressed with the slight dihedral from the first bays out. That takes some seriously accurate strut measuring, and to think that was after correcting the strut lengths. The booms may put up a bit of a fight but they don't stand a chance with you. Enjoy your well earned beers
sp

[RAGIII]

A Most impressive save and correction! Your FE8 is really looking the Part Now!
RAGIII