Topic: First build in 22 years Tony Nijhuis 46" Spitfire

Hey guys I know lots of people have built this aircraft and started threads of them building it, but I figured I would start one of my own. Perhaps I can show people what I'm doing right/wrong or have learned from other build threads that maybe someone here hasn't seen yet. As well as maybe get some tips on the build as I go along.

I have always been into warbirds from a young age and thought I had grown into todays jets when I got into this hobby. I own an EDF which I haven't flown yet and while I've converted my trainer from nitro to electric, which fly's extreemly well thanks to your help here guys, I have the build bug. In my search for what to build I came across the Tony Nijhuis spitfire. This plane is beautiful! The look of the spitfire is classic. The eliptical wing, the lines flowing from nose to tail along with it's pressence in the air. I just had to have one! Initialy I wanted to build the 62" Supermarine but went with something a little more maneagable in the car. SO the 46" Super marine Spitfire is my choice. it seems everyone has a spitfire and I wanted mine to be slightly diffrent so I will do mine in this colour scheme.



I also plan on making this Spitfire electric. Again it's all about convinience here. So I ordered the CNC pack from myhobbystore and waited patiently.
On arival of the plans I thought Jeezus Shane what did you buy? Your wife will kill you if you've just wasted this much cash. I was a little worried to say the least but was still itching to give it a go. Then parts started to show in the mail and I sat down, took a good look and read it through took a deap breath and started out.

I started by laying out the wing design ontop of some depron foam I had kicking around from another build. Useing my work knife to remove the ribs from the rest of the spar, I made sure not to cut too close to the ribs themselves so as not to damage them. trimming and sanding was going to be done anyway. Once I had all the main ribs cut and sanded I cut the top and bottom wing brace to size and layed it all out.



I'm useing mainly wood glue for this build so it's going to take some time. But at least I know the bond will be a good un. remember to notch the ends of the main braces at the wing tip  to fit into the final rib. I didn't and it took me a while to sort the whole mess out on the first wing. Learned my lesson on the second one though. Because I'm useing wood glue I used something heavy to keep everything in place and down. later on when building the second wing I found that pins will do a better job and allows you to get in and around the project. Like I said things I did right and things I did wrong mixed with things I learned form other threads.
Once the glue had dried I set out attaching the false LE and TE. Useing pins all the way to help keep it's shape.


Now being the dumb ass that I am. I attached the leading edge WAY before I was supose to and this made it difficult to put the top skin of wing on. Anyhow... I sorted this out and glued down the first layer of wood on top of the ribs and braces. I found that marking where the ribs out on the skin will help you find the rib a lot easier when you lay down all the wood and pin it down. Here's how it looks at this stage of the game.


Here's one of both wings with the tops skined and pined down


Once the tops had cured I then set into skinning the bottom. Because I didn't have my servo' for this project yet and I planed on cutting the hatches for my servos from the bottom, I made sure to run some string down the center of my wing and pin it in place so I could pull the servo wire out and attach it to the Y lead when it shows up. Here is a pic of the wings layed out.


and here are the servo hatches I've built.


Here is a shot of the wings all sanded down, Shapped and with one aileron pinned in place. When building the ailerons I built one without a bevel on the LE and this made it difficult to glue down the balsa skin. When building the wing tips I cut out two shapes a little larger than I wanted and glued them down with aroldite I wanted to be able to get in and start shaping right away. unfortunately that didn't happen as the wife called me to see to the baby but hey at least I didn't have to find or buy another clamp to keep it in position when the wood glue cured.


Well this is as far as I've gotten in the past two weeks. Like I said this is my first build since I was 15. I'll take it slow and hopefuly get it right. just a note to those who don't know. CA glue bonds fast and hard. If you are buying it for the first time buy the un bond as well. I did and I also did exactly as the guy said at the model shop. Good thing I bought the un bond.

Well until I've got more pix and more done, that's all folks.

any tips would be hot critisism is welcome too

Looking good  Well done on your choice to build something rather than buy it off the shelf 

One small thing I would change is the servo hatches and mounting blocks. Made from balsa they may not be strong enough over time and develop slop. I would use some liteply for the servo hatch covers with spruce or better still beech blocks epoxyied to the inside, you could also use the liteply or spruce as a bearer for the hatch to screw to.

Try and keep the back end as light as possible, choose your balsa sheet carefully and fret the formers as much as possible. From memory (been a few years) the formers shown are solid sheet, these can loose a fair bit before being used, and don't forget your snake outers and supports before you sheet the fus!

Good work 

Mud 

Ay up.

Good luck with the build. I have built this one and its a great model. I have loads of pics of the build if u need any help

Iain

Thanks guys for your help everything helps. hey there mud I might need some help on those tail feathers when I get there. Cheers

Well this session I started on the fuse and boy did I ever get that wrong. More times then I wish to count.

 I glued the top half and bottom half sides together then laid out the formers


then I pinned them all on thier sides so I could glue it all together. Boy was I ever wrong.


I've spent the last couple of days running back and forth to these forums just trying to figure out how to do it. Right the 12mm triangle braces go on and the 6mm bottom brace goes on first then some of the fromers not all.  after some doing I got it right... well mostly


Then after all that dried I found some formers out of position. So out came a razor to split them away fromt he sides so I could do it again. I used CA glue on one former and had to remove it with a razor having forgoten I had un bond in the shop with me. me stoooopid. But in the end I got there. Then it was time to put the top front anf rear planks on. You guessed it kids. I got that wrong as well. I used the 4mm instead of 6mm baksa and cut the rear plank too short as well as forgot to laminate both pieces of balsa. This wasn't so bad as I just placed some 6mm on top and viola. But I had to cut 6 inches from the back into the topmost piece of plank so I could marry the addition to the tail. So now that works.

Now it has all been clamped and dried. It was time to start work on that motor mount. after some thought I made the same type of mount I used in my trainer. It's bassicaly a smaller version of the cowl itself. You will see the motor mount in th epic but what you don't see is the 4 bolts going through the motor bracket, mount and F1 former. I've found this to be a very sturdy way of mounting my motors. I've had a near nose landing on my trainer and there was nuthing wrong with the front end.


I've also taken your advice Mud and changed the servo hatches on the wings to 1.5mm ply. I was thinking of useing one post to screw the servo into but also use double sided sticky tape on the servo and hatch. What do you guys think? I haven't a whole lot of room in there and I want to try to keep my seams to a minimum. But I am always open to sudgestions.

Well until next time... That's all folks.

If you haven't closed up the lower fus yet I would dremal out those formers a fair bit, and don't forget your snake runs 

Re, servos: Use 6mmx6mm spruce bearers for the hatch, run them 'under' the balsa skin, position them 50/50 under the hatch hole so you can sit the hatch flay on them and screw straight through the hatch into them.
For the servos, epoxy beech square (around 6mm square+) end on the the hatch and screw your servo to those. Tape just won't hold the servo imho not worth the risk 

Mud 

Hey thanks again for the advice Mud. I haven't closed up the lower fuse yet but have to ask... Snake runs? Flay? I figure you mean turn the formers into swiss cheese when you say flay! and am I right in guessing the openings for the control rods when you say snake runs?

again thanks for the help.

This evening was spent building the front cowl. A harder task then I thought it would be. Certainly is a good thing I have patience. My motor mount is off on one side by a mil or so. I'm having to place a shim under the motor bracket to get it to sit dead on center. Oh boy!! I'm going back out to see what else I can hack away at.

Cheers

Sorry I should have typed 'flat'  and yes, pushrods/snakes 

Lookin good BTW 

Hey Hey kids! Well the mother inlaw wants a sign made and the wife wants kids looked after. So I haven't got a whole bunch more done. Not that I've been sitting around with my finger in my hole tho.

I have finished my servo hatches, installed the Y lead and made sure everything was working. Then I made the plunge and epoxied my wings together. Wheeeew! I tell ya that was a stressfull five mins there. Just wanted to make sure I got it right ya know.


I've also been sanding and shapping that fuse. Taking my time with this and as yet I'm still not one hundred percent there or happy. I take a bit off each day for the past 3 and I come back to it. the way I figure it is when it's done it's done. I've also been working away at the cowl. This is hard and tedious work. Just sanding looking then sanding again. The other rough thing is I haven't decided how I'm going to mount the cowl on the front yet so most of my shapping is slow and tortorous as I'm holding it in place. I had thought about useing earth magnets to hold it in place so I gave it a try against the advice I was given from a fellow modeler here. But you gotta try to learn. Anyhow it didn't work but may still be useful as a secondary. This is where I am at so far. I just had to have a look at the fuse sitting on the wings.


and a straight on shot.


I have cut out and glued the two pieces of the stabilizer together and also cut out the slot for the stab. When slid into place it is kinda squiff to the left although centered in the lot. Also the Stab seems a bit flimsy. Has anyone thought of putting a bit of carbon rod in the center of it to strengthen and straighten it? What are your thoughts on the idea?

Also please mind the mess. I'm creative not tidy! I know just where everything is. I just can's seem to find the broom though.

Well till next time. That's all folks.

I've been working away at it little by little. It seems I don't have enough time to get stuck into the build so I do little bits here and there. I've managed to put in the wing lock conection as well as the wing seat rod. I've also put on the strengthening tape useing Figerglass. I used fiberglass tissue which I had planed on covering the entire model with but have thought better of it at the minute. I want to try to keep the weight down. I plan on covering it in the brown paper method. Nice looking finnish on the models I've seen on the web. Also I can get the contents in my neighborhood. I was also running some number tonight. I hooked the motor and all up and this is what I came up with.

XYH35-36 1000kv 30A Brushless Outrunner from giant cod
40 a hobby wing pentium ESC
3S 2300 25c lipo

11x7 x3 master airscrew glow prop= 28a, 298.3w motor gets hot to the touch

GWS 1060x3 electric prop= 21.4a, 228w motor is warm.

Now with the planned AUW being just over 2lbs Bothe props are offering enough power to fly this plane. Although I would like to use the master airscrew prop because it is more scale and offers  noticeably more power, I don't want to fry my motor. What are your thoughts on the matter?

I know nowt about leccy setups, but mine turned out around 3 - 3.5lbs AUW.

Mud

Hello again it's been a little while since I reported on the goings on of this build. At the moment things gave been going rather slowly for me. I've had to step back and really think about what it is I wanted to do here. I knew all along that I wanted some sort of U C on this thing weather it be stationary or retract. I also knew that if it were retracts then it would be mechanical. What I didn't know was how to go about doing it. I got a whole years subscrition of RCM&E off of a real nice guy for chips really and they have proved invaluable to me. I've searched the web and trolled all through the builds here to find the answers that I was looking for and the one that always comes up is " A warbid is not a warbid if it's wheels are hanging down" So retracts it is. Also in the time that has past I managed to get started on the wing faring. I've used 1.5mm balsa and wet it down like I've seen othre guys do but still couldn't get it to sit just right. In the end I used the balsa with model putty to build the desired effect. I think the putty also added a bit of needed strength as well.


and here is a pic of the wing as well


It's all starting to come together. I also cut the holes at the tail to link up my rudder and elevators when I get them made. As well as started to fit some servo's. One of my metal gear sevos went haywire when I plugged it in so I've decided to purchase a different brand and kit out the interior with them. So until they show up I'm on hold there.

Now onto those retracts. I made my measurements and double checked them before I made any cuts into the wing. One thing I will say to anyone building for the first time is. Decide weather or not you want retracts before you skin the wing. It's a bloody nightmare after. I've cut away so much of the interior that I'm unsure of the strength now. In this pick you can see what I've cut away. I've searched for a lot of notes on this and still this is the best I had. I know I'll need to strengthen it somewhere and maybe you guys can help.


and here is a photo of the retracts mocked in.


and a couple of her sitting on the UC so far




One of the problems I'm having at the moment is getting the servos to sit in the right place. I've been wedging the servos in place useing 6mm balsa and then adjusting the throws acordingly. Like I said all those magazines have been a god send. Unfortunatly because I want the retracts to open in i'm unable to use a single servo. ( I could have done if I had planned it from the beggining) So Now I'm useing 2 servos and a Y lead to join them. Now one is on the LE side and one on the TE side in order to get them to open and close the same. I tip my hat to all you guys out there who do this and make it look easy.

I have to say though I had it right once and both went up and down without any problems and it was so sweet when it worked. Now I just have to find that sweet spot again. I'm learning so much on this build. I have a few days off coming up and I hope to get the retracts sorted and finnaly get the wing covered. The it's to work on that tail feather. As far as first builds go I'm fairly happy with what I've got. I've already got plans for what I'm doing next. It's maddening and therapeutic all at the same time. HAhahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha

Ciao for now.

I now have retractable landing gear. What a puzzle that was. But everything works fine now. I'm real stoked about this! Go me!

Looking very nice.  ref wing fairing filler, I doubt it adds any strength.

Well hello and happy holidays all.

I thought I'd stop by and give an update of what's going on. After I got the retracts sorted it was time to start covering the wings. I was going to do the whole model in fiber glass tissue then thought better of it due to weight issues. My orriginal estimate was way off in thinking I could get her up at 2.5 lbs. I read the plans wrong. Anyhow. I also thought about useing the brown paper and PVA glue technique. In the end I decided on both. I recon I needed strength in the wings so I did them with Fiber tissue and up until I started sanding it I was going to do the entire model with it. Tooo much sanding! Also it ads some weight. Here's a pick of the wings.



I've also sorted my batery hatch as well then went to work on the tail end. I must have felt that a wife 2 kids and a new business wasn't enough stress cuz I decided to put in a stearable tail wheel. ( not as bad as the retracts) In the end I figured it out I think.



I then went to work covering the tail feathers. The rest of the model was done in brown paper and PVA glue mixed half and half. For those who have never tried this (like me) it isn't overly difficult and it makes a nice surface to sand and paint on. It's also cheap as chips. It adds a little ding resistance which is good. One thing I will say is when you are doing complexed curves make sure to make a lot of slits along the edge that curves. Also I do the top of my surfaces and overlap them on the bottom so that the bottom piece hides all my cut flaps. I applied a quick coat of the PVA water mixture to the model then then aplied the piece of paper to be glued, made sure it was in the right position then applied a good layer of water and PVA mixture over top useing a 1 inch brush. I stab gently at any areas that haven't adhered overly and when I'm happy I get out the wifes blow drier and useing the hottest setting dry her out. The the middle setting while useing my finger to smooth out the surface even more and finnaly the cool setting just cuz I think it helps. I did the entire model today in about 2 and a half hours.

Hope you like it.

and the rest


Now all I need to do is epoxy the tail feathers on, put on my control horns and attach my linkages, Screw the canopy in place and prime. Boy that doesn't sound like much. I ordered a couple 2s batteries from Hobbyking along with a servo slow system for my retracts and while they have been in the country since monday the 13, it seems our postal service doesn't work in the snow. I'm from Canada and what we have here in Belfast isn't really snow. so I am a little miffed about the postal issues.

Anyhow I am quite pleased with what I've achieved through out this build. I've learned so much from so many of you out there. I just can't wait to get her up. I still have to weigh it though and I am a little nervous.

Well till there's paint on there. I'll be following all of your builds.

Cheers

Well just a few things to update on this one. I have a couple things to shore up like the UC and push rods but aside from that she is all done. Well I still need to clear coat it. But I realy like the paint. I went with high vis sort of theme. This is a take off of a favorite song of mine. Aces High by Iron Maiden. I was going to sculpt the mascot of EDDIE in the spitfire cockpit but wanted to keep the weight down as super sculpy can have a lot of mass. I just can't wait to fly it.

here's some picks.








I hope you like it. Now to start on that Corsair I got for christmas.
Ohhhh the build bug.

I like it 

Nice weathering too 

Whats the AUW?

Muds 

 Great to see you have nearly finished, looking forwards to a flying report on this one. The postman has just delivered the CNC and wood pack for mine, which I ordered after finding your thread , and I have just put together the 1/48th Airfix spitfire mk ix to use as reference for a bit of detailing. My first plastic kit in 35 odd years - and i still get the glue all over the cockpit glass in seconds! . Anyway, thank you for taking the time to post this, I will do the same when I get going. Just out of interest, what retracts did you use for this, and do you think your power set up is adequate for your AUW?

Thanks again, looks great, Simon.

Ps. What was your final 'all up weight' ? cheers.

Hey thanks guys. The AUW is 3.7lbs without battery. The retracts are E-Scale P-47. If you are going to build this and are going to have retracts then deff put them in before you skin the wing. Also I appreciate you following my build but I have been following these builds. http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=30438&p=1 and http://www.rchobbyhub.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=4060

I think you will be better served following them as well.

Also download and print out the step by step from Tony' web page.

http://www.tonynijhuisdesigns.co.uk/Spitfire46.htm

Let us know how you get on. I'm gonna try and get the maiden as soon as. Won't film the maiden but deff the second and third flight. Till then keep em pealed.

Cheers

Thanks for the heads up on the other threads, here's hoping for some blue sky soon (I could really use some - 4 lipo's charged and no place to go) good luck with the maiden, Simon.

Just an update there has been no maiden as of yet just lots of caressing and general bench check/testing. I want this bad boy to do well and therefore I tend to check it over every night. I look at the way the ailerons move, how the rudder is set as well as the tail wheel. I've addressed the problems with the retracts and they are all wrinckled out now. The one thing I made sure to check over and over again is... Will I have enough power? I tried out my props and while I'm not overproping the new motor with the 11x5 3 blade, I wasn't getting enough battery time. Then I tried useing 2 batteries in parrallel only to find the added mah pushing the motor too hard. So I brought the prop down to a 10x6 prop and 2 batteries in parrallel equalling 3s 3600 mah achieving 31a and 340 watts of power giving me 91.89 watts per lbs. I only hope it will be enough.

Failing that I will move to a 10x6 sport prop and forget the 3 blades all together. I know the regular props work more efficiently but I would like to have a more scale look in the prop section of things. either way I shall keep you posted.

Cheers

Well still no joy with the maiden flight. I've had a couple chances but when I took her out to the field she constantly nosed over. The wheels were just too small. On the third attempt to get her rolling with a push and more power she nosed over and tore the fire wall right off. So back home and made a new firewall centered the motor and epoxied it in place. I changed up the wheels to larger ones and opened up the wheel wells to fit adjusted the retracts servos and took her down to the feild once again. Same story. At least this time she moves forward on her own but after a bit of throttle and lots of up elevator she still just noses over. I bent the tail wheel back so she drags even more but the springiness of it all just helps her to nose over.  I'm at a loss.

Brought her back home and adjusted the rear wheel even further so maybe that will help. So far no flights to date.

Lovelly build...love the paint job.

With regard to nosing over, I'm wondering lookin at your pics whether you need more angle on the u/c legs towards the leading edge ? There are guru's on here who will be sort you out 

Hopefully if you look at this pic it will explain what I mean

As Tigger says, bending the legs forward will help alot, but it will mean more surgery to they tuck away nicely. A nice smooth runway (conc or Asphalt) I would imagine would be a must 

Mud

Have a look at this 3 view and you'll see quite a pronounced angle on the u/c...also note the angle they sit when retracted in the wing.....hope this helps 

Just wondered if you got power sorted and uc problems fixed

Your Spitty looks great, will be good to hear how the maiden goes 

Just coming to the glassing stage on my 72" version of the TN Spitfire 



Cheers
Danny

Your spit looks lovely as well. Alas I no longer have retrats. What a pain in the ass. But at least when the weather clears I may get out easier and maiden it. Supose to be good this sunday but Father inlaw wants to go canoeing Could be worse I geuss.

Hope to have something to report in 2 weeks time.

Looks great  Manaconda69
 Cant wait for the maiden report.  I've not flown mine in ages, keeping it warm in the hangar until summer now

Iain

Hi,
Just seen your build thread, the Spit looks really good. Have you had a flight yet ?
I'm also building this model and have just reached the painting stage. I've also built for electric (Dualsky 450w 940kv) and fitted retracts (Hyperion 25). I'm estimating about 3.8 - 4lb ready to fly after painting so pretty much the same as yours. I've not decided how to fit the cowl yet but I'm planning for first flights without in case I need to change the thrust lines. Did you incorporate any washout ?. I contacted Tony Nijhous and he said it wasn't crucial so I built flat. As I've increased the weight and drag a bit with the retracts I've had second thoughts and will put a small amount of up aileron in for first flights which I hope might delay any tip-stall.
Hopefully by the time I've finished the crops around the strip will have grown up a bit to soften any unscheduled arrivals.

Hope to hear of a successful first flight soon.

Sorry no flight yet. many attempts but one thing or another has kept her grounded. I don't have the most level playing firld ( gravel) So I need to use a lot of rudder to keep her going straight. The last attempt wasn't good too much rudder when she left the ground, over compensated with ailerons then again and tip grabbed the earth and tore the wing off. Not too much damage but I'm glad I glassed the wing.

On the plus side... She is a beautiful model isn't she? I did put in some wash out as described in the TN plans. I've attached the cowl via three screws into the fire wall and a face plate with three slots. It seems to work well and moves only when pushed up. Hopefully I'll have more to say on the maiden front withing the next few weeks. Having only sundays off isn't the greatest but at least the days are getting longer.

I'd love to see yours when you have it finnished.

Just an update... The motor I put in this is not enough power to keep it in the air. I learned this yesterday where I had a friend hand launch it for me. Sure I was nervous and yes I was all over the place but full out but there just wasn't enough power to keep it in the air. The damage wasn't too bad. I've already repaired the cowl and ordered a larger motor. The moral here is always get more than you need. while the model is around the 3 1/2 mark I have ordered a motor that will pull a 5 lb model. May this be the last hicup in this build.

Well hope it goes better for you with new engine

This is the new engine I put in. E -Power BL2820 Brushless Outrunner Motor. Thing is one hell of a lump but helps the c of g. I strapped it in and lit it up. 3s 3700mah lipo, 12x6 master airscrew prop I was getting 37 amps 386 watts continuous. I have no doubt she will fly. This is what I need for my heavier plane. Thank the maker. Wait that's me well thank somebody for for making the motor. I hope to have a report by sunday night guys.

Till then happy landings.

Well hope all goes well looking forward to hearing about it

Well I finnaly managed to maiden the spitfire. Tail heavy... She bucked all over the sky and ended with a split wing and pieces all over the show. I was gutted. The new motor is fantastic and had her in the air in about 60 odd feet. I was easing off the elevator and noticed the tail wouldn't level out so I gave her some down elevator as I climbed which wasn't a climb anymore and brought her around to the left where the tail started to fall again. The controls were very sensitive even with expo dialed in and dual rates. In the end I stalled it and she headed straight for the ground from about 30 feet or so. No recovery time at all.

I chalk this one up to inexperience and pilot error. Still it is rebuildable and when I do build a new wing I will sort out the retracts as well. So... Looks like this winter the build will be new wing and Corsair. I'll stick to my trainer and small foamies for this season and get some real stick time in.

This is a beautiful model and will be again but I wouldn't recomend it to any newbies at all. I've been flying for about a year but this needs more experience.

On a plus note... My F22 fly's awsome and my Mustang is just pretty with a home made cowl. I try to keep busy.

Damn shame was and will be again a lovely looking plane. I'm sure you will get there in the end and have a great looking/flying plane. I try and tell myself that 70% of the fun is in the build anyway

Bad news on the maiden, still, you have the skill now to re-build 

With the CG in the correct place I can tell you that although not a first model, it'll fly really well and be very docile, similar to the ripmax spit.

Chin up and carry on fella 

Mud

Thanks guys. Ya I will rebuild it. I think that's a very big part of all this stuff. But I have fun with my foamies at the moment. Next season will have a more experienced pilot.

Cheers

Well I've finally started repairing this bird. I've spent the season building foam models and left this one on the shelf till it caught my eye again. One of the things that drew me to start the repair work was a column in the latest RCM&E. It gave me the confidence to repair the wing and has a few really good tips to do so. After tearing the bottom skin off I was able to asses the problem which in the end hasn't been too difficult. I've had to make a few new ribs and graft in a spar or two as well as fix the dihedral. There really wasn't any in the first build. I have decided not to pt retracts into it but have made fixed UC which will hopefully hold up.

I thought I would bring this thread back to life for those of you who wished me well might like to see it when she is back together and will get a remaiden within the next few weeks or so. Will post pix in the morning.