SE5a CONSTRUCTION BEGINNING TO . . .

[Greyhead]

Thanks for the tip Barry but if I'm going to have to use paint and "fork out some readies" I might as well use the warbirds "linen" paint; it's all ready to apply, fuel proof and it will ensure that there's no reaction with the rest of the paint.

[Guest]

Are you covered?

Grahame

I am proposing to cover with Ceconite (if I ever get that far!). I had never heard of it but apparently it is light, strong, has the right appearance and is CAA approved for light aircraft - but more tedious to apply. I have bought a bit for experimentation, complete with it's adhesive, and I shall make some wing pieces for trials. I am especially concerned to achieve the under-camber but glueing to the bottom of the ribs could give an uneven appearance. On the other hand stitching, although realistic, could be considered more WRAF than RAF (very politically incorrect!). We shall see, the experimentation is the fun. Or do you know of this material? Have you (or anyone else) ever used it? Any input welcomed, I am Solartex these days (having come from tissue, water spray and dope this is all a bit new)

[Guest]

Grahame,

I'm going to be painting on my linen tonight, so we'll see how it looks. I've got a great SE5 book - SE 5/5a Aces of World War 1 - which has some great colour schemes so I'll be making a final decision on them soon.

Thanks for the tips on roundels - I might get that for this weekend, we'll see.

Linney - I was worried about the underside of the wings, I covered with nylon, but it worked just fine. I used some pins on a couple of ribs if it looked like lifting.

Giles

[Greyhead]

Linney


I have to admit that I’ve got no knowledge of Ceconite but personally I’d use Solartex every time; it’s designed for models, it’s a proven method that’s easy to work with and looks good. You say that Ceconite is light but compared to what? It’s designed for full size aircraft not models. I’ve stitched my wings to ensure that the under camber stays in place but most people don’t bother and they obviously don’t have any trouble so I suppose it’s down to a matter of personal choice.


Grahame


A nice feature on the SE5a is the metal “tread plates” on the lower wing stubs; they have a ridged non-slip surface. It wasn’t clear when I made them if the ridges would look the part so I gave them a lick of paint and tried a bit of weathering before gluing them in place and I’m very pleased with the results.





To produce the parallel ridges I made a jig from20swg piano wire and tinplate. I then embossed the ridges using a length of 10swg piano wire ground to a smooth point.





It took a bit of experimenting to get it right; at first the wires were too long and opened out as I scribed the grooves

[Guest]

I've been scratching my head wondering how to do these plates. They're perfect! Thanks for sharing. You have been a great help to me with my plane.

Steve

[wonwinglo]

Ceconite is a commercial fibreglass process used on light aircraft and control surfaces,the adhesive is very much like balsa cement except a lot heavier,once fixed into place it can be heat shrunk just like Solartex,the process can be used as a substantial replacement for standard Irish linen and flax materials which sadly although accurate have a very poor resistance to the suns rays,even when treated with red tautening dope and silver cellulose finishes which acts as a ultra violet light barrier to slow down damage to the fabric.

The above refers to the full sized materials as opposed to any that are used for modelling which I am not aware of,how do I know about it ? well was the first person in the UK to use it on the control surfaces of a De Havilland Heron aircraft.

[Greyhead]

Thanks for the run down on Ceconite Barry, it certainly doesn’t sound like a modeling material to me and I’m glad you’re finding the thread helpful Steve; sharing ideas and information is what it’s all about, how would we manage without Lithoplate?


Talking of which, I’ve just fitted the aileron gap covers made from the stuff.





I don’t want to upset any farmers but the covers certainly look a bit “agricultural” but it’s how it’s done on the full size. The cover is bent at an angle to allow the aileron to move; looking from the rear you can see the gap between the cover and the aileron.





The bend in the cover may well be able to be reduced once the correct amount of aileron deflection required has been determined during the test flights.


The cover is split for the aileron horn. In this photo you can also see the drainage holes, I’m not sure whether or not they’ll be visible in flight only time will tell.





The cover has a frayed tape fairing it to the wing. A thing to remember about frayed tapes is that all the edges are frayed. Because Solartex has an adhesive on one side, to start a fray you have to nick the material so you can’t actually fray all the sides. The best thing to do is to fray the long sides and then “fray” the ends when the tape is cut to length.





To do this cut lots of small nicks with a scalpel, turn the tape over and repeat from the other side; it looks right when it’s been ironed in place but a straight cut stands out like a sore thumb.

[Greyhead]

I was planning on making a start with the paint next week but if this nice weather keeps up flying will take precedence! In the meantime there’s a few bits and pieces to make.


The fairings for the screen are “plunge moulded” as one unit, cut in half, glued to a litho plate base and given a coat of silver Solarlac.





This is where they fit virtually hiding the screen side pillars.





The Vickers front sight starts as 2 rings and some brass rod and tube.





Holes are drilled in the rings, which are still quite thick at this stage for ease of handling and the unit assembled over the template ready for soldering.





The outer ring is a bit too small but to get it correct I’d have to buy a 3m length of 25mm tube, which seemed a bit much considering I only needed about 6mm! As I had some 22mm I decided to use that, it’s near enough for me.


When it’s been soldered the inner “cross hairs” are removed and the rings filed down to a reasonable thickness.

[Greyhead]

The Vickers is now finished with front and rear sights, the copper “pipe” is for the interrupt.





The Vickers in position.





The magneto handle is made from brass sheet with 2 bead-ended dress makers pins, the larger one has the bead cut in half, epoxied to it.





The base is litho plate; placing the litho plate on some scrap 1/16th balsa, positioning a suitable washer and giving it a firm tap with a tack hammer forms the large ring. With the position marked the litho plate is turned over and the forming around the washer finished off with some hard balsa.





Although I’ve worked with litho plate for many years it never ceases to amaze me just how versatile it is and what complex shapes can be easily formed. A lick of paint, some subtle weathering and the jobs done, but I won’t fit it to the model until after the PC10 paint job.





I think that’s all the “ bits and pieces” made but I’ll take a good look at all my reference photos just to make sure, it’s amazing what you (I) can miss!

[Guest]

Thanks for all the posting makes very interesting reading

Can I ask a question please in Vickers picture

copper “pipe” is for the interrupt

did this work hydraulically from 'Engine oil' or a seperate supply and where any other systems hydraulic on aircraft that earlyThanks

Regards Tony

[Greyhead]

Tony

I know it works using seperate hydraulics because there is a reservoir for the fluid under the instrument panel. I’ve no idea about the technical details but it must be connected to the engine somehow to synchronise the firing to the prop speed. Maybe there's someone out there who can explain it to us!

Grahame

[Guest]

Here is a shot that shows the pump. It was driven by a gear on the prop hub. It had a 2:1 ratio and triggered the gun as each blade passed. Since the engine RPM was much faster than the gun could fire, as soon as a bullet was chambered it would fire through the first gap. This allowed it to fire at close to it's max rate.

[ATTACH]15535.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

Thanks lads

I didnt mean to hi-jack this build thread

[Greyhead]

Wot no pitot!


Of course not! What I failed to point out in my previous post was that I’d already made the pitot but I had no photo at the time because it was held together by masking tape while the epoxy cured.





The trouble with anything like this, which sticks out from the model, is that it is very susceptible to “hanger rash”. To alleviate the problem it has to be made strong enough to take a few knocks, removable or flexible; they all have their pros and cons but I tend to go for the first option, to that end it’s made from tin plate and copper tube. The “weak point” will be the fixings to the interplane strut so any substantial knock will break them and not the pitot or more importantly the strut.

[Greyhead]

Went to see Phil at Fighter Aces and bought the Warbirds paint, minus the PC10, which he hasn’t got in stock at the moment. It’s the first time I’ve used this paint, it’s quite thin with a flow more akin to ink than paint and it does take several coats to cover but overall I have to say that I’m very impressed with it. Water based so easy clean up, virtually no smell, quick drying and to top it all, fuel proof!


The model will be entirely brush painted and for the registration etc I’m using my preferred method of permanent marker for the outline. White lettering can be a problem as it’s quite difficult to get white marker pens but a bit of forward planning can save the situation. The area concerned is painted all over white first and the “background” painted in afterwards.





This will be a white “Z” on the top wing when I eventually get a coat of PC10 on. The under surface of the tail plane has been finished with “linen” paint.





The registration markings are printed onto thin card and templates cut out leaving “bridges” where necessary.





The top template above is for black lettering the bottom one for white lettering.


The template is held in position with “low tack” masking tape and the outline drawn.





With the template removed the “gaps” can be filled in using the marker pen and a rule.





Use a fine brush for the edges and then fill in with a flat brush. At this stage they look “too good” but the final “weathering” will take away the “newness” and allow some of the white to show through in places.





I don’t worry too much if I stray slightly outside the lines; remember the original was painted well before the advent of masking tape and airbrushes! If, once all the painting’s finished, I don’t like the look of any part of the lettering then I’ll just do a bit more “weathering” around the offending area and it’ll soon merge in to look OK.