RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Oldtimer4759 You will love your ESM Spitfire. My cowl was cracked on top also. I added lots of new fiberglass inside after the engine cut outs were done to make it stonger. You are going to need to add wieght up front anyway. I have a new DLE30 with wrap around muffer that I may replace my Saito 120 4s with. I love the Saito, good fit, good power, great sound....but.... I hate paying 40$ a jug for nitro from my LHS. A jug does not go far with that motor. It looked to me that my DLE 30 will not fit unless I saw off the firewall and make a new one about 1/2 inch back? Other option might be to cut a hole in the firewall to let the carb recess into and use shorter stand offs, but as you see the stock firewall area is pretty small. let me know how you make out with the DLE35 RA install. Tom
Posted on: 5/15/2013 11:44 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11512394

RE: Military colors only at warbird meets?
I had to compeat against an Extra in a military scale builder/flyer comp, The owner found out the Extra was used as a trainer by a South American country that I now forget. The paint ( make that covering ) on the Extra was very simple with a few markings as was the real one, so his static score was high. My static was also high on my FW190D, and I had all the work of retracts, flaps, camo,paint, panel lines, all scale markings etc. He flew his Extra very very well and I flew very well, so his flying score was slightly higher. In the end he got first place and I got second. I did not complain but the thought that I had spent at least triple the time to build my entry vs his made me feel, would I do this again? If I am going to compeat against an Extra. This was just a local event, and the judges would do the static at a stand off of 15 feet or so. I suppose a CD has to make rules to plug holes that would otherwise show up. I would be fine to compeat against a racing warbird though, just didn't like the Extra. Tom
Posted on: 9/17/2012 4:56 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11231653

RE: Panel lines and rivets
So I did my panel line build up with 3-4 coats of Warbirdcolors using an airbrush over the panel lines only, but wide enough for the rivets also. Pulled the tape, did get a few delaminations, but was able to get that out. Then burned in all the rivets. Then gave it a good sand with 320 grit. This was the part I was interested to see how it would sand. And it worked great, the paint was hard and cured and I was able to sand everything smooth and not lose any detail. Then the final wet coat of warbird colors and all the detail still there. I just wanted to try this over the old primer build up way, it worked for me. I will get a few pics to add later. Tom
Posted on: 9/17/2012 10:56 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11231254

RE: Panel lines and rivets
I am at the panel line /rivet stage of my TF GS Corsair. One problem I had was when I pulled off the Chartpak 1/32 drafting tape,( that I think we all use), the tape delaminated, leaving a layer of itself on the plane. With difficulty I can pick away at it and get a few small chunks at a time off. I may just have to leave it on the plane. Not happy with that development, anybody had the same problem ? One problem I had in the past was not getting the primer real smooth before appling the color paint. if the primer's not smooth, then the paint coat will not be smooth. As most of you build up the panel lines with primer, how do you get a smooth finish? Do you sand with the tape still down? I found if I remove the tape and sand the soft rough primer smooth I can lose my panel line. My next experiment is to build up the panel lines with Warbirdcolors instead of primer and see how that works. That should give me a sharp hard line and some tough hard paint to burn in the rivets, what do you think? Or will I have more trouble getting my tape off? Tom
Posted on: 9/11/2012 4:12 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11225471

RE: primer on panel lines
I have not had great luck with primers and am still trying different stuff, although I have not tried the primers advised here. My last primer was Kiltz oil base stain blocker primer, and I had it tinted gray, I also thinned it and airbrushed it on. ( My touch up gun broken ) I built up my panel lines well and then removed the tape. The finnish was very rough feeling so I gave it a light sanding with fine paper. I almost lost my panel lines in no time, the primer coat was very soft. The burning in on the rivets did not seem all that good, again, soft paint? Anyway, what I and trying now on my Topflite GS Corsair is : primed and sanded very smooth, cleaned , then apply panel lines, Then build up the panel lines with 2-3 coats of my final paint which is Warbircolors, using my airbrush. This will put hard smooth coats over/ along the panel lines, then burn in rivets on the hard cured paint, then pull the tape, fine sand the surface alittle, clean, apply final coats of warbirdcolors. I think this will work very well, It will take several days as I should let the paint dry overnight after every coat. I think I will end up with nice sharp clear panel lines and rivets. What do you guys think about this approch? Tom
Posted on: 9/6/2012 1:21 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11219848

RE: TF FW190 GIANT ARF
(1)Glass will add some wieght, but then the surface will be more ding resistant, and the wing will be stronger so should handle more Gs. (2) Monokote tends to wrinkle and lift from the balsa surface in the sun. This looks like hell to a scale modeler. (3) You need to do step (1) so you can now put your own paint job on your plane, usually one that few people have, so now your plane does not look like a cookie cutter mass production job. Tom
Posted on: 8/30/2012 8:43 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11211536

RE: Finishing sets for scale models
Can a mask only be used once? So if a P47 had the two stars and bars on the wing and two on the fuse, you would send four mask sets? Sorry if it's a dumb queston, I have never used this kind of mask before. Thanks Tom
Posted on: 8/25/2012 8:00 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11206045

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Increased flaps to approx 75 degrees, all good, better landings. Here's a link to a vid my buddy took of my sweet flying spit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fffqa6Dupk Tom
Posted on: 8/18/2012 6:24 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11198223

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
I should wrap up my 2cents on this bird. I had to cut out the bottems of the wheel well inserts as they robbed me of needed wheel clearance. At that point I just said to heck with it and made balsa liners. I panted them with gray Tremclad as thast what I had. I didn't have any fuel proof greenish zinc-chromate handy. I have not made the wing canons yet, and gear doors may never be made, I want to fly! I set the CG at 110 mm as others have done, I did have to make a ply tray that attached to the motor mount and added a pound of lead. Flaps max at 65 degrees All up weight is approx 15-16 LB. And off to the field we go. Take off was pretty easy, no tendency to noise over with the modified gear rake. One trick I used was the tailwheel is alittle cocked off to the left turn, so to slow roll straight forward you have to hold right rudder , as speed picks up and the tail lifts, you are already holding right rudder and on top of the warbird LH torque pull. The Saito 120 with a APC 15x8 prop pulled it well, not a speed demon, but very scale and fast enough. Big loop are no problem, so I am happy with the power. Also, the sound of a glow fourstroke is hard to beat, I know, a 4 stroke twin would be better . But = $$$$$$$ . The CG seems spot on. This plane feels very solid and is a joy to fly. Landing was alittle hairy as it was somewhat windy and I elected to come in without flaps, I touched down alille hot and ran to the end of the runway into the weeds, got lucky, no damage. Next landing was with full flaps and still did not slow down that much, but did not overrun the runway that time. My engine is at a slow enough idle and flaps at approx 65 degrees, I seem to need alot of runway to land though. I few more weekends flying and I should get shorter landings, maybe I can reduce my approch speed alittle more . All in All I love to fly this plane and it looks great and only took me a couple of months to get from the workshop to the field. Cheers Tom
Posted on: 6/28/2012 7:54 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11135896

RE: Who needs 1/6 scale pilots
My buddy is looking for a 1/6 US pilot for his TopFlite P-47. Got one?
Posted on: 6/26/2012 10:51 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11132545

RE: Kraft servos
Thanks for all the input. I will list them here at the marketplace. I will start at 50$ for the four servos and reciever, plus shipping. If they don't sell I will keep you in mind D.W. Cheers Tom
Posted on: 6/21/2012 10:07 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Radios, Transmitters, Receivers, Servos, gyros"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11126678

RE: Why not transport your fully assembled aircraft to the field?
I agree, this is not a hornets nest, infact it's good info. I have heard stories of planes flying out of trucks and off roof racks. I plan on making improvements with my transportation setup as I think it's marginal and my planes are getting bigger and more expensive . And I think I have been alittle slack at times. Cheers Tom
Posted on: 6/21/2012 10:00 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11126665

RE: Why not transport your fully assembled aircraft to the field?
Vertical: By camper shell, do you mean canopy? I suspect that's what you mean. I have a full fiberglass canopy from my old 1991 chev pick up, but it does not fit my new 2011 Chev. Both short boxes, but out by a couple of inches. I don't like loading planes with a canopy anyway, too much crawling around. But i think I have found just the thing. It's a soft folding tonnue cover that seals the top of the box, folds back in three parts. very light but strong, easy to take off, etc. With the deep box of the new trucks most of my planes will sit below the rails. See " Trifecta by Extang" or Torzatop or Tonno pro. BTY Vertical, saw a pic of your Pica FW190 D with the DLE 20. looks great. I had one for many years with a OS914S. One of the best flying warbirds i have ever owned. Tom
Posted on: 6/20/2012 4:12 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11125749

RE: Why not transport your fully assembled aircraft to the field?
I have transported my 60" and 70" warbirds assembled with the retracts up. The plane sits in a 2 x 4 cradle I built and the plane is held to the cradle with bungy cords. I do travel 60MPH for about 10 miles. I have never had a problem , but now I am thinking , just how much turbulence is there when the plane is low in the box. My new 2011 1/2 Ton Chev truck has a deeper box than my old chev. The wieght of the cradle seems to secure the plane ok. But again, I don't know how strong the forces are on the floor of the box? I know, I know, buy a canopy or box cover, and I think I will soon. But my question is, how bad can the air flow be on the truck box floor? Thanks Tom
Posted on: 6/20/2012 11:03 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11125389

RE: Kraft servos
I was not expecting gobs of money. In fact they may just end up in the garbage as I have never messed with Ebay .
Posted on: 6/18/2012 10:04 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Radios, Transmitters, Receivers, Servos, gyros"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11122458

Kraft servos
Maybe a dumb question, but. I aquired a couple of old RC planes, and one has a Kraft reciever and four Kraft servos. The plane is very old but looks like it may never have flown, the servos look hardly used also. I know some people like old stuff that still works well. I can't use the Kraft stuff. Has it any selling value at all? Thanks Tom
Posted on: 6/13/2012 8:34 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Radios, Transmitters, Receivers, Servos, gyros"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11116768

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
I did alittle slope soaring years ago with some small light stuff. We don't really have a good spot around here for it. I am suprised an ESM warbird could be converted to that, thought they would be too heavy?
Posted on: 5/22/2012 11:28 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11090589

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Thanks for the interesting scale info Chad , I may yet try those scale doors. Although I have gottent alittle lazy with this plane. As you can see by the pics of the cowl, how much I cut out ! So much for scale. I considered a remote glow so I would not have to cut so much cowl to allow the glow driver access, but then, this plane is going to be a regular Sunday flyer so going more functional. I don't have a full cockpit, just the ESM bust, made a instrument panel, gun sight, partal side panes. I could have it ready soon. may fly it before I make the cannons, gear doors etc. Tom
Posted on: 5/19/2012 12:22 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11086913

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
try again
Posted on: 5/18/2012 9:43 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085824

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Been awhile since I posted anything, but thought I would share some info on my motor mounting. I am using a Saito 1204S and I ordered an Saito aluminum mount from Horizon. Most of you know the benefits of an aluminum mount. They are very strong and keep a tight grip on vibration, and the extra wieght is usually needed up front too. What is not so well known is that the mount also acts as a large heat sink, helping to draw heat off the motor. So all well and good, except the threaded engine mount holes were too far forward! Good thing I have a friend in our club thats good at machining. He drilled and threaded the holes where I needed them. Next problem was that mount almost did not fit that tiny firewall. Too big ! To have the spinner line up with the cowl I had to add ply plates inside the cowl to get some meat to mount the blind nuts to. As the fuse tapers toward the firewall, this was possible. The attached pics should show better what I am talking about. As the engine is mounted inverted I also had to make a mount tray for the fuel tank to get it in the right position so that the center of the tank lines up with the carb Tom Can't seem to load the "resized" pics, try later
Posted on: 5/18/2012 9:41 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085821

RE: KI-84 FRANK ESM
That worked well. just going to try the next size up at 450x600 pix BTY, that "stick" taped to the tank is to help secure the tank, the stick slides into a slot at the rearward bulkhead and then the velcro strap wraps through the attachment glued to the fuse and keeps the tank from going anywhere. Tom
Posted on: 5/17/2012 10:10 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085288

RE: KI-84 FRANK ESM
I used " Resizeit utillity " Lets see if that downloads better.
Posted on: 5/17/2012 10:00 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085280

RE: KI-84 FRANK ESM
Pic 1
Posted on: 5/17/2012 9:47 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085271

RE: KI-84 FRANK ESM
Here's my pics, I will just try 2 at a time due to download size. What I call a standard Robart air tank is about 6 1/2" tall and about 1 3/4" across. While we all try to keep as much weight forward with a warbird, I think one of the things you can cheat on is the air tank. It's very light, but also bulky. Most of my planes have the tank behind the COG, so I have more room to get the heavy stuff forward. Tom Can't get the pics to work, will try again
Posted on: 5/17/2012 9:45 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11085268

RE: KI-84 FRANK ESM
I have the ESM 72" Spitfire. I use a standard size air tank with my Robart retracts and can get ten cycles on one air charge. I don't own any Sierra retract gear, but I don't see why you should need a large air tank. I have large tank for my GS TF Corsair, but it's a 86"WS and will be close to 30LB and uses the Robart gear made for it. Try a regular size air tank and see how many cycles you get. If you get five solid cycles, that should be good enough. You can always add air after each flight, and in fact should do that anyway. I will try to send a pic of my Spit set up when i get home. Tom
Posted on: 5/17/2012 1:09 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11084656

RE: Royal-FW190A8
Great job on the cowl Tim. Good for you. I have always tried to buy a cowl instead of attempting what you have done. I thought I had read through all of this thread, but with all the other interesting stuff on RCU , I must have gotten mixed up and did not read the cowl part. Sorry about that. I have a Royal 60 Bearcat that is built, but requires finishing. I built the cowl the "Royal" way, royal pain! Speaking of 60 size FW190A cowls, I see Trapplet in England now sells cowls for the Brain Taylor 190A . I had those plans and cowl years ago and sold them. It was a very nice cowl. It might fit your Royal? But might is not good enough, you have one now that's the perfect fit. Looking forward to seeing your plane finished. Tom
Posted on: 5/9/2012 2:05 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11074789

RE: Royal-FW190A8
Hi Tim I built a Royal FW190A8 over 20 years ago, but it did not come with a fiberglass cowl and gun hood. Mine had a small spun aluminum front cowl section, and then you had to plank in a round cowl. You are lucky you got the glass parts, they must be after market stuff. Mine flew great, but did not live long . I did a disruptive- angular camo paint job in gray and green. I flew with a hangover on a gray day and we have lots of green fir trees around, and you can guess the rest. Tom
Posted on: 5/8/2012 9:12 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11073019

RE: Dave Platt spitfire
My old Platt Spitfire flew very strong with a Webra 61 Black head two stroke. It had a clamp on Pitts type muffler, the engine was mounted with the head sticking out the right side and the muffler tucked underneath. but no way to hide the muffler inside the cowl. But it looked ok, it was about flush with the bottem of the fuse. I also had an OS 91 4S in it , mounted inverted. Flew very well also, but the Webra seens to have more power. Also had a electric motor in it, a Hobbyking SK 4260 ( i think ) with 6 cell LiPo 3700, also flew great. But could not stop the vibration at full power with the big spinner, so I flew it alittle without the spinner just to see how well the electrice set up worked. Tom
Posted on: 4/30/2012 11:13 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11062744

RE: Spitfire Brotherhood (All Spitfires Welcome)
Every newspaper article I read on the buried Spitfires is alittle different, different marks of Spitfires, different reasons why they were buried, different amounts, etc. Odd that all these reporters can't get thier facts straight. Like all warbird lovers,I hope this story is true, but it smells fishy to me. Tom
Posted on: 4/17/2012 8:33 AM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11045644

RE: ESM P-39 Electric retracts
Yes, very cool scheme NoFlaps. My buddy is leaving his as is with the white tail. Question on the ESM stock markings, they look like they are painted on? Or are the some kind of decal?. So did you just sand and paint over them or did they have to come off before paint? Tom
Posted on: 4/16/2012 4:32 PM by Author "Me410" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11044747