Hi all

To all that have purchased my 109 kit...THANKS

This thread's for you

ANy Questions ,tips,comments(be gentle!),etc will be addressed here.


Bruce

Achtung! This thread is a great idea. The B.F. Bf-109-G is the most scale RC 109 I have ever seen.

The covering is one section I'm not sure about. What's the best (lightest while looking very scale) way to cover this model? I was thinking fiberglass cloth would work well, but the instructions (instructions for a semi-kit? Wow!) suggested Litespan as an alternative. Which is best (in anyone's opinion)?

Below is a picture of the future finished product

S! Max-Q!

I'm sitting tight for mine. It should be here in the near future, this week I hope.

I am completley new to balsa, and am going to build the following models to prep for the Bruce Freind kit.

1. GWS Corsair (building it wont help with building a balsa kit, but it will help me with flying a warbird - and I've had it on pre-order for weeks) It's just a nice scale warbird that I will paint to scale with an airbrush.

2. 'Fly RC' magazines Spitfire kit built from the plans in this month's premier issue. I like the simple balsa design and I hope it will be a good first balsa kit.

3. Order the foam cores for the wings from cncfoamfactory.com and build up the Bruce Freind 109 short kit this fall! I'm psyched!

I've built nothing but the Tiger Moth and the FFF Xbow and the FFF 'And_Now?', which all fly great... I want to get into the big leagues and go to scratch build balsa.

Bruce: I too am wondering about the covering material. I have heard great things about "Solite". After the material is on the finished plane I was going to lightly sand and paint the covering. What is your opinon on Solite, Bruce?

I would now suggest .5 oz fiberglass the Jim Ryan way!!

My "K"will be covered this way.

Solite would be fine if you are more comfortable with iron on films.

Tip #1

The 3 super charger parts are built as follows:

closely cut out the top , bottom and fuselage base.

sand flat by holding parts with 2 sided "Carpet tape", don't sand too much, check your work often.

Cut out from spare plastic sheet, 3 1/16"X 1/4"strips and glue them to the top piece...you are making a inner flange to glue the bottom to, after attaching the bottom, this assembly then gets married up to the base, filled, sanded smooth, then attached to the fuse per the plans.

Extra details...Add a little screen, if you like, and open up a hole in the fuselage to allow a little cooling air in!!

Bruce FRIEND ...not Freind

I was thinking Solite might work, but it wouldn't look as scale as a proper painting job with all the RLM colors. Perhaps I'm wrong, as I don't know the variety of colors available.

My paintjob will look something like this (see pic.) I know there is one ace who used this paintjob on a Bf-109-F2.

Below is a link to an article by Jim Ryan on how to cover with fiberglass.

http://rcgroups.com/links/index.php?...at=201&id=3547

Max-Q,

We should hook up and fly a little IL-2 online.

Duane

What type of foam should be used for the gun troughs? I was thinking balsa might work, but it would be too heavy. I have never scratch-built a foamie, so I don't know of any foam suppliers in my area.

Brain_Washed: Right on! What's your IL2: F.B. Handle? Mine is Max.Q

Glad to see this thread starting as this will be my next project. Interested to hear how everyone is making out.

This is my first foam core/fully sheeted project. Sounds like fiberglass is a good way to go with covering. However, I am worried I will make a 'sticky disaster'. Do you need lots of practice with fiberglass, or can you learn it on the fly? I have visions of cursing while trying to unstick the wing from my arm.

As another option, would it be possible to cover the sheeted frame with dope/silkspan? Would the dope melt the foam wing cores? Would this be too weak? Thanks.

Alex

Rekitter

Fiberglassing is EASY...

Get yourself a scrap piece of balsa and do a sample piece,

...biggest problem is usually not getting the right proportions OR the resin/hardener mass is not mixed properly or enough.

Adding a LITTLE denatured alcohol goes along way to ensuring proper mixing,and, as Jim says, allows it to flow alot better.

If you still don't want to mess with resin , try Water based polyurethane (WBPU). Do a search on the Ezone in the foamie section for details. Works very well , is super simple and cheap,though not as strong as the resin.

...Of course you could use dope and silkspan but that is up to you KEEP THE DOPE AWAY FROM the FOAM, even the fumes!! Unless you want to support Mark at the CNC foam factory with another order for the nice cores ...that you just melted

Bruce

Hi Bruce:

Well I guess there is no time like the present. Glass it is. Thanks for the advice. Tough to keep the dope from the foam with a porus 1/32 sheet of balsa! Will post progress when underway.

Alex

Rekitter, thanks for the progress posts in advance. I'm feeling a bit nervous about this plane as it is my favorite and messing it up (especially something permanent, like melting the plastic parts) isn't really what I consider an enjoyable aspect of hobbying.

I hope building an He-100 from plans (almost finished balsa skeleton) will help to get me acquainted with this ultimate facet of RC modeling. I'll put up some pics of this rare plane in the parkflyer section if anyone's interested (I don't consider it scale enough to be showcased in this great forum. )

P.S. Rekitter, your Ju-87 looks fantastic!

Hi Bruce
So happy to see this thread, I will soon build the war bird.
Did anyone build it with retract ?

Flybug

Your welcome...

Max-Q

You can use balsa block for the Gun troughs instead of foam...

Every one

Need pictures of your intended subject for oohhhing and aawwwing part of this thread...

The "K" is coming along slowly.

Here's the "F", it has now gone to model heaven

Bruce

Beutiful!

We need more detail Bruce!