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Build Log
Twin BVM FJ-2 Fury ARF Build (F-86 Sabre)...
So I'm not much of a scale guy, nothing against scale planes it's just that I prefer clean, shiny looks and typical scale planes include weathering and dull paint (by nature). Well, at E-Jets this past September, I got a look at the complete line up of BVM F-86 Sabre's and FJ-2 Fury's and just fell in love! The level of detail and the fit and finish were just perfect and surpisingly (to me anyway) there were many color schemes that I would love to own, despite being "scale".
So on the long drive back to Florida, me and Rob Lynch (the owner of the second of the two Fury's being built here) started talking about them and which one we'd prefer, etc. Well, after a few months of back and forth we finally pulled the trigger. Rob has a new FJ-2 Fury in the Chine Lake scheme and my Fury is the Orange and White scheme (both shown below). The drawing does no justice to the finish on these guys, all I can say is sweet! Naturally we're both going to ower them with the BVM 5612 VioFan. For anyone wondering what an FJ-2 Fury is (I didn't know when I saw it, thought it was an F-86 Sabre), it's the Navy version of the F-86, with folding wings, a longer nose strut to absorb carrier landings, no dihedral on the stabs, different armament and some other cosmetic differences. It's enough of an F-86 that most folks wouldn't know the difference with both sitting side-by-side. IN fact Rob had to keep telling me which plane was which, easy to do once you know the subtle differences. For the most part, I chose my plane purely for the color, F-86, FJ-2, whatever, I decide based on nothing but looks (and then the approval of my test pilot, heheh) and Rob, well, he can answer for himself but I'll assume he too fell in love with a particular color scheme, there are 8 to choose from. Rob is building his with scale in mind, everything by the book, myself, well I will clearly follow the book but scale isn't really a concern for me, the panel lines and weathering are just icing on the cake. BVM F-86 Sabre/FJ-2 Fury Wingspan 63" Length 60" Weight 17 lbs. Jack |
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Day 1
The first step I like to do, regardless of when the instructions call for it is to clean up the fuse edges and cut out all the slots, cutouts, etc at once to get the dirty work out of the way. Now there are reasons not to do this, usually strength being the main reason, it's more durable on the bench without extra holes. I choose to cut them out in the beginning but I also watch how I treat everything during assembly. Here's some shots of the various cutouts, not too many. The gear cutouts are dependant on whether or not you plan to use the full door option, both our Fury's will use full doors... Jack |
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Day 1
Here's what it looks like after all the cutouts are done. Take your time with these, nothing prettier than straight cuts, sharp corners and even curves... Jack |
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Day 1
Gear doors get cut next, these cutouts are dependant on whether or not you plan on using full gear doors or just the minimal front door and strut covers. Panel lines on the fuse make cutting these very easy, for the front if not using full doors you'll cut a smaller rectangle for the front door and then use the trace lines around the strut and wheel only. Likewise for the mains, the struts and wheels are clearly marked. Since we're using full doors, we eneded up cutting out the full front (which is really 2 doors), a small rectangular front door and larger L-shaped side door. This part of the build requires a little reading and re-reading to ensure you know what to do as the cutouts are different if you're building the Sabre or Fury. The mains are also clearly marked, 2 larger squares, the same for either plane as long as full doors are used... Jack ImagesView all Images in thread
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Day 2
The next step is to mount the nose gear, this turned out to be a little trickier (for me) than Rob, he rolled through this step easily. Again, care needs to be taken to make sure you know the differences between the Sabre and Fury, clearly documented in the manual. The front gear consists of BVM pneumatics, struts and brakes and come with all the plumbing and valves. If the full gear door option is selected, they come with the extra pneumatic cylinders necesary for the doors, incuding the valve, air tank and plumbing. The nose gear former need to be glued in place, this is done after assembling the nose gear to the carbon fiber flex plates and drilling 2 small holes in the front of the fuse where 2 small screws will be inserted to hold the front of the flex plates in place. There is almost no room between the front of the flex plates and the fuse, so the gap is filled with aeropoxy, allowed to harden and then countersunk from beneath. The reason for he aeropoxy filler is to get a custom, fitted "mount" for the front of the CF plates so they don't deform the fuse when tightened... Jack |
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Day 2
Fitting the wings on the Sabre/Fury was a pleasure! The fit is so precise on these newer BVM ARF's that virtually no additional sanding (other than to smooth and remove burrs) is necessary. Wing mounting is done the same as many other BVM jets, wing spars slide into channel's and are held in place with a few cap head bolts. The 2 formers with the wing mounting channels are assmbled in minutes. Once done, the wings are slid into place, gaps adjusted and measured, a little shimming and some glue. The aeropoxy is done in 2 stages here, the first only enough to hold everything in place only and once dry, full glue around all edges for a permanent fit... Jack |
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Day 2
Stab mounts, oh so easy, even more so for the Fury with no dihedral. 2 plywood plates and plywood end pieces, 4 blind nuts and the entire assembly slides (very snugly) into place in the tail, aligning perfectly with the pre-marked slots for the carbon fiber stab mounting plates. This step is out of sequence, I wanted to get the stabs mounted just to be able to take a picture the next day of the assembled plane, needless to say they are removable so the sequence won't affect anything adversly... Jack ImagesView all Images in thread
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I have more done, just have to get Jack the photos. Trying to get the main hatch done tonight.
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I'd be interested in some detail shots of the front door to strut attachement. I think you are not quite done with that yet? The door is supposed to bend in the middle when extended unless the Fury is different.
I was at that point on my old (OLD) Sabre kit when I stopped, the plans show a really fiddly bent wire deal that goes between the strut and the retract bore. It was quite a fiddle, never got it right and just about threw the fuse across the room at one point . Figure they may have come up with a better way in 20 years . |
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Hi Chris
The Sabre does bend in the middle of the front door, but the Fury does not. |
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LOL! Lemme tell you, that's a good reason to do a Fury <g>.
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Quote:
This is still how they handle the main gear strut covers, the "fiddly" wire is really an offset hinge that pulls the strut closed when it retracts and simply allows for offset travel. I will make sure to cover the gear doors in much more details once we get that far... Jack |
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If I remember correctly the nose gear door wire template was printed on the plans. Still not has bad as building that wing with all the ball and cup ailerons and funny tailing edge angles.
These new BVM ARFS are well worth the money compared to building the older style kits. Have fun with the "build". |
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