TOPIC: New Models for 2020

My flying chum Pete Sanders has been busy building up his stock of free flight models during lockdown including this Skyleada Comet 1 for Rapier L2HP from a Vintage Model Company kit, covered in tissue and sprayed with Humbrol Aluminium Shade Acrylic to represent the prototype aircraft.

Roger comments: it's so good modellers are spending their time profitably. Some years back Andy Blackwell campaigned the larger Comet, which he powered with a genuine Jetex 100. It flew beautifully - very smoothly, just like the real thing. I hope Pete's goes as well. I hope Pete may have a problem finding a good Rapier L-2 HP ... a Tender L-2L may be a better option for a nice smooth passenger friendly sortie!

It's good to see all the building going on .... let us hope that when we are finally allowed out to play the weather will be as good as it is at the moment (oh please, please, pretty please).

I've made slow progress with the F-11 Tiger; as is the way with these sorts of shapely fuselage, the build turned into something of a 'stringer-fest', and I had to take care that the 1/16" stringers were not too unevenly spaced.









The air intakes need gluing in place (note I've painted to orifices - it's messy doing this later, and I have yet to make cut outs for the wing, tailplane and fin and add the nose block. The trough is lined with 1/32" balsa (which makes replacing any foil easier). The weight at this juncture is a little over 14 grams .... not too bad.

I don't think I'll be adding any cockpit detail, so this area will be left flat.

The wing section of the real thing was quite thin, so I need to make a decision on the aerofoil before starting the 'one piece' wing. Thin wings on models are prone to warp!

I hadn't realised it was quite such a shapely beast, very nice.

It's been quite quiet on the building thread, but from my email correspondence I know people have been busy - if not with building, then with flying.
I was not happy with my F-11 Tiger fuselage - there were too many compromises in the building and the shape of the air intakes - though faithful to the Russian drawings I was using, just didn't look 'right':



so I did what I should have done initially, which is to make my own drawings (with more formers), working with the many photos out there on the Internet. The photos, of course, show different marques of the aeroplane, so you do have to be careful, but it was possible to end up with something that (at last!) didn't look too different from the 'real thing'':









You will note the (many) extra formers. The sheet on the fuselage sides will be cut out to that a thin 'one piece' wing can be slid through, and there is a slot for the fin. The trough is large enough to take a Tender L-2L . At this point it weighs a tad over 15 grams - not too bad.

Next: nose block and canopy before starting on the wings.

Looking very nice. I have had trouble many times with aligning the slot so that both wing roots are spot on either side, tricky stuff. good luck with that!!!

Roger adds:

Hi Howard, thanks for your approval. As too getting the wings (and tailplane) aligned properly, I shall make a jig, which is how they did it with the old Jetex 'Tailored' models:



Takes time, but it's worth doing!

Why didn't I think of that! I usually do it all by eye and have found I made a goof of it from time to time, this is clever stuff indeed. What we need is universal jig like this for all the KK Flying Scale Series type models, ha ha, can you imagine?

Roger adds:

Hi Howard,
no need for a full cardboard jig, the sort made of thick cardboard that came in the old Jetex 'Tailored' kits, but something like this (below, with the Cutlass on the stocks makes accuracy of assembly relatively easy:







Were I to do it 'by eye' it would definitely end in tears and a broken untrimmable model!

(I speak, alas, from experience!