Mighty Mini Master Series Spitfire

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
I've got the wing mounted!!
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ThatsALotOfPlanes

Active member
It's looking great so far! How so you figure out the shape for the skin, is it trial and error, or do you design it before hand? I've got an F4F Wildcat stagnating in my Inkscape folder because I don't know where to start on skinning the thing.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
It's looking great so far! How so you figure out the shape for the skin, is it trial and error, or do you design it before hand? I've got an F4F Wildcat stagnating in my Inkscape folder because I don't know where to start on skinning the thing.
What I do is make a frame or the structure for the plane. Then I'll cut out a piece of foam big enough to wrap around whatever section I'm working on, and go through trial and error shaving of foam until it sits properly on the formers. After I fly the plane I'll take the outside layer of paper off the curved parts, take pictures of them and then trace them in Inkscape for the plans. While designing in 3D would be a lot easier I haven't been able to figure out how to make a plane in a 3D program.

A Wildcat would be really cool are you going to make a thread for it?

EDIT: I'll usually end up making three prototypes, the first will be to ensure the plane flies, the second is when I'll work through all the little details, and the third is the one I'll use for the video, pictures, and a build guide.
 
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Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
She flies!!!
I took video but it was really cold and I didn't want to stand outside any longer. I just did two circuits one of them with a roll, and landed.

As I had suspected the tail feathers were too small and it tracked horribly, I've already updated the plans with the tail feathers at 115% of their original size.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
Here's the latest structure, it's basically the same thing but nothing is the same. I've reworked the nose a little bit to make some more room for the motor, I added a cutout for the servo, and moved the horizontal plate of the rear fuse down a bit so I can make the skin for the tail out of two pieces.
I'm going to have two variants one will be what you see here and the other will have a few extra pieces so you can build it with a clear canopy and have a bit more scale detail. I'm currently building the latter, and I'll snap a few pics once it's completed.
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The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Here's the latest structure, it's basically the same thing but nothing is the same. I've reworked the nose a little bit to make some more room for the motor, I added a cutout for the servo, and moved the horizontal plate of the rear fuse down a bit so I can make the skin for the tail out of two pieces.
I'm going to have two variants one will be what you see here and the other will have a few extra pieces so you can build it with a clear canopy and have a bit more scale detail. I'm currently building the latter, and I'll snap a few pics once it's completed.
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What size of servos will it use? I am eagerly anticipating this😉 It looks good btw!
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
This is all I was able to get done today, I had problem with the first former on the first version, so after you put the first skin section on, you remove the former. I also tested out the exhaust stacks, the exhaust stack seems big to me, what do you think? Then again they might look more proportional once there is a whole plane:D
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Daniel Liutan

Well-known member
This is all I was able to get done today, I had problem with the first former on the first version, so after you put the first skin section on, you remove the former. I also tested out the exhaust stacks, the exhaust stack seems big to me, what do you think? Then again they might look more proportional once there is a whole plane:D
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I think your thought about Master series is correct. A foamboard cross beam through the whole body to make the structure strong enough. Then wrap the pipe skin around it for each section.
This plane is definitely a great one!
 

PoorManRC

Master member
I've got the first segment skinned.
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I'm curios that since the firewall won't get a layer of tape to hold it in place, if the firewall will stay mounted to the plane...If it falls off I might just try and make my own powerpod or make a fancy 3D printed firewall.
I'm curios too! I knew I'd find this intriguing. 😉
I'm actually considering just doing away with Foam Power Pods altogether! They're notoriously unreliable!! 😖
I was thinking of simply using the FT Elements Wooden Motor Mount, like on some Wings...
Just gluing it to the inside of the Fuse (with Doublers) seems much stronger, long term. 😊👍👍

With your Spit, the 3D Printed Mount sounds like the best plan...
Plus if you put it on Thingiverse, it will be fairly repeatable for others.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
I'm curios too! I knew I'd find this intriguing. 😉
I'm actually considering just doing away with Foam Power Pods altogether! They're notoriously unreliable!! 😖
I was thinking of simply using the FT Elements Wooden Motor Mount, like on some Wings...
Just gluing it to the inside of the Fuse (with Doublers) seems much stronger, long term. 😊👍👍

With your Spit, the 3D Printed Mount sounds like the best plan...
Plus if you put it on Thingiverse, it will be fairly repeatable for others.
On this plane you'll be able to make a few cuts to the FT mini firewall and it'll be the same as the 3D printed one.
 

PoorManRC

Master member
She REALLY looks great!! The way you molded the Nose... It's going to look incredible with a Spinner!! 👋👋👋👋👋👋

I like your take on the inner Framework too. It actually looks more structurally sound than the FT MS, which is more sectional.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
Alright, so I've finished up the whole tail section...kinda.
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I was surprised at how the seam running down fuse doesn't show out too much I was expecting it to be big and ugly but it turned out a lot better than I had expected!!

Now to address the "kinda" I only did half of the fuse.
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I did this to save myself some work by figuring out the shape for of one side and then marking the center of the part, peeling the outside paper off the curved part and using the half to make a template for the plans.
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I put the fuselage on the old wing, and the exhaust stack still looks big to me, what do you think?
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