Warbird Trainer (FieldHawk)

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Easy Warbird Trainer - Build log

So, this isn't really that mad of a scratch build, but this is probably the place for this:

This is a FieldHawk, it is a balsa framed, foam board covered model. It isn't finished yet, but it should be soon. We probably don't need another warbird trainer these days on Flitetest, what with all the fantastic designs from David and Josh, but I fancied having a go myself.

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And this is how I designed it (or at least started designing it).
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Yes, very basic I know, but it tends to work. However plenty more drawings followed, but it all starts with the sketch. Unfortunately though, this means there are no proper plans for you guys at the moment.
Next step is to put some paint on it!

If anyone has any advice or tips, I would be very grateful to here some feedback.

Best Wishes,
James.
 
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JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Here is another view of underneath the fuselage, as there is a rather nice intake that I missed off the other image.
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I think it gives a lot of character to the aircraft. :)
 
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JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Thank you for the compliments guys!
Here are some pictures of the framework Flat4, however unfortunately I didn't take many pictures during the aircraft's construction (my bad), but you can see some of the balsa through the battery hatch:
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As you can see, the main balsa bits are the formers and bits to link the formers together. Incidentally, the wings are entirely foam board.
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Here is another shot of the entire trainer.
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Thanks,

James.
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Thank you, no worries! Yeah I will definitely be putting together some flight clips of this when the build is complete. :)
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
So the last couple of days I have been putting paint to foam board and making this plane all aluminium-y.
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As you can see, I still need to paint the underside bright yellow, and do some other things, such as painting and attaching the canopy properly (here It just temporarily stuck on). I may also paint the top of the front turtleneck black like on some P51 mustangs.

Im looking forward to adding the decals and making it look awesome before the madden. I have a feeling its gonna get pretty beat up in its life time, yet even If I mess up on the first flight, I think it will hold up to the pressure without fatal damage. Even if I total it, I still have the spitfire - http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?7805-Super-detailed-Spitfire-Build

I would love to hear what you guys think!
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Okay, so I have been very busy lately with collage work unfortunately meaning I have not had all that much time for doing stuff on these planes. However, I have painted the underside:

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Unfortunately as you can see, the paint chipped away slightly on the tape used to fix down the turtlenecks. Im just gonna spey varnish the whole thing now after adding decals. Next time Im gonna primer it all up so this doesn't happen. If anyone has any tips on painting over tape, or using something other than tape in the first place, I would be very grateful :)

Should be done soon!

Cheers guys.
 

Scottie

Member
Hi James...was wondering where you'd got too :p
I had a similar issue when painting my Spit,I used everyday masking tape from B&Q,it's not the best but it does the job.Even primer wont stop the paint coming off,I found peeling away gently across the width of the tape worked best and do not leave the tape on longer than necessary else the paint sticks too it along the edges.
As for the camo ,I just laid down a brown base coat over the whole plane then free handed the green...didn't bother masking :)
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Hey bro, hows it going :)

Thats some good advice! Yeah Im probably gonna do something similar to you then. I'm guessing with an airbrush like the guys use at flitetest has the same problem with not sticking to the tape - I don't see how it would be any different. I kinda wish I'd stuck my turtle decks down a different way on my spitfire now haha. I've seen some proper modelling mask tape somewhere - that may work better than the normal stuff.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
It's probably the tape that's causing the peeling rather than the tape. What? Doesn't that make sense? :)

Ok what I mean is this. The tape holding down the turtle decks is probably the glossy stuff and paint is not going to stick to it very well. Try getting some of the matte tapes and spray a few test pieces to determine which of them works best for you. Or you might be able to lightly sand the tape to give it some tooth. Again, test on some scrap first to find what works best...
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
haha I see what you did there.

More good suggestions thank you. I will try what you say in the future.

Cheers.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Just trying my best to help out. Let us know how it goes as painting tips are always good to have!
 

JamesWhom

Project Air on YouTube
Will do! Even though flitetest has done episodes on painting, there still seems to be problems that us pioneers are gonna have to fix and help others around too. :)