1/7th F-14D Scratch build thread

[Thomas_W]

*forgot to start a thread over here, so here's a couple days work into one*

So i have begun the build of a 1/7th scale F-14. Some are probly going "why, xxxx company has one / will have one coming out".. Main reason... mostly b/c i want to But some other reasons are b/c on some of the others i have seen pictures of, some of them have some scale defencies, engineering i just personally dont like, to small of size, etc etc. So thats the reason for this. I'm planning on doing this "harold huff" style w/ plugs that are lithoplated, then molds and an all composite airframe. I was lucky enough to get a set of plans from Mike Emilio at http://www.cmsmithplans.com/html/catalog.html to get a head start. I've been stocking up on books and other materials for scale documentation as well. I've been working on some of the mechanical stuff in cad for the past couple of weeks, and just recently got started on some of the saw dust making procedures. I plan to keep this thread updated with new pictures through-out the entire build as i'm wanting to make this an "extreme" scale model that will have a quality in par with the airworld stuff. I am "thinking" of selling some airframes once the molds are complete to offset some of the cost as well, but honestly For this to happen i'd need to raise of hands of who would be interested in a high quality scale Tomcat and a price range they feel would be reasonable.
I'm planning for the model to have scale hinging flaps and leading edge slats. I still haven't decided how I want to actuate the leading edge slats and speed brakes.. but a hausl hydraulic system for these along with the landing gear are in my mind as one of the easiest ways...

Ok, enough of the rambling.. here's some pictures: Any questions, or comments are of course welcome and highly encouraged. If you have any documentation of a F-14D and willing to share, please let me know, as i'm always looking for more.






here's the pics of the short kit. i've still got to remove the spar cutouts, but other than that the short kit is done. After looking at some detailed photo's and 3 view drawings, i've noticed a very large discrepancy in the line drawings of the plans between the Trailing edge of the wing and horizontal stab. This area should have a inward "sweep" towards the centerline of the fuselage, and the plans are just "straight". This should be a fairly simple task to fix, as all i'll have to do is measure the discrepancy between the 3views and the actual plans and do some math to figure out how far the side of the fuselage needs to be moved in, then just copy the current shape at this new mark and trim to the new dimension and we'll be good to go!..... This is no fault of the designer, as i believe it was intentional to make the building process easier..

Each wing rib is 3/16" balsa, except for the 2 most inward which are 1/8" ply. All of the horizontal tail parts are 1/8" ply. The vertical tails are a combination of 3/8" and 5/16" balsa.. If your wondering why their is only 1 of each part, the parts are actually doubled together so each pair of ribs are identical side to side.

enough of my babbling... here's some pics:





Got a bit more stuff done today.. actually a good bit of stuff done.... I removed the vertical stab fairing "shapes" from the fuselage bulkheads, as they would be in the way of mounting the vertical stabs. Plus i plan to have these fairings integral to the vertical fins, as they will be a basis for gluing the verticals to the fuselage.. I also removed the cockpit hatch portion from some of the forward fuselage bulkheads and adjusted them to take the 1/8" floors. I modified the bulkheads to get the "curve" mentioned in some of the earlier posts, and got the jig cut out and assembled. I"m not satisfied with what you see in the photo's and it will get alot of changes to gaurantee the fuselage is 100% straight. Since i got the preliminary jig somewhat complete, i just had to install all the fuselage bulkheads and take some pictures. I also had intentions on building the horizontal and vertical stabs next week, but the local hobby shop's stock of balsa is currently Dead.. they didn't have anything that i needed, so i'll just have to keep working on what little i have left to finish and adjust before all i can do is "just build".

So here's some pictures:





So impending doom (rain) forcasted for tomorrow led to a trip to the LHS today. yesterday when i looked, they had a small assortment of balsa, but everything was mixed up and i didn't feel like sorting thru it. Anyways, after 4 hours today, i came up with enough sheeting to get started on the build. I finished up all the parts needed for the stabs, minus the root and tip block (LHS didn't have anything big enough) to start building. Here's a pictures of the parts for the other stab, and one 1/4 complete stab (still gotta do the root/tip block, and finish.





After looking around the internet for a bit today, i found matt haltons website and his electric speed 400 size pusher F-14 (32" wingspan). For those who have no idea, he's the original design of the EDF JHH F-14. His pusher version is 72% the size of the JHH EDF. Anyways, i might find myself scratch building one of these during this build. After-all you can never have to many tomcats right? Plus it'll give me something to play around with until the 1/7 gets done. I'd "like" to get 100-120mph out of the little pusher. But we will see...


Hope ya enjoy the thread. If anyone wants to get rid of some 3/32" x 4 x 48" balsa sheets for cheap, shoot me a PM.. i need about 60 to 80 of the things and at $2.20 a sheet, its expensive!


Lil bit more work done so far today.. Made up the root and tip blocks for 1 stab, and the tip block for the other. Ran out of balsa to do the root block for the other stab. I've still got to sand both of them, but other than that, they are done minus glass and detailing. I also took the stab shaft bearing mounts and installed them to there respective bulkheads, make sure the bulkhead centerlines were aligned. After doing that, i couldn't help but slide the stab shafts into bulkheads. This really gave me an idea of exactly how big this model is going to be. the ruler is 20" long in the picture.






One horizontal stab is complete and ready for glassing... If i can find my fiberglass and have enough laminating resin left, i might get that done tonight.. I also got the mock-up wingbox assembled and installed to the C20 and C21 bulkheads. Using 3 squares, 2 laser levels, the jig i cut out earlier and about 45 minutes later, I got it all lined up. Wing box is made of 1/4" thick birch ply w/ 1/2" balsa triangle, and then AN-3 bolts w/ 1/4" OD carbon spacers. I wasn't going for strength on this box since its just used to align the 2 bulkheads together so the wing incidence can be set later on.. Here's pictures. I'm going to try and get the other horizontal stab done tonight as well, so the tail will be done minus the verticals.

[ABD]

Great build, looking forward to updates..

[Thomas_W]

both horizontal stabilizers are ready for glassing. hopefully i can find some laminating epoxy resin in town so i can get that done. I'm hopefully going to get to put my order of balsa in tomorrow, so by this time next week, i'll have the rest of the balsa and 2- 18oz bottles of glue to build the wings and fuselage.

[3Dguy]

Subscribed!

[klu0906]

i'll be watching this... subscribed

[A-Track]

Subscribed...This has got to be my favorite plane that was ever made. Looking forward to see how it progresses.

[wesryman]

Thomas, I got some 3/32 by 4 by 48 sheets from National Balsa nationalbalsa.com
I found the quality to be very good and it was 1.65 a sheet.
Wes

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wesryman
	Thomas, I got some 3/32 by 4 by 48 sheets from National Balsa nationalbalsa.com I found the quality to be very good and it was 1.65 a sheet. Wes

Thanks wes! Just put in an order for about 90 sheets of balsa, 8 blocks and 2-16oz of glue... That will hopefully be enough to get the airframe finished...

I fellow in england has located the litho-plate i need for the surface detailing.. Size is 4x8 sheets, so shipping may be a bit more expensive than i'm willing to pay since the stuff is free.... Might just have to order the lithoplate from somewhere here in the states.

[Thomas_W]

Both stabs are complete and ready to be fiberglassed, primed and then surface detailed. The plans for the Vertical stabs arrived and i'm going to build them and the rudders before i do the glass work to the horizontals, that way i can do all four at once (i've got to do a bit of fiberglassing on the rotors of an autogyro i'm buidling for a friend as well). Here are 2 pictures showing the horizontal stabs mounted into the stab bulkheads w/ a 4 foot bubble level for size reference (as if yall haven't gotten enough of these already)

[3DFreak576]

awesome! this should be good!!

[Thomas_W]

I apologize for the slow progress, but i'm still waiting on my balsa order, and being a newly wed, the wife expects me to spend as much time with her as the tomcat... anyways, i got a bit more work done today before running out of both balsa and glue... Hopefully national balsa will have my balsa order shipped out tomorrow since i placed it with them friday. I've also got 2 16oz bottles of glue coming (1-medium, 1-thin) which i fully expect to use completely once the sheeting of the fuselage begins. Anyways, both vertical stabs have been framed and sheeted, all thats left to do is cut out the parts for the rudders, the leading edges and the tips, shape, final sand and glass, then they will be ready for detail work.. here's a few pictures showing the stabs in "progress" of being built. Sorry, but i forgot to get pictures of the mods i did to make the vertical stabs removable.

Now that these are all done, i can start laying out the wing ribs and spars, so that once the sheeting arrives they will be ready for the leading edge caps (and slats) to be made, and the wings to be sheeted...

[Josh Price]

[vatechguy3]

great looking pics!!

the tomcat is the greatest fighter and the more big models the better!!

questions - what are your plans for:
1) engines?
2) servo power?
3) retracts?
4) working tailhook?

thanks
tony

[Scags]

[Thomas_W]

2 more pictures... Does it look like an F-14 yet?