Official Nexa 2020mm F8F Bearcat (Balsa ARF) Discussion Thread

[Joehockey]

I started fresh and confirmed my rudder has 100% friction free movement and the problem is at the Torque rod . I know from my building days to add Vaseline onto the hinge line so glue was not in the connection and the rudder moved freely.
I am going to try a HD pull pull cable on the rudder and scrap the factory torque rod. I studied the option and moved the elevator to factory max settings and I can clear a pull pull cable.
I should have known better and wanted to add a brass rod over the factory torque rod but with the rod being pre-bent that idea was prohibitive.
I just cant settle for the servo not returning to center so I need to reinvent the mousetrap.
I also dont mind the challenges but some many things on this model are sub -par .

[Thinset]

Ahh ok just bend the rod so its perpendicular to the rudder.
Honestly it should be fine unless maybe other things not straight.
Check to see if every thing true.
It should work

[Thinset]

Don’t forget to pin your hinges
ask Me how I know

[Thinset]

Trying to find a direct fit tube for the 2.5 mm rudder torque rod was shear luck. It was from some China build extra part but it works.
The control rods supplied are heavy and trying to keep the tail as light as possible is essential so as little ballast in the nose required

[Thinset]

Here is spicy of the sleeve placement

[Thinset]

If yo do this mod remember glue only the sleeve not the pin... It has to move slightly!!!

[Joehockey]

Thanks for the pics, I found my problem with the rudder. I had to eliminate each area of a problem to determine the problem.
1) disconnected the rudder -move freely
2) disconnected the tail wheel - moves freely
3) disconnected the servo arm —himmm rods seem to bind at the VQ stock connections to the rods ???
Ok now I am getting somewhere,
I added red LockTight to the small retaining nuts on the bottom of the stock push rod keepers, the red locktight seeped into the retainer and lock it solid.
So when the servos pushes, the retainers push back creating an off from center end point !
So I removed them, started fresh, used epoxy to hold the retailers as security and wala , problem fixed !!!
My anal personally of wanting to secure everything worked against me ! But its now fixed !

[Thinset]

Yea that will do it.
I wasn’t to sure about those nurrled keeper nuts so I just used a regular lock nut and turned it around so the threads are in the locking part of the nut and the a little blue locktite

[Joehockey]

Good idea vs the stock keepers !
Well one thing went easy and that was the retracts. The gear doors if 100% flush with the wing inset will rub on the stock wheels. So take note on the gear leg connectors and make sure you select the longer one for insert closer to the wheels.
I attached my retainers ( loose ) and played with the doors to see how flat I could get them and clear the wheel. I am happy with the overall fit and know the doors will not impact my trim based on the final fit.
Not sure if these retracts are still for sale, they were the original Bearcat retracts from VQ & appear very robust.

[Jetman64]

Well after the entire thread I decided to go back and check something on my rudder. I did not like the insertion of the control rod into the rudder.
Without power to the servos I have 1/2 of play in my rudder ( bad ) surly I will get flutter. I was trying to figure out " how did I miss that " . Well, when under servo power and fully extended left or right, i have zero play in the rudder, but when at neutral -center line flying I have a 1/2 of play and I know the rudder will move with normal wind over the rudder.
So back to the drawing board for me, its non-flyable under the current conditions.

So like Jetman, played with the setup for two hours yesterday and I dont have play but now my servo will not return to center because I my ply supports that remove the play are so tight that they impact the servos ability to return to center. What a PITA and yes I agree its a frustrating model. I have been building kits for years and I think I prefer to build a kit then work for two hours on crap !

Then when I went to trial fit the canopy , the plastic screws are not aligned lol, so more mods to realign the screws.

Jetman, I am following your tail mods, but I don’t follow how you attached the servo controls to the rudder ? Can you elaborate please ?

Now that it’s done, should have taken a couple pics of it. Can’t now, because I used hysol to install the tail gear mod setup. But I had the same play with the servo powered up. So I removed that clevis from nylon arm attached to the rudder shaft. Then I soldered the clevis straight to the rudder shaft. Now it’s direct connection and zero play, well maybe a couple thousands of play.

Hope that helps, and I put Robart large round pin hinges in all control surfaces. I couldn’t imagine using the ones it came with, because I saw my plane hurling threw the sky in a right turn, and the ailerons depart the plane.
By the way, the tail gear I used, came from the BH FAIRCHILD 24. In case anyone wants to know...

[Jetman64]

FYI
Most of the bad glue joints on this build I was able to break by hand including the servo wing blocks all of them, the formers to the left and right of the firewall, all mid fuse formers joints and some wing areas around the landing gear all now reinforced. You know if things aren’t right when you hear wood cracking when you simply grab the fuse to roll it over.
reglue everything

Amen to that!!! I’ve already gone through a bottle of thin CA, just going over the fuse. When I started to install the engine, the firewall box started to come apart. So here’s my answer for that, it’s GOING NOWHERE!!!

[Joehockey]

Jet . I am laughing with you not at you , that firewall reinforcement is hilarious, you just like me hahah . I bought triangle stock and starting on the inside of the box, just waiting to see if my 12 cell set up needs to go into the firewall box.
Question does anyone know where to buy the type pushrods that come with this model ( length wise ) I am considering disassembling my rudder and starting over, I am still not happy with the set up.
I understand your set up , thanks, I am going to see what I can do at this time.
I may add an exterior control arm and run a solid pushrod thru the fuselage direct to the servo

[Jetman64]

WOW!!!!’
Im glad I purchased it when it was only $750, I feel sorry for the unsuspecting buyer that pays the new price. When they open the box and realize what they got, if it was me, it would be GOING RIGHT BACK!
when got this bird, I got it because I didn’t want to build a kit this winter. But a kit is what I got and I don’t mind a good challenge once in while, but this is OVER THE TOP!

why on earth would they raise the price so much, I thought $760 was a bit much. I guess they need to cover shipping fee increases.

[Jetman64]

Jet . I am laughing with you not at you , that firewall reinforcement is hilarious, you just like me hahah . I bought triangle stock and starting on the inside of the box, just waiting to see if my 12 cell set up needs to go into the firewall box.
Question does anyone know where to buy the type pushrods that come with this model ( length wise ) I am considering disassembling my rudder and starting over, I am still not happy with the set up.
I understand your set up , thanks, I am going to see what I can do at this time.
I may add an exterior control arm and run a solid pushrod thru the fuselage direct to the servo

MRC carries all the sizes, I purchased 4-40 in 48” length.

[Joehockey]

Thanks Jet for the tip.
As far as Motion RC they are by far in my opinion the best RC distributor in the industry so I would never hesitate to buy anything from them. On time shipping, quick, online video education and they actually fly and use RC products. They are so far above the field its silly.
On this model they inherited a good model with bad design elements. I dont know if this model will ever be updated because I am not sure of VQs long term plans.
They seem to have released a ton of smaller models so perhaps the cost is very prohibitive. I also know that the freight out of China has skyrocketed so this could be the problem with the additional cost.
Like you I am also a builder, i have the TF Bearcat, TF FW190 and the Sterling 70” King Cobra waiting in the wings to be built ! So I am not afraid of modifications but flight control related problems are concerning

[Jetman64]

Thanks Jet for the tip.
As far as Motion RC they are by far in my opinion the best RC distributor in the industry so I would never hesitate to buy anything from them. On time shipping, quick, online video education and they actually fly and use RC products. They are so far above the field its silly.
On this model they inherited a good model with bad design elements. I dont know if this model will ever be updated because I am not sure of VQs long term plans.
They seem to have released a ton of smaller models so perhaps the cost is very prohibitive. I also know that the freight out of China has skyrocketed so this could be the problem with the additional cost.
Like you I am also a builder, i have the TF Bearcat, TF FW190 and the Sterling 70” King Cobra waiting in the wings to be built ! So I am not afraid of modifications but flight control related problems are concerning

Joe,
I would never knock MRC, they’ve never given me a reason to. I only commented on the price, because they know there’s issues with it. As for the cost, I’m with you on the shipping costs rising. Hopefully this year, we’ll see things settle down with our relations with China. COVID19 has caused many problems, and until we get it under control, who knows...

VQ had problems with this model before MRC took it, you can find them on google. But they’ve been producing this model for awhile now, and yet there’s still problems. I think MRC needs a rep on-site to keep these folks on point. I am a huge fan of this scale size in any plane, but especially warbirds. But, I would like to see more “off models” made and not the same ones over and over. The 30/40cc size warbirds are the same models everyone else is making, let’s mix it up. It’s the same in the EDF arena to, as I haven’t purchased a jet from MRC in some time. I have all of their models (all except a couple that I don’t care for), but there’s not much variety. I’m still waiting for an A-7, F-100, F-105, these are great jets and should be made in at least the 80mm (would love all 3 in 90mm) size.

ok, I’m done yapping...

[Joehockey]

Hey Jet
no worries I know your not knocking MRC at all , I was just saying I think they are a good company.

I am involved with imports that far exceed the hobby Industry in dollars per year .
As a result I have been to many of these factories and I was involved with the original CMP brand ( China Model Products ) and now working with a gentleman to bring that brand back to the USA.

I agree that you need troops on the ground in China in the manner of an office but you also need someone in the actual factory as a worker.
I am not going to bore everyone with business, I can just tell you we have offices all around the globe and we have people in the factories as regular workers.

I know that when MRC secured the VQ line from Thomas it was not a friendly acquisition of distribution rights. Thomas has slipped with some comments in threads that are very revealing.

As far as the brand MRC , they need to review the models based on early consumer reviews and our reviews in in these threads.
I think the two of us and others in this thread are experienced builders so we dont get stressed too easily lol but I have to admit this model has been frustrating.

I finally figured out my rudder issues and it was simply based on using stock supplies from the kit. Today I finally gave up on the push rod “easy connectors “ and soldered on golden clevis connectors. As soon as I tested this modification all of my troubles went away from a sloppy rudder to my servo centering dead on, amazing what good hardware can do.

My suggestions to anyone reading these threads is to simply replace all the hardware and enjoy the model. I would have saved about 8 hours of frustration of I had use aftermarket parts for connectors from day one.

My closing remarks to Motion is that they have to look and take a deep dive into some of the brands they import. We all know the Banana Hobby name in California. Most of us know of their early poor reputation of low quality models. The problem was that BH was importing Starmax brand in the early days when StarMax was total crap.

The problem is that while Starmax was the source of the consumer complaints with Banana Hobby, the bad reputation still fell on Banana Hobby.
That is what regardless of created brands of Nexts, or any created name

[Jetman64]

Hey Jet
no worries I know your not knocking MRC at all , I was just saying I think they are a good company.

I am involved with imports that far exceed the hobby Industry in dollars per year .
As a result I have been to many of these factories and I was involved with the original CMP brand ( China Model Products ) and now working with a gentleman to bring that brand back to the USA.

I agree that you need troops on the ground in China in the manner of an office but you also need someone in the actual factory as a worker.
I am not going to bore everyone with business, I can just tell you we have offices all around the globe and we have people in the factories as regular workers.

I know that when MRC secured the VQ line from Thomas it was not a friendly acquisition of distribution rights. Thomas has slipped with some comments in threads that are very revealing.

As far as the brand MRC , they need to review the models based on early consumer reviews and our reviews in in these threads.
I think the two of us and others in this thread are experienced builders so we dont get stressed too easily lol but I have to admit this model has been frustrating.

I finally figured out my rudder issues and it was simply based on using stock supplies from the kit. Today I finally gave up on the push rod “easy connectors “ and soldered on golden clevis connectors. As soon as I tested this modification all of my troubles went away from a sloppy rudder to my servo centering dead on, amazing what good hardware can do.

My suggestions to anyone reading these threads is to simply replace all the hardware and enjoy the model. I would have saved about 8 hours of frustration of I had use aftermarket parts for connectors from day one.

My closing remarks to Motion is that they have to look and take a deep dive into some of the brands they import. We all know the Banana Hobby name in California. Most of us know of their early poor reputation of low quality models. The problem was that BH was importing Starmax brand in the early days when StarMax was total crap.

The problem is that while Starmax was the source of the consumer complaints with Banana Hobby, the bad reputation still fell on Banana Hobby.
That is what regardless of created brands of Nexts, or any created name

Joe,
Thats exactly what I did on my rudder (posted earlier) and WAMMO, all fixed. I’ve been in the Aerospace (Engineering) Industry for over 35 years, starting in the military. All of it has been in the maintenance/manufacturing of commercial Airlines. So, I’ve been addicted to plane’s since I was a young pup. I would love to be a rep in those factories, just to get a first hand experience on how the models are built. There’s always room for improvement, but we as consumers can only BLAH BLAH because we don’t have a clue. I think the videos of Alpha going thru the factory was a great idea, but it would be even greater if he could elaborate on specific stations and what goes on there.
CRAP, I’ve lost my train of thought and am rambling. I would like to comment on BH, because my experience with them has been anything but good. I no longer ever look on their website. Because most of their stuff is COMPLETE GARBAGE, and their CSR is the WORST!
Joe, I have a CMP ZERO and it’s great bird! I’d love to see CMP start making planes again, they made solid products...

[Joehockey]

Hey Jet
My actual name is Lou, I use the Joe Hockey call sign because I coached Junior hockey for 13 years lol !
I agree that BH is not a pleasant overall experience, but for about 4 years that has a guy named Alex that was 100% more Transparent then “Pete” and Alex was willing to listen and actually take action on product problems. I own two of the 79” LX P40ties, both heavily modified with $1000 each in upgrades flying on 5 and 7 years respectively.
I told LX of the mods, they wont listen, they make an overall good product but the retracts are crap !

Back on the subject, the problem with China factories and global factories period is that some will cut corners when no one is looking. So we have troops on the ground that do surprise audits at pre-production, 25% production and pre shipping. You will find when you do this you see if the company is following protocol.
We import foods and food/toy product heavily audited by FDA and so many other USA departments, so as you can imagine its not about a control horn or shotty tail set up, its about human safety. The stakes are high and you learn a lot of the global culture. You have to have a posted “Anti Bribery” clause so they understand if you attempt to bribe the Auditor, business will end + a financial penalty.

CMP - the brand is coming back under different ownership, I can’t release the info on the first model but I can tell you its a 1000% better then the last production from the original CMP . I am super excited and I am actually supposed to receive a test model in the next 90 days.

Thanks for your military service and congrats in the engineering, I meet a lot of guys in the hobby that are engineers, pilots and x-military. The hobby is a great way to enjoy and preserve the history of these great planes.
Also thanks for the tips on fixing the tail, I did follow your cure and as stated sure enough it fixed everything. I have the large Dauntless ( new in box ) from a closeout deal a few years back, I wont spend one min on stock parts, going right to the soder option on the pushrods lol !

[Robert Belluomini]

When i assembled my cat I reinforced the Firewall with triangular stock. Used fiberglass control horns, clevis on both ends of the pushrods and added a support for the rudder torque rod which Im still not 100% happy with.

Why they would include EZ connectors for a model this size is beyond comprehension.

So I used the clevis’s from the wing pushrods to complete the fuse pushrods and then used 4-40 clevis and rods for the wing controls.

It’s a superb flying model on Epower!
i still need to add the inner gear doors and some other scale details.


btw i had the opportunity to add this scale weathering to the cowling.