Warbirds build review of the FliteLine Sea Fury
We'll it's been years since I've done a formal published critique of a model so hope you find it informative.
Upon unboxing (see pic #1) I proceeded to account for all hardware and paperwork. The manual is 40 pages in 3 different languages(11 English pgs) and probably is a little overkill for this PNP model because items like servos, fuselage pushrods, tail wheel, retracts and motor are already pre-installed. I actually didn't even use the manual until the very end of the assembly for getting the CG location on page 9.
The form and finish of the model was very good with regard to foam cell appearance being rather negligible. The only visible thing that stood out because it looked questionable was the pilots head gear as shown in pic #2 for 1951 Korean era head gear worn by the Brits. It is the Freewing pilot used on the A6 which was more Vietnam era. Shame they used older stock on this new release and the LA-7.
As a modder that uses various items from an ARF airframe to use as upgrades on other models, it would be nice if Motion when it does a build video would document dimensions on the replacement parts for some key items like spinner and wheel diameters and L/G strut lengths because these are items that are used quite often by modelers for other projects. A key example of this is where pilots are using different wheels and the FMS P-51 struts on the FliteLine P-38 and most of the time it is a trial and error routine because sizes aren't readily known until the first guy becomes the beta tester.
So on this model the spinner is shown in pic#3 with a diameter of 80mm(3-1/8"). The main gear wheel is 65mm(2-9/16") and the struts are 120mm. It would have been nice if the landing gear struts were functioning oleo's but alas the struts are plastic covered straight wire very much like the mains on the Dynam ME-262 but I believe the oleo's from the Freewing A6 can be modded for use on this bird as I am doing on the 262. The retracts themselves look like good upgrades for the Dyman 1200 sized warbirds.
I centered up the elevator and rudder servos using the centering function on my servo tester and then attached the control pushrod from the tail wheel horn to the rudder. Upon locating this pushrod is were I discovered a minor documentation error(see pic #4). The hardware bag has 3 different length pushrods identified as such: Elevator pushrod(86x1.2) 2 pcs - these are actually for the ailerons; Elevator pushrod(90x1.2) 4 pcs - these are actually for the flaps; Aileron pushrod(78x1.2) 1 pcs - this is actually for the rudder. This documentation should be fixed so as to not confuse the novice assembler. I then attached the port and starboard halves of the horizontal stab(elevator) to the fuselage.
The mounting tabs(pics 5&6) are a unique method which works very well versus the one piece elevator being slid through the fuselage and then screwed into place from the bottom side of the fuselage. Before I forget, there was even repair pin hinges(see pic #7) included which is mentioned on the bottom of page 11 in the manual. Had to mention this because have never seen that done before.
Next I attach Part A which is the wing/fuselage trailing edge fillet piece. This is glued into place as the actual first step in the manual. When I was done with the assembly of this model I learned that Ryan had an assembly video and decided to watch it to see if I was close to his process. He actually waits until after he attaches the wing to the fuselage which requires wedging the piece in place which promotes glue getting smeared onto the fuselage. Doing it as step 1 per the manual alleviates any glue smearing and paint touch up and there is no problem with attaching the wing.
So I move on to assembling(gluing) the main wing halves together and was ready for mounting to the fuselage after about 15 minutes. This is where I run into the major snafu that I mentioned to Crunch earlier today on another thread. The issue at hand would have been a show stopper to anyone that didn't have any mechanical alteration or modding skills and would have been forced to return the kit or at best the fuselage back to Motion for a replacement.
The problem was the forward mounting posts in the fuselage were leaning backwards(pic #8) in comparison to the aft posts(pic #9). This tilt backwards caused a hole misalignment by a 1/8 inch to the forward wing mounting post. ?*!#?#*** was my expression about the assembler that I suspected put the mounting plate in the fuselage reversed.
So I had to remove the battery mounting tray and ESC to get access to this mount. As seen in pic #10 the mount has an arrow pointing aft. After closely examining the bevel of the mount I decided that the arrow was supposed to face forward. FREAKIN NICE...... onto some major cutting because that plate was installed when the two fuselage halves were put together. After a bit of pondering about the least intrusive method of extracting and reversing this plate I opted to dissect as shown pics 11 thru 14. So pics 15 thru 18 show the rebuild. The wing mounting post holes now line up perfectly with the ones in the fuselage.
The only thing left to do is attach the wing to the fuse and bind the Rx and CG. Am somewhat disappointed that the mounting screws for the wing is 10mm long sheet metal screws that self tap into the plastic posts. I really can't see the longevity of frequent removal/installation of the wing for transport using this hardware versus a machine type screw and metal female threaded post as is done on the larger 1400 sized birds.
So what was going to take about 2 hours to assemble the plane for the review actually took almost 4 hours total due to the added surgery. In all reality barring any manufacturer hick ups, I could have built this in about an hour by not doing the pics and other stuff for the review.
When I put the aircraft on my Great Planes CG machine with an Admiral 4000 4S battery push all the way forward to the bulkhead it was tail heavy whereas 2-1/2 ounces of self sticking lead weight was needed on the front side of the firewall under the motor in order to make the 80mm CG mark. These weights hide well inside the cowl. I was surprised that Ryan didn't do a CG measurement on his build video and provide some weight values for ballpark reference for those less experienced modelers.
My overall opinion of this Sea Fury airframe by FlightLine is that the assembly is at an entry level experience that will pose minimal issues for the modeler that is just getting into foam warbird ARF's if they make some minor corrections to the manual/parts bag. I considered it to be for the lack of a better expression an upscale version of the Dynam 1200 sized warbirds. It is a 4S powered warbird that has a denser foam and better finish with flaps installed and what appears to be more robust retracts. I truly believe that if FliteLine does a 1400 sized version of this with a 5 blade prop it will be a smash hit.
So the final pic#19 is of the completed Sea Fury sitting in front of its hangar comrade the 1/8 scale Spitfire that I call Mark Two. It will probably be around the end of April before this gets maidened so in a couple weeks I hope to put it thru it's paces and give you a report on my thoughts about its performance off of grass runways. Look back at this thread around the end of April for my flight critique.
Best regards,
We'll it's been years since I've done a formal published critique of a model so hope you find it informative.
Upon unboxing (see pic #1) I proceeded to account for all hardware and paperwork. The manual is 40 pages in 3 different languages(11 English pgs) and probably is a little overkill for this PNP model because items like servos, fuselage pushrods, tail wheel, retracts and motor are already pre-installed. I actually didn't even use the manual until the very end of the assembly for getting the CG location on page 9.
The form and finish of the model was very good with regard to foam cell appearance being rather negligible. The only visible thing that stood out because it looked questionable was the pilots head gear as shown in pic #2 for 1951 Korean era head gear worn by the Brits. It is the Freewing pilot used on the A6 which was more Vietnam era. Shame they used older stock on this new release and the LA-7.
As a modder that uses various items from an ARF airframe to use as upgrades on other models, it would be nice if Motion when it does a build video would document dimensions on the replacement parts for some key items like spinner and wheel diameters and L/G strut lengths because these are items that are used quite often by modelers for other projects. A key example of this is where pilots are using different wheels and the FMS P-51 struts on the FliteLine P-38 and most of the time it is a trial and error routine because sizes aren't readily known until the first guy becomes the beta tester.
So on this model the spinner is shown in pic#3 with a diameter of 80mm(3-1/8"). The main gear wheel is 65mm(2-9/16") and the struts are 120mm. It would have been nice if the landing gear struts were functioning oleo's but alas the struts are plastic covered straight wire very much like the mains on the Dynam ME-262 but I believe the oleo's from the Freewing A6 can be modded for use on this bird as I am doing on the 262. The retracts themselves look like good upgrades for the Dyman 1200 sized warbirds.
I centered up the elevator and rudder servos using the centering function on my servo tester and then attached the control pushrod from the tail wheel horn to the rudder. Upon locating this pushrod is were I discovered a minor documentation error(see pic #4). The hardware bag has 3 different length pushrods identified as such: Elevator pushrod(86x1.2) 2 pcs - these are actually for the ailerons; Elevator pushrod(90x1.2) 4 pcs - these are actually for the flaps; Aileron pushrod(78x1.2) 1 pcs - this is actually for the rudder. This documentation should be fixed so as to not confuse the novice assembler. I then attached the port and starboard halves of the horizontal stab(elevator) to the fuselage.
The mounting tabs(pics 5&6) are a unique method which works very well versus the one piece elevator being slid through the fuselage and then screwed into place from the bottom side of the fuselage. Before I forget, there was even repair pin hinges(see pic #7) included which is mentioned on the bottom of page 11 in the manual. Had to mention this because have never seen that done before.
Next I attach Part A which is the wing/fuselage trailing edge fillet piece. This is glued into place as the actual first step in the manual. When I was done with the assembly of this model I learned that Ryan had an assembly video and decided to watch it to see if I was close to his process. He actually waits until after he attaches the wing to the fuselage which requires wedging the piece in place which promotes glue getting smeared onto the fuselage. Doing it as step 1 per the manual alleviates any glue smearing and paint touch up and there is no problem with attaching the wing.
So I move on to assembling(gluing) the main wing halves together and was ready for mounting to the fuselage after about 15 minutes. This is where I run into the major snafu that I mentioned to Crunch earlier today on another thread. The issue at hand would have been a show stopper to anyone that didn't have any mechanical alteration or modding skills and would have been forced to return the kit or at best the fuselage back to Motion for a replacement.
The problem was the forward mounting posts in the fuselage were leaning backwards(pic #8) in comparison to the aft posts(pic #9). This tilt backwards caused a hole misalignment by a 1/8 inch to the forward wing mounting post. ?*!#?#*** was my expression about the assembler that I suspected put the mounting plate in the fuselage reversed.
So I had to remove the battery mounting tray and ESC to get access to this mount. As seen in pic #10 the mount has an arrow pointing aft. After closely examining the bevel of the mount I decided that the arrow was supposed to face forward. FREAKIN NICE...... onto some major cutting because that plate was installed when the two fuselage halves were put together. After a bit of pondering about the least intrusive method of extracting and reversing this plate I opted to dissect as shown pics 11 thru 14. So pics 15 thru 18 show the rebuild. The wing mounting post holes now line up perfectly with the ones in the fuselage.
The only thing left to do is attach the wing to the fuse and bind the Rx and CG. Am somewhat disappointed that the mounting screws for the wing is 10mm long sheet metal screws that self tap into the plastic posts. I really can't see the longevity of frequent removal/installation of the wing for transport using this hardware versus a machine type screw and metal female threaded post as is done on the larger 1400 sized birds.
So what was going to take about 2 hours to assemble the plane for the review actually took almost 4 hours total due to the added surgery. In all reality barring any manufacturer hick ups, I could have built this in about an hour by not doing the pics and other stuff for the review.
When I put the aircraft on my Great Planes CG machine with an Admiral 4000 4S battery push all the way forward to the bulkhead it was tail heavy whereas 2-1/2 ounces of self sticking lead weight was needed on the front side of the firewall under the motor in order to make the 80mm CG mark. These weights hide well inside the cowl. I was surprised that Ryan didn't do a CG measurement on his build video and provide some weight values for ballpark reference for those less experienced modelers.
My overall opinion of this Sea Fury airframe by FlightLine is that the assembly is at an entry level experience that will pose minimal issues for the modeler that is just getting into foam warbird ARF's if they make some minor corrections to the manual/parts bag. I considered it to be for the lack of a better expression an upscale version of the Dynam 1200 sized warbirds. It is a 4S powered warbird that has a denser foam and better finish with flaps installed and what appears to be more robust retracts. I truly believe that if FliteLine does a 1400 sized version of this with a 5 blade prop it will be a smash hit.
So the final pic#19 is of the completed Sea Fury sitting in front of its hangar comrade the 1/8 scale Spitfire that I call Mark Two. It will probably be around the end of April before this gets maidened so in a couple weeks I hope to put it thru it's paces and give you a report on my thoughts about its performance off of grass runways. Look back at this thread around the end of April for my flight critique.
Best regards,
Comment