Official FlightLine RC 1600mm Spitfire Mk. IX Thread

[Grossman56]

Three colors to match. Once I had the grey, it was a matter of adding additional color to get the green and a bit of light blue to get the underside. For some reason, I can look at a color and see what it needs, probably comes from my oil painting days (you can see my Flying Tiger painting in the top center of the first pic) One thing I've found is that when you have one color it will lead to the other, like they just added some additional pigment to change the color rather than cleaning the gun, probably faster on the assembly line (I'm talking the full scale WWII era).
I found this when I was matching paint for the P40. Mixed the green, then added some red and white to make the brown. Also, I got wise and made a couple of swatches, unfortunately, I forgot with the first color so will have to mix it again. With the swatches, I can take them to Ace and scan the colors, definitely easier that way!


Grossman56

[Simon Bee]

I’ve had my Spit 2 years now and it’s been absolutely fabulous 😃😃 After all this time, time to try again with some sound. Where’s the best place to put the speakers. Some guys seem to cut them into the air intakes under the wings ?
Ive got a Mr Sound card from about 2 years ago which I tried but didn’t have much success with, just wondering whether the updated one on Motion RC would be better.

[Hugh Wiedman]

I’ve had my Spit 2 years now and it’s been absolutely fabulous 😃😃 After all this time, time to try again with some sound. Where’s the best place to put the speakers. Some guys seem to cut them into the air intakes under the wings ?
Ive got a Mr Sound card from about 2 years ago which I tried but didn’t have much success with, just wondering whether the updated one on Motion RC would be better.

Simon, I put the MR RC Sound transducers in the aft section of battery bay, then velcro'd the board upside down just under the top of the fuse behind the battery bay opening (the thin red board in the photo). The board I used was the older version as the newer Aspire board is much thicker (which I have in 7 other foam warbirds). Although the Aspire board gives a slightly louder response, the older board worked just fine and was easier to fit in. With the transducers (which are not speakers) you need to place them on the foam to resonate the sound, while the hollow fuselage magnifies it. I also put heat sinks on the transducers as these get extremely hot after a 10 minute flight. The double wasp sound of the corsair produces the hottest transducers. I also put some air scoops made out of 45 degree copper joints to help keep the transducers and board a little cooler during flight.

The guys putting them in the air intakes are using speakers, which must be open to the outside. I do have speakers in my Aces High FW 190 which has no foam (balsa/monocoat) which sound great but these foam warbirds work very well with transducers. Very easy to set up and IMO a very neat addition. All my warbirds and even my "radial" engine Bi-Planes have sound systems.




Short Video of the Spitfire Sound:

[Grossman56]

Has anyone noticed that some Spitfire replacement prop blades say 17 inch and others say 16?? I was looking through me stock the other day and lo and behold. Strange...

Grossman56

[Simon Bee]

Simon, I put the MR RC Sound transducers in the aft section of battery bay, then velcro'd the board upside down just under the top of the fuse behind the battery bay opening (the thin red board in the photo). The board I used was the older version as the newer Aspire board is much thicker (which I have in 7 other foam warbirds). Although the Aspire board gives a slightly louder response, the older board worked just fine and was easier to fit in. With the transducers (which are not speakers) you need to place them on the foam to resonate the sound, while the hollow fuselage magnifies it. I also put heat sinks on the transducers as these get extremely hot after a 10 minute flight. The double wasp sound of the corsair produces the hottest transducers. I also put some air scoops made out of 45 degree copper joints to help keep the transducers and board a little cooler during flight.

The guys putting them in the air intakes are using speakers, which must be open to the outside. I do have speakers in my Aces High FW 190 which has no foam (balsa/monocoat) which sound great but these foam warbirds work very well with transducers. Very easy to set up and IMO a very neat addition. All my warbirds and even my "radial" engine Bi-Planes have sound systems.




Short Video of the Spitfire Sound:

Ok thanks very much for the info. I’ve put the speaker on a piece of hardboard under the battery tray. The battery tray when screwed in place helps to hold the transducer against the hardboard. It works fine and sounds great on the ground but you can’t hear it at all in the air really. Does adding another speaker make much difference? Unfortunately MRC don’t sell the speakers anymore, so I’m not sure where to source one from.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Ok thanks very much for the info. I’ve put the speaker on a piece of hardboard under the battery tray. The battery tray when screwed in place helps to hold the transducer against the hardboard. It works fine and sounds great on the ground but you can’t hear it at all in the air really. Does adding another speaker make much difference? Unfortunately MRC don’t sell the speakers anymore, so I’m not sure where to source one from.

Well that sucks!! Sorry Simon, I had no idea the MR RC Sound system is no longer available. Just did an exhaustive search and found nothing out there, not even on ebay. I've been using those since they first came out and originally dealt with Andrew (maker) directly in 2018 before MRC ended up representing them. Must have 9 of his systems now. I did try the Model Sound System with two 3" speakers in my large FW 190, which works great and also has gun sounds, but he also went out of business late last year. Maybe I'm a jinx. A second transducer really does help but I guarantee you that gluing your single transducer to the hardboard will muffle at least 70% of the sound. It really needs to be glued to the foam. The hardboard will not resonate the sound at all, in fact it will deaden the sound. The foam, being microscopically filled with air pockets, magnifies the sound and this carries throughout the entire foam of the fuselage. If you can remove it, just set it directly against the foam and see how much greater the sound is. The hollow fuselage then magnifies it further.

[Simon Bee]

: A second transducer really does help but I guarantee you that gluing your single transducer to the hardboard will muffle at least 70% of the sound. It really needs to be glued to the foam. The hardboard will not resonate the sound at all, in fact it will deaden the sound. The foam, being microscopically filled with air pockets, magnifies the sound and this carries throughout the entire foam of the fuselage. If you can remove it, just set it directly against the foam and see how much greater the sound is. The hollow fuselage then magnifies it further.

Thanks for the reply, that’s good advice, I’ll relocate the speaker so it’s against the foam fuselage 👍

[Grossman56]

Got a set of chalk pastels for Dad's Day and so I got to work. They're pretty cool and surprisingly easy to work with. First couple of hours gave pretty good results...



As an added bonus, they give a nice flat finish which is exactly what we all are looking for in a warbird.

Grossman56

[Elbee]

Beautiful work, Grossman56, Bravo Zulu, SIr. Best, LB

[davegee]

Using chalks is one of my favorite techniques for weathering warbirds. Yours looks great!!

davegee

[chabd]

I'm keeping a close eye on this thread so that when I get to build my Spit I can soak up all this information. Thanks everyone.

[jetfool]

Looks fantastic. The more you use the chalk the better you will like it

Rex

[Grossman56]

Of course the only problem is when you pick the airplane up, it comes off on your hands, so I happened to have a can of workable fixative that I use on my pencil drawings to stop just that from happening. Applied it and it works quite well, a great tool for layering too.

Grossman56

[davegee]

Of course the only problem is when you pick the airplane up, it comes off on your hands, so I happened to have a can of workable fixative that I use on my pencil drawings to stop just that from happening. Applied it and it works quite well, a great tool for layering too.

Grossman56

Hi Dan: do you have more info on that fixative for your chalks? I had not thought about using something like that. I did spray some flat clear on, but it mostly erases the work I did to make it look weathered. I'd like to know if your fixative took away some of your handiwork when you applied it?

Thanks,

Dave

[Grossman56]

Hey Dave. The fixative didn't remove anything and leaves a nice flat finish, dries in seconds and does no harm to the foam



There's also a Krylon version available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K01306-Workable-Fixatif-11-Ounce/dp/B00023JE7U/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=3P39K4WZ61D34&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XHy3X7Fs53kwlUpXyIw3rfJzl1RWzlqXzu5JjrS863w.2ZCxyGAq5oQqe_pCooKnPQx454EWbkAdWrRIyZYVQ3I&dib_tag=se&keywords=helmar%2Bcrystal%2Bkote%2Bworkable%2Bfixative&qid=1720369887&s=arts-crafts&sprefix=helmar%2Bcrystal%2Bkote%2Bworkable%2Bfixative%2Carts-crafts%2C108&sr=1-1-fkmr0&th=1

Worth the investment.

Grossman56

[davegee]

Great! Do you recommend one over the other, the Helmar Crystal Cote versus the Krylon brand that you can get on Amazon?

Dave

[Elbee]

Hey Dave. The fixative didn't remove anything and leaves a nice flat finish, dries in seconds and does no harm to the foam. Grossman56

Do you know if this product is an acrylic? The listing reads varnish, but if it doesn't dissolve the pastels, whatever it is doesn't really matter. I went to their website and it is a Aussie product. Where did you source it? Best, LB

[Grossman56]

Local art store, Hobby Lobby, Opus (in Canada) Most of these places have it or something similar. I also have the Krylon version available on Amazon. Try it on an old wing or spare part if unsure, but she worked great on the Spitfire. Keeps the weathering and minimizes the loss when handling. It's designed for artists working in graphite, chalk or charcoal. What it does is allows the artist to preserve the work done up to that point so it's not being smudged while adding a top layer. You can erase through it (hence the 'workable' part of the name) but it takes more than erasing an untreated surface would. It's a godsend for charcoal, if you've ever worked in it, it's the definition of messy.
I used to use cheap hairspray between layers, but this is better (of course, what wouldn't be?)
I think that one is as good as the other as far as brand names go. I can't remember whether I've used the Krylon on an airplane, but I don't have any problem trying it, again, try an old piece first.

https://www.helmarusa.com/Helmar-Products/crystal-kote-fixative-spray.html

Grossman56

[Simon Bee]

This aircraft is so good , I’ve just ordered another one from MRC as a spare in case Flightline stop producing them and I end up without one or unable to get spares.
Of all my RC aircraft, this one gets more favourable comments from watchers than any of them.

[Grossman56]

I agree, there are a couple of head turners in my fleet, one is my first Spitfire, painted as 'AI-A' which was Skippers airplane in the movie The Battle of Britain. It was actually a Mk IX painted to resemble a Mk IIa



And my FlightLine Tigercat, painted as La Patrona.



So far I have two flights on the new Spitfire and she flies even better than the first one. In a day and age of 3D flying, it's getting to be unique to see a scale model flying (at least at our club) and I'm glad I have fellow modeler Dave Gee to share in the joy. So far we've had some great photo ops with our Mustangs, hopefully, we'll do the same with the Spitfires, maybe on Battle of Britain Day, September 15th.

Grossman56