Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[OV10]

CzechSix Very fortunate find.
My sweetie is always complaining about my rubber necking while driving but that's how these fortunes are acquired.
You're gonna really enjoy this bird

[CzechSix]

CzechSix Very fortunate find.
My sweetie is always complaining about my rubber necking while driving but that's how these fortunes are acquired.
You're gonna really enjoy this bird

Hey Charlie - thanks! And good to know I'm not the only one, ha. The price was good enough that even if I scavenged the decent parts and hung it up as a decoration it would have been worth it- not to mention softened the blow of "another damned airplane" from the wife. 😎 Really looking forward to this one, it's been on my want-list for a long time.

[Grossman56]

Great score! One of the club members has one sitting that he says he won't fly again for whatever reason. I'm working on him to give it to me. He's one of these guys who has probably a thousand airplanes including the latest and turbines as well.

Grossman56

[CzechSix]

Stripping, cleaning and repairing the model - might a well give the pilot a facelift. Not a bad sculpt actually, but the "Ken Doll" paint job had to go. I wish he wasn't modeled with his collar buttoned to the top like a nerd 🤓 but in all he still looks pretty good.

[CzechSix]

Great score! One of the club members has one sitting that he says he won't fly again for whatever reason. I'm working on him to give it to me. He's one of these guys who has probably a thousand airplanes including the latest and turbines as well.

Grossman56

Thanks and good luck - we have some guys like that in our club too, I'm envious to any who have that kind of time, space and money. Turns out one of the guys in my club recognized this plane, says he owned it at one time, upgraded the LG and then unloaded it. How it ended up 100 miles away where I found it remains unknown!

[CzechSix]

Progress report on the resurrected Tigercat - got some bodywork done using lightweight spackle to smooth out the major dents, scratches and divots, there were quite a few.



After that it was trying to find the right color paint to match that diabolical post-war "Sea Blue." Navy blue Rustoleum looked promising but was too purple, so time to bust out the cheap Harbor Freight airbrush. I started with a custom mix of all over blue that looked like a close match to the original but once dry, was way too light of a shade. So I darkened it with some inexpensive craft paint and a couple more light coats and that did the trick - that dark blue almost-black that I was looking for.

[CzechSix]

The cockpit area had some pretty bad "aligator skin" so I gave it a quick cover with my favorite lightweight scratchbuilding material - craft foam. I covered up the ugliest parts of the rear bulkhead and instrument panel, and made a simple seat and headrest for the pilot that helped fill the space a little bit. Last I added some greeblies from the parts box that kinda/sorta resembled a gunsight. Won't win any scale nats but from a couple feet away it looks great.



Next I cut some vinyl markings on the trusty Cricut machine - awesome for making large-scale decals. Special thanks to all the scrapbooking old ladies of America for making this technology affordable for us humble aircraft modelers.



After that it was just some exhaust streaks, some very light weathering of the upper surfaces and she's looking good! Next I will get the flight surfaces calibrated and it's nearly time to fly!

[Grossman56]

Looks great, I'd recommend you put a few coats of Spar Varathane over the finished surface, with the color being dark, you don't want it in the sun without any UV protectant. Minwax Spar Varathane has become hard to find, in gloss anyway, you may have better luck with a semi gloss or a matte. I find that a semi gloss applied with a spray gun comes out flatter than if applied with a brush.

Grossman56

[martconnor]

Captured this aircraft in motion

[CzechSix]

Looks great, I'd recommend you put a few coats of Spar Varathane over the finished surface, with the color being dark, you don't want it in the sun without any UV protectant. Minwax Spar Varathane has become hard to find, in gloss anyway, you may have better luck with a semi gloss or a matte. I find that a semi gloss applied with a spray gun comes out flatter than if applied with a brush.

Grossman56

Thanks, Gross! I'm curious what the role of the varnish is - I know EPO tends to bubble up in the sun but I figured that would be a function of heat buildup not UV - does varnish help with that?

[Grossman56]

With the UV protectant it helps with the bubbling. My Tigercat was near perfect while the cockpit area was bubbly. My Bearcats are great and here in Wyoming, it gets hot and dry in the flying season. Spar Urethane helps to seal on the decals as well. Right now the Spitfire is probably the darkest /oldest plane flying in the fleet and so far so good.

Grossman56

[CzechSix]

With the UV protectant it helps with the bubbling. My Tigercat was near perfect while the cockpit area was bubbly. My Bearcats are great and here in Wyoming, it gets hot and dry in the flying season. Spar Urethane helps to seal on the decals as well. Right now the Spitfire is probably the darkest /oldest plane flying in the fleet and so far so good.

Grossman56

Great advice - I will definitely use the urethane. The decals I made are outdoor sign vinyl so they should stick pretty well compared to the factory version. I have some time to do the work, as I had to request a replacement spinner from MotionRC - the one I got had a stress fracture and it cracked when I tightened it down. Slightly unsettling, actually. But as usual MotionRC was awesome and sent a replacement, they are a great shop.

[Grossman56]

Okay, so I finally got around to seriously checking out La Patrona to see what was salvageable and what was not.
Turns out the wings can be repaired, one was broken in two sections but the rod running through the wing was fine, easy fix with some Gorilla Glue.



The flaps were knocked off but with some Foam Tac I reinstalled them. Some of the hinges were snapped so I used some off an old Bearcat wing.
The tail was still attached to what was left of the fuse, but surprisingly, by cutting away at the joint, I managed to get the whole piece out intact!


Rebuilding the hatch/cockpit was a matter of gluing the three pieces back together again. I used a roll of tape to help spread the piece until the glue sets up.


So, it looks like a new fuse, one new nacelle, cockpit glass and a nose gear retract. Not bad for a bird I thought was a total right off. Soon it will look like this again!!




Grossman56

[Spad Driver]

Gentlemen!,
may I present from the mountains of Utah U.S.A!.🇺🇲
New from the Wallsburg Warbird Works.
My version of F7F -3P Tigercat (BuNo 80457) assigned to VMD-354 at Cherry Point North Carolina 1949.
I wanted my plane to look like a restored modern warbird.
Acrylic paint used from Home Depot, apple barrel, and model masters. Minwax polycrylic gloss finish on top Bare metal foil is applied to the wheel rims.
the ADF antenna is scratch built using a 1/48th scale drop tank, two bamboo sticks and some millie put epoxy and is removable. The drop tank is a Freewing A-6 center tank with seams filled with lightweight spackle. A seam of .030 × .060 strip styrene tacked around the middle with foam tac. A Freewing F-16 armament mounting set is used to attach to airframe to make it removable.
Callie Graphics where applied for the markings.

maiden will happen soon 👍🤩

[Grossman56]

Sounds great! Any pictures??

Grossman56

[Spad Driver]

Oops!. Internet went down during upload.
second try!.

[I-fly-rc-aircraft]

Does MotionRC still stock this plane ever?

[Evan D]

Yes.

[I-fly-rc-aircraft]

I just pulled the trigger on one.

Excited!!
Tom

[davegee]

I just pulled the trigger on one.

Excited!!
Tom

Great! I think you'll like it. I had one a few years ago. Got bored with it, and sold it. But then, I started missing it. A few years later I got a new one, and still really enjoy flying it around the patch.

davegee