Picture of Rufe Build

[scigs30]

I am building a Rufe for the Guillows contest. I am using the orig. wood and plans with no real mods. The quality of wood was good but the die cut was crunched. This will be my last Guillows build until they go to laser cut kits, I spend more time fixing the crushed pieces. I will be using lighter tissue and bigger prob. I had to modify the nose a little so I can remove the nose block for trimming purposes during flight. When I was a kid I learned how to build from Guillows kits. My dad would not let me build anything else until I had the basics down. I learned how to build straight, sand and cover. My Guillows kits were flyable as long as they are built straight. I normally use plain white Elmers, but this model I used wood glue because of the floats. I don't think I will do this again because I don't like the yellow glue showing. I will move on to building old Comet kits, I used to like them because they would fly really well.[/img]

[Xanadu]

Looks good, should be nice to see once it done!

[Flyguy172]

Looks great! I am planing to build this after I build some of the models that I already have. Do you have any tips to make the floatplane well float?

[reginaldian]

why can't i find this model in the Guillows Catalog???????

[Flyguy172]

If your trying to fined it on the Guillows website here it is http://www.guillow.com/GuillowDetail.asp?UID=2998849&prod=507&SeriesId=21&FamilyId=1. I looked in the oldest catalog I could fined (October of 1997) and found it. Although it was a bit hard to fined. Series 500, Authentic Scale WWll Models, Kit 507, Nakajima A6m8-N Rufe.
Hope this helped

[cdwheatley]

Excellent work scigs30. I have this kit too (two others to build first though!) so it would be interesting to see it when it's completed. I'm building the Hellcat for the challenge and hope to start that soon.

[scigs30]

I built he Helicat, but I used quality balsa and made a lot of mods and if flyies great. I will post a picture soon. I also have a Guillow Mess. I built with quality wood, tissue and mods that I will post....Then my last post will be the Super Cub with orig. wood and no mods.

[scigs30]

I am sorry I didn't post these earlier, I just found them on my camera I forgot that I took them. The important thing about building any model is to build it straight. I built it using elmers glue. I have not used the Testors. I am waiting for tissue to come in the mail so I can cover this.

[NayusDante]

By "build straight" do you mean no angle in the wing? Also, did you really build half the fuselage without it being on the A parts? Wouldn't that throw off the spacing?

[Xanadu]

"Straight" refers to the fuselage, wing, etc being nice and straight, square, assembled correctly with no twists, bends, etc EXCEPT with those intended, as stated in the plans.

The fuselage should look nice straight down the keels, all the formers straight and true, even looking lines, stringers consistent in spacing, etc.

The wing should not have any warps, ribs spaced properly, leading edges conformed to the desired shape as per plans, and once again stringers true, and consistent.
Very seldom does a wing have no dehidrel (look like a V slightly, from a front or rear view), so leaving the wing flat in this case is a no-no.
Even the Spitfire, which looks like a fairly flat wing, has some dihidrel in it.

Once again, the plans will give you a profile view of how much dihidrel to put in.

The stab and rudder should be nice and flat, no warps or twists.

A "crooked" plane never flys properly, looks out of sorts, and can generally ruin your day when you try to trim it to fly and are not successful.

[scigs30]

Yes that is what I ment by building straight. It is true that Guillows kits are heavy, but they will fly if built correctly. If stringers are not straight, formers are crooked, then this could cause the stabilizer, tail and wing to be crooked. I build the plane on the the backside of the plans. The above picture shows it on the other side because I was demonstrating how the formers should line up with the plans as well as the stringers and keels.

[scigs30]

Here it is all done. Wt. 25 grams finished. Only changes from plans is adding nose block and covering With lighter green tissue.

[lenard]

Looks fantastic, let us know how it flies.

[moostang51]

Great job. That green tissue really looks good. What's next on the menu to build?

[scigs30]

Did the plans call for a V brace? Or is this added for strength? As far as my next build. I currently have a BF-109 and Wildcat from Guillows that need to be finished. Both have been modified with better wood and lighter frames. Will post when complete. Those will be good flyers. This one will mainly be display. I have a bunch of old comet kits that I would like to start working on. The wood quality is great and structures are light. I was not too happy with this build because of the die crushing. The wood quality is getting better, but I spend more time fixing the crushed parts. I found it quicker to start a Comet kit where I have to cut out all my parts then trying to cut and fix die crushed parts. When Guillows goes to laser cutting, I am there. I will build all there WWII series and hang for display. Even if they are laser cut they are still heavy.
Since Guillows bought Comet I will display my Comet builds when I start.