Chrislea Super Ace

[Balsabasher]

Started today,the Chrislea Super Ace.

Balsa is 1940's Mosquito material of very high quality,a pleasure to cut.

Barry.

[lastvautour]

Is it fairly dense balsa? I secured a quantity of balsa pieces in the 1970s. They came from F-86 ejection seats, but I cannot tell what part of the seat or its function. The balsa was dense and excellent to work with.

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Lou, for what it's worth I hope the balsa is dense. I've found that there's balsa and there's balsa. By that I mean that the closer to the core area that the balsa was cut the more dense and more like basswood or otherhard woods it appears to be. In these cases its use appears to be definitely preferable. Perhaps other members have similar opinions.
Cliff.

[Balsabasher]

Very dense,beautiful stuff to work with,almost like a softer Jelutong.
Barry.

[Balsabasher]

Kit of parts for the Chrislea Super Ace.

Barry.

[Balsabasher]

A day carving propeller's and sanding down the blanks for the Chrislea Super Ace,about 8 hours enjoyable work here in between sipping chammomile and honey tea in the sunshine.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Nice work Barry. We have sunshine today so I may just take my sanding block and model outside today.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

The wing has had a slot cut into it at the centre section together with a corresponding one in the upper cabin area,the wing was then  partially cracked at the lower membrane ith a saw cut to give the necessary dihedral angle,two tiny wedges were then soaked in adhesive and pushed into the slots which pushes the wings upwards at the tips,when dry the wing was glued into place,next the tail assembly was checked and fitted into the rear upper slot in the fuselage carefully aligning it from the front with MK.1 modellers eyeball.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Great Barry. That old Mk I eyeball works for me.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

The Chrislea Super Ace has had some refinements done to it,aft of the wing trailing edge this blends in with the upper portion of the cockpit cabin,here two triangular pieces needed to be added,once dry they are cut and sanded into the shape of the trailing edge,this would be almost impossible to achieve any other way,on the real aircraft these are fairings which seal the joint where the wing is bolted in place.

The undercarriage legs have been made from brass tube sunk into a slot in the underside and fairings will be added and sanded to shape,the nose leg fork was made from brass tube fettled on a small modellers anvil and pushed into a pre drilled hole on the underside,then thin cyno is flooded into the area to lock this into place.

Never resign anything to the scrap bin for example the tail fairing was made up from the portion removed for the tail assembly,it was trimmed down and repositioned after the tailplane was added later.

[lastvautour]

Excellent work Barry. Those little add on make the model sometimes.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

The Super Ace had its wheels fitted,plus the neat round tail bumper just like the real aircraft.
Barry.

[cliff strachan]

Very nicely done, Barry. But just how does one keep both wheels on?

Cliff.

[Balsabasher]

The wheels are held on with tiny home brew cup washers soldered on the ends of the brass tube,to make the cup washers place a piece of tin from a baked bean can or similar and indent an hole with a round nail,you will see there is an instant indentation that grips the tube,cut around close with tin snips and a dab of solder locks the wheel in place,with the forks drill a tiny hole and place a pin into the wheel,a dab of solder holds the pin firm,then trim off and file.
Barry.

[cliff strachan]

Thanks Barry for getting back to me on my queston concerning wheels so quickly. Mind you I had thought of an alternative method which I would be pleased if you could comment on.  I really would have attacked the problem of wheels (so that they stay on) by making the undercarriage portion, that you ultimately attached as one piece to the bottom of the fuselage, by attaching two pieces both comprised of pins such that the pin heads act as a retainer for the wheels. Again, using as you did, body filler or what not, to attach the undercarriage.

Cliff.