Lots of work there, looks like a complicated build.

I was one of the many let go by Emirates but getting back to normality now in Spain. I've just joined the local RC club, nothing as fancy as Lisaili but great to be flying again!!

Any developments on the build Dave?

So finally finished all major construction. A little bit of weathering to do and then ready for the maiden flight. It's been a fun if very slow build. Slow due to many things some of which were due to waiting for bits but mostly due to other distractions! Anyway, here are the final few photos. Hope you've enjoyed the build. So, to summarise the build: The subject aircraft: Miles Magister Irish Air Corps Tail Number: 137. Airframe Construction number: 778. Previous reg: L8352. From a batch of 34 (L8326-L8359), constructed in 1938 by Phillips and Powis Aircraft Ltd. In 1945 Miles Aircraft Ltd completed a refurbishment and was issued Certificate of Airworthiness no. 8270 on the 14th February 1946. IAC service: Delivered to Baldonnel Aerodrome, 9th March 194 to Air Corps Training School. Withdrawn from use in November 1952, and sadly, later scrapped. The model: Dennis Bryant plan from 1971. Originally designed for .40-60 cu.in glow, approximately 1/6th scale. Converted to electric and powered by a 6s Tomcat G60 outrunner (420kv) turning a 16 inch prop. All balsa and ply construction, ribs and formers supplied laser cut by Sarik Hobbies UK. Solartex and tissue covering. Undercarriage by Robart, slightly larger than scale. Handling characteristics to be shared later!!

Well this project is becoming a marathon not help by the world being in meltdown! Anyway, not even that will stop progress so here's the latest update... nearly there!! More to come!!

No problem, speed tape and a lick of paint, Bob's you uncle!

Thanks! The last bits are proving to be the really fiddly bits!

Steady progress around the final bend for the dash to the finish! Much work was required to create the fuselage to wing fairings. There was no guidance at all on the plan so I tried out a few methods. Tried sculpting from foam, nope, really messy. Then tried making fillets with the correct (best guess!) shape with the idea to plank in between... no joy, the curves are 3 dimensional and the wood would not comply! Toyed briefly with the idea of building up using filler of some sort but discarded that as being too much work. Finally, I resorted to old fashioned shaping from a big block of balsa, much cutting and sanding but here are the results. In between work on the fairings I continued working on the fuselage, in particular the cowling. Again, not an easy job as no templates for the shape are provided on the plans. It took a bit experimenting with cardboard and string to get the shape for cutting. So still work to be done but getting very close to the end. Have to finish the cowling, open the cockpits, cover the fuselage and add the windscreens... so near!

A bit more progress on the Maggie last week. Much sanding, filling, sanding to come!! But the end is almost in sight!

These printers are amazing!

Looks fantastic!

So moved on to the battery hatch conundrum. I decided to sacrifice the front cockpit detail in order to create a removable hatch. The problem is a 6s battery will have to be located near the CG point to avoid have lumps of lead added elsewhere and that takes away the cockpit floor. Never mind, it was always going to be a nice extra if I could get the detail in.

Some more progress. I've had to do a lot of head scratching with the fuselage mostly caused by the conversion to electric. The original of course was built around 40 cu.in glow so a full redesign for the battery location and motor mount was needed. As a side affect this has scuppered my plans for some nice cockpit detail. However, after much of the aforementioned head scratching I think I've come up with a solution and compromise... lets see...!

Thanks for the offer but I'm going to have a go for the fun of it... just have to shrink the 1/4 scale stuff they sent me by mistake!

How do you keep the skin in place while the adhesive sets? Can it be heated to allow bending around compound curves?

Looks excellent, is it easy to work with?

Progress has been desperately slow. Prior to the Covid 19 madness I was waiting for a scale Magister cockpit kit to arrive from Arizona Models in the US. I could only make limited progress on the fuselage as I really wanted everything open during construction. Anyway, it's been a pain so I've decided to move on without the cockpit detail just to get the project off the board! A very traditional build, lots of cutting, gluing, sanding, swearing, filling, sanding, swearing etc!

Looks very pointy! Definitely Mach 1 on the bench!

This Pro Skin stuff is new to me... looks great, what is it?

Brilliant!!