Very impressed with all the amazing building skills displayed here.
Some background first, I scratch built a lot during my high school years in the 90s mainly beginner and intermediate stuff from plans published in RC magazines, than college and work sucked me out of the hobby for a long time but a couple of years ago I began to fly and build again, electric foamies and now gliders.
Now I think the time has come to fulfill my childhood dream and build a scale (or at least a sport scale) warbird. I'm thinking about 80"-90" wingspan and have a soft spot for russian, allied and japanese fighters.
My ideal candidates for this project would be:
1). Lavochkin 7
2). Yak 1 or 3
3). P47D
4). F6F Hellcat
5). Zero
6). Open for recommendations
Alternatively I'm also thinking about an early jet fighter for an EDF unit. My favorites are:
1). Mig 17
2). F86
3). Hawker Hunter
4). Open for recommendations
My goal for this project is to enjoy the building process and hopefully to create a nice flying bird. As my skills are lacking, a friend of mine who is a very capable aerobatic pilot will be flying or at least test flying the machine.
I don't expect to create a scale miracle, I'd like this to be mainly an enjoyable building of a reasonably accurate plane
At first I thought about buying one of the Top Flite kits as a good and overall complete package to get things going but considering the shipping cost and what is most important local customs cost they end up being quite expensive (the TOPA0415 for example is just shy of 800 u$d). Although I've seen on the internet (can't remember where) someone building a top flite 51D using the pdf manual and cutting the parts from die-cut patterns. I don't know if Top Flite sells the plans....
What do I have in terms of tools and machines for this endeavour?
Benchtop cnc mill
benchtop lathe
Large closed chamber 3d printer
2mx1m cnc wooden router
A friend with a laser cnc cutter
Assorted handtools
vacuum pump and glassing equipment
I'm also finishing the welding of a dedicated bench for the building process.
So, considering my goals (enjoyable building experience and first time in almost two decades scratch build), I'd like to ask for any advice regarding a suitable model, a source for a reputable set of plans (better if they were CAD created as I'll be doing my own cutting) or just general encouraging as I'm a bit concerned about going "solo" (without a manual) in a such an ambitious build.
Thanks in advance!