Tiger Moth (oz16800)

About this Plan

Tiger Moth. Radio control scale model biplane. Wingspan 50 in.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Another treasure from Phil Smith. The Tiger Moth for RC. Always a popular subject and not difficult to build. Despite being an accurate replica, it is not difficult to make and I see it is very possible to convert to electric power for those who like this system. I personally still prefer dear old internal combustion engines both diesel and glow. Greetings from Colombia. EDUARDO"

Update 7/6/2026: Added kit review from RCM&E August 1980, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Veron DH82 Toger Moth. Kit Review, by Andrew Boddington.

A WELCOME ADDITION to the Veron stable of scale aircraft kits, the 'Tiger' fills an obvious gap in the market. The fullsize DH82 Tiger Moth needs little introduction as it was used extensively for many years as an RAF trainer and civilian trainer/sports aircraft. Yet, it also served in such diverse roles as crop sprayer, glider tug and bomber, and even now, as it approaches its 50th birthday, it may be seen doing aerobatics at Air Displays around the country.

The model is 1/7 scale having a 50 in span, it is designed for 3 channel radio (no ailerons) a 20 to 35 engine, and has a semi-symmetrical wing section. It is a comprehensive kit including die-cut woodparts, pre-formed wire pieces, moulded ABS cowl, top coaming and wing tank (not working!), wheels, fuel tank and nylon fittings. There are 3 highly detailed sheets of plans with many informative sketches and an instruction booklet with photographs. (Photo's 6 and 4 are reversed).

The die-cutting of the ply was poor, considering it was only 1 /16 thick, and all parts needed considerable 'freeing' with a knife. The balsa die-cutting was, however, good as was the choice and quality of balsa throughout the kit.

I did find I was four sheets of wing balsawood sheeting short, on enquiring with the manufacturers, this turned out to be a mistake in this specific kit. On the other hand, on completion of the model, I found there was quite an excess of strip - a parts list would, therefore, be handy.

Fuselage construction: The fuselage sides are built over the plan from strip, vertical sheeting at front and 1/16 ply inner front doublers. After adding the hardwood beams the sides are joined: this is not made easy by the fact there is only one full former at the nose, the rest of the joining is by 1/4 sq crosspieces which are difficult to locate (and keep square) until the glue sets.

The plywood engine plate is glued onto the bearers, mine needed the sidethrust incorporating. When drilling holes for the wing dowels, the rear ones should be moved 1/2 in further forward than shown on the plan. The centre section struts are bound to grooved hardwood blocks which are located on the fuselage sides.

Provision should be made to recess the hardwood where the thread binding occurs to prevent it standing proud, this would make fitting difficult.

The fuselage is completed by adding the top half formers to the basic framework, after joining the rear of the sides. These are covered by the two ABS mouldings of coaming and upper decking, I fixed mine by roughing up the insides with sandpaper and using 24 hour epoxy. After cutting out the cockpits it is advisable to strengthen the inner stright edges with 1/4 x 1/8 strip to prevent bowing. Any gap in the join was filled with micro balloons and epoxy.

The cowl is made of two sides and a front, cut from ABS mouldings, and fixed together with doublers of ABS strip using MEK adhesive (not supplied). Methods of cutting out moulded pieces are explained on plan, to ensure that edges for joining were straight, and the unique system worked well, no filling was needed.

Wings: When completed the wings are strong structures having top and bottom, front and rear spars, as well as being half sheeted and having shaped leading and trailing edges. All four wing panels are basically the same, only varying because of the different sweep back and dihedral of the top and bottom wing.

The camber on the bottom of the rib means that each wing panel cannot be built flat but is assembled over the bottom rear spar, sheeting and trailing edges, which have already been glued together. No other support is suggested in their instructions at this stage for the ribs.

To prevent the ribs 'wandering' I temporarily pinned a strip of 1/8 balsawood on the board under the front of the ribs and, to make sure they would eventually suit the slot spacing of the leading edge, also pinned this in place. The leading edge, upper spars and wing tips are then added. When the glue is set the panel is removed and the front bottom spar added, at this stage the panel has all its spars projecting to enable the centre section to be constructed.

This involves a slightly diabolical method of using triangular section balsa and small pieces of sheet to give sweep back and chamfering the spar ends and lower surfaces to give correct dihedral. This is a case of the plan making a not so positive method look simple. In reality, it is difficult to trim the wood to the required angles and the wing must be exactly propped up to give the correct dihedral. The camber of the rib makes this difficult, care must be taken to prevent twists being built in. The wings are completed by adding the strut clips and the remaining sheeting. The centre sections outline is trimmed to shape using the template supplied.

Tailplane and rudder: The rudder is of all sheet construction, but the tailplane is a lighter built up structure with a strong laminated leading edge.

Radio and engine installation: As the full size Tiger has an inline engine, the model's engine is a snug fit in the narrow nose cowl. A silencer cannot easily be hidden inside the cowl, the only possible way would be with a purpose made item fitted behind the engine - this would also entail some structural change. Since the model is 'sports scale' I used the silencer supplied with the engine, an Irvine .30, a neater solution would be to use a 'dustbin' type which would leave less projecting outside the cowl.

The radio installation fits in neatly and is clearly shown on the plan. A useful position for the switch and charging socket is provided by putting plywood floors in the cockpits.

Finishing: Tissue is supplied for covering but, for a more durable finish, I covered in nylon except for the all sheet rudder which was tissued. To avoid many unsightly joins of the nylon overlap the fuselage top and sides were carefully covered in one, with slitsfor the cabanes. No trouble was encountered with the dope on the plastic mouldings, though it was used sparingly. The model was finished in silver, red and black enamel, as the Brooklands Aviation aircraft G-ADAI, after prompting from father who had flown the full size. The kit supplies fuselage decals for G-ADVS but I cut my registration letters from sticky back plastic.

The initial fuelproofing gave an unsatisfactory finish over the silver which scratched off easily, clear satin polyurethane eventually provided a satisfactory answer. For the rigging shearing elastic was used to simulate wires; wing seating foam was used to increase the separation of the wings slightly for a proper fit of wing struts. (These should be made to length to suit the model rather than taken direct from the plans). A small amount of lead in the nose was required to balance the model, the final total weight was 5lbs.

Flying: The model was hand launched for the first flight and went away without any apparent vices. With only a slight change in rudder trim the model would fly hands off. Veron's Tiger Moth model is capable of club aerobatics and the Irvine .30 engine provides ample power. Further flights have been made with take-offs from a grass patch and no problems were encountered. Certainly no larger engine is needed and a good .25 cu.inch engine would be adequate.

Conclusion: A nicely produced kit with very few hidden extras - which can considerably increase the cost of your modelling. The design of the centre section could be improved but, when completed, gives a strong structure. A very nice model in the air, in looks and handling, but a kit that requires a fair degree of building effort. Available from Veron Kit stockists. Price £42.95."

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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