Harry P. Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 You can try the L'eggs part but the contours may differ from the subject. I'd get some Renshape and carve / sand it. For the hood panel (s) in metal-you have to practice beating it, maybe with heat to shrink the curves. I think the thinner the better. And you'd need a curved anvil to beat against-maybe the wife's daily driver?? Should have asked me about the silkspan-I built and flew 1/4 scale R/C in the '70's and 80's. Last was a 6' span CAP-10B with some fiberglass cloth covering and prior was a1930 Fleet mail bipe--7+' span. CA was used extensively on spars and rib joins and epoxy on bulkheads. Would have speeded-up your process faster than the tube glue. Jus' sayin' . Tube glue? I'm using CA exclusively on the whole model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Tube glue? I'm using CA exclusively on the whole model. My bad-soon I'll need a magnifier to read posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 On to the wings for now... Each separate wing rib has to be assembled before you can start assembling the wing. In other words... you have to assemble the individual parts before you can assemble those parts into a structure! Each wing rib (for the upper and lower wings) is made up of several parts: the rib itself, the short vertical stiffener pieces on each side of the rib, and the cap strips that get attached longitudinally to the top and bottom edge of each rib. Multiply all of those parts for ONE rib, and multiply the ribs by how many are needed to build the upper and lower wings, and you come up with a long, tedious process. First step is to glue the short vertical stiffeners onto both sides of each rib, and then trim each stiffener flush with the top and bottom of the rib: Then, each rib gets a cap strip on both the top and bottom edges, like this: I'll be at this for a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 How do you plan to display it when done ? Hang it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 How do you plan to display it when done ? Hang it ? Well... I haven't thought about that yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 4, 2013 Author Share Posted May 4, 2013 Once I had all the wing ribs built (rib, stiffeners and top and bottom caps), it was time to build the wings themselves. Basically all you do is slide the ribs onto the horizontal spars (in the correct order, the ribs have to go on in a particular order). Once all the ribs are in place, I laid the wing down on top of the plan and slid all the ribs into exact position using the plan as my guide. Once everything was in the correct spot and everything was squared up, I clamped the wing assembly to the edge of my work table and added a drop of CA to each rib/spar intersection: In the photo you can see that one of the rib top caps popped off. No big deal, once the wing asembly is dry I'll just glue it back down. Then it's on to installing the leading and trailing edges of the wings, and the wing end caps, which I have to form by soaking some wood strip and then bending it to make the curves. More to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 I think the tri wing Fokker would be a good "next" project for you. Whatcha think ? : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 4, 2013 Author Share Posted May 4, 2013 I think the tri wing Fokker would be a good "next" project for you. Whatcha think ? : ) I think that would be one wing too many! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Harry-has the wood provided been straight-like the spars? Had to cut new wood frequently in the old days. Is the die cutting clean or do you have to trim and remove 'hair'? If you're not already doing so, put waxed paper on top of plan sheets and build / glue onto top of that. Also useful when you laminate those wing tips. What happened with the spinner cone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 4, 2013 Author Share Posted May 4, 2013 Al the wood is straight as an arrow, and very crisp and sharp. The diecuts are laser-cut, so the edges are absolutely sharp and perfect. I'm going to make the cone out of the tip of a plastic egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Wouldn't you be able to find propeller nose cones among RC suppliers? Or maybe US drone manufacturers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 Getting close to finished on the wing structures... for the upper wing, all I still need to do is form the curved wing ends and attach them: On the lower wings, I created the curved wing tips by laminating several strips of the same birch veneer that I covered the fuselage with. It was easier to get the tight radius curves using this method than to try and soak and bend a solid piece to shape: I still need to add all the wing trailing edges (actually a piece of stiff wire), then sand and form the leading edges so that they are rounded in profile. Since this model will be covered (not a "skeleton" like the kit is intended to be built), I'm leaving out all of the internal wing detail... a whole network of pulleys, brackets, metal tubes and tensioning cables that was used to keep the wings stiff. Since none of this detail will be seen on a "covered" model, I see no point in spending the time and effort to include it. Also, since I'll be covering the wings, I didn't have to be too careful when applying glue... I flowed a lot of it into every joint, since it doesn't matter whether or not you see any glue. It all goes bye bye when I cover the wings! More to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 Top wing done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Your grid is in inches I'm guessing ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 Your grid is in inches I'm guessing ???? Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpride Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 I don't usually get too involved in aircraft but I like the look of your model. If I ever built a model for myself ( we have made many for work) it would be a GeeBee racer......because they are unstable hot rods. I also followed Burt Rutan's work for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 I sanded the leading edges of the upper wing so that they're all round in profile, and added the trailing edges of brass rod and aluminum tape straps (included in kit) to hold them to the ribs.. Too bad all of this cool looking structure will be covered... never to be seen again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 Front cowling made from a section of plastic Easter egg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Clever idea with plastic egg. Looks like it worked out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustbucket82 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 and I thought my Wingnut Wings kits were nuts, Very nice work Harry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Structure of lower wings done. If I was building this model as intended, these would be finished and ready to install: But I'm building a covered version, so all of this structure will disappear forever. Too bad! The "bones" look cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaughn Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Amazing work Harry !! Looking foward to seeing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 More on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I don't know how you can juggle so many projects at once, and do each one so well. This looks like the toughest project I've seen you do, harder than a Pocher, and if I had the skill I'd do it the same way to put canvas on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 I don't know how you can juggle so many projects at once, and do each one so well. This looks like the toughest project I've seen you do, harder than a Pocher, and if I had the skill I'd do it the same way to put canvas on it. This one is tougher than a Pocher, but probably because I've built a lot of Pochers and sort of know what to look out for... but I have never before built a model plane that wasn't a typical injection-molded plastic kit, or has anywhere near this much detail, so this is literally virgin territory for me. Especially the covering of the fuselage and wings. Never done that before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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