MountaineerFan36

Well guys here she is. For those of you who have not followed the "Can't find a 4*60" thread I'll give you a quick recap. I basically could not find a 4*60 ARF at Tower (out of stock till mid July) or my LHS and posted the thread. Several people replied and suggested I might try to build a kit. I was (and still am) very nervous about building a kit, but decided to forge ahead and ultimately have something I can really be proud of when I'm done. I have never built a kit before, and am somewhat inept when it comes to anything one might consider "building" or "mechanical" in nature.

I'm really excited to get started and plan on taking things really slow and enjoying the process. My hope is that I learn a lot along the way, and perhaps some of you can learn from the inevitable mistakes that I make!

Anyhow here are some pictures.....Day 1!

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

What are you doing!?!?!?!?
GET TO BUILDING
I know how excited you must be. Good luck, and ask plenty of questions. I think, however, you'll find the instructions and plans for this kit plenty of information to get you through. Please, though, post pics along the way!
BTW,
forgot to mention before, a flat surface is a must!
I don't know where you plan to build this at--a shop helps, but the kitchen will work as well (if you have an understanding wife!)
For a flat surface, a used, cheap, interior hollow core wooden house door works great. Others have used 3/4 inch MSD board with ceiling tiles glued to the top. The wood is for a flat surface, and the celing tiles are for something to stick your pins into.
Just some ideas.

Sukhoi_Madness

YES... Start!!!

You could have finished a wing half in the time it took you to write the first Post...

[8D]

Pictures Too...

flmlm

MountaineerFan,

I think this will open a whole new dimension to the RC sport for ya! You can do this, nothing like flying a plane that you've built yourself, the feeling is awesome. Read that manual real good.

Above all else take your time and if there's a step you don't understand, by all means ask on the forum first before proceeding on. This forum is a major help and there's plenty of folks on here that want to see you succeed in this build.

Remember, take your time and enjoy the build as pieces come together. Have a great time with the build and keep us posted.

Regards
Mike

ICE_MAN

WTG! Building is alot of fun! As stated earlier a flat surface is a must... And it's great that you bought (what looks like) all you need to finish the kit! You'll find it's 10X easier to complete the kit (or any plane for that matter) when you have ALL you need sitting right there.. Good Luck, Keep us posted

Pilot Chad

My Feedback: (4)

What alot of stuff you got there.

In the little bags, I see
Tail Wheel,
T-Pins,
Wheels
Knife blades
Slot magic thing
Extensions,
Spinner,
battery, and
foam rubber,

What's all the other stuff.

Have fun. I finished my whole wing by the second day on the 40





That was over a month ago, last week i had to go back and fix everything i screwed up on. Take your time.

ScienceisCool

My Feedback: (1)

post lots of pics of the progress... i'm thinking about making my next plane a kit but like you am very nervous. keep us posted and GOOD LUCK!

PCW

Good luck on the build MountaineerFan !!!!!!

I picked up a Four star 60 from my LHS last week. Just like you, I am about to start building in the next few days.

Best advice I have had so far is read the instructions around five times before you do anything, then read them again.

I'm lucky I have a friend that has built a 40 and 120 size 4* so he has been very helpful with pre-build info, what I need to get etc.

The one thing he keeps saying like every one on the thread..... GO REAL SLOW and if in doubt, ask the question.

I'm sure you will enjoy the experience and build many more.

MountaineerFan36

Here is what I have completed for the night. I feel like I've made progress...this thing actually resembles a wing! I've learned a few things already

1.) It is difficult to make a strait cut on the balsa stick with an exacto knife...might have to look into that scroll saw

2.) CA glue gives me a headache...need better ventilation


None of the ribs or braces are glued in yet...wanted to post these pics to make sure everything looks ok before I glue them in. I think I may have top part of the spar doubler a little long (pic 3)..the brace doesn't seem to fit snug against the rib so I might have to trim that down a bit. Sorry for the poor quality of the pics

One question...when the instructions do not specify what thickness of CA to use...what should I apply. For example in the instructions my next step says "glue all previously positioned pieces".

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

looks good.
Couple of points:
Exacto makes a small razor saw that comes with a miter box--works great for 90 and 45 degree cuts!
There is an odorless CA, if you need it! Some people absolutely need it.

carrellh

I cannot tell from the photos... do you have something to keep the wood from being glued to the plans? Wax paper works ok but is not totally transparent. Great planes plan protector works good and is clear. You can also buy clear plastic sheeting in the paint dept of Lowe's or Home Depot. Probably the same material as great planes sells but much cheaper.

The majority of balsa gluing can be done with thin CA. In some cases you tack with thin and fill in with medium or thick.

You might want to download the manual for the Great Planes PT-40 or PT-60 trainer kit. My first kit was a PT-60. The great thing about the manual for these trainers is that they assume you've never built anything before and tell you which glue to use on each part. You can pick up ideas to use on your build.

Pilot Chad

My Feedback: (4)

That wing looks good. When they don't specify, i normally use good judgement, (High stress, or low stress) I might br wrong but i think thick CA is stronger, but it takes a bit longer to dry. I used it on the main spars, and ALOT on the fuselage. It just gives that extra tack...

Keep biulding good
Chad

Vogan

Welcome to the world of kit building Glad you decided to go with thr kit, in all likelyhood you will have it done before Tower gets the ARF back in

For mine I placed all the pieces as you have done and then went over it with thin CA. Once the wing panel was complete I went back over with medium CA. This is what they say to do in the manual and it works very well.

Good luck with the rest of the build, I found myself having to deliberately take it slowly as it is just so quick.

Test005

I built a 4*60 as my first kit.
It's very easy and you can frame it up in a couple of evenings, much less work than I initially thought.

I went from CA to wood glue and like it better.
It's nicer to work with, sandable, no smell and gives you time to position the pieces.

A small trick I used was to apply wood glue to the wood, then I tacked the piece in place with a drop of thin CA.
The CA keeps everything in line and secure while the wood glue cures.

Here's mine:
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_2723587/anchors_2725646/mpage_1/key_test005/anchor/tm.htm#2725646]Pictures[/link]


Just read the instructions and make sure you understand the steps before you go ahead and do them.
Building a kit is not rocket science and if you have a few hick-ups it'll still fly.
Do it right, but don't over-analyze and worry to much. Enjoy it, it's a fun part of the hobby and takes you to a new level, you're building your own airplane!

The 4*60 is a very popular design and many many people on this forum has built one, fire away your questions and I'm sure you'll get lots of help and support, but before you do, try to solve things yourself, it's more fun for you to figure out how to do things.

Godspeed

bruce88123

Use a box fan and have it blowing SLOWLY across the building area. This will keep the fumes out of your eyes and lungs. It can actually be sucking or blowing. If sucking you could attach a furnace filter to the face of it to catch a lot of the particulates you will be kicking up. You will need to run it a little faster to draw thru the filter though but still won't disturb your work.

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

not sure how you fly, but you might want to increase the size of the rudder and elevators.....

I added about 1.5 inches to all surfaces (can't remember the exact figure) and added counterbalances...

if flew nice stock, but with the increased through it will do just about anything.... great knife edge, excellent flat spins, it will even waterfall....

Have fun!

bruce88123

Just promise me you won't put Legomen in the cockpit. It's been done already and looks so silly. IMHO.

Connery

Congrats on taking the plunge!!! Just remember, there are a lot of us watching that have built this kit and many others and will be happy to help out when (IF) you need it.

I think you will love the Saito 100, I have only just gotten mine broken in and I already love it. I used a 15x6 prop and mounted it to a stand for break in. I fueled it up, and adjusted the mixture screw out five turns as per the manufacturers instructions. I bumped the prop back against the compression as I was shown before and it started up on the first first flip. It only took a couple of minutes for it to suck down the full 8oz of fuel in the tank. I ran 32oz through it letting the engine cool between each tank, and keeping the RPM under 4000 as per instructions. The last tank full, the mixture screw was still about 1/2 to 3/4 turn rich and running at half throttle it ran for over 10 minutes on the 8oz tank.

Ok bruce....be nice!!!

I'm sure once the moderator see this thread he will move it to the Kit Building forum, so if you dont' see it here anymore, be sure to check for it there.

MountaineerFan36

I'm actually undecided about how I'm going to finish it. I thought about a "Mountaineer" plane to pay respects to my Alma Mater West Virginia University. The colors would be a dark blue and yellow/gold. On the underside of the wing I thought about a putting a "let's go" on the left wing....and a "Mountaineers" on the the right wing. (This is a traditional crowd chant at the football games where one side of the stadium yells the "let's go" and the other side responds with "Mountaineers" I know cheesy...but I'm trying to re-live some of my mispent youth.

Joe

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Mfan..good luck, I've only done a few kits myself,,but I fly 1/2a stuff ,,I do have a four star .40 kit that I will build one day ,,dang its huge,,,when you get done with this kit,,get some mini servos and try a 1/2a plane built from scratch..then the fun begins,,when you have $10 worth of balsa and a screamin little .049 on a 2 or 3 channel model your not so jittery on the take off flight...Rog

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I had originally thought about moving this thread to the kit building forum, but I have changed my mind and will leave it here. The beginners forum is a great place for this build thread. Most beginners have to make the same decision when they move on to their second plane, and they are also scared of the build process. By leaving this here I am hoping that other beginners will see that building isn't as scary as they may think. I hope that they will learn from that. So have no fear, this thread isn't moving.

As a personal note, here are my comments from my experiences building. Read the instructions, look at the plans, read the instructions, look at the parts, read the instructions, figure out how the parts go together, and then read the instructions. MY point is to completely understand the steps that you are getting ready to do before you do them. Dry fit all of your parts before you start applying CA. If you have actions to do to get them together with adhesive, then practice the movements without adhesive on them so you know exactly what you are going to do. and above all, take your time.

Good luck and enjoy your build. I'll let you in on a little secret. The pride that you are going to feel when you see the plane you built yourself fly will be better than anything else you have ever done. It's a feeling that you just can't get with an ARF.

Hope this helps

Ken

DamonTX

Joe...Kudos on the Mountaineer theme! I'm a WVU graduate myself (95'). I loved it there but had trouble finding places to fly. I once built a Lanier Seamaster and flew it on the Mongahelia. It wrecked in the woods and we looked for it till dark. While looking for it we can across a couple, shall we say "locals", sitting in the woods drinking beer. They said they would find it and told us to meet them the next day. We returned to find they had it strapped to the hood of their car like a prized deer! I took them to Exxon and bought them gas, chew and more beer. They were really happy about that!

Anyway, back to your current project, I saw the previous thread and am really happy you decided to build the Four Star and will be following along very closely. I bought my dad one last Christmas and it turned out great. I flew it for him about a month ago and would have to say it was one of the best airplanes I've ever flown.

Damon

Commander_Drake

My Feedback: (2)

I don't see any covering material or covering tools in the first pictures. It might be helpful to find a buddy in your area who has a covering iron and heat gun and some experience to help you with your first covering job. This can be the most frustrating part for some new kit builders.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Commander_Drake has a good point. This is one area that frustrates new builders a lot. When you get your covering materials and tools in try practing on scrap wood first to get the hang of covering

Ken

MountaineerFan36

I actually already have a heat gun and covering iron.....and I'm going to seek out some help from some of the guys in my club when in comes time to cover.

Joe