All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
#426
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
Well, there's another 8hrs....I love this! Cosmetically this part should be ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!! :P
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
This is 6 Oz tape. You don't want to know how cheap I get this stuff surplus.
One man's trash....
Talk about saving time!
One man's trash....
Talk about saving time!
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
OK time to do a 'splainin' - what am I doing!?There are a few things going on here at once but I'll do my best to take some time and explain my approach. I could lay down 2 layers of 6 Oz cloth, peel ply, blotter, bag it, and be done with it. Does that sound like me?? HECK NO!!No, I want to capture that late 20th century, industrially manufactured, moulded-in, toy-like, monotonal opaque plastic look that people are drawn to and they don't know why.The other thing I'm trying to do is make an airframe with a factor of safety of 1.1 - what's that mean? - that means just strong enough and that's it.The main intent here is to saddle the firewall to the wing. In the following photos you can see where I've added 2 layers of a heavy 9 Oz cloth where the firewall and also the wing mounting blocks at the rear of the cockpit will be installed. Essentially they are 4" wide composite integral bulkheads. They are directly connected again by 9 Oz cloth through the chin plate in the firewall subassembly and also 2 layers of heavy cloth in the aft portion of the wing saddle.Another concern are tail loads. Pitch loads are handled pretty well by the inherent "egg" cross section of the rear fuselage, but this capacity will be greatly enhanced when the port and starboard subassemblies are joined using 1" stips of 9 Oz cloth.Yaw loading is transferred down the sides of the fuselage wall through and into the reinforced wing saddle by the 6 Oz tape that I've also overlapped along the centerline to form an integral longeron for additional beam strength.If you look closely you will notice that there are areas where the fuselage will be only the thickness of the saturated cssv that forms the camouflage surface. Will this be enough?? Honestly, I don't know. That's why I tried it in a couple of small areas that are supported peripherally. I can say this much - I expect it to be as puncture resistant and as strong in tension as any iron on film.I've also improved the flow through the integral exhaust manifolds.
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
These joins are all prepped with 80 grit and alcohol.Join Rear Lower Fuselage SeamInsert Ply Dowel BulkheadI was having to wait for the ply bulkhead insert to cure so that I could remove the saddle sections for access when joining the firewall chin subassembly.Cowl mount blocks held in place temporarily with quick 5 minute epoxyNext time I will have access to allow attaching the firewall chin in the same operation as the lower rear seam and dowel bulkhead.
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
...not a lot of time today, but I did find the hour and a half to assemble the chin to the main fuselage - now we wait.... I know, I know, what else is new
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
How do you arrive at a unique airplane?? You nique up on it of course!
Slowly, but rest assured, assuredly, I am moving toward something here. lol
Green leaves a lot to be desired in the way of opacity.
Untrimmed Weight - 820 grams or approx. 1.8lbs
Slowly, but rest assured, assuredly, I am moving toward something here. lol
Green leaves a lot to be desired in the way of opacity.
Untrimmed Weight - 820 grams or approx. 1.8lbs
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
I've carved enough hard balsa block and melted enough plastic in my mother's old oven to know that waiting overnight for a canopy frame to set up is almost too good to be true! Not bad for #2, but canopy #3 will be even better...
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
You guessed it - that's a lower cowl section.The tool in all rights should have been at least a two piece mould with the forward section pulling straight off the nose.Don't be fooled by the test part, rather let it convince you of the durability of the materials involved. I stood on the mould and pulled and twisted that thing with all my might.Pile it into the ground, dust it off, pop out the dings and stick it back on. Lets see you do that with an ABS cowl - NOT!!We conquered the opaqueness issue with a couple of coats of automotive paint in the mould.So the next fuselage will get brown camo followed by green paint.
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
...not to worry, I'm dealing with a difficult landlord this summer - I'll be back at it shortly
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
New shop - new building season
Wing Mould - Section #2
Flooring Laminate
Old Lamp (tubing)
Furniture Sliders
1/4-20 thread inserts
Aluminum T-slot Extrusion
Carnauba Wax
Hold on....here we go again
Wing Mould - Section #2
Flooring Laminate
Old Lamp (tubing)
Furniture Sliders
1/4-20 thread inserts
Aluminum T-slot Extrusion
Carnauba Wax
Hold on....here we go again
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
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These air fittings will be filled with clay and cast in place along with the o-rings. I'll rough up the OD's with a file first to ensure adhesion.
Inexpensive, yes; effective, time will tell.
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
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Clay holds O-ring flat to face. (8 places)
Barbed part ejector port also included in saddle area.
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
no point in throwing another $100 in epoxy and cloth at reinforcing this section until I've seen the cavity - if all turns out well, I can always rough it up with a cup wheel on the grinder and lay down a few more layers of heavy cloth
hopefully this will set up enough to remove the forms tomorrow - now we wait....lol
hopefully this will set up enough to remove the forms tomorrow - now we wait....lol
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RE: All Composite 1/7th P-40E Mould Build
These flanges are 2 layers of 9 Oz cloth over the tool coat.
It works well. The flange is firm, but still somewhat moveable.
It works well. The flange is firm, but still somewhat moveable.