Rick W

My Feedback: (20)

Hi Guys,

Just woundering what your're building over the winter. I have a P-51d for Class I carrier, designed by John Blum, and a profile Big Tiger stunt, designed by Claus Maikis, on the board.

Thanks,

Rick

BtnFlyGuy

Ihave an OTSRingmaster on the bench and a Goldberg Shoestring and a Sig Twister in the boxes. The Twister is going to be "Fancherized".
BTW, does anybody remember the Johnny Casburn "Lucky Sport"? Ihad one as my first "big plane" in the '70's and I'd love to get my hands on one again!

Gungadin

Finishing up a Pathfinder kit, and just purchased a Shark 35 kit that I should be able to start on in the next 3-4 weeks if all goes well.

stuntflyr

Been working on a UHP Gieseke Nobler for 8 years, can I finish it?
Son has had a Sterling Mr. Mulligan going for 4 years, same question!
Chris...

BtnFlyGuy

Chris, How about some pics of your Nobler build? Ihave one in the box that I'm trying to get the nerve to start. Icould use some motivation!
Justin

stuntflyr

Sure!

GallopingGhostler

When I complete the Gilbert .074 powered Baby Ringmaster Gee Bee Z variant (fuel proof clear coating left), I am considering making a 3/16" (5 mm) thick poster foamboard version of a Ringmaster Jr. reduced to 26" (660 mm) wingspan for my Gilbert .11 Thunderhead engine. Other options are to start on my Testors .40 Black Head powered 42" (1067 mm) wingspan Sterling profile Hellcat or .15 powered 33" (838 mm) Midwest profile P-40 Warhawk. Also still have to repair my damaged OS Max 15FPS powered Ringmaster Jr.

BtnFlyGuy

Chris, That looks so very good! Ifinished my RIngmaster and the .15 ME-109. The Shoestring is about 95% complete. The 109 needs a new spinner, the right size, but it was only my second build in 35 years, so I'm not too self-critical.
I traded the Nobler kit for a new Nobler ARF to get in the air with a full stunt ship. I'm thinking of taking on a Vector 40 sometime this winter.

GallopingGhostler

Those are really sharp looking airplanes, BtnFlyGuy. BTW, I think I saw the Ringmaster in a recent Ringmaster Brotherhood discussion. Did you post of picture of it there?

BtnFlyGuy

That's mine, George. I joined the brotherhood some time back and finally got around to building this one. My very first kit was a Baby Ringmaster back in '69. This is also my first try at Monokote and boy did Ilearn afew things there!

GallopingGhostler

Oh, okay BtnFlyGuy, got it. Monokote is neat stuff although different, AFAIK the best in covering and hence why more expensive. I've got two packages of Dave Brown's Skyloft. It is silkspan like but synthetic so it's strong. Shrinks when wet, so it is applied wet. It is inexpensive, so been thinking about using it on my future CL open frame projects. May try water based PVA drywall primer as a sanding sealer on it. Need to get started on my Ringmaster Jr. repairs, broken wing ribs, needs new rudder, broken stabilizer.

Hope you'll give us a flight report on your CL planes when you get a chance, and I'll give one on mine when I finish repairs and fly it.

Rubbernecker

My Feedback: (22)

Not trying to be a know it all but will give you 2 recommendations: 1. Skyloft requires an enormous amout of filler. I used about 8 coats of dope to seal and it still had some pin holes. That weave has openings the size of #2 pencil lead. Silk or polyspan in my opinion are much easier. 2. I wouldn't use drywall stuff. What ever goes on the skyloft (silk and polyspan as well) needs to be flexable? Ask me how I know?[&o] Found out the hard way using Dupont 30 S primer with a flex agent on Skyloft. Painted it with epoxy paint and after about 10 flights, the covering started cracking very bad. Wound up pulling it all off and Monokoting.

Good luck,

John

Remember, there is a reason Skyloft is so cheap!

GallopingGhostler

John, I gather that opinions differ, some folks have better luck with it than others. I thought I'd try a test case with PVA primer, because it is water based and an acrylic product, which I believe is more flexible than the standard automotive paints, and should fill with less coats.

Thanks though for the warning note. I found out a silk supplier through the Ringmaster Brotherhood. I've used silk and am quite happy with it. Usually weave was filled with 3 or 4 coats of clear dope. One can put a lighter weight finish lighter than plastic iron ons, which is also very strong and resilient compared with silkspan and attractive, too.

It's just that this hobby has over time become more expensive with the decline in widespread marketing that used to occur when many people participated and there was a local hobby shop within arm's reach.

I'm just trying to have the most bang for the buck. So, I'll pass on a report as to my success or failure with Skyloft.

Rubbernecker

My Feedback: (22)

No problem and agree. Here is where I have bought silk from which was great & economical: http://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/silk/habotai.html

What ever you do, have fun doing it and keep us posted if you go the Skyloft route.

John

GallopingGhostler

John, that's the same link I've got. Yes, the big thing is having fun, and I'll pick a suitable subject as a test case. It may be a large CL model with alternative construction such as sheet foamboard wing ribs with dowel leading edge, etc. to make life interesting.

GallopingGhostler

John, that's the same link I've got. Yes, the big thing is having fun, and I'll pick a suitable subject as a test case. It may be a large CL model with alternative construction such as sheet foamboard wing ribs with dowel leading edge, etc. to make life interesting.