JPBIII

Well after thinking about it, I believe I have built some wash in or out in the wing.
I guess I will start over. Thanks for all the great input.
After I took the wing off the board it just didn't look right.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

One more option:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK258&P=7

When using these it's helpful to tape a few sections of hacksaw blade together (the thickness of the ribs) and saw notches in your LE and TE. It helps to keep the ribs aligned and square.

David

JPBIII

Well I started over this time using a tapered jig to keep the ribs centerline parallel to the building board. I am much happier with the results.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Glad to hear that. It's worth the extra work in the long run. I don't think any computer radio can trim out wash-in in one wing panel and wash-out in the other. The good thing is now you'll never build a twisted wing again. FWIW, I learned all this the exact same way as you.

David

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I bought a new spray gun. The $10 Harbor Freight gun was fine while I was learning to spray, but it wasted tons of material and just didn't lay down a uniform pattern. What do you expect from a $10 Chines knock-off?

Anyway, I spent some time at some of the auto refinishing forums and found out about a $75 HVLP mini-gun that has an excellent reputation. No, it's not a $300 SATA, but from everything I read it comes very close. It's made by Astro Pneumatic and it's model #4020. The best thing about it is that it's designed to operate at 4CFM or less. That's about what my small Craftsman compressor puts out at 30psi. Another nice thing is that, being an HVLP gun, most of the material ends up on the surface you're painting, not in the air as with conventional guns. That's because the nozzle pressure is only 10psi (inlet psi is set to around 40). It can spray a 4 1/2" fan which is plenty large enough for sixty-size models. I can't wait to try it out.

I also found out the hard way that it was the red lacquer auto putty that was causing my dope adhesion problems. So, I brushed a very thin coat of finishing resin over the wing fillets and the putty. I'll scuff it with some 320 and the dope should start sticking. Once I get the fuse re-painted I can start with the clear coating. The new gun should make that go pretty fast. The old Harbor Freight gun had about a 2" fan and it took forever to do a wing. But, that's ok. I'm learning as I go.

David

rcpileit-RCU

Okay, so where can we find these Astro Pneumatic paint guns?

George

LS171Malibu

My Feedback: (16)

Found it here.

http://search.cartserver.com/search/...eywords=4020-1

http://www.spraygunworld.com/product...020-10-12.html

rcpileit-RCU

Thanks!

I was hoping Rainedave might have had a NC source. Good old internet ordering will have to do it appears.

George

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Hi George, there was an auto supply eBay Store that was selling them for $75 which is where I got mine. But, they are not selling them now. Spray Gun World is a good place.

I used mine today. WOW!!! I can't believe what I was missing by using that cheapo HF gun. It's simply a night and day difference. My 1.5hp Craftsman compressor was more than adequate. The dope was going on smooth and even. I had it set for about a 3 1/5" fan; the job goes so much faster now. I am totally happy with this gun.

David

rcpileit-RCU

Thanks David!!

Once again knowledge is shared and lessons learned.

George

mred33

So how about giving us the address of the guy on e-bay. He may have them posted in the future and we can get one then. Also, how about some more pictures of the new paint job so we can see how it is coming out.
Ed

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Here you go Ed. It was about $9 less than any other place I found.

http://stores.ebay.com/Autobody-Supply-Express

I'll post some photos later today.

David

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I decided to try out the gun on another project first to get the feel of it and learn the adjustments. I'm trying to finish up the prototype build for the new Midwest Tri-Squire kit from Early R/C Models.

Anyway, the Astro 4020 lays the dope down so smooth I can't believe it. I have complete control over the width of the fan and the amount of paint being sprayed. I know that for folks who have always used quality guns this is to be expected. I could have saved so much time and dope if I had purchased a decent gun to begin with.

Here are some photos of the little Tri-Squire I just finished painting a while ago. The wing and stab are covered with red Esaki silk.

David

alcarafa

Dave I think your wife is going to kill you if you stain that table cover

mred33

That's one fine looking Tri-Squire you have there. I have used GOOD quality spray guns in the past and I am in need of another one for some painting jobs I have coming up and that gun you have looks to be a good spray gun from what you have said and what I have read on the other forems. Thanks for the information.
Ed

JPBIII

Well my next big step is to join the wing halves and the horizontial tail halves. The plans show to use a
1" block for the tail anhedral and 1 5/8" under each wing tip. I was thinking of reducing the amount of
dihedral for the wing. Good idea or bad idea? Would it have a negative affect on the amount of anhedral for
the tail?

mred33

The way I understand it, the anhedral in the stab has the effect of lowering the effective location of the stab. It would be like you droped the stab down without moving where it enters the fuse. As for the dihedral in the wing, I would leave it the same as called for unless you have some reason for wanting less. I don't see where it will effect the stab and how it acts, but it may have a small effect on the way the plane handles, depending on how much you take out. If I remember right, the 1 5/8" makes the wing almost flat on top, so I don't see any advantage to taking any out. It flies great the way it is, but you could always try it. The worst that can happen is you will need to rebuild the wing if it doesn't fly right, but I don't that it will have that much effect on the handling of the plane overall. I wouldn't go past having the top of the wing flat, but then that's just me. I think a little dihedral looks good.
Ed

JPBIII

Mred33
Thanks for the response , I think I will stay with what the plans call for.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

The weather has been good for spraying dope, so I finally got motivated to do some painting.

The wing is finished and looks totally acceptable to me. It's far, far from flawless, but it looks so much better with the glossy clear coat. I'm very happy with it!

I had been having some problems with the white dope on the fuselage. Somewhere along the way something must have gotten contaminated. Either some oil got on the fuselage or I might have used two different brands of thinners. Whatever the cause I couldn't get the white dope to properly adhere. But, there was more to it than that. The color scheme on the fuse has always bothered me. I just didn't like it. It didn't seem to go with the color patterns on the wing. Something about it clashed to my eye.

So, I decided to take a drastic step. I sanded off all the dope down to the glass cloth. I will start again with fresh primer and dope and stick to the same thinner throughout. I like the stab scheme, so that part I'm keeping. I'm going to paint the top half of the fuse orange and the bottom half blue with no white. It will be a lot simpler and will blend in with the wing design much better.

Also, I never liked the plastic canopy. I'm going back to my original plan and carve one from balsa. I'll probably paint it black, but I'll definitely paint on some framework like the plans show.

I think that all these things were keeping me from working on it all these months. It just didn't feel right. I now have a renewed interest in this project and I'll do it better than it was. Now, I'll be satisfied with it. I'm psyched!

David

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I roughed out the basic shape of the canopy. The UFO canopy has the famous "knife-edge" tunnels. There's still work to be done to get the contours smooth and symmetrical.

David

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Nice work David! It’s heartbreaking when you have to strip all the paint off and start over, but in the end you’ll be happy you did. Now that you’re going with a solid canopy you can gain some extra space inside the fuselage by hollowing out the inside.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks 8178. I didn't think of that, but now I have a place for the air tank.

The fit to the fuse is pretty good I'll still blend it in a bit with microballons.

David

JPBIII

Nice looking, for the canopy is that a solid block that you hollowed out.
Also why is the UFO not listed among the approved airplanes for Senior Pattern?

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks JPBIII. I built the canopy shell up out of 1/4" balsa sheet. The only large balsa block I have on hand is something like 18lb wood. More like basswood than balsa.

The UFO was published in 1977, so it's two years past the SPA cutoff. Personally, I think it should be legal because it's more like a Dirty Birdy Mk II than an entirely new design. All later variants of the Kaos, Daddy Rabbit and Phoenix (I think) are legal. The UFO should be, too.

David

JPBIII

David
Thank, I agree. I would imagine that you could get a ruling at a local contest that would allow it to be flown.
I intend to find out sometime this year.