Shihtzutan

Hi guys, yup I'm a kit basher. I can't leave things alone and I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I enjoy a good build but kits are getting scarce. I know there are plans out there and you can have kits cut, but it's a pain in the neck and extra pricey. Since I actually flew an AT-6 a few years ago on one of those warbird adventure rides, I wanted a little memory of the plane I flew, so when I wring it out I'll have flashbacks of how it felt. I prefer working in 1/6 scale but the Top Flight ARF looked promising, so what the hell, I have a Satio .100 doing nothing.

So I ordered the kit, thought about it, then stripped it. Usually when I do this I get to uncover the workmanship. I was pleasantly surprised. No repaired damage, plenty of glue and it isn't that white rice glue like on so many ARF's have!

I use Dave Platt style hinging techniques, so far the ailerons, elevators, and rudder is done. They will be fabric covered, trim tabs cut in and off set just a bit. I'll post pics as I go along for those of you who are interested. The skinned surfaces shall be fiberglassed. The rudder will be pull-pull, the elevator actuated with a carbon fiber rod. I'm not sure about the retracts yet, they look a little cheesy.

Prior to covering, the V-portion of the leading edge is cut or sanded away so it square. Lay small tube, Sullivan flex cable tube works well here, down the center. Tack it in place, pulling it taught so it perfectly straight from tip to tip. Frame it in 1/16 balsa so it’s held on both sides, use medium CA to make a fillet near the tube. Again sand it so it’s flat, and just cuffs the tube. Cap it with a piece of stock that matches the thickness of the V that you just took off. If you are good, you can simply replace the V. Round the leading edge. We are making scale hinges.

On the Trailing edge of the Horizontal and vertical stabilizer’s you will make it concave so it accepts the rounded fabric covered pieces nicely.

Here are the tail feathers and ailerons, covered in fabric, the tube running down the center of the leading edge.

If you are going to do trim tabs, you will need to frame them for strength. The idea is then to slightly off set them for scale realism. A little but of right rudder is usually best, just enough to accentuate the tail. If you are up to it, you can use a bamboo skewer, flatten the tapered ends and cut them off to create housings for the trim actuators. A small piece of cable or music wire between them does a convincing job. You’ll see that later on. Use white glue to attach them so it creates a clean fillet.

The split elevator wire is deleted and I use a hardwood dowel for the elevator torque rod. What you see in the middle is a super strength Dubro servo arm drilled out so it’s snug on the dowel. It is not epoxied yet. The dowel is embedded into the leading edge of the elevators, then filled with epoxy and microballoons.

Shihtzutan

Installing the ailerons.

Make the trailing edges concave. I used a Dremmel, and finished with dowel and sandpaper. Cut the leading edges of each aileron with a scroll saw or razor saw, The cuts are approximately the same width as the hinges.

Make the hinges. I use 1/8 thick G10 material. Cut it with a Dremmel and reinforced cutting wheel. Sand to shape. A .035 is drilled into one end of each hinge. Round the end so the hole at its radius. Cut a piece of music wire a few inches longer than what you will need. Trial fit the .032 music wire and capture each hinge one at a time. The hinges should dangle freely. If not make adjustments.

Temporarily remove the music wire. Place the aileron onto the wing and using the notches, put a light pencil mark where you will need to slot the trailing edge to accept the hinges. I used a zip bit for drywall with my Dremmel. Carefully cut a vertical slot for the hinges.

Reinstall the music wire onto the aileron, again capturing each hinge. Place the hinges into the slots and center the aileron. You can sand the slots slightly from side to side if adjustments are needed. Any gaps can later be filled-in with a mixture of microballoons and epoxy.

Move the music wire so it’s flush with the outermost end of the aileron. When it’s in position, push the wire into the wingtip so a small hole is made. Remove the aileron.

Locate the hole and cut the aft end of the wingtip off with a razor saw, (just forward of the hole). The idea is to embed a tube that will line up with the music wire in the aileron. Reinstall the aileron and hinges. Make a groove, deep enough to be flush in the aft wingtip to accept a small piece of tube. Glue an oversize piece of tube into this groove. Trial fit the wingtip, inserting the music wire from the aileron through the tube in the aft wingtip. Make adjustments and shim if necessary.

Put epoxy in the holes of the trailing edge. Use a popsicle stick to make sure you get the balsa nice sticky. Apply a small amount to the hinges. Slip a piece of cardstock or a piece of sandpaper under aileron in two locations; this gives the aileron a small clearance. Tape it in place. Epoxy the aft wingtip in place. Work neatly; do not get any epoxy near the wire. Tape in place and let dry overnight.

The rudder and elevator are installed the same way.

Shihtzutan

I’ve always hated the way aileron leads are pulled though an open structure. An R/C plane in my humble opinion should we designed with light maintenance in mind. You can make a very slick channel for the leads using Estes model rocket tube. Its easiest to slip this in before the wings are joined, tack it in place with CA, then run some expandable Gorilla glue around near where it touches the wood to capture and hold it secure. The tubes on the AT-6 are cut so the aileron tube exits into the flap servo bay, then picks up again from the flap bay to just under where the servo leads are going to exit the wing. The inner tube carries both the aileron lead and the flap leads. With the tubes installed, epoxy the wing and let dry overnight. Do not worry about installing the flaps at this time, this comes later in the build.

I use Microglass by Sig, it’s 6/10 oz per sq yard, and unfortunately I’ve just been told it has been discontinued. It takes 9 square feet to cover a 1/7 scale AT-6. I used the following fiberglassing technique very successfully. The wood is smoothed to perfection, then rubbed with nylon to create static electricity. The cloth is sucked onto the surface of the wood; gently pull the wrinkles out. Using a thinned mixture of 20-minute epoxy, mix enough to cover the entire wing on one side, about 1/3 paper cup, including about 1 oz. of MEK used to thin it. You can use Acetone or Denatured Alcohol. The consistency of the mixture should be that of Half and Half. This is brushed on with a reasonable wide camelhair brush, working from the middle to the tip and from the center the to the edges. Work quickly (which is why we are using a 1 inch wide brush) The thinned mixture penetrates the cloth easily and does not trap air. Let the edges hang naturally. Let dry overnight.

Shihtzutan

Glassing takes several days. The fuselage will where most of the �bash’ will be. Once the outer skin is glassed, it will be a little more dent resistant. You can work on the fuselage and the wing, trading tasks one for the other as things are set aside to dry. You can begin priming the wing, working out the imperfections. Dents can be filled with several layers of primer. I use a roller and KlassKoat Primer, it sands and feathers better than any paint I’ve ever used. The small items, such as trim tabs will be rubbed with lightweight Spackle thinned with water, then sanded. Using Spackle on bare balsa seals the grain; it will be lightly sanded and primed.

Gather the materials for the bash. It helps to have a digital caliper to scale against a three-view drawing. Find a three-view drawing and a specification sheet. Spec sheets are easily found online. I was surprised at how unavailable three-view drawings were for an AT-6! I ended up buying a plastic model to approximate where the panel lines are. I also know for a fact that the cowl on the TF AT-6 is too long axially. I believe the designers at TF extended the nose to get the model to balance with little or no weight. I’m a scale guy, so to make my model look right, I’ll be moving the engine back and shorten the cowl.

Length: 28 feet, 11 7/8 inches
Height: 12 feet, 6 inches
Wingspan: 42 feet, 1/4 inches
Elevator Span: 12 feet, 11 5/16 inches
Prop Tip Clearance: 11 49/64 inches

Propeller: Hamilton-standard
Type: Constant speed, two blades
Diameter: Nine feet

Shihtzutan

The tail wheel is from Kleets, now made with the Dubro name. The arm it comes with will not be used. Remove it. Use a piece of brass tub as a shaft extension, flatten the brass about an inch up, and bend it 90 degrees to make what will become the arm to actuate it. Slip this over the steel tail wheel shaft, then find a wheel collar that slips over the brass. Remove the setscrew from the wheel collar, make a mark through it onto the brass, and then drill a hole into the brass so the setscrew from the wheel collar passes through the brass and onto the steel shaft when it tightened. I decided to give the tail wheel it’s own servo, slaved to the rudder, it will be actuated with a rod.

Shihtzutan

With the fuselage glassed, it time to consider creating a full cockpit. I like looking into my models so using a razor saw, Exacto, or Dremel, remove the cockpit deck, and yes, the hideous 45-degree slanted poor excuse for an instrument panel. The servos will have to be relocated. Don’t worry too much about the strength of the fuselage; you’ll be replacing some of the structure. Make the seats. I made mine out of balsa, styling them from the seats in my plastic model. Any time you are working with bare balsa and don’t want the grain to show, you will need to rub it with thinned Spackle and sand it. If you plan to use a full-figure pilot it’s time to figure out how low the seat is going to need to be. The pilot’s eyes should be well above the instrument panel, but he should have that tucked-in look when viewed from the front. Trial fit the canopy to make sure the head isn’t touching. You can glue the instrument panel directly to the plywood former; you’ll find it looks about right there. Make a rear seal to match the front seal and lower it in to approximately the same depth.

Meschmidt

My Feedback: (15)

I wish I had the paitence and skill to be as detailed as you are. So far this year I have put together (2) 82" AT6 ARFs, built a 60 size TF "Jug" from a kit, a GP Super Skybolt ARF on floats, 70% done on a 92" Nitromodels P38 ARF, as well as maintain a fleet of (4) Big Bird warbirds and six other planes for fly-ins, fun flys, float flys, and pylon racing. Been to at least 11 flying meets this year and a few swap meets. If I keep this up I will burn out! I want to do it like you and really enjoy concentrating on one plane and build something I can really be proud of! Paul

Shihtzutan

Hi Meschmidt, you seem quite the builder yourself. Thank you for the compliments, I think you have the skills within you as well. Pick a subject to make your 'flagship' and take the extra time to expore what can be done. I enjoy sharing what I've learned with that special breed of modelers who care enough to take it to the next level, I learn from them and every now and then they learn from me. I'm looking to re-recreate convincing scale models, not necessarily trophy winners. I like flying my models in a scale-like fashion to recapture some of the �romance’ of the period. As a warbird lover, I can usually spot where the model designer took liberties or shortcuts. I love exact scale models and I'm a big fan of Dave Platt, but those models are nerve wracking to fly and enjoy on a regular basis and in less than perfect conditions.

On with the project . . . it takes several attempts to get the servos set up in a manner that everything works as intended. I'm a big fan of arrow shafts and pull-pull arrangements. Three attempts later I finally got the servos at the correct height and location to permit a straight shot to the control horn, however the inner cross braces on the formers had to be removed; I did this with a Dremmel equipped with a flex-shaft, reached inside and sanded it away. The pull-pull servo is located behind the rear seat and will be covered with the aft portion of the cockpit deck. The servo for the elevator is on the left of the rear pilot and the servo for the tail-wheel is on the right of the rear pilot. Manually operate the servos to insure clearances, make adjustments if necessary.

Shihtzutan

After rearranging the control rods, I decided to true up the fuselage. Referencing the 3-view drawing and the specs on a full size AT-6, I discovered a fuselage that is larger than 1/7 scale and a wing that smaller than 1/7 scale. The horizontal stabilizer about 1-inch too wide and the wheels are too small. Given we are essentially working with a 1/7 scale AT-6, the prop should be between 14 and 15 inches; perfect for the Satio .100! Since this is a simple kit bash on .60-size warbird being built to be my frequent flier, I've elected to modify only the obvious.

The fuselage needs to be extended approximately 1-1/4 inches while the cowl needed to be shortened by Âľ of an inch. This allows us to use the engine mount supplied with the kit, the will be mounted well forward on the arms. I cut 1-1/4 pieces of thick balsa stock and glued it to front of the plywood nose ring. Using a bar sander I sanded it even the front reasonably even. Then shaped it to blend with the fuselage using fore and aft strokes to properly capture the contours. Feel it with your hand, when satisfied, glass it. You will easily be able to feather and prime the nose to perfection. Some stock in the inside diameter of our cowl extension will be Dremmeled away with a sanding drum and fiber-glassed for a finished look. Something like this is likely to be ogled at the flying field. Keeping weight and balance in mind, we will be adding a few layers of fiberglass cloth to the inside that flimsy cowl that came with the kit. I'm hoping the extra weight we are adding will offset the servos arrangement in the rear cockpit. Cowl screws have always been a no-no with me; they will need to be hidden.

Shihtzutan

The rudder arm modification is something new I tried and it seems to work pretty well. Take two large horns and put them back-to-back. Cut a slot into the rudder wide enough to accommodate the vertical fin of the control horn. Using a 1/8 rotozip drywall bit on a Dremmel, make a perpendicular vertical cut. You should be able to slip two horns in, back to back. When satisfied, epoxy them in. The horns should be buried completely inside the rudder; what remains is a nice clean arm on both sides. Fill and sand imperfections.

NoFlaps

My Feedback: (131)

Looking fwd to seeing more... Keep it up !

The Mouth

Shihtzutan you have some very nice models in your profile area. you should bring some of them to warbirds over woodstock. it is at woodstock airport in connecticut. here is a link with more details.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9089562/tm.htm

Shihtzutan

Thanks, I kind of have to wonder if I should accept an invitation from someone named "The Mouth", but I think I just might attend Warbirds over Woodstock if the weather cooperates. Thanks for letting me know about it.

The trick to getting things right it to take your time but do something every day, even if it's a 5 or 10 minute thing.

Engine Mounting: I'm going to use the stock engine mount and pinch the engine tight enough between the forks to get an idea how things are going to have to be before I drill any holes. Referencing my three-view drawings, I get an idea where the prop needs to be. The cylinder head of my Satio is going to necessitate Dremmeling away some balsa; I trial fit my engine until I’m satisfied.

Cowl mounting:
The cowl is flimsy. I lined it with a nice piece of marine grade fiberglass cloth and let it dry overnight.

I want to mount the cowl so the screws don’t show. I decided on L brackets made from brass strip. One hole will need to be drilled into each of them. We want the tabs to be long enough so the ball driver won’t need to be at an extreme angle when we reach inside to attach the cowl. The cowl needs to be mounted so it overlaps the fuselage slightly. I used three screws spaced approximately 120 degrees apart and I need them to be accessible from between the dummy cylinders. Prep the dummy engine and mark the cowl from the front to see how well it lines up between the cylinders. Place the cowl on the table and looking down into it. Rest the brackets on a piece of scrap ply so they are mounted up inside the cowl slightly. Tack them in place in place with CA. Remove the engine and trial fit. When satisfied, use a strip of cloth to capture the L brackets permanently.

Shihtzutan

I also decided I couldn't live with the rollover bar, so I snapped off the framework and reused the top piece, drilling into the bottom slightly so the 3/16 dowel I intend to use will stay in place long enough for me to figure out how long and how much angle I’m going to need. I use epoxy to take advantage of its much slower drying time, then loosely placed it, trial fitting the canopy from time to time to judge what the proper height should be. They are about 3-1/2 inches long. Before the epoxy sets, I find the angle I need, and then let it dry at that angle. Let dry overnight. The next day add diagonal the braces.

Shihtzutan

A lot has transpired since I posted last. The time consuming things would be the fillet between the wing and the fuselage and adding panel lines. Since this is sport scale and not exact, panel lines will have to be approximated. The fuselage and wing need to be brought to near perfection, then primed. For initial primer I use a roller, so it goes on heavy and fills the weave and small imperfections. Sand the hell out of it until the glass begins to show through, use a sanding block or palm sander wherever possible. For round surfaces, a 2-foot strip reasonably fine sandpaper works well to buff the curved surfaces like a toe of a leather shoe. The panel lines are put on next. I used 1/32 chart tape in this application, then using a different color primer, prime only over the tape, this keeps the weight down. When dry, pull the tape, remove any residue and prime lightly for an even color. Do not sand the panel lines (trade secret). The idea is that those sharp crispy edges are intended to be jagged and easily broken off. Spray the color coat. When dry, buff the painted surface with a piece of fine steel wool in the direction of the airflow if the plane was in flight. The crisp panel lines will break off and leave behind a beautifully accented panel line. Use a dark color primer for light colors and a light color primer for dark colors for the best contrast.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Great job , I love arf bashing , I am bashing a CMP Fw190 as well in warbirds .
Your doing excellant work

JP8650

My Feedback: (-1)

great job! keep it up!!!

Shihtzutan

Painting takes some time because of the kind of paint used. This stuff dries fairly quickly to the touch and becomes impervious to all known substances after three days, including acetone. You will note the panel lines showing through the paint after a little rubbing with some fine steel wool. Always rub the wing cord wise and the fuselage vertical when steel wooling; this has to do with the way an aircraft naturally weathers on the tarmac. I use frisket paper to trace the letters I printed and scaled on the computer. You can download military style fonts from the web. Use a scalpel to cut away the letters after applying them to the model. The stencil is pulled after the paint is dry to the touch; do not wait three days if you want a nice clean edge. The use of a scalpel means that you do not need much pressure to cut the stencil (another secret) and lessen the chance cutting through the surface. Markings are applied about every three days. If a mistake is made, you can simply wipe it off with acetone or lacquer thinner and start over. This paint is very forgiving. Another benefit to this paint it that you can paint white over the darker colors no sweat. White will be white no matter where you decide you want it, this makes painting insignia very easy. Decals, who needs them?

Shihtzutan

My search for a 10” 1/7 scale pilot is proving to be a challenge. Why don’t make 1/7 scale full body pilots? We jump from 1/6 to 1/8. ***, Gee look at the difference! 1/8 scale flanked by my 1/6 scale pilots. It looks as though I’m going to have to make my own. Another large project is looming. After creating a full cockpit with every intention of using a decent full body pilot and buttoning it up with a non-working canopy, I found myself being delayed. I could continue working on the airplane if the canopy was made to be functional, so here we go, opening another can of worms. The AT-6 canopy was going to be tricky. I needed to make the front canopy functional so the pilot could be added and I needed to make the rear canopy removable so I could service the pull-pull servo just aft of the rear seat. My hobby shop is well equipped, so this what I came up with.

1. Cut the canopy windscreen off, making a very accurate cur using a razor saw.
2. Tape the windscreen to the rear portion to make it whole again
3. Tack the windscreen to the fuselage with CA
4. Remove the rear portion.
5. I used styrene rectangular channel and an I-beam to make the front slide.
6. Make a mark for the cut; but offset it to make a nice narrow track. I mad the cut with a Dremmel cut off wheel then sanded it with a nail file. Trial fit the I beam so it slides nicely. Cut it off to the appropriate length, and with I beam installed, glue the assembly to the fuselage.
7. When dry, use microballoons and epoxy to blend it in.
8. Cut the front canopy off using a razor saw
9. Trial fit and align it the with the windscreen.
10. Apply CA to the I beam and hold the front canopy in place until the CA kicks
11. The front canopy is supposed to slide over the stationary center, the rear canopy is supposed to slide inside the stationary center. There will be height adjustments and off sets to make it look right when completed.
12. Cut the rear canopy off, make adjustments so the front of it fits under stationary portion. Squeeze it so the fits precisely into the stationary portion of the canopy to make sure it has the right shape, then tack it there with a super small tapping screw; they come as small as size 0. Use a piece of stock and place it across the top for the canopy as a straightedge to make sure the tops of all the canopy portions are reasonably parallel. When satisfied; tack CA the rear portion of the canopy to the fuselage.
13. Use flexible 1/8 inch tape and make the outline of where the fairing belongs. I had to cut a good portion of the rear canopy away because it didn’t fit right, but no fear, it filled and feathered into the fuselage with microballoons and epoxy. Let the filler firm up just enough to hold its shape, but before it dries, pull the tape and leave it along until dry.
14. Sand and feather, trial fit the rear canopy.
15. I used a piece of .030 thick flat plastic styrene and made an inner lip on the rear portion. It’s cut to precise length and holds itself there with spring tension, when satisfied, put a few drops of medium gap filling CA at the top and let it run down and wick in. Put just enough CA so the bead stops itself by the time it gets to where it meets the fuselage.
16. Once the rear cockpit is in place, it cannot be adjusted. I ended up with a small gap on right side. To fix it , I eye-balled the gap, burned it into my memory, then taped off the area where the rear canopy would be. Once again, microballoons and epoxy to the rescue; let it firm up then pull the tape. Come back a few hours later, the microballoon mixture will be stiff but reasonably dry. Oil the rear edge of the rear canopy as a precaution and install it. This will act as a release agent if the microballoons are dry enough.
17. With everything in place, push the microballoons in slightly to make the edge butt up against the canopy for a perfect fit. Hopefully I’ll be able to remove the rear canopy tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Sharpeye22

Ihave learned a lot from you and others on RCM and look to learm more. Iof course try out on my builds what I read. To that end what is the brand of paint you are using?
Sharpeye

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Great idea on the canopy channel , I have tried to do that myself on brass and it was too diffiult with a dremal to keep it straight , but plastic should be much easier !!!!

Shihtzutan

Sharpeye, I'm using Klasscoat paint throughout, it’s a two part epoxy system that is very easy to mix because it’s 1 to 1. All colors, aside from aluminum, black and white are mixed from the primaries blue, yellow and red. If you don't know how to mix colors, learn. It's a lot easier than you think. I learned how to mix paint from a Dave Platt DVD. I cut my expenses for paint by more half and I always have the colors I need. Klasskoat spays well, dries fast, feathers beautifully, and is impervious to everything.

scratchbuilder46

Shihtzutan, following this thread. I was given the kit for working on a club members airframe. This will be the second one I have built. #1 did the left turn servo lock death spiral that a dead battery will do. I had 4 flights on her and she flew well with an O&S .61 with the scale exhaust system. Your Saito 100 will be plenty of power! I will put a Super Tigre .75 in #2 as I got it on eBay for a reasonable price, once again using the scale exhaust. May I make a suggestion if you have not done retracts yet. Robart makes a set of scale retracts for the kit. They include scale struts and are bent at the correct angle. These are not the wire ones, but true to scale. I know the retracts in the arf are mechanical. The robarts are air up air down. I used the wire ones in
#1 they did the job, but will spend a little more for the scale ones. I did #1 after the "Goldilocks" air team from Canada and will do #2 the same. All yellow with blue accent. Yellow seems to show up really well at our field. Great job so far with an arf. I will use some of your ideas on #2.

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Shiltzutan, I have one of the kits and watching your build makes me want to build it. The one I fly now, a Hollywood Zero, was built around 1993 to dog fight with my son’s flop tite P-40. We had a great time, he eventually switched to the P-51D, then he put WWII warbirds down for jets and heli’s. Mine has seen its better days and the one bugaboo that has plagued me since day one was the 1/8 Lt. Ply firewall with a 1/8 Lt. ply doubler. My problem was the doubler stopped before it reached the stressed balsa skin allowing the firewall to oil can. At first this did not concern me and I’ld CA it when it would come loose. But after ten years the stressed balsa skin had soaked up a lot of oil and now it is foamed in place and when that gives out I will have to replace the firewall and balsa skin under the firewall. You may want to run some triangle stock between the stressed balsa skin and the firewall if your firewall is built the same as mine.

Joe

JP8650

My Feedback: (-1)

do you build for other peoples? Im asking cuz I would like someone to build me a Ziorli P-40, B-25, T-6 or P-51 I havent made up my mind what one I want but im thinking a P-40 or B-25