willig10

Had to get some bushings for the wood hold down blocks inside the fuselage as the drill grabbed the wood and split it. I repaired it but did not want to use the nylon bolts with just wood. So went to Ace hardware and bought some sleeve bushings that install on the back side of the block and still allow me to use the nylon bolt.

Anyway I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Glenn

willig10

While waiting on my wife to go to work, I went ahead and started working on the cowl. All in all not to bad. I will have to do some massaging to get it to look like I want but it is definately doable. I was going to buy a fiberglass specialties cowl but will see how this one turns out.

Glenn

willig10

Added some squadron green putty to the seams of the cowl, commenced sanding to get a feather edge, then added another bead of putty and waiting on it to dry so I can feather it out. Once the cowl has been mated to the fuselage and the support blocks and engine baffle plate have been installed and glassed, I will use some high fill primer and spray the cowl. Then sand it down and check to see if I need to fill in any low areas.

Next I bolted the wing back on and checked for incidence. The manual says to stand 10 feet back and check the fit between the stab and the wing. I use a robart incidence meter and a bubble level on the main spar of the wing. Both the tail and wing are level and true.

Then the plane was flipped upside down back into the cradle and the forward wing dowel supports were epoxied on.

Now waiting on the second coat of filler to dry.

Been kind of a slow lazy build day and not sure how much I will get done over the weekend (Family time)

If I can get some work in I will post progress. I have a job comng up next week starting Tuesday and will be gone for roughly 10 days.

Glenn

willig10

All:
Well I changed my mind, after thinking that the mounting blocks and cowl baffle are inside. I decided to go ahead and prime the outside. After the first coat of primer it was evident that there was some wet sanding needed as some of the scratches from the previous sanding were showing. So the cowl has been weet sanded and a second coat of primer has been shot. Tons better but still not what I want it to be. Got a couple of pin holes and some scratches are still showing. Almost there and one more wet sand and primer should do it.

More later.

Glenn

willig10

All:
After wet sanding, filling, priming and more wet sanding. The cowl is finally to my satisfaction. It might vibrate apart later on but right now it is very rigid and I am satisfied with it. I will moniter it once the plance has started flying. Hope it stands up. Worse case scenario, I will purchase a fiberglass specialties cowl.

Glenn

willig10

All:
Today consisted of making up some landing gear cover hatches. First thing I did was go to Mr. C's and bought some larger size magnets and glued those to the landing gear base. Then glued washers to the hatches that I made to cover the gear. After that the hatches were installed. Plans call for using tape over the fiberglass but I like my idea better. What do you all think?

Next up was cutting templates for the cowl ring and glueing them to a 2 inch x 5/8 inch balsa block then cutting them out and forming them to fit the templates and ultimately the cowl. With that work came assembling some cowl mounting blocks as well. These fit in between the cowl ring blocks.

After the cowl ring blocks were fitted and glued into position, I trial fit the cowl. Was very pleased with the results.

I will be gone for awhile as I have a job in OKC. Will post more progress when I can.

Glenn

TonyBuilder

My Feedback: (11)

Glenn, looks good. Instead of washers try a pice of K&S tin, glee it to the hatch, and your good to go.


TB

willig10

Thanks Tony but too late, washers are done glued. May do it your way later, am pleased with the way it came out currently

Glenn

willig10

Went ahead and ordered the Big Ass Bird decals last night. Currently they have a 15% off deal going and got them coming. While I was at it I ordered a cowl from fiberglass specialties. Although I am happy with my cowl, I dont want to buy another decal if my cowl vibrates apart. Anyone wanna buy a nice primed cowl.? Lol.

Glenn

willig10

Hey everybody:
Have any of you flown the Bavarian demon cortex gyro.

jstyle13

My Feedback: (1)

Where did you order them from?

willig10

Aeroloft

willig10

Made it back home Yesterday. Was working nights and took a day to sleep. While I was away I bought a J-3 Cub (Flyzone select scale). Also my Fiberglass Specialties cowl arrived today.

Here are some pictures.

Glenn

willig10

Got the new cowl cut and sanded. Then came the primer. Will need a little touch up work. Very impressed with the finish of the cowl from Fiberglass Specialties.

Glenn

willig10

Got my cub maiden in this morning. Little dude flies awesome. Really impressed with it.

Glenn

willig10

Installed the cowl supports (ply), then installed (temporarily) the cowl mounting blocks. After that was done, the cowl was reinstalled over the blocks and then centered on the fuse and looked at visually at all angles to ensure the cowl is straight and there is clearance for the propellor.

While working on this in the garage. The mailman came and delivered my decals. Pretty awesome.

More to come.

Glenn

willig10

Yesterday evening and all day today, I spent installing the tail surfaces and then the servos. The rudder gets a coupler and both elevators and rudder were soldered on prior to installing to the servos
.
Then had to fabricate a mount for both the retract servo and the retract mechanism. Pleased with how this came out.

Tomorrow will be concentrating on building the lower half forward fuselage. Then will be mounting the wings and getting the wing fillets complete. Getting close to fiberglassing.

Glenn

willig10

Spent all morning and this afternoon getting the fillets prepped, Glued, Trimmed to the wing saddles and filler applied. looks like the belly pan will be tomorrow's project. I am waiting on the filler to dry so I can sand and then check to see if I need more filler.
More to come.

Glenn

willig10

Got the Fillets sanded. They will need some touch up filler. Went ahead and started assembling the belly pan. Not satisfied with the fit the template gives for the balsa covering. I will work on getting a better fit for the belly skins tomorrow.

Once the Belly skin sides are installed, the wing bolt tubes get fitted and glued in place. Final skins installed and then some fillet work and the build is complete.

Going on vacation Friday to Myrtle Beach and when I return, I will commence fiberglassing if all goes as planned.

Gotta say this is one "Big Ass Bird". haha

Glenn

willig10

Drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for my wife to leave so I can use her side of the garage. Going to try and get the Belly pan finished and the fillets done today. Leaving tomorrow so this will be it for a while.

Glenn

Leroy Gardner

Glenn after reviewing your build one thing is apparent, your a good builder and likely a better than a good builder. Your plane is not a novice kit and requires advanced skills to build it right. I got the impression from our PM's that you want a good finish and will detail it with rivets and all. I just love the look of good rivets on a scale plane even if it is a sport scale build. I don't know what you have in mind for rivets but I know what they should look like. So many builders take the easy way to do the rivet detail and often they look pretty good, speaking of glue dots and vinyl. When I built my1/4 scale Spacewalker 11 last winter I modified the fuselage to look like metal skin and was introduced to real aluminum scale rivets which I made and put on the plane, glad I did as there is nothing like them. I have never seen them on a war bird and wonder if I can inspire you to use them on your plane. If you are intrested in the process I would be happy to share it with you.

Here are some pictures of what they look like, I had also did the pannel lines. My plane won best Civilion Plane award at it's first showing.

Leroy

willig10

Leroy that is one nice looking bird you have there. I am definately interested in the rivets. I believe the P-47 uses flush rivets. What is your method for installing those?

Also please feel free to post any covering, paint tips etc. It is very much appreciated.

Thanks
Glenn

willig10

All:
Got the belly pan assembly done. Went over the seams with some filler and sanded. Going to add a tad more filler then sand and that should be it. Will need to cut out the forward portion of the wing where the balsa from the pan goes to the fuselage.

Then remove the wing and sand the forward and aft portions of the belly pan to match the former profiles.

As of now the "Build" is complete. Next up will be disassembling all components and prepping for fiberglass. (lucky me) haha.

Glenn

willig10

Does anyone know where to get the paint called out for the Big Ass Bird Paint scheme? Will be needing to order paint soon. I am going to use an air brush and paint gun. I prefer not to use rattle can paint. I may have to but like to use "equipment". Some guys have certain things they look forward to like wiring etc. Mine is buidling and painting. So looking forward to getting to the paint portion.

Thanks
Glenn

willig10

Here is the scheme, Anyone know where to get the color chart or does anyone know someone who does?

Thanks
Glenn