psbk

Tom,
Fuse is looking great.

Robert,
Thanks for posting that link. Between this thread and those picures, I shouldn't have any problems with assembly. My box from Precision should be here in a couple of weeks.
Pat

ludfleet

My Feedback: (10)

Hello Robert , I went to the site that you showed for the 33% and I thought it looked different than mine, that is the 30% not the 33. I always thought that they were identical just blown up, but not so.
They are similar but not identical. Becareful what you take from the photo's. Joe

rcharrisjr

HI Joe-

Thanks for the heads up. I did assume that the kits on the link were identical for both 30% and 33% versions. Hopefully, some of us who will be building the 33% version will do a nice job of documentation with some pictures.

Thanks again-

Robert

Kellermann

Hi everybody, a happy new year to you all.

A warm welcome to all the new guys...it's nice to have some fresh projects going on here.

See ya
Marcus




Edited to remove unsolicted URL link to commercial website.

tflyrc

My Feedback: (9)

Your website looks great Marcus.

Tom

ludfleet

My Feedback: (10)

Hello Marcus, Good to hear from you, Do you use oratex for covering? also do you use the same material for the graphics? If not what material do you cut your graphics from? If you don't mind any help will be appreciated.
Joe

Kellermann

Thanks Tom.

Joe, the graphics I do in a mixed way.

Starbursts and Reg # = Orastick (adhesive, matching to the Oratex colors) or Oratex, with a lower temp setting, since it shrinks real easy...
Dual Stripes = Orastick or Monokote
Pinstripping = Orastick or Monokote
The handicap of using Monokote is that you have to iron it on.

You can use other films and 'tex but Oracover/Tex/Stick works best for me...

Marcus

ghealey

Hi Marcus,

I am not sure if I am the Jeff you are referring to. I built a 30%SD a few years back and posted my progress. What you guy's did during your building experiences on the 33% sure did assist me in the 30%. it is still going strong down here in Australia. I have another Wendell iron in the fire, his Vagabond. I am not quite obsessed as I was during the SD build and this is taking a bit longer. As usual Wendell's plans are superb. The only glitch is, here in Australia balsa is getting both very expensive and hard to find in constant grades. Building is a dying art and we builders are not being well catered for. The ARF instant gratification is all the rage here. It does have a down side, long term club members are not coming on board. Probably due to the lack of dimension in the hobby without the building component.

Nice to see you are holding the thread together. Warm regards Geoff Healey

Kellermann

Dear Geoff
nice to hear from you. There is another Jeff, (his nick is inthetrees) which I was actaully referring to, however, you're included as well.

The Vagabond is another nice flying plane. And nothing beats the joy of building a wooden plane...
I have built several in various sizes, the last one a Vag relative, a PA-16 Clipper.
Made of Depron and Balsa, electric powered, 88 inches wingspan.


Keep the pix coming...did you ever post pix of your finished SD?

Marcus

ghealey

Hi Marcus,

I did post some pics but here are a few more. I modeled it after a full size in San Paulo PT-OTB. It is a really good model to fly and performs very much like the full size. The spins are quite something, slow and graceful. Touch and go's are a pleasure on a breezy day, if you let go of the elevator on touch down and advance the throttle, you can go for as long as you like with the tail wheel off the ground before take off. It has a Zenoah 62 and it provides more then enough power. It is finished in Koverall and dope. The paint is auto acrylic.

I am looking forward to finishing the Vagabond and like the SD I think it will be a great flyer.

warm regards,

Geoff

Kellermann

Yes Geoff I remember...you and a fellow in Norway did the same scheme, and I guess Donnie in Florida too.

One of my production SDs was done in that livery too. See the pix below.

If you take a look at my website you'll see the many different schemes done on them...
www.marcusmodelfactory.com

See ya
Marcus

P.S how's the weather? Here it's hot and humid. 38-40C are not unusual.

ghealey

Hi Marcus,

I did post some pics and for some reason the files did not attach in the previous reply. I hope these work.

Warm regards,

Geoff

ghealey

Hi Marcus,

Your models are beautiful, well done to you. I like your finishes. I have thought about building a second 30% in the conventional star bursts. There is a new SD at my local airport that I would base it on. I had better finish the Vagabond and a few other projects in the mean time though.

The weather here is warming up and Monday 11 Jan it will be 41deg. Last year in Melbourne we reached 46 and this year is supposed to be worse. We had some terrible bush fires last year so it looks like there will be more.

The flying here is good though this time of year. Generally steady winds but the flies are bad. My field is very good and we are fortunate to have an air conditioned club room with lots of shade around the pits. www.pdarcs.com.au

I had a bit of a nostalgic streak lately and built a couple of non scale models for fun. One is the RCM Advanced trainer that goes well with a 20YO OS70 Surpass. The other is my own design with classic lines I think. it has a DL30cc gas engine ( picture shows a MLD28cc but since changed ). The RCM is dope and tissue on the fuse and the other and both wings are Koverall and Dope / Paint.

Kellermann

Geoff
the Decathlon looks great! And I guess it's a nice flier as well.

Marcus

Kellermann

Thanks Geoff

But I don't want to fly on others' wings - the finish on the 2 SDs you see on these pix was done by a customer of mine for his contractors. But they are MMF Decathlons. I built them and delivered them in their bare bones. The guy used Monokote, looks like the finish is OK.

I use Oratex and Oracover. An Auto PU coat seals everything in place.

Marcus

Kellermann

Geoff

forgot to comment on your non scale planes.

I sometimes get bitten by the nostalgic bug too. Some years ago I built a 1/2A Buzzard Bombshell on 2 channels, I also built a Milt Boone Charger from the 50's on 3 channels.
I have dozens of old timer plans, and one that still is on my to-do list is an original Fred Reese Cloud Dancer. I set the goal to build it exactly as per the plans. Let's see when I find the time to do it. The SD production takes all my time.

Your planes look great. Especially the Dragon Lady-style speedster. I only miss a cowl on it. Perhaps an original DL cowl will fit.
Guess it's a terrific flier, doesn't it?

Have fun

Marcus

Kellermann

Here's a little progress on my Blue-n-Silver Decathlon as well as another Red-n-White, that one for a customer.
Didn't make much visible progress, since it took much time to build the struts and the fittings, actually did it for 4 planes already.

First mating of wings and fuselage, fitting of the V-struts. Done it on the two planes, next step is covering both pair of wings.

Marcus

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Fine looking planes Marcus.

psbk

Marcus,
Great work. Thanks for posting the pictures….I learn something new every time. I received the cowl, wheel pants and landing gear today from Fibertech. I spoke with Precision Cut Kits yesterday and should have a box of balsa in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to getting started on my 33%.
Pat

Kellermann

Thanks Ken.

Pat, please post pix of your project as soon as they're available...good luck!

Marcus

tflyrc

My Feedback: (9)

Ditto from me Marcus: Looking good, as usual. I like the way you have been able to mass produce the door hinges.

Kellermann

Tom,

I had a friend angle-welding the tubes to the metal straps which go on the door, to my specs...he did a bunch for me, so I am covered for a few more SDs...this is the most critical step of the whole assembly, as the straps must be parallel to each other and the tubes perfectly aligned. That means that each tube must be welded to the strap at exactly the same angle...better if done in a jig.

As for the hinge itself, I cut a couple of small pieces of square U-shaped Aluminum, drill 3 holes in it: one, for a screw to attach it to a small recess in the fuse side, and 2 aligned holes for the hingepin, which I bend from scrap 2-56-thread pushrods to the "hook" format. After final assembly I bend the hook-pin a little out of shape below the lower hinge so it can't pop out by itself when under vibration. Another way to avoid that would be glueing a small piece of tubing over the pin, but that is much more noticeable, and, worst, it will prevent the removal of the door.
If on the full-scale that hinging is meant for safety reasons (door kick-off) on the model the great advantage is the possibility of removing the door when installing something in the cockpit, which is easily achieved by bending back the hook-pin to a straight position.

Later I will make some drawings and post them here...

Marcus

tflyrc

My Feedback: (9)

Marcus: The really add that scale appearance to the model. I made mine out of brass u channel and soldered a tube to the end. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, mine is just for appearance and I have two robart hinges hidden beneath them. Of course I will not be able to remove my door. I am hinging the window on the other side w/ some piano hinge for the scale appearance which will provide additional access to the cabin. I am also thinking of maknig the skylight removable, but have not committed to that yet. Lately I have been getting some Club40 and Quickie25 Racers ready for the season. Just too many things to have fun with....racing, IMAC, and the SD.

Tom

Kellermann

Tom, the correct on my models would be an U-channel instead of straps, but who really cares? If I want to go all out to scale on mine, for instance, I can still cut lengths of U-channel and screw them beneath the straps and the fuse, and nobody will see the difference...

A removeable skylight is not an option on my design since there is the non-scale wingtube crossing it and it would be difficult to reach inside anyway. I paint the whole cockpit interior with light gray (primer spray) so the tube is not that noticeable. I also do the scale black crossbracing on top of it so from a few feet away one has to look sharp to see the tube...

Your solution to the hinges is also interesting. ON my prototype I had the pilot window opening as well. But in the series it's way too much extra work which nobody really cares about...

Have you already decided on what color scheme you'll be replicating?

Marcus

tflyrc

My Feedback: (9)

Good point Marcus. I forgot about the non-scale wing tube crossing, which I am going to have. My color scheme is going to be White w/ Apple Green and Black stripes. I posted a Citabria photo many threads back w/ the colors. For the SD, I am using the same colors (using System Three Epoxy paint) but w/ the SD pattern as opposted to teh Citabria. So its not going to be a replica of an existing aircraft. I am making this as a semi-scale fun to fly plane. Recall it's the 30% size and I am putting a 3W-70 on it.

Tom