KitBuilder

Your horns came out nicer than mine on the 1/6 N17. I'm using a magnum 52 4stroke. I had to recess a box in the firewall for proper hub clerance at the cowl. I purchased this to allow me to route the stock muffler direcly out the bottom between the gear yet close to the fuse. I inverted the motor. Getting ready to cover.. can't wait to see her go.
http://rcspecialties.net/products.php?model=RCS16x15S (not this one.. the one for the magnum)

debspersonaldogwalker

Life's been getting in the way...summertime! About the only modeling lately has been flying a Sig Astro Hog with Thunder Tiger .91 four-stroke power.
I'm trying to revive some piloting skills...like landing! But dog walking, bicycling, swimming, this job I have, and my sweet wife all conspire to make modeling
seem like a rainy day kind of thing.

debspersonaldogwalker

The cabane strut and landing gear fairings are shaped and stained. I've glued on the cabane fairings and sprayed the assembly with clear urethane.
Hopefully it will seal the wood and metal and resist the fuel residue. I'll cut narrow strips of black Ultracote to strap around the fairings.
I'm using a Minwax "Provincial" stain marker for color and five-minute epoxy. This stuff is going quickly.

debspersonaldogwalker

Here's the interplane struts and landing gear strapped with black Ultracote and pretty much finished. My interplanes got smeared with some of the epoxy so the stain is blemished. I've gone with the plans instead of trying to get better scale detailing. The plans, however, show the strapping a full 1/2-inch wide and mine are more like 3/16 to closer approximate the real thing as shown in a few photos. I'll probably spray on some more urethane to seal the strapping and give the wood another coat.

KitBuilder

Looks real nice...
Whats the deal with the stain marker and epoxy? Your suing them together or??
Mike

debspersonaldogwalker

Hi Mike, The interplane struts are two thin strips of basswood laminated together, then shaped rounded etc.
I laminated them with epoxy and got some of it onto the surfaces as warned against in the instruction. So there are spots
soaked with epoxy where the stain won't penetrate. I'm now feeling like simply getting the airplane finished and not
sweating the small errors.

debspersonaldogwalker

It's a very good thing I took the construction photos! It's been so long since the model was assembled I needed to refer to them to see how I'd assembled the interplane struts. AND I put them outside the mounting lugs on the wings, not as per plans. Anyway, more photos.

KitBuilder

On the N17 1/6 the struts are one piece pre-routed to accept the wire. I tihnk i likte the clamshell idea better. I see your using pull pull with secondary arms. I did the same and found its getting might tight in there.

I had an issue with battery placement and actually ended up cutting a hatch in the top. There was lots of space there but no way to access with the tank in place. Where do you plan to put your battery.

KitBuilder

On the N17 1/6 the struts are one piece pre-routed to accept the wire. I tihnk i likte the clamshell idea better. I see your using pull pull with secondary arms. I did the same and found its getting might tight in there.

I had an issue with battery placement and actually ended up cutting a hatch in the top. There was lots of space there but no way to access with the tank in place. Where do you plan to put your battery.

I misunderstood about the epoxy / marker.. i though you had mixed the two somehow.

debspersonaldogwalker

I've built a box of liteply to hold the battery above the engine and in front of the firewall. Been unsure how to seal it against oil and am thinking it will simply be glued closed.

debspersonaldogwalker

Covering has begun...I've never been able to completely finish a model and then apply the covering. Once again, I'm impatient to see it covered.
I've started with the rudder. I'm using Sig Koverall polyester fabric and Coverite Balsarite adhesive. I had to wait a week. First, I tried it and the fabric wasn't sticking. Then I ordered the FABRIC formula of Balsarite, I'd started with the FILM formula. I've used Koverall with Balsarite before on a Sig Hog-Bipe so I was confident in getting good results here. The Fabric formula seemed too thick and gummy. I mixed the two and feel the mixture is a better consistency.
The only trick in this covering job is dealing with the installed control horns. It turned out to be really easy. I cut a piece of Koverall a little bigger than one side of the rudder. Then I cut a slot to fit around the horn. Then with the fabric laying on the rudder a low setting was used on the iron and the fabric was ironed around the base of the horn using just the tip of the iron. The perimeter of the rudder was then ironed at the "corners" while pulling the fabric a bit taut. I'm saying "a bit taut" because unlike film the fabric easily warps to remove looseness. It also irons around the curved and rounded perimeter of the surface without folds or any problems.
So the first side of the covering was ironed around the edges until it would start to adhere to the other face and then trimmed with a razor blade. Trimmed this way the fabric will overlap around the rounded edge without being overlapped on either face.
After the first side of the rudder is covered and the covering trimmed more Balsarite needs to be painted onto the fabric where the other side's covering will overlap. This goes reasonably quickly, by time I'd cleaned the paintbrush the Balsarite was dry enough to cover the second side.
Once both sides were covered and the outline fully attached on both sides the rest of the sides were ironed to attach the fabric to the ribs and to lightly shrink it. Before painting it will get ironed again at high temperature.
The pictures will show the slotted fabric layed over the rudder, then the other side, then the trimmed and stretched result. I'm using a Raisin Bran box as a nice and recycleable cutting surface.

debspersonaldogwalker

Here's the lower wing half covered. I'm laying the fabric onto the structure with slots cut for the strut lugs. Then I'm starting at the lugs, ironing the fabric down around them and moving away from them in all directions ironing down the loose fabric as I go. It seems to be working OK without stretching the fabric excessively. The elevators got warped, I think they are too soft torsionally to handle a lot of fabric tension.

houndstooth

houndstooth

Hi there,... just skimming over your build with the "TOMMY", and I would like to share my exsperience with this aircraft... The Saito 40 four stroke is a good engine, but will lack the power you'll need... I finished my "TOMMY" two years ago.... started out with a O.S. 40 L.A. with a "pitts" muffler.... took a lot of runway to get her off the ground...  But, she flew scale... This is her 3rd flying season, and now I have  a O.S. 55 AX with a" pitts" In her. And now she flies better than ever!... I have the power it needs, and the weight?... Highly needed since the "TOMMY" builds tail-heavy... VERY tail heavy.. Still needed about 8 ounces up front ... Don't worry about the weight,... Ya have enough power, and she's ballenced correctly, she'll fly!   Very stable aircraft!  Balsa USA did a great job!  The wing tips could use some" re-enforcement", because they will " warp", when the covering is" ironed -out"... I covered the plane with SIG Koverall and 2 coats of dope. paint was Sherman Williams house paint "sponged on"... Colors were "olive drab" for the top of the wings, and a dark "mustard" color for the fuse... A bright yellow, and black checkered cowl. The metal "cheek" covers were "checkered", also... and a set of "wire wheels" set's her off!   good luck, and enjoy. The  "Magnum 52 4-stroke" is perfect for this kit,...  And your build looks GREAT!   K.... one question.... How do you put pictures on this website??? I'll be starting a" Flair", BRISTOL F2-B kit, 1/6th scale soon,...   and would like to post the build from the start...  Keep up the good work!!!

Wagon1

Is an OS 52 FS to big for this kit? (I was given the engine from a friend). This is my first choice but I'm afraid it might stick out. I've read a few threads on the 1/6 Pup and they seem to have no problem with the 52. This one looks a little cramped up front. My birthday is coming up and I need to know which one to tell the old lady.

Thanks!

Homer712

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for putting in the effort of posting this build. Now that I'm retired I plan to do a winter build each year. Last winter I built a Sig 1/5 scale Cub (always wanted a yellow fabric Cub) and it helped bring back some of my long forgotten building skills. For this year's winter build I was torn between the FunAero S.E.5a and the Balsa USA Thomas-Morse Scout. Your build thread has sold me on the Scout.

Safe flying!

debspersonaldogwalker

Wagon1, my cowl measures about 6-15/16 inches outside diameter. The Saito .40 has about 1/8 inch clearance inside the cowl. I think it will be OK.
I've cut a rounded rectangular hole in the lower right side of the cowl as shown in photos of the Scout. This hole exposes part of the valve cover. The engine is mounted on about a 45-degree downward angle to point its exhaust pipe out the bottom of the cowl. I think the engine will be well ventilated.

This web page http://www.osengines.com/engines/dimension-std.html provides a dimension of 3.29 inches from the center of the crankshaft to the top of the valve cover. I think it will fit into the Scout cowl with breathing clearance.

These photos show the engine mounted inside the cowl with the fuselage inverted. I'm trying to show the clearance between the valve cover and the cowl inside surface and the amount of openings near the engine.

Wagon1

Thanks for the heads-up. I hope to get started by October.

Now quit teasing us and post more pictures!

Mike

Wagon1

Ordered my Tommy this afternoon. Just waitin' on the brown truck.....

texasclouds

Any progress with this build? I'm building a 1/6 scale 53" Fokker D-VII right now.I bought a Saito 40A for it as well.I'm shooting for 5 lbs, but I image the final weight will be 5.5 lbs.

Mark

debspersonaldogwalker

I look at getting the throttle linkage made, getting access to the carburetor adjustments, getting a practical route for the aileron cables, etc. and don't want to mess with it.

texasclouds

snap out of it man, you are so close! just do a little work each day and next thing you know you will be finished and flying her!

Wagon1

Hi DPDW. I have been working on my Tommy for a few months now and have been using your thread as a reference. It has been extremely helpful and motivating. Before most steps I read the instructions a few times, review the plans, then go over this thread for help. I have actually reached a milestone in my build. It is that point were it looks enough like an airplane that I can actually make airplane noises when I know no one is around to hear (machine gun noises come later)

I have noticed in some of your pictures that you have drilled holes in the webbing between the wings spars. Can you tell me what that is for?

Thank you for putting this thread together for us!

(by the way....that is your airplane, not mine)

debspersonaldogwalker

Kind words, Wagon 1, thanks! We live at 6300 ft. elevation and my airplanes sometimes take car rides over multi-thousand-foot mountain passes with the accompanying rapid changes in air density.
That and sitting in the sunshine on summer days makes the covering billow out and delaminate from the balsa in places.
I ventilate the entire structure to the exterior with those holes in the ribs etc. and vent the entire wing behind the aileron or somewhere like that.
I think it helps keeps the covering stuck on. I do it on all my models.

Wagon1

I've hit my first snag. Everything up to this point has been pretty perfect. I have been especially impressed with the die cutting. This morning I was going to mark my firewall to get set up to join the fuselage sides and noticed the firewall is way out of square. I would just try to square it up on the table saw, but two sides looked off. I have a piece of 1/4 ply from a previous project I will cut. My tablesaw is unfortunatley under the drywall and door I am using to build the plane on! Oh well, I guess I needed to clean up my shop anyway....