akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

I guess running the engine got me a bit more motivated today. I taped off the areas to be glassed. Everything forward of the tape will receive that treatment. I managed to get the cloth down on the wing portion of the fuse. I had forgotten how much fun 3/4 ounce glass cloth is to work with.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

I got the second coat of resin on the wing portion and have laid the glass cloth on the fuselage portion. Sanding, primer, sanding... next. I'm thinking that I should attach the sticks that make the king post for the flying wires before I paint. Not sure. I've still got some time to think about it.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

I've been working the landing geer, quite a puzzle. Wish I knew how to braise it would be neater looking than copper wire and solder

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Heres my attempt

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

Flyer, I had to study your gear for a minute. It is sort of disorienting to see it off of the plane. Looks pretty good. Mine is bent and cut to shape, but I was afraid to solder until it could stay on the airplane. I thought it might be a bear to remove and reinstall after it was assembled.

On another note, I looked at BUSA's drawings for placement of the king post and they don't match up with Mr. Fokker's drawings. Well, let's face it, a lot of things don't match up. Anyhow, I'm going to rework mine and I may not glue them in place now, but they need to be fitted before I go much further. I got the wing portion sanded today. I would have put some primer on, but it's raining. Not a good day for painting.

MajorTomski

Just remember the king post was the upper anchor point for the rigging that kept the main spar from bending. So just put yours in line with the spar.

MTC YMMV

Tom

Build is looking fantastic. You inspired me to go invest in a fiberglass cowl for mine.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Got some of the detailing done this week. Happy with using Rustoleum, I will seal it with Topflite Luster coat clear.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

I don't know why I sweat over some details, but the way BUSA indicated attaching the king post was really bothering me. It seems like glueing it to the top deck of the fuse would not be very secure, and then Major Tom mentioned it being located over the spar... Finally, a light bulb turns on in my head. I cut holes in the top deck just behind the F5A former for the king posts. That way they are glued to the deck, the former and the top of the wing. Much more secure. I'm happy that way. I'll coat the exposed portions with resin, paint them seperately and glue them in place when I get around to final assembly.

Flyer, sure looks like yours will be finished long before I'm done. My club has an IMAA fly-in in March. Hope to have it ready for that.

GaryHarris

Looking good! [8D]

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

Got the first coat of primer on the fuse for the ever popular sand-it, prime-it, sand-it, prime-it... phase of finishing. If I ever decide to build a heavy metal war bird, someone please reach through the internet and slap me. I really do not enjoy this part of building and I would probably never finish a plane if I had to glass the whole thing. Also I put primer on the cowl. Fortunately that part is only prime-it, sand-it, paint-it. I am looking forward to seeing how the hammered rustoleum turns out.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

Sanded the fuse for the first time. Not too bad. I really dislike this part of the job. The plane gets ugly for a while and it seems like little is being accomplished. I put a coat of the hammered rustoleum on the cowl. I was in a hurry to see what the "hammered" looked like, so I rushed it. I should have sanded a bit more because I can see a few scratches through the paint. I'll let the rustoleum dry very thoroughly and sand it smooth before I recoat.

GaryHarris

I wouldn't sweat perfection. The real planes were pretty much hammered dog doo looks wise.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

I am concerned about how rigid the landing gear is I might cut the connecting rod on the main gear and insert a spring to increase flex.

MajorTomski

Except for my poor soldering joints failing, the gear hasn't been a problem. Even on some really bouncy landings.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

I found that if I spray TF Lustrekote on taped off areas before I paint I don't get bleed through under the tape and it keeps the paint line very crisp. I am very pleased with the Rustoleum. I will post pix soon. I made my crosses out of Ultracoat and after applying I coated with TF Ultrekote clear.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

some pics of center post made out of aluminum strut. Getting close to finishing.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

No, I didn't fall into a black hole, catch the plague or worse, quit building my EIII. Life just caught up with me for a few weeks. I had posted some weeks ago that a drunk driver had crashed into an automatic car wash machine at my business. Well, about two weeks ago we replaced the damaged machine. Then Christmas happened. Kids home, wife crazy, Dad feeling broke. Then... one of my students (forgot to mention that I'm an instructor at my club) flew his trainer into a tree with me on the buddy box. I felt bad about it, so I repaired his wing. New rule: No matter how it happened, I don't repair student's planes.

Back to the EIII.

Flyer, yours is looking great. I know that once I start covering things will progress rapidly, but for now I'm jealous.

I'm still in the prime and sand stage of things. I put the last shot of primer on the fuse. I've got two coats of the hammered rustoleum on the cowl. Not real happy with that product. Seems like unless you use a thick coat you don't get the "hammered" look. It's hard to be consistent with it. I filled in the king post with some micro-balloons. Hope to get primer on the wing portion tomorrow. If I can stay with it, I should be covering by early next week. My club has a big fly-in on March 8, so I want to "maiden" it a week or two prior.

Oh, yes I need to clean the garage. Note the daddy-long-legs in one photo.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

It tooks three coats of Rustoleum to get the hammered look I wanted. I put a metal cowl and sheeting on my Sopwith and wish I could on this build, looks so much better. The Germans would be proud of your finish work looks great keep it up. Im waiting for rigging parts to finish up. Got 17in of snow over weekend indoor flying for now.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

I know the photos all look the same, but I have been working on the EIII. Almost done with the priming and sanding. One more coat of primer on the wing and a bit of sanding and then I'll be finsihed with that part of the build. Cowl is done. I put some lustercoat on it, just for an added measure of protection. I could not consistently get the "hammered" look. It takes a bit of a thick coat of rustoleum to acheive that look and I am a chicken when it comes to runs in my paint. Ended up with a "speckled" look. It's not to bad. One more shot of paint and the fuse will be done. Covering, here I come.

GaryHarris

Looking good brother!

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

Happy day! No more sanding fine grey primer dust in my garage. I got the first coat of rustoleum on the wing. One more should do it. I will not be using the Hammered Rustoleum again. Fyler may have had good luck with it, but I found it very difficult to be consistent with it. If I could have gotten the look on the cap of the can, I would have been very happy, but no luck. I'll be putting a coat of lustrekote on the fuse before I take the masking off. Looking forward to that.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Sorry to hear the hammer look didn't work out, I'm finished with the rigging and put the plane on my balancer and unfortunately I'll have to add quite a bite of wgt. Wish I went with 26cc gasser. I may still if I can get a deal on one.

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

You have to post a video of it's maiden flight, and... where are the photos of the completed work?

akbowen

My Feedback: (7)

Good news and bad news. Bad news first. I dropped my wing while painting... Of course it fell paint side down onto my grass. Also, the king post that was looking so good suffered a small crack. Well, I'll repair the king post, let the paint dry for a couple of days, sand the grass off and repaint. Just a little setback.

Good news is that I removed the masking from the fuse. I'm very happy with the result. I was worried about the line between fiberglass and solartex, but I think it will work out just fine. As soon as I clean off my work bench I'll start covering.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Well here some pictures the maiden will be a long way off up here. Probably April. You should have left the grass on yours for that weathered look. LOL Yours is looking great