grosbeak

After the dowel cured I added some thin white glue, sold at Lee Valley as Chair Doctor Glue. This stuff excels at wicking into small gaps and swelling the wood to lock two pieces tightly together.




Here's the mocked-up rudder end of the pull-pull system clamped in place.




After determining where the cables needed to exit the fuselage, I marked and drilled 3 holes...



... and cut along them with a razor saw to open them up into slots.

grosbeak

The sides of the fuselage were now much weaker where the slots exit the large lightening hole, so I added a couple of 3/8" x 3/8" balsa cross members to restore the strength.




A few months ago I saved some rigid plastic rods from the trash, thinking they'd be useful in a future project. I've forgotten what their original purpose was, but they'll make perfect guide tubes where the cables exit the fuselage.





A little Gorilla Glue is just the thing to lock those in place. When I install the actual cables, I'll add some heat shrink where they pass through the guides to ease wear and tear.

grosbeak

Another thing I've been puzzling over is covering the inside of the window frames in white. I've mocked up a corner with some 1/8" plywood scrap and ironed a scrap piece of Monokote into the corners.




I glued a scrap piece of 1/8" lexan into the frame with canopy glue overnight. I used WAY to much glue and had to cut and scrape it out, but the bond is very solid.



Still not sure if I will go to all this trouble covering the frames, but it's good to know it'll work if I do.

R/C Art

My Feedback: (38)

For What It's Worth:

I use the yellow inner ny-rods for all my cable exit guides for the past 10+ years. It wears very well with both wire cables and coated fishing leader wire. I have used it on 1/4 and 1/3 scale WW1 planes with no failures to date. I am confident enough with this system that I am installing it in my 1/2 scale Nieuport 11.

Your window detail is a good solution......looks good.

grosbeak

Thanks for the tip, Art... I'll keep that in mind. As for the window solution, not sure it will work quite the same way with radiused corners but I might still try it.

grosbeak

Here's a last pic of the plane (almost) all together before I tear it down for prep and covering.




I've made a hole in the firewall for the choke and throttle linkages. I'll fuelproof it with thinned epoxy after the covering is complete.




Filling and sanding the fuselage.




Filling and sanding the empennage parts and ailerons.

grosbeak

Duplicate post

grosbeak

With the Gorilla Glue cured it's time to cut the pull-pull cable guides flush.




Love that flush cut saw! A little sanding and the tubes were flush with the surrounding areas.




Here I've marked the locations of the top (solid) and bottom (dashed) covering seams. Note that the dashed line passes through some lightening cutouts towards the rear... this created problems (more detail to follow).




While getting ready to start covering I discovered a problem.



I bought FLAT Monokote! Oh noes!

grosbeak

Luckily my LHS had two of the correct colour in stock. Four more are on order.




I prepped the fuselage with SIG Stix-It along the edges and corners.






Covered the back section of the bottom with no problems (those may look like wrinkles in the far back of the photo, but I assure you that's a reflection from the window).

grosbeak

The front section of the bottom went on equally well.




It was when I started on the side that I ran into problems. There were large wrinkles (nothing new) so out came the heat gun, just as it did for the bottom panels. But while I was trying to remove the wrinkles the covering shrank and the seam pulled back (It's suppose to run along the dashed line).



I'm guessing that this is due in part to the fact that the seam ran over empty space in places. I may also be using too much heat. I'm interested in opinions.

In any case I tore that panel off and will redo it.

Bob Paris

My Feedback: (13)

Hay Grosbeak,
I have found that when I'm covering a large area...to use one large piece of Super Monokote, and over lap enough on all sides, to get a good grip on the covering, to help pull tight. I over lap at least 6" and all my buddies state I waste a lot of good covering...but it works for me and my finished product is perfect.

Now first I start by heating down all the four sides, and smooth it out as best I can, while using high heat with my heat iron. I pull as best I can on the side over lap as I heat down and set the Monokote. Use caution here and use enough pull, to keep everything as tight as I can. It doesn't have to be perfect...the heat gun will pull the rest of the wrinkles out-at that stage. I then...and this is secret stuff here...let the work you just heated down...cool down, on all four edges. Let the adhesive in the covering do its thing and harden. Then after I've let all four sides cool down, I take a heat gun...and slowly take all the wrinkles out of the center part. Remember...attach al four sides first and let a small bit over lap the edges and cut a clean overlapped edge prior to moving forward...this is important too. Use caution with the heat gun...and go slowly to flatten out-smooth out the Super Monokote on the inside of the four sides.

It works for me, and now I can cover large pieces of wing and fuselage by using this technique.

Let me know if this helps you...and if needed, send me a PM with your phone number and I'll call you and give you a more detailed instruction.

Great Build...!

Soft Landings Always,
Bobby of Maui

R/C Art

My Feedback: (38)

Yes, the open lightening hole and high heat caused your problem........

I go just the opposite than what Bob does. I use as little heat as possible to adhere the covering, sealing all the edges as I go. Then after the whole area, in this case the basic fuselage structure, is covered I go back and tighten up the remaining wrinkles.

We all have are own techniques and with more covering jobs that you do, you will find a technique that you are comfortable with and that works well for you.
I have thrown away a lot ruined covering over the years........there are some mistakes that only a new piece of covering will cure.

Cheers,
Art

spaceworm

Been there , done that!. I have found it necessary to bond with heat the adjoining color (at the dashed line in your case) before trying to apply or shrink any of the covering. I use a piece of 1/8 inch by 1/4 inch fiberglass covered with mylar (plywood would also work, or anything heat proof) under the seam with about 1/4 inch minimum overlap to bond the two pieces together. Just run your sealing iron along the overlap. Then just treat the joined pieces as one piece when applying to the planes surface. I have done this with three color pieces to cover an open frame wing. Good luck.

Sincerely, Richard

sewoodruff

My Feedback: (1)

I had the exact same issue with a 2 color covering job on a scratch build plane a few years ago. My solution was to cut a 1/2" strip of 3/32" balsa, cut to fit in the lightening hole where the colors overlap, and then glue flush with the surface of the fuselage.

Good luck with finishing your covering job. My first attempt at monokote was barely presentable, but with the attention to detail I've seen in your thread I expect your finished job to be just fine.

Great job with the build and the thread.
sewoodruff

sewoodruff

My Feedback: (1)

I would suggest the 3rd hole a bit further from the lightening hole and then confining the slot between drill holes. Then you wouldn't need to brace between the sides.

sewoodruff

sewoodruff

My Feedback: (1)

Just my opinion but I have always felt that running a wing bolt through a dowell concentrated the wing loads and made tearing up the wing more likely then just shearing the bolt in the case of an accident. Getting a sheared off wing bolt out of the fuzelage is the easier repair.

Instead I determine the angle between the top and bottom sheeting and taper a strip of hardwood on the bandsaw then cut 2 pieces to fit between the top and bottom sheeting and all the way from the first to the second ribs. This usually has to be planned ahead so the block also fits between the trailing edge and any spars.

The second advantage now comes into play. Instead of drilling straight down through the wing for the bolts use a drill guide flush on the top of the wing to drill through the wing and wing mount. When you're done with all the drilling and tapping, the bolt will be at an angle through the mounting plate but the bolt head will be flush with the top of the wing and unstressed.

sewoodruff

sewoodruff

My Feedback: (1)

It depends on the application but I have usually found it works better to offset the engine mount or standoffs towards the port side enough to center the spinner backplate between the sides of the fuzelage. I find this helpful later on when building the engine cowl etc.

sewoodruff

grosbeak

Thanks for all the excellent tips. Those relating to parts of the build already complete (sewoodruff, I'm looking in your direction!) will be filed away for consideration during the next build. I got on fine with the rest of the covering - more to follow shortly.

grosbeak

Here's my second go at the rear panel - this time it's cut much higher with the seam above all of the lightening holes. There were some small wrinkles at the seam but I took care of those with the iron.







Here's the entire starboard side of the fuselage complete.







Here I'm putting the base layer on the cowl. Looks pretty rough at the outset...





... but the end result was good.

grosbeak

I used a steel rule and stopper to mark the lower seam lines for the top layer of covering.













It was a helpful reference in positioning the rearmost piece of the top layer.

grosbeak

I'm very pleased with my colour choice and how well it's laid down.







Here's the first of the window frames covered. Too much heat from the gun burned through the covering in the centre but that's waste... so no harm done.







I was wondering how to cut out the waste from inside the frame when the light bulb came on (I love it when that happens). Razor blade and rare earth magnet!

grosbeak

Here's the frame (almost) completed with a test fit on the fuse.





I just need to iron small pieces of covering into the corners of the frame to complete the job.


Up next:


- cowl covering
- side window frames
- window tinting
- window fitting

grosbeak

Here's the windshield frame with the inside corners covered.







Rough window cutouts.







Covering ironed into frames.







Covering ironed into fuselage (cuts were a little rough... no worries)

grosbeak

Starboard window frames complete.







Port frames complete.







Covering the inner corners of the window frames involved little darts of covering - 26 of these.







I held them in position with pliers while I used my trim iron to seal them in.







It took a few hours of repetitive work... peel off the backing, grab the piece with pliers and hold it in place while until it's tacked down with the iron. Iron it into four surfaces: The inside of the outer frame, the surface of the inner frame, the inside of the inner frame and the inside of the fuselage. Tedious stuff - glad it's done!

grosbeak

Finished the cowl and front hatch - here they are in place for a test fit with the windshield frame.





Window tinting and glue-in is next!