fisher1648

I'm building a SSE and decided to side-mount the engine (OS .50). The factory nose (fuse sides forming engine compartment) look OK when the engine is mounted upright but they dont look right to me with the engine side-mounted. I ended up cutiing off the front fuse side extensions and have just a squared off fuse/firewall at this time. I've been trying to create a decent looking cowling but not having any luck.

I was wondering if anybody has adapted a cowling from a different .40 sized plane to the SSE for side mounted engine installs ? Maybe from a Stinger or other .40/.60 sized Extra of some sort.

Pics would be great too !

Thanks, Eric

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

I am taking the "built-up" approach with mine. There's a few pics and some discussion in [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=3297091]this[/link] thread in the Beginner's forum.

fisher1648

I started down that path but got frustrated quickly !!

I found two sources for SSE cowlings:

www.fiberglassspecialtiesinc.com
www.stansfibertech.com

Cool !

nickj

Fiberglass Specialties are high quality pieces. Wish they had pictures, though.

krossk, really nice-looking job on that cowl. Almost makes me want to lop the nose off mine and start whittling.

h@h racing

My Feedback: (1)

Pictures of mine.

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

nickj - there is a picture of one of the glass cowls floating around. I know I've referenced it in a prior post - I just can't remember where I found it now. I'm sure a little searching in either the Beginner's or Kit Building forum will turn up something. Thanks for the complement on my build, but I have to give credit where it is due. I got my inspiration for the nose from h@h racing and his project.
So how about letting us see some pictures of your build? We do like to watch.

h@h - I really like the dark canopy - did you tint it or paint it? If tinted, what formula of dye (colors) did you use and how long did it take? Any more progress on the covering? It's looking good!

nickj

Okay, I'm headed to my LHS for some balsa. Those cowls look great. My planes all built, but I'd bet I could still add a cowl--I have saws. I took some pictures with the stock cowl (actually, with a camera). I'll post them as soon as my daughter gets home and downloads them to a CD for me.

nickj

Trying to upload pictures

fisher1648

I took the easy way out and ordered a cowl from Stan's.....here's the link to the thread with a pic of the cowling from Stans. Fiberglass Specialties emailed me a pic of theirs and it's strikingly similar.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_16...tm.htm#1644052

nickj

Stan's cowl is nice, but I'd rather have one that covers the whole engine--maybe something with cheeks. I'm gonna sketch something out and see what I can build out of balsa.

fisher1648

Nickj,
I was thimking the same thing....I might try to add some balsa cheeks on each side of the cowl to round out the shape and cover the engine....

h@h racing

My Feedback: (1)

krossk
The tint comes from Pactra #RC294. Its a spray on for lexan RC car body's. It is easy to get runs so use a lot of light coats and it turns out OK.
Covering has been slow but have made some progress. The flame on the side comes off the back part of the wing and aileron. It looks kind of goofy being there without the wing on. The flames are lighter color in the picture than they actually are on the plane.

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

h@h, Way cool! I've seen a lot of mediochre attempts at flames on cars, bikes, planes, etc, but you've got just the right size/shape/proportions for that application. Not too over the top, but yet still enough to emphasize without dominating. What are the colors are you using? I thought your base color was blue from the earlier pictures, but it looks slightly purple in the latest ones.

I was hoping you were going to say the canopy was tinted with the RIT method. I'm not sure I want to take a chance with spray paint - as you say, it's awful easy to run candies and transparents.

h@h racing

My Feedback: (1)

There was a lot of scrap patterns on the floor before I was happy with the way they looked. Base color is Metallic Plum and flames are Pearl Wine. Bottom of stabilizer and wings are neon orange. Haven't decided on a pattern for the bottom yet.
I think the dye method works better for a light tint. Did not want to install a pilot so my tint is dark. Racing season is about done so it time to get back to the planes again. Took parts out of the Tiger II to get this one set up so I'm down to my elect Miniflash.

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

Since you happened to mention the Tiger II (and I just started flying mine...) I took a peek at the one on your models page and noticed yours on skiis. Anything special about the conversion? What skiis did you use? Did you need a ski for the tail too? I was considering converting my Avistar for winter flying, but the T2 is SOOOooo much more fun to fly.

h@h racing

My Feedback: (1)

DUBRO skies on the mains and home built for the tail wheel. It takes about 10 minutes to change from tires to skies once you have them installed. The bolt that tighten down against the axle needs a flat spot to keep the skies in a front up position when flying. The skies are a little heaver than the tires so instead of adding weight to balance I made the rear ski. You can use the tire on the tail wheel but i figured it needed a ski. My Tiger does not have wheel pants so it is a quick change. A lot of people use floats as they say they work better on soft snow but I have not run into any problems. Have used them on soft and packed snow and had a good time.
Makes every landing look good as the snow really cushions touch down.

nickj

Okay, here's what I came up with. First photos are of the two main box pieces plus the nose. Boxes are glued but not sanded. More to follow.

nickj

Here's the pieces shaped and glued together.

nickj

Finally, here it is after two coats of dope and Hangar-9 paint. Will probably add another coat, as a little of the wood grain still shows through.

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

Wow - that looks great! But I don't see any cut-outs for the engine. Is it going to be upright or inverted?

nickj

It's for a side-mount with external stock muffler below the fuselage. I built it around an ST-45. Needs a 1" hole in the bottom for the muffler extension, a 3/8" hole in the cheek for a glo-driver, and a 3/4" hole in the top for the high-speed needle. I probably won't put it on my current SSE, which already has the engine mounted straight up, but I'll save it for my next one.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

nickj - I'm impressed! Thanks for posting those pics. Nice to see it go from start to it's final shape. I have this thread bookmarked as I am planning to do a cowl for my SSE build this winter.