RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Following closely. I have the T.M. Scout waiting to be built! I have Saito40, OS40FS and OS52FS. Probably will go with OS 40 or 52 due to being a little heavier than the Saito.. The BUSA guys had an OS40FS in the one the had at Joe Nall. BTW... Great guys. I buy from them one kit per year to be built after I retire in 2013... Can't rush WW1 types!

Cesar

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

I'm installing the included blocks in the wings at the interplane strut attachment points. The blocks provide backing for the covering and they reinforce the ribs. There are 28 of them! Also went ahead and built mounts for the aileron servos. Yeah, I'm going with servos in the wings. Also have built a battery box to mount inside the cowl. I'm using a Hydrimax 2000 mah square pack.

I'll be sending my Eclipse transmitter and receivers to Hitec this winter for their FREE check-ups. This kind of service has kept me flying their products for a couple of decades.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

I'm sure you can use fairly small servos on those ailerons and fit them inside the wing discreetly. I'm planning on Dymond 200s on my Fokker Triplane of the same scale.

That's a good tip about the Hitec. I had trouble with my Flash 5 way out of warranty and they fixed it for free. I've got an Optic 6 now, so maybe I'll send that in this winter.

Cesar, I would lean toward the OS 40 FS too. A bigger engine just causes more mounting trouble in that short nose. I'm sure you won't need more power than that. My VK Nieuport 17 flies great on a PAW 40 diesel swinging a 13 inch prop at about 7000 rpm. Your OS 40 FS should swing a 12x4 at close to 10,000, plus you know it worked for BUSA. Just be sure to build a battery box in front of the firewall. It really works for balancing a plane like this.

Speaking of battery boxes, a guy on RCG built a 1/6 Fokker Triplane for electric and carefully arranged for the battery to be in front of the firewall. It turned out nose heavy and then he had nowhere to move the battery. But your battery may be lighter than his. Just something to be aware of. How's the log cabin coming? That was a great picture.

Jim

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Hello again! With winter approaching (17 degrees this morning, 3 inches of snow this week) we've been trying to pack in the last yard work, bike rides, and fall color viewing. Also been sanding and making changes. The rudder and elevator were built by the plans with reinforcement at the usual r/c control horn locations. I have changed them with reinforcement at the scale control horn locations. Also the dummy aileron horns have been cut from the kit's liteply sheets.
The homesteader cabin has new bottom logs and is getting the roof peak and purlin logs and the gable end logs. Friendly elk hunters are camped nearby and stalking the woods. I'm hoping for careful flying lead management. I knew a lady in Michigan who was nearly shot by deer hunters through the window while sitting on her own toilet seat!
I've won a Balsa USA Taube .40 kit on ebay from therocketman. The kit looks like it's been on the shelf a number of years and is in perfect condition. Yes!

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

I'm not real familiar with pinned nylon hinges and haven't installed them as this kit uses them on the ailerons. The ailerons are built with an angled leading edge so the hinge line is at the top surface. You create the hinge slots on steep angles to keep them within the aileron spar and aileron leading edge. This seems to result in some very thin wood holding the hinge with the tearing out force pulling not in line with the hinge but almost perpendicular to it. It seems a fragile and easily broken hinge installation. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone with experience with this design. I'm tempted to glue some carbon fiber strips to the surfaces to hold the hinges in more strongly.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

No worries on the hinge strength with this method for this airplane! You can lower the hinge entry point slightly to insert into more wood or just back up the hinge with some scrap if the wood soft. Bike rides? I used to road and cross race 'back in the day'. I still love riding! I'm gonna ride my 'fixie' today about 40 miles. I'm a Campy snob... LOL

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

It is weak, but it has worked on the BUSA models I have built. I usually add more balsa to the back side of the aileron leading edge to fully support the hinge where it extends through the standard leading edge. Same for the wing trailing edge.
Chuck

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Thanks, you guys! I'll add some wood, Chuck. ARUP, we had the Pro Cycling Challenge come through town, the Schlecks, Cadel Evans, and all. I'm enjoying the "buttery smooth" singletrack around here on a full suspension mtn. bike. OK, back to the building board!
BTW, I had crashed a Hitec receiver and recently sent it to them for service. It came back "no problems found", no charge. Thanks, Hitec!!

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

3/32" birch plywood mounting lugs are glued into the wings. The interplane struts bolt to them with the included 4-40 cap screws and nuts. My aileron servo mounts are also shown in the bottom of the top wing. The ribs come bored for the servo cables. I inserted paper tubes as conduit.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

My wife took a shopping and visiting weekend in Denver, my chance to use the kitchen! The idea is to create the interplane struts and wire cross braces and clean up before her return. CD cases are being used to support the wings. Bags of grains weighing things down. Eyeball "measurements" taken. Holes marked and drilled one at a time.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

On the hinges, maybe I would modify them not to have such a sharp angle, and then round off that upper corner on the aileron a little. For sure the original was not hinged at the top. But it also didn't have the angles like the sport type aileron in your pic. Here are the aileron hinges on an old S4B, bottom view and top view. Don't worry about the cable linkage visible in the top view; that was a feature of the S4B Scouts, and you're doing a C.

Jim

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Now that I think about it, the hinges were totally different on the C because of the torque tube. But that would likewise not have had a hinge on the top.

Jim

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

All right, kitchen is returned to order. With the struts bolted in place, the basswood soldering fixures were pressed onto the bolt ends with pliers to provide a positive drill location. Then the wire braces were assembled on the fixtures, soldered, cleaned, and re-installed one at a time. In this way they were all created at the right lengths. It's a pretty clean design with the wires, wire lugs, and nuts all soldered together. No nuts in the grass! Then the crossed wires were tied with copper wire and soldered on the model. I think an hour was left.
Thanks for the hinging advice, I see what you mean. Without definite plans before construction with regard to alterations for more scale appearance, my model is going to not deviate from the plans very much. I was hoping to be finished by now unlike all my other projects which have been neglected and returned to.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

that toolbox has a Stroh's Beer sticker on it, talk about aged.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

The stabilizer was glued on with wood glue. Five-minute epoxy was nice for gluing the fin giving just enough working time while getting stiff enough to both allow tiny adjustments and hold things together. A rasp and sanding block made quick work of shaping the filler blocks. While the instructions direct you to use spacers and shape these blocks on the fuselage I simply penciled the outline of the last former and tacked them to a block I could hold in one hand while shaping with the other. Wood glue was also used on the filler blocks.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Dear DogWalker,

I'm following this thread with great interest since I just started building the Tommy I bought at Toledo.

You are proceeding much quicker than I ever do - my large Taube took two winters to finish. I hope this BUSA build goes quicker.

I plan to use electric power (I'm almost fully converted) and I plan on making a slot in the lower/front of the fuselage for the li-pos.

I'm going to put the aileron servos on the top of the wing (I started doing this a long time ago and its a habit I don't intend to break).

And I don't plan to use the plastic hinges but will use standard 'cote hinges with the covering to provide the gap seal.

Other than the above its gonna be by the book.

Thank you for taking the time to help me with my Tommy.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Hi Raymond, this is fun, isn't it? There's lots of room under that cowl for batteries. Also the way the underside is designed seems like you have easy access into the fuel tank compartment. I'm imagining air flow into the cowl and out the cockpit. I'm very attracted to electric power but haven't the budget right now.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

On another front, the homesteader Cabin on the Yampa River has its new logs in place, roofing boards to come next.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

I started covering my Tommy over the weekend. I'm getting very attached to this plane. Starting to fear flying it. I went with olive drab with silver cowl. I will post pics when i get time. Pee Wee football still getting most of my attention at this time. Did u decide on colors for yours?

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

The cabin is coming along! Getting proper shape for filler blocks can be challenging. I know you've gotten yours done. What I do is put 'sacrificial' stock in place equal to thickness of fin and stab stock, tack glue filler blocks then carve away. Once satisfied, removed blocks and replace 'sacrificial' blocks with fin and stab then re-glue the filler blocks in place. Your Tommy is looking really great!

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

The fuselage underside is finished. I like the way access to the landing gear is maintained. A small former is added at the nose to the underside of the fuselage box. The landing gear is mounted. The belly pan base of liteply is positioned centered and with a small gap front and rear, I used a business card. It is then drilled for its mounting screws. The balsa belly pan and its base need slots to clear the landing gear legs. The belly pan is then drilled for access to the mounting screws and is glued to its base. It is then shaped.

I don't see why the 1/8" liteply former in front of the bottom wing is kept separate from the belly pan. I don't see why it can't be cut from the fuselage and glued to the belly pan. This would make covering simpler and remove an unsightly gap. The former at the nose carries mounting blocks for the cowl but once again I can't see why it can't be incorporated into the belly pan. This would once again remove a gap and make covering simpler.

Here's my first parts mismatch that's a sticker: my fuselage nose measures 6-3/4" in diameter and matches the plans. The cowl is supposed to match it and mount in front of the fuselage pretty much butting to it without gap. It measures 6-15/16" and overlaps the fuselage with a gap. I can't see how to adjust things to make this work. Am I going to scratch-build a replacement cowl? Doing fiberglass by the lost foam method would be fairly easy and provide a more durable cowl. Building of balsa would seem more work and I'd require material. I'm curious what BUSA will say. This must be apparent to them.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

I wonder if I could remove a slice of the lower cowl where the cooling air hole is located and glue it together to make the smaller diameter. By the math I'd have to remove about 9/16" at the outer circumference. This piece could be used as a doubler at the glue joint.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

One thing I've learned is to build the airplane to fit the cowl! My first experience with this was many years ago building Sterling Model's 'Real Sporty'. I framed it up per instruction only to realize the ABS parts were too small! I subsequently threw that airplane in the trash. Now, I always prepare the cowl or nosebowl first and build the fuselage behind it! Slicing a section of the cowl to make it smaller will work. Mick Reeves uses that technique for his kits.

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Well...I emailed BUSA about the cowl and they are sending me another said to fit. We'll see!

RE: Balsa USA 1/6 Scale Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout Build Thread
 

Real nice workmanship.. what type of glue are you using? I'm budiling the N17 1/6 from BUSA...i like the CD case idea for supporting the wings.