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Joined: 10/28/2007 Last Login: 5/19/2013 From: Ashland, KY, USA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: T6 Manicaca
I`m also converting my eflite texan to glow power. I`m going for a Saito Fa-40a, it has less power but my thrill is the sound.
What`s the size of fuel tnak you used?
Thanks
I use 4oz tanks with a Saito .40. With throttle management you can fly 10 minutes on it. I usually fly 6-7 at full throttle. I always thought it was a 6oz but crashed my plane and punctured it and when ordering a new one I noticed it's always been only 4 ounces.
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@scale detail - Interesting that you are doing a conversion to glow of the E-flite T-6 Texan as that is also my planned winter project. I'd be curious to see the progress of your project through the next few months. I just put mine on order and am planning on using an O.S. .25FP (my first engine) with a pitts muffler - as the stock muffler doesn't fit well in the body (per my investigation on a local hobby stores model). Also, I'm planning on giving it a Navy paint scheme and electric E-flite retracts. So... should end up being an interesting project. I'd love to see your con't progress as you have time. The E-flite T-6 Texan kit is built quite well so it should be fun.
_andrew
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 10/17/2011 5:10 AM >
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Not that this impacts anyone, however, I've just gotten confirmation of the ordered E-flite aircraft being shipped out my way. My primary goal is to ensure a solid fit for the engine followed by proper fuel tank installation. After that, we're on to detailing the aircraft (personal paint scheme) and installing some retractable gear. I'm pretty stoked for this one (and kind of hope it does take me all winter to do it - otherwise I'm gonna get bored quick). Below is the proposed paint scheme I'm looking to have done on the T-6.
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> The Arrival
The kit arrived last night much to my delight and the chagrin of my wife, as she hid the box and said, "Nope, nothing arrived in the mail today." Needless to say I was both disheartened and excited all within 2 minutes. But as I unpacked it, I think she was just as excited as I was as she knows how long I've been waiting to work on this.
> A Quick Commentary
Overall the kit arrived in good condition save for a rather large disappointment; the rudder was crushed at the very trailing edge. The plastic bag packing machine used to seal the ends of the bag the fuselage came in, crushed the rudder (Pic #1) and I'm stuck doing a little rudder repair. I could send it in but, its 3 hours of my time vs. 1-2 week wait for shipping. I'm a little disappointed in E-flite as this is not the only T-6 Texan kit I've seen have glaring construction / packing problems. They'll need to address this, and fast.
The construction is solid but the aircraft empennage surfaces (i.e. rudder and elevator) are rather weak. When I opened up the covering to prepare for repairs to my rudder, the balsa wood is cheaper and thinner then I expected. Hmmm… perhaps its the cost of creating ARF kits in todays world; competition is fierce.
> The Early Stages
To my delight, what overshadowed the rudder debacle (which I'll repair quickly) is the 'nonexistent' need to do any work to install a .20-.35 sized engine in this aircraft. Nice! Pic #2, #3 show why. E-flite's installation of the engine screws was very intelligent. Notice how you can adjust the location of each firewall mount in or out. So all I had to do was take a .20-.35 Great Planes adjustable engine mount and set it into place. No drilling, no headaches.
You'll need a Pitts muffler for your engine as the traditional one will not work without considerable construction to the fuselage and firewall. Or, you'll need to get a muffler extension to get it away from the body. I wanted to avoid the 'dangling muffler' so I went with a Slimline $27 pitts style for my O.S. .25 FP.
> Fuel It Up
Picture #4 shows the nice open space in the front of the aircraft for the fuel tank, line, and fill valve. Very nice. Lot's of room to work in and the cover & magnet fit perfectly.
Till next time…
_aw
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 10/22/2011 3:52 PM >
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> Easy In, Easy Out
The fuel tank sizing and future installation is about as easy as they come for this project (see #1). I went out and bought a simple 8oz hard plastic fuel tank (not slanted on the front) and dropped it right in the front of the fuselage. It fits perfectly. I'd entertained the idea of a 10oz tank but, A) A 10oz tank will be a tight fight, and B) I ran my Piper Pawnee on a 10oz (same engine) and always had 1/3 tank of fuel left after a 12 minute flight. Sooooo, 8oz it is. > Minor Modifications - Cowl & Engine
After playing around with the O.S. .25FP engine, engine mount, and the cowl, I realized that there is going to be a slight modification on the cowl positioning. While the engine fits inside the cowl, the front protrudes out quite a bit past the front of the cowl when mounting with the current set-up (see #2). So I plan on removing the mounting threads and moving the cowl forward and installing wood blocks on the firewall to then screw the cowl onto.
Short of that, in my quick 1 week asessment, this is almost as complex of modifications as I'm thinking will need to take place. Nice.....
Till next time...
_aw
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 10/26/2011 5:17 AM >
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> Continued Cowl Adjustments
After a few measurements and pondering moments, I realized that I was going to need to adjust the location of the cowl mounts to the fuselage. Therefore the cutting blade came out and the existing cowl mounts from the kit came off. And fairly easy. What I'm opting to do is replace the old mounts (#3) with new ones (#1) I cut out that will be glued to the firewall and not to the fuselage. This way I can push the cowl out more to fully cover the O.S. .25 engine.
Then 2 hobby popsicle sticks (from JoAnn Fabric), super glue, and a clamp, took care of the crushed rudder (#2) and realigned the trailing edge. Just a simple cut with the Dremel, a bit of sanding, and the edge is as good as new.
> Question
I'm looking to do panel lines and rivets. Any ideas or thought on what would be good for a model this size? I was thinking pin tops for rivets and 1/32 inch pin stripe tape for panel lines. Of course I'm not going crazy with the rivets but, a few here and there for looks wouldn't be so bad. Oh, and I plan on painting over all the tape and glued rivets for the final paint scheme (in case anyone was wondering).
Ideas anyone?
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 11/2/2011 4:48 AM >
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@scale dail
Unfortunately I don't have a true work shop (and I live in an apartment) so any sealing and sanding is a 'no'.
My plan was to use 1/32" pin strip tape to 'map out' the panel lines (as I want a raised edge) and then clip the tips off of pins for some aesthetic rivets, tap a micro hole (tiny drill bits; as I have 'em), glue in place, and done. I was going to scour the plastic surface with a Scotch scrubber, prime it white, and then paint.
Good idea? Bad idea? I'm totally open here….
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@scale dail -
For the most part I've realized that as long as you don't leave your shrink covered aircraft in a hot car on a summers day with the windows closed, you'll be good. And if you're wondering, yes, that's how I learned the hard way. Now I'm working to re-cover my entire Hangar 9 Piper Cub as the covering got too hot too long, sagged, and is no longer able to be tightened. The airplane looks like it went through the wash and was never dried.
Ooops.... lesson learned.
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> Cowl Cover
Nothing major to report on the A-T6 Texan conversion other then cowl installation went smoothly and now I'm prepping the fire wall for an epoxy coating. The O.S. .25FP engine, when mounted, sticks out a bit too far when using the pre-installed cowl mounts. So after removing them and moving the mounting screw locations (wood blocks you see sticking out) I'm able to slide the cowl forward 3/4 of an inch to fully cover the engine. Additionally, I cut 1/32 balsa (#3) and covered all the firewall openings to avoid getting oil inside the fuselage and the electronics. So the next step is to seal the firewall with epoxy and start working on the surface details (panel lines, rivets, any detail that seems fun, etc.) before painting and installation of the electronics and landing gear.
Till next time...
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> Panel Line Guides
After finishing repairs to the rudder and covering, it was on to the panel lines. Since there are quite a few compound curves in the fuselage of the E-flite AT-6 Texan I decided to create a 'tape guide' in order to help draw out the markings. I have a small plastic model of the same aircraft which happens to be very detailed so, I decided to use it for guidance on where to place my panel line marks. Again, I'm not going 'scale detail' but rather 'scale fun' since this is not intended to go on display nor intended to wow anyone other then myself. After this I'll clean the surface with some glass cleaner to remove any grease, buff the surface with a Scotch scrubber, and begin laying down 1/32 pinstripe tape.
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@scale dail
The plan was/is as follows:
Once all details are complete (rivets & panel lines), sand (i.e. rough up) the surface with 400 grit wet/dry paper and a 3M scotch brite heavy duty scour pad.
Wipe down the plane with windex to remove any grease / residue.
Prime the surface with flat white rust-oleum auto primer.
Airbrushing with synthetic lacquer Tamiay AS8 Navy Blue and Tamiay AS19 Intermediate Blue (paint link).
Overcoat of Rust-oleum clear semi-gloss.
The reason for using the Tamiay paints is that they are water based and dry very light (not that it's a huge issue) but also, the paint colors are specific to aviation which means I'm not compromising and wondering if a hardware store enamel or latex paint will match. Also, I've used them before and they're pretty good. Plus, It's a small model so buying large cans of paint for this small model is wasted resources, in my opinion. I've heard of numerous ways to paint over plastic shrink coating and they all seem to fair well as long as you apply some type of clear overcoat to protect what's underneath.
What are your thoughts? I'm open to ideas….
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 11/13/2011 3:13 AM >
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Your plan sounds good. I have been using Testors Model Master paints with real FS#'s for color with KlassKote flat clear to seal and fuel proof. I want my T-6 to gain a little weight. These ultra light electric ARF's are boring.
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Hmmm.... KlassKote huh.... What I do like about it is that it's specifically designed and created for fuel proofing. Plus, it looks great. However, in looking at how it's applied, I'm not sure that I can do it since my workshop is a carpeted second bedroom apartment (i.e. No epoxy painting allowed. Darn) and I only have a Badger airbrush system which, I don't think will work with the KlassKote recommended application. Bummer. But, now that I know about it, I do like it.
Oh and if you're wondering, I'm borrowing a friends heated garage when the time comes to act as my painting station.
< Message edited by apwachholz -- 11/13/2011 6:49 PM >
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With the holiday's upon us and an impending move this Dec. I'll be a bit more scarce on the postings for the E-flite T-6 Texan build for next month or so. I'll post updates as they happen but I'll have to pack up the shop for a bit and once I get settle back in (prob. mid Dec.) I'll be sure to drop a line.
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.....and we're back!
The move is done, the shop is set up, and the E-flite Texan is back on the table and ready for some work. Ahhh, feels good to be back. I'm pretty excited as I was dinking around with the push pins for the rivets of the plane and it is really going to work out well. I'll be sure to get some pictures of the process as I get to it (probably next week or so). Till then.....
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dear scale dail, dear friends,I'm blusail from Italy. sorry to enter in this discussion in such way may not so soft, but I'm excited, because this is really the next project I was thinking!!!!!in Italy the trend is to fly only with electrics, glow engines are going to dead, and may be only few will remains to serve the flag.....I really think the e-flight models are well for the change to glow,like the hyperion.Personally I've tried to convert the mini super sportser of GP with a really bad result, switch to the most famous Minimag from multiplex with nice results (but is made in Elapor)and a great,really great result with the LANCAIR ES EP40 from great planes!I've put an MDS 18 engine, just reinforcing the plywood with a double carbon rod.The result is incredible, fast like my MUSTANG combat and very easy to drive it ,even at low speed during the landing.The motor is incredible too, has a great power and the best fly is easy at half stickI've decided to convert it,after the disaster with the original brushed motor I've found in the kit(never fleew) ,and very bad flights with an Haker 3028.now, with this glow,I'm in another word.I suggest to follow this way for agreat enjoy.thaks for your kindnessblusail
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RE: E Flite AT-6 Texan Convert to GLOW! - 
After this I'll clean the surface with some glass cleaner to remove any grease, buff the surface with a Scotch scrubber, and begin laying down 1/32 pinstripe tape.