RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (Full Version)

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Ed Cregger -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/1/2006 8:59:10 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Paternguy

I have a glass UFO kit in the basemant, I will look and see if the control throws are in the assembly manual, this evening.



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Back in those days, no one worried about recommended control throws or "how many turns" on the needle valve. <G>

With the small control surfaces of those models, when compared to models today, I always started out with as much throw as I could get that wouldn't buzz the servos and then worked backwards from there.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/1/2006 9:32:30 PM)

Thanks. That's sort of what I'll end up doing with dual rates. But, I at least have a good starting point by comparing the throws of other similar designs. I guess all of these mid to late '70s pattern birds were all basically designed to do the same thing, so there won't be radical differences between how they're set up.

Thanks Azzam! It's really great that the net lets us fellow modelers from different places share with each other. Regardless of how cultures may differ, the passion for airplanes remains. You'll have to post some pics of your models. I can picture rather expansive flying sites. I actually thought about using something like a rubber band to pull the cables down as the gear retracts. The problem turned out to be that I had twisted the cables while adjusting the clevices. This caused the cable to loop up when slack. The solution was to unhook the clevice and release the twists in the cable. They now tuck into the nose without problem. Thanks.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/1/2006 9:33:36 PM)

I forgot to say... I have all the supplies gathered to start the glassing stage. I will have it done by the weekend so help me.



phantom_najd -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/2/2006 7:25:45 AM)

rainedav,

In your post number 119, are you sure that Miss Martha's wing is not upside down? I hope weather clears up for you to complete the glassing.

Azzam



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/2/2006 2:04:15 PM)

Good eye Azzam! Yes, the Martha has a symmetrical airfoil. I originally built it with the aileron servo inside the fuselage. When I converted it to electric the battery took up all the space inside so I just flipped the wing over so the servo is out in the open. There's no difference in the wing either way.



RC YEAGER -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/6/2006 11:32:57 PM)

Boy, oh boy! Let me just say Raineday, that I am impressed!!! Azzam (and others throughout this build thread) have showered you with compliments over your building skills and attention to detail, and I say their comments are right on the money. If I were you, after I finish the plane, I would make the maiden flight (be sure to pray for a safe flight) and immediately retire it from service; then donate it to the AMA museum for display on how all models should be built.

Nah!

All kidding aside, my hat is off to you. You are amazing! I thought I was a good and fuzzy builder; now I have to regroup and do some soul searching!



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/7/2006 4:38:36 AM)

Thank you RC YEAGER. The comments mean a lot. It's been a tough year and getting lost in building and taking a little pride in something has been great medicine. I'm really hoping it will be a sweet flyer; one of those planes that just feels like an extension of your hands.

I was looking through a 1977 MAN and saw this ad. It must have been one of the first that Bridi ran. It lists an introductory price of $124.95



Paternguy -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (8/10/2006 1:38:24 AM)

I wanted to post a couple of my glass UFO as I start painting it.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/10/2006 6:18:40 AM)

Doug, I just saw this! That's really looking great. How are you painting it, dope, latex, epoxy? Is it on hold while you build the Venom?

Now that I've resurrected my thread I just want to say that I am definitely glassing tomorrow. I've been building a few small electric planes that I've been flying in a local softball field. Anyway, I'll post some pics tomorrow night.

David



Paternguy -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/10/2006 6:45:40 PM)

I am using acrylic enamal from rattle cans, I have a buddy that is going to shoot two part automotive clear over it when I am done. I will probaly work on both planes at the same time.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/10/2006 8:33:38 PM)

Doug, those are fantastic results for cans. I was certain you had a full spraying setup.

Well, stage one of the glassing is done. Now I just have to wait for the epoxy to cure, trim the cloth and sand the edges clean. I haven't glassed a plane since I did a Grumman F3F back in 1992 (scaled-up Cleveland plans). I spent a lot of time making sure I had everything I needed right in front of me so I wouldn't panic and have to go running around the house looking for something while the epoxy started setting up on me. You don't get a second chance with glassing!

It went without a hitch. The only touchy area was around the sub-fin and the rear fuselage. There are about three or four compound curves in that area and it was a little challenging getting the cloth to adhere without air bubbles underneath. I finally just used my finger dipped in alcohol to smooth it out. That seemed to let the cloth/epoxy stick to the wood and not my finger.

I'll try to do the other sides of the surfaces and the top of the fuselage tomorrow. I'm going to do the fin in a seperate session, it's enough work at one time covering the curved surfaces of the fuse.

I'll be using Brodak dope. After the glass is sanded I'll shoot a few coats of his primer and build up a smooth surface for the color.

BTW, I didn't glass on the guest bed![X(] I worked in the garage with plenty of ventilation and just brought the parts in to dry.



stiletto660 -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/11/2006 6:03:02 AM)

Is the dope going to be glossy enough for you? Is it able to be "buffed out" like an automotive paint?



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/11/2006 2:27:42 PM)

stiletto660, the Brodak clear that I will use for final coats is amazingly glossy. Almost too slick and shiny for my taste. I tested it by spraying three light final coats on a Jr. Skylark last week and it's as shiny as any plastic film I've ever used, but it's a much deeper gloss than Monokote since you have the actual thickness of the clear dope. It also seems as light, if not lighter, than plastic film. But, if you really want the Concours look, Brodak recommends using Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Compound to add even more shine.



stiletto660 -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/11/2006 11:25:50 PM)

I might look into that for my current project, as I'm really paranoid about isocyanates in the automotive paint. So this would be considered "two-stage" in the sense that you'll actually have dull color coats under the clear coat.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/11/2006 11:49:01 PM)

Well, the colored dope is glossy by itself. And it's supposedly fuelproof. But Brodak encourages you to seal it with clear. The clear is what gives you the really deep shine. I'm in no way associated with Brodak, but I'm very impressed with his stuff. It's manufactured for him by Randolph who makes dope for full size aircraft.

You really need a gun and compressor, though, to get the best results. Watch Sears if you don't have that equipment. They ran their 3gal 1.5hp compressor on sale for $85 a while back. Add in a $10 Harbor Freight touchup gun (the one rated at 2.8 CFM @ 30 psi, item #00086) and you have an awesome spray system for under $100. I also bought a water trap/filter at Home Depot since I live in NC. Also, I recommend getting a jar of dope retartder for the final clear coat. It doesn't matter if earlier coats blush. Retartder in the final coat will take it all away like magic.

I hope you give dope a try. It's inexpensive and very easy to work with. The only drawback is that you need lots of thinner. Oh, I also bought a $19 mask at Sears that's Osha reated for paint and thinner fumes. That's a must. Breathing in butyrate mist will knock you out!



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/12/2006 2:53:15 AM)

I got a lot more glassing done this evening. I'm almost done. Just one more session for the fuselage. I still need to glass the nose around the engine cut-out and I want to add two strips along the back of the fuse between the stab and the fin. You can see the bare wood on that area in one of the pics. I don't really think there's any need to glass the fin. I'm just going to coat it with epoxy resin to seal the wood for the primer. It's solid balsa whereas everything else, including the rudder and elevators, is hollow. I'll also paint resin inside the engine bay and nose gear retract area.

Considering I haven't glassed in ages I didn't have too much trouble. Mainly I was afraid I'd screw something up. I don't know how you undo glassing mistakes. I assume you just re-build the entire ruined part. So, that kept me on my toes. You better have a plan laid out, too, because you don't have time to stop and figure anything out or cut a new piece of fiberglass. I used z-Poxy finishing resin and Sig 3/4oz cloth. I'm not familiar with other products, but I will say that the Z-Poxy sands very easily. It hardly clogs the sandpaper and I was using 220. I image 80 or 100 would cut right through the cloth.

The section from the back of the wing saddle to the fin got two layers of glassing. I had sanded some areas very thin when shaping the corners. I'm confident that it's strong enough now. What really surprised me is how little weight the glassing added. I was careful to wipe off as much resin as I could while it was wet, but still, I expected it to add more weight than it did. The rudder, which is built up and sheeted with 1/16" balsa, is hardly any heavier than it was.

The next stage is to make the wing fillets and fairings at the stab and fin. I'm glad I glassed before adding these. It will be a lot easier to add them now, than trying to glass over them. Concave curves are a pain to glass.

I'm really looking forward to shooting the primer. Hopefully by this weekend.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/13/2006 3:10:13 AM)

I got the glassing of the fuselage finished tonight. The fin got two coats of resin, wiped off with paper towels before each coat dried, no glass cloth.

I spent some time tweaking the wing saddle and glued in the 1/32" ply fillet bottoms. I re-measured the distance from outer corners of the stab TE to the outer corners of the wing TE and the right and left measurements are within 1/16" ( 34 9/16" and 34 5/8" ) and that's close enough for me. I'm sure some of you guys could feel that in the sticks, but not me. I'll mix the microballoons for the fillets and stab fairings outside and wear a dust mask. They don't seem like the kind of thing you'd want to breathe. Little glass beads in your lungs?!

The only sort of big thing left to do to the fuse is cut the pushrod tubes that are sticking out of the fuse and fair them in a bit with epoxy. The reason I left them sticking out was because the "Y" elevator pushrod and the rudder pull-pull cables were installed before I glassed. It would have been a pain to feed those through after the fuse was done. In one of the pics above you can see them all taped up.

The center section of the wing has already been glassed with heavy cloth. I will glass over this with 3/4oz cloth out to where the ailerons start just for extra insurance. At that point in the wing halves the ply retract mounting plates and ply rib doublers are epoxied in and that actually adds a lot of strength to the wing. Beyond that are open bays which will be covered with Sig Koverall. It's really strong stuff. But what I like best about it is that the weave fills fast. Not like silk, which takes many coats to seal.



8178 -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/13/2006 2:20:06 PM)

rainedav

Looks very good! What did you use to remove the excess resin after you applied the cloth and resin?




rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/13/2006 2:50:20 PM)

Thanks, 8178! I just used an old (clean) dish cloth. I didn't rub the surface, I made short, quick dabs. As you probably know, it's very easy to pull the cloth and wrinkle it. I've heard of people rolling a roll of toilet paper over the surface and that sounds like it would work, too. Any loose threads that bunched up along the edges of the cloth I picked out by hand. On the fin I got the resin a bit too thick in one area. I lused a razor blade to scrape off the excess since there was no cloth under it.

I'm glad this stage is behind me. Maybe I'll get better at it with practice! Other than joining the two wing halves, this has been the only step that got me nervous.




rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 2:20:45 AM)

I got an idea that I want to get opinions on. You know how there were a number of classic pattern models finished in military schemes, planes like the Intruder, Crusader, etc. Well, I was looking at the anhedral stab on the UFO and I started thinking F-4 Phantom. I haven't settled on a paint scheme yet, and there are probably hundreds of F-4 schemes to choose from. I could even borrow from a few that I like and make a fictional version.

Anyway, I just want to get some opinions about painting a pattern plane like a military jet. In general, do most dislike it or think it looks cool?

Thanks, David



Paternguy -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 4:08:53 AM)

The UFO is fast and maneuverable. You may want to consider contrasting colors top and bottom, to help with orientation. The jet color scheme may be hard to see on overcast days and might silhouette on you when you are on final approach. I find that bright contrasting colors really help me with orientation. Just my 2 cents.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 4:22:16 AM)

Those are excellent points. It was just a thought that I wanted to get some feedback on. I've seen some F-4s that were pretty colorful. If I do go in that direction I would be "creative" with contrasting colors. Thanks, Doug.



Jim_Purcha -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 4:26:13 AM)

Kind of like kirkland's A6 Intruder. Nice and colourful.



rainedave -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 4:29:39 AM)

Yes, like the original Intruder, sort of military, but very visible.



Paternguy -> RE: Bridi UFO Build (all wood) (9/14/2006 10:40:53 AM)

The prototype schemes are a good choice. Bright red or orange at the tips would be very easy to see. LOL



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