Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
so hy flyer pm'd me about the door installation so I figured I would post a detailed description about how I did mine,theres many ways to skin a cat this is the way I did it. I guess I should add I have been in construction for over 20yrs and I now specialize in door and window installation and trim work so this was just a mini door job.
so after removing the shaped balsa I left to dry overnight,I marked a center line on the fuse for reference and transfered it to the rough door piece, I then cut it in half at that line to give me the 2 door sides.
when I was fully satisfied with the opening shape in the fuse,I used the Squadron Signals walk around book for reference,notice the opening isn't round.
I glued in some scrap balsa I had shaped to follow the curve of the fuse in place, so I would have a door stop so it would sit flush with the fuse. I then rough cut the doors about 1/8" larger than the opening using the rough centerline as my reference point so the curve was close to the shape of the fuse but I still had some fitting and shaping coming up.
I then carfully shaped the door at the hinge line so it would fit tightly,not worrying about the center line as much,just making sure it was close but a bit larger,first one then the other carefully fitting each side so it got closer to the center reference line in the door opening,and giving the hinge side a slight bevel so it would fit flush and tight to the fuse side, once I was satisfied the hinge side would fit perfect it was time for the hinges.
when I was first doing the hinges the gap was way to large at the hinge side so I very carefully made shallow notches in the doors and fuse side on a door in a house there called mortises, the recess where the hinge sits in the door frame,and door.
the ones on the fuse are a 1/32 deep and simply a small notch to recess the hinge flap and pivot, the ones on the doors are a shallow taper, at the edge is where there thinnest if you look closely you can see the notches.
after test fitting the dors and hinges a few times,I recomend hemostats for holding the hinges,I epoxied the hinges to the doors with 5 min epoxy making sure the hinge set in the notch fully,and using a little petrolium jelly in the actual pivot point so it didn't stick,the 5min glue sets up quick so I just pressed it down with a pin to hold it in place. after the door sides were dry I retested the fit and enlarged the notch in the fuse, if and where needed,just a couple of minor tweeks were needed after making sure they were close before glueing.
now its time to glue the doors to the fuselage,I took each door and put enough epoxy to hold the hinge in place,then I set the hinges in there glue bed,not alot just enough to hold them,and applied pressure when the glue was getting sticky I shut the door side to check that the hinge side was flush with the outside of the fuse and adjusted accordingly,I then opened the door carfully and made sure the hinge was still set in its place and left it alone for 5 min. when the glue was hard I then mixed some more and made sure to burry the hinge anchor in epoxy so it was fully secure.
so I have doors that are hung in the hole but a little large where they meet in the center,remember the center reference points,slowly trim each door wit a exacto blade and sand paper to coax each door so they fit together tightly,the tighter the better,when you prime the plane the gap will get smaller and a few little tweaks will be needed but thats the story and I am sticking to it
as for the horns I used some small Dubro horns and cut the top hole off(they were too large and were touching the retract)I glued them in just slightly offset to they would miss each other when swinging in, but have enough throw to open and shut the doors properly,if you check the reference books, when the TW dorrs were open they splayed out quite a bit, and didn't just hang strait down.
this took quite a long time to do all the fitting and sanding and minor tweaks,it took me a few hours,about as long as hanging a door in a house but the results paid off for me. I should add I did need some minor filling at the forward area so the doors sat flush with the fuse I didnt recess the door stop enough so the door was a little proud,a little Bondo spot putty and some sanding with 220grit perfecto
< Message edited by bigtim -- 3/1/2008 8:33:22 PM >
Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
the Squadron signals books are very helpfull for general references on the door size,when I was making the opening mine was a little small as well had that Dremmel grinding wheel in there burning wood former out of the way for clearance. for the final shaping of the hole I used a round file for more control to do the radius section and my handy Exacto knife.
Posts: 161
Joined: 9/20/2003 From: Rawlins,
WY, USA Status: offline
Hey Sylvaner, how's that build coming along? Been pretty quiet around here. What has everybody been using for their wing cannons? More specifically, the dia. size of tubing. I'm just guessing about 5/32" or 3/16"? I want them to look halfway realistic. Thank God I'm past the tailwheel doors and been fiberglassing.
Posts: 46
Joined: 10/13/2007 From: Birmingham, AL, USA Status: offline
I went back & forth about the putting in a a retractable TW. Cut the new former installed thr gear started thinking about steering set-up and playing around with that, but in the end I decided to used a fixed TW on this bird. I wanted to save weight in the tail. I spent this weekend laying out the wing to move the retracts to the scale postion. I taken qiute a few pictures and I'll post some shortly.
Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
no I still need to install my remote glow I am debating wheather or not to use a on board glow,instead of having a hole in the side of my cowl,and we have had alot of spring wind around here so I am in no huge rush, I did get some work done mostly some cosmetics,dummy radial and head rest final adjustments on the reciever location though.
< Message edited by bigtim -- 3/31/2008 11:01:47 PM >
Posts: 46
Joined: 10/13/2007 From: Birmingham, AL, USA Status: offline
I've been working slowly on the P-47 and am finally finishing the fuselage. I decided against the TW retract, but now I kind of wish that I had. I keep asking myself just how much work would it be to cut open the fuselage and install it now. I think that I'm going to make the tailcone out of FG to cut down on weight and for access if I decide to put the TW retract in later. Can I use the ABS parts as a mould to make FG parts? Also I'm looking for pictures of the adapters that are used to fill the retract air tanks. This is my first time with retracts and I need some ideas on charging the tank. Trying to post some pictures and I really don't know how it will turn out.
Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
you can use the ABS parts for a mold but your really not gaining much exept for weight for all the effort, unless you make them extra scale ie.open the vents so they look a little more realistic.
as for the air fill many do the hatch thing there is a scale location behind the cockpit where you can hide the valve and switches, I opted not to make the hatch, look at the photos on post #47 they show where I put the EZ fueler and my air fill for the retracts in the area behind the forward vents,there is a exhaust vent on the full size plane so they weren't too out of place there.
if you do a hatch you can do the solid mount,or make the valve so you can pull it out for filling,with a little exess air line, depending on what type of gear you have,the CJ's need to have the pump wrap around the fill valve,Robarts have a adaptor that screws into the fill chuck so it can be solid mounted.
since I went with CJ's I epoxied a piece of light ply behind the sheeting between the stringers,with a generous amount of 5 min epoxy,the piece fit snugly to fill the area for strength. then I drilled a hole just slightly smaller than the threads on the fill chuck, using the chuck as a tap I carefully threaded it into the hole a couple of times,and after removing it used thin CA to strenthen the threads I had made. I then attached the air line to the fill chuck,and screwed it into the hole and snugged it in,I then cut the line to size and hooked it up to its proper T fitting. a regular bike pump that goes over 100lbs pressure fits great,I have been using my compressor,dialed in to 95lbs to do my air testing,using my tire fill chuck since its a faster fill up,but a pump will work as well,just a bit slower.
so here's what I did for both types,my spit has the robart with the fill adaptor if you look closely its the silver spec by the wing saddle,the other spot is the EZ fueler in the cowl,and what I did for the P-47,I am pretty satisfied with that install as well.
I did get my air tank glued in using goop adhesive,used a balsa stick to apply it to the formers,and let it sit for a min and then stuck the tank down that puppy aint going any where, the stuff works great for that kind of job. and cut the axles down leaving a little nub for when I decide to do gear doors.
I also decided against the on board glow for now and made a mount in the engine compartment if my mesurements work out the hole will land on a black square in the center,we shall see,still a ton of wind in our neiborhood so I was just doing the little bits.
looks like your making some good progress if you decide to do the retractable TW do it now you will be sorry you didn't when its all together,either way it will be cool I just wanted to get fancy with this one,it was my first RTW.
< Message edited by bigtim -- 4/7/2008 7:28:20 AM >
Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
well finally got some of the little details done, like the remote glow, landed right on the black checker like I planned ,and the needle valve hole and extension,one bummer I ordered a 90o pipe for my engine, and they sent the wrong one, so I am stuffed until weekend after next at the soonest.
this sunday is supposed to be nice so in the mean time I finished my Hangar-9 pilot and cockpit assembly,its been naked in there so I did some painting on the components to give them a better look,and installed a Voltwatch so I can check the batterys after each flight through the canopy,they were cheap on ebay so I got a couple for my H-9 ARf's. I also trimmed the pilot from nitroplanes down,that had been sitting on my desk top,to fit in there,he was a bit too tall,but a real nice looking bust, once I painted the proper colors on him,he had a green jacket and a red Mae West vest,and a Dk. Brn. hat,it was not happening, otherwise a slick looking pilot figure. so its the Mustang and P-40 this weekend and hopefully the Jug the next depending on this unpredictable spring wheather.
< Message edited by bigtim -- 4/11/2008 4:52:57 AM >
Posts: 46
Joined: 10/13/2007 From: Birmingham, AL, USA Status: offline
Looking good. Glad you're going to have a nice weekend, it looks like it's going to rain and the warm weather is going to disappear for this weekend so there won't be any air time for me. I'm planning on framing the wing and maybe start fiberglassing the fuselage this weekend and with the bad weather I will not have to do yardwork.
Posts: 46
Joined: 10/13/2007 From: Birmingham, AL, USA Status: offline
A question about sheeting the wing of my 60" TF P-47. Did you use 3/32" balsa to sheet the entire top and bottom of the wing? I should start the sheeting later this week or this weekend.
Big Tim
Have you had the first flight of your P-47? If so how did she do. Any problems that we should look out for.
Posts: 2335
Joined: 5/31/2004 From: san francisco,
CA, USA Status: offline
she's ready to go just haven't had the time yet,it should be the next few weeks,the last few weekends have been real windy around here I would like some smooth air for the first flights, I will hopfully have some video of the event as well. last weekend our club had a display at the local airshow so I brought a couple of planes down there I had my Spitfire and Hangar-9 ARf P-40 with me,and the pilot of the real deal let me take a couple of shots with his plane, nice guy plane was roped off he was stoked on the model.
as for the sheeting I used the 1/16 and wished I had used 3/32 thickness, the thinner wood ended up having ripples that needed some filling to get a smooth surface. I also used med CA to glue the sheeting down because the wood glue recomended in the instructions left areas that didn't stay down to the ribbs,I would also keep some windex handy it helps with bending the sheeting around the tips and allows the wood to be flexable enough to make the curve without buckling,it doesn't take much just spray the area you want to bend and the wood gets very pliable and drys in the shape you bend it into. other than that the instructions are pretty thorough.
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RE: TF P-47 60" Sheeting - 
so this was just a mini door job. 
