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AR-6 Wing mold construction

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AR-6 Wing mold construction

Old 03-27-2012, 09:33 AM
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diggs_74
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Default AR-6 Wing mold construction

I am starting the construction of the wing mold for my AR-6 design.. I hope to complete the mold within a 2 week time period.. Of course, life may dictate otherwise but I figure it's good to have goals..

Anyway, I will be starting this evening getting the parting board rough cut and figuring out how to handle the slight amount of dihedral in the wing. If anyone has any tricks regarding this portion of the project, I'm all ears.

Stay tuned.

Old 03-27-2012, 10:02 AM
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D.E.
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Lee,

I dont know how to link to it but the way I did mine is on page 4, 19 topics down here.

DE
Old 03-27-2012, 11:19 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I'll see if I can find it.. I remember that now that you mention it.. Thanks.
Old 03-27-2012, 05:17 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Ok, here is the rough cut parting boards. I used some 3/4" MDF that was laying around.. Found the wing center, put the wing on the board and traced each half.. So far, so good. Next step is to get a piece of that cheap shelving and use it for the base to mount everything on.
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Old 03-28-2012, 04:44 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

building a parting board on the bar, only in Wisconsin
Old 03-28-2012, 04:55 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

At least I moved my beer out of the frame this time

I just use the bar for the pics.. I don't want anyone to see my messy shop
Old 03-30-2012, 04:52 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Now that it's a bit warmer, I've got the work bench in the garage set up.. Wing molds take up a lot of space at roughly 60" long.. I have a wedding out of town this weekend so I won't get much more done until next week..
Old 04-06-2012, 07:56 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Now that everything is set up in the garage I started piecing the parting board together.. First, I laid in one half flat on the bench in the parting board. This brought up the other side so I could verify the 1" total dihedral. Once that was complete I blocked up each end of the parting board to match (1/2" each side).

At this point I just have some temporary stringers holding the wing close to the proper position. Next step is to get the wing more permanently set into the parting board.
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Old 04-07-2012, 09:57 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Now that the part board is roughed out, I've started to lay in the "rest" for the leading and trailing edges to sit on.. This accomplished 2 things.. First, it helps keep the center line consistent the full length of the parting board.. Second, it will give the bondo a place to sit until it hardens when I seal the plug to the parting board.. Which it turns out, is the next step.
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Old 04-08-2012, 07:44 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Now that the parting board is set up I thought I would take a day and work on the wing plug.. Because the plug was the test wing, I have to seal up the ailerons, servo hole, and a few other odds and ends.. Good Easter day project in between basting the ham on the grill.. I'm sure my guests won't mind a little spot putty dust here and there
Old 04-08-2012, 08:29 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

A little balsa/putty dust never hurt anyone :-)
Old 04-09-2012, 04:33 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

My thoughts exactly..

Still working to get the wing sealed up and ready for paint.. I'm glad I didn't use much paint the first time since I'll have to remove it and repaint..
Old 04-09-2012, 12:37 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

That looks pretty good. Remember the key ways.

Steve
Old 04-10-2012, 04:25 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction


ORIGINAL: SCALECRAFT

That looks pretty good. Remember the key ways.

Steve
Steve, by "keyways" are you refering to the verticals at the TE of the wing? To answer that question, yes, I will be adding those but it will be toward the end of the process. I will be using 1/4" x 1/4" balsa sticks (wrapped in Ultracote), full span at the TE.
Old 04-10-2012, 07:36 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I think I have the wing holes about patched up.. I must admit, it's taken quite a bit longer than I thought getting the wing to "plug" status.. After all the aileron cuts, hing lines, servo hole, and other misc. stuff gets patched, the plug will require a fresh surface finish.. So, I've begun sanding it down and prepping it for a new paint job.. I figure I've gone this far, might as well do it right..
Old 04-13-2012, 11:38 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Finally after a crap load of sanding I've got the wing back to "plug" status.. Just a wet sanding and a few coats of single stage auto paint and it will be ready..
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Old 04-16-2012, 04:42 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Saturday night I finished up painting and clearing the wing.. Hopefully I can get it mated to the parting board tonight to move forward.. I will probably have to move out of the garage and back into the shop in the basement.. It's 33 and snowing here this morning..
Old 04-16-2012, 05:55 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

just two cans of bud?
Old 04-16-2012, 06:21 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I always paint better after a couple beers
Old 04-18-2012, 04:49 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I managed to get the plug sealed to the parting board.. Essentially, just waxed and PVA'd (mold release) the edges of the plug, put down some Bondo on the edges of the parting board and set the wing in place.. Let it dry overnight and popped it out this morning. The object of this is to minimize all the clay work that would normally be need for this process.. Next step is to sand down the bondo and parting board, prime and paint..
Old 04-20-2012, 05:33 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I haven't been doing this molding thing for that long but early on I had a rule.. Do not put on the final finish on the plug until the parting board is complete. Well, I you can see from my posts, I bypassed that rule on the wing plug. Of course, the wing plug sustained some slight damage after sealing it to the parting board... It won't require a complete redo but it will take a little work..

I have great common sense, I just I would listen to it.
Old 04-25-2012, 07:26 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Sorry for the delay.. I had to get a quickie ready for the first NCPL race.. Didn't really matter though because it rained out after 2 heats.

I added a piece of 1/4" square stock balsa down the trailing edge of the wing. This allows for a sharper finished TE. It also gives a little wiggle room on trying to get the parting board to line up exactly with the sharp TE of the wing plug.

Anyway, to speed things up I decided against finishing and painting the parting board and instead used some old cream colored Monokote.. I know remember why I don't use iron on covering anymore.. Besides hating it in general, I suck at it.

More to come.


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Old 04-29-2012, 06:49 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Here is the last picture before starting the actual mold.. In the pic you can see the use of the blind nuts that will be embedded in the mold flange ( I did this on my fuse mold and it worked very well). The bolts are threaded thru the blind nuts and into the parting board. Once the first half of the mold is completed, the bolts will be removed (yes, they are waxed) and threaded in from the reverse side of the flange before laying up the second half of the mold. You can also see the white alignment pieces.

My wife was giving me a bad time about staring at it and not moving forward.. I had to explain to her that I am at the point of no return and a mistake now would mean starting over from scratch, so back off woman!! No, I didn't say the back off part but I may have been thinking it
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Old 04-30-2012, 04:30 PM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

I applied the surface coat tonight.. After a few hours I will start building the thickness.

No turning back now.. I sure hope I didn't screw this up.. If I did, I'll be looking for someone to cut one out of AL and save myself all the hassle.. No need to remind me what that costs, I've checked

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Old 05-01-2012, 04:25 AM
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Default RE: AR-6 Wing mold construction

Right you are,,, no turning back now! The first one I did my wife came out to the garage to see what all the banging was only to see me beating the plug and mold on the ground to oblivion, she just turned around and went back inside. The second one was better.

What surface coat did you use?

DE

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