Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The recent questions about the Intimidator II gave me an excuse to start a new thread.

I got my Intimidator II for Christmas. Now is a good time to start.

The kit includes the wood parts, wing cores, and landing gear.

Carbon fiber and other construction material will have to be purchased.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Join the two wide balsa skins as a book cover.

Leave a 1/8" gap between the skins.

Masking tape works fine.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Tear a 3/4" wide piece of 7 thousandths thick piece of carbon laminant.

Tack it in place on the bottom skin with 3M77.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Cut a 5" wide piece of 2 ounce fiberglass cloth.

Tack it in place with 3M77. The fiberglass cloth will strengthen the surface for stiff ailerons.

Lay a piece of 3/4 ounce fiberglass cloth over the entire wing skin.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Use a razor saw to cut a slot for the vertical carbon spar (36" X 1/2" x 21 thousandths thick).

The vertical carbon is installed on the top surface.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Waxed paper is tacked in place on the wing shucks.

I will later use a homemade vacuum bag made from a piece of plastic tarp.

The edges are later sealed with latex caulking. Use the cheap stuff as you only need it to seal a short period of time.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Mix about 0.4 ounce of finishing resin.

Use an epoxy brush to smear the glue in the slot. Slide the 36" x 1/2" x 21 thousandths thick piece of laminant in place.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Mix about an ounce of finishing resin and then add about a 10% (cap full) of 91% alcohol. The total weight with alcohol is about 1.1 ounces.

This is then applied to the right or left side of the skin. Squeegee the epoxy as needed to spread out.

The other side is done the same way.

Slide the wing core between the balsa skins.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Temporarily pin the wing shucks together making sure the parts are lined up.

Tape parts together with masking tape and remove the pins. You don't want to puncture the vacuum bag.

A piece of rope is taped in place around the wing parts.

Lay a long piece of paper towel on the top of the cores.

Tape the vacuum tube in place and apply a bead of caulking around the cores as needed.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The top of the tarp is folded over and the caulking is sealed. I just step on the edges to join the surfaces.

Turn on the vacuum pump to remove the air from the bag. Air pressure makes a superior clamp to hold parts in place while the glue is drying.

It was relatively cold in the garage so I placed the wing cores between layers of electric blanket. The warm surface insures that parts dry reasonably quickly (8 to 15 hours).

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

GSJames and I started my wing yesterday. At noon today I can take the wing out of the bag and continue the build. I look forward to watching yours.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The sheeting was trimmed and the triangular balsa leading edge was glued on with 5-minute epoxy.

Masking tape held the leading edge in place until the glue dried.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The leading edge was shaped with a sanding block.

The surface should rounded as needed. I used an old specialized sanding block for this service.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Trim the trailing edge with a razor saw to make a 9 7/8" wide cord.

The trailing edge sheeting was shaped with a sanding block.

The fiberglass between the sheets makes a nice sharp trailing edge.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The sheeted wing weighs in at 10.5 ounces after sanding and shaping.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Can't wait till you get to the fuselage. I have mocked mine up with clamps to check fit and the (2) plywood blocks that will take the 4 screws to hold the wing on don't look right in my kit. They are labeled "front bolt" and "rear bolt" but they do not seem to fit in the correct slots. They actually fit better in the opposite positions. (Clamp side is front of the plane) I must have something wrong but the formers are all unique and will not fit any other way.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

The fuselage should be the widest at the trailing edge of the wing.

You've gotten farther than me at this point.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

well.. with the "front bolt" wing bolt block in the rear it is. I can't believe that he would have typoed with the laser. Who knows. I can make it work this way but the one that says "rear bolt" does have the slot for aileron control horns to fit in. I am in no hurry. Will wait for you to get to this stage and see what you think. thanx

PS what type of glue will you be using on the fuselage?

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Scottfl78 just sent me a couple of pictures and sure enough, National Balsa labeled them backward. Scott H, see if you can verify this...

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Looks to me like the front and rear may be correct, but you have the rear one 180 degrees rotated. The opening should point toward the center of the wing, not toward the tail on that rear mount.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Yeah was just showing the writing on the parts and their width. Here is what she looks like.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

That is correct in the last pic. Here is a pic of how they are supposed to be

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

ScottFL78,

Pay close attention to how you glue up the fuse doublers. On the ones I have built, the writing is on the outside of the balsa. Just make sure you glue the doubler on the correct side of the fuse side. The right fuse side is shorter than the left in front of the wing saddle to give the plane right thrust so they are not symmetrical. A couple of my buddies have glued the doubles on the wrong side. The plane is also designed with 1 degree (I believe) of down thrust

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

haha yeah GSJames helped me glue them so they are correct. The instructions says there is right and down thrust. Looks like maybe a degree or so not much.

RE: Intimidator II Construction Thread
 

Scott H - where do you get your CF material for the wings? I'm about to do a Q500 wing or two, and was just wondering.

Thanks,