DanIsGo

Any more progress? I just came across it and it looks like it is going to be a pretty amazing build!

Sir Blue Henry

Hi. Yes I think its time to pick this up again. With a 21 month old boy I am not left with a lot of energy. Been doing a bit of plastic model building (as i always am), but its time to get this going.

I have been collecting endless reference material, I just need to get down and finish that CoreDraw upper surface
Print it and lay it on the jig so i can get it ready for the metal sheet. I will try and do a bit in the evenings and get this progressing.

DanIsGo

Good to hear, I'll be looking forward to it!

Sir Blue Henry

I have been sorting my thousands of reference photos and getting them ready for slightly more easy access to see while doing the Coreldraw stuff.
Then getting a bit excited I started thinking about building the Nick Ziroli 1/5 Harvard as well. still pondering.
Progress should start happening soon

Sir Blue Henry

Printed out some promising plans last weekend but once I scrutinised them I decided the only right way to go was from the original factory drawings, so thats the next step. It does sort of mean that I have to construct in a manner similar to the original at first. May need to decide if I then slice up the first fuselage/mpennage in order to get correct cross sections - or alternatively I may have found a guy who could possibly do something for me in Corel draw. Either way - I need to start on the first 1/7 empennage soon. I also need to verify my centreboard.
Centre section printouts also need to be done this weekend.

Sir Blue Henry

Sir Blue Henry

Fuselage plug construction close now. I have all the relevant drawings. Missing a couple of reference lines. Need to check my centreboard first
Looking forward to this.

Sir Blue Henry

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qtOrbxCXP3...1600/photo.JPG

from the Baffle (in line with the front panels on this image, through the firewall, and back to station 106 where the frame attaches to the empennage.

aerofoils with reduced centre section for moulding of the wing fillet.
The wheel cover is the real make or break. A really complex piece comprising 3 pieces in 1.

DanIsGo

It's always nice to pick up where you left off on an old plane that you've put on the back shelf! Here is my top flite texan that I glassed and painted. Nowhere near yours but I plan on building a more scale one in the future after my ziroli hellcat and top flite DC3 perhaps. Looking forward to some pictures of progress.

Sir Blue Henry

Yours looks nice and neat and tidy. Do you have a build log of your Hellcat. Just love that plane. The Ziroli build should be awesome. And yes - another Texan would do no harm!! What scale would you choose? 1/5 is cool, but one doesnt always want to cart around a large plane. If my 1/7 Texan could be built light enough, it could almost be a park flyer.

Sir Blue Henry

On a different note. I am fixing up a TopFlite Spitfire - to hang on the ceiling and never fly again. It was built by some else till about 75% completion, but as soon as I started looking closer I realised that there was no point getting it airworthy. There was just no quality of construction - or even adequate symmetry. Thats fine - Im just practising a few repair techniques on it, and a few glassing tests. Surfaces will all be fixed.

Sir Blue Henry

Firewall is reference line fore/aft
Baffle and foremost panels at 31.0 inches forward of firewall
Joint between fuselage and empennage at 106.5 inches
Fuselage(excl cowling and only up to station 106) ... 106.5+31 = 137.5 inches (3492.5mm)
1/7 = 498.93mm


Empennage excluding rudder - from 106.5 till 242.188 inches
empennage length therefore = 135.688 inches ( 3446.5mm)
1/7 = 492.36

add another 34 inches to include rudder

Centre section half span = 57 inches
Full centre section= 114 inches ( 2895.6mm)
1/7 = 413.66mm
Actually centre span jigged is marked as 113 7/8 inches on sheet 88-13201
113.875 inches (2892.425)
1/7 = 413.2mm

Centre section chord (not incl bolt angle or cover) 89.946 inches
chord 2284.628mm
1/7 326.38mm

These span measurements exclude any of the joint plates between wing and centre section

Sir Blue Henry

Sir Blue Henry

Couldnt help myself, I have decided to buy a sound module for the Harvard, which will really bring it to life. Now i just need to figure out how to get a realistic prop movement - but I think i have a plan, of course this is not for flying - just for scale ground display

DanIsGo

And here I thought we'd get to see this going through the air haha. I don't have a build started yet for my ziroli hellcat but I'm hoping to start the build in the next few weeks. assuming this hellcat goes well I plan on building their texan. let me know how that sound module goes I might be throwing one on my DC3!

Sir Blue Henry

Well at some stage one of the 1/7 Harvards will fly. Im not going to all this trouble for 1 only. I will make a few, and maybe sell some fuselages. But the sound system will stay in the static version.
Oh - you can go check out the sound system website.
http://www.modelsoundsinc.com/index.php

Hmm - I may even be tempted to build the Ziroli Harvard with you . follow your lead. I doubt I have enough wood - but Lets see. Might just be possible

By the way - this sound system is one of the more expensive ones - but when you buy it - you get access to 94 aircraft sounds. go check them out
I have just read that for twins they are the only sound board where independent throttles will activate independent engine sound - good for a DC3

Sir Blue Henry

For reference
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-w...ld-thread.html
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/gian...h-scale-2.html
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-w...at6-texan.html
http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewto...38bf43af26d576

Sir Blue Henry

24 gram cloth (0.6 Oz) is quite good and lightweight for general covering (as i was messing around on the topflite spitfire, but the cloth is very flimsy and needs to be handled way more gently than the 48g cloth (1.2 Oz) which is a much nicer cloth and probably my favourite so far. Very neat and tight weave. I was trying some covering over the open gaps of control surfaces, trying to get a bit of a droop as the canvas sags (even though this doesnt happen on full size as it is extremely tight) and had moderate success, but generally glassing over an open space doesnt leave you with the best results.

I have also been finding a supplier for PETG plastic for canopy making. $54 roughly for a sheet 1.2 x 2.4m. 1mmm thick.

Found the most invaluable source of information on a facebook page. Possible the best page I have ever found. They dont do a Harvard but all techniques are relevant. Highly recommended!!

https://www.facebook.com/RAP-Fun-Fac...8842820636361/

Apart from that I was looking at the original 1/7 T6 empennage which started me off on this project and just noted how amazingly heavy the original builder made it.

I need to build a simple vacform machine as well. are there any threads on this?

Sir Blue Henry

Got my sound module in the post. Still need to set up and test but should be very good

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

24g is .84 oz and 48g is 1.7 oz not too far off but some. Glassing over open structure doesn't really work.

Sir Blue Henry

Thanks for that - hmm. I must have a reference chart that is not exactly accurate - cheers

Sir Blue Henry

I have had feedback on the costs of laser cutting and to say the least Im disappointed. Very expensive, and since I wanted to do this on my 1/5 Ziroli build as well, this now forces me down another avenue where I have to see if i can get access to a "Fablab" laser cutter and start more or less doing them myself. Another question is whether this build should actually revert to 1/6 rather than 1/7 which is just a little small. so next step is to get access to that laser cutter and do some trials

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Yup laser cutting can be costly, each piece is cut one at a time not like die cutting where a sheet of parts is cut (crunched) all at once so laser cutting takes a lot more time and time is money
AN ounce is 28.3g don't bother with charts just use a calculator.

Sir Blue Henry

Cheers. Thanks for that.

Sir Blue Henry

Will use my existing centreboard as a prototype and cut a new one from North American blueprints. Centre section within fuselage being reconstructed as my previous attempt had warped.