fledermaus

This looks like an awesome kit.[sm=thumbup.gif] I'm thrilled that someone is coming out with SMALLER sport-scale biplane kits - 1/6 scale is hard to find these days but it fits my budget very nicely.

The photo-etched rigging pieces are brass I suppose?

CTDavies

Great day for us. We've finally received the vacuum forming molds for the pup's cowling. We developed them using Solidworks and the molds were the milled out of a special heat resistant plastic block - a first high tech piece of engineering for CD-Scaledesigns.

CTDavies

you can see on the close-ups that some detail is already included, like the hatched areas which the modeller will have to cut out for the scale cooling slots, as well as the raised lines which will in turn be the recessed panel lines on the end product.
We will be heading to the plastic company on Tuesday so hopefully we might have some test shots fairly soon.

For those that are interested, we also received the molds for our Fokker D.VIII cowlings as well.

abufletcher

Chris, VERY exciting news!

Pist-N-Broke

Nice kit.

I have recently purchased a complete set of construction drawings for the Sopwith Pup. Over 120 individual full size blue prints for every component and all material specifications.

I intend to build a 1/2 scale, then a 1/1 scale (all you need is basic wood working tools).

I can also get the complete set for the Sopwith Camel as well, but Sopwith Camels killed more pilots in training / flying accidents than were lost in combat. That says something!

abufletcher

...that and a fair bit of cash and a lot bigger workshop than I'll ever have!

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Unless you intend to use a 1/2 Clerget engine for the Camel I doubt if you'll encounter the same issues as the full scale pilots did. The 1/3 Scale Camels fly very easy with out the problems associated with the full scale plane. Just something to consider.

allanflowers

Chris,
How is going on the vacformed cowls?

Mode One

Yes, it's my understanding the torque from the rotary engine, combined with the short nose of the Camel was the culpret. However, the handling accounts I've read about the Pup, claim it to be very easy flying and a sweet aeroplane!

CTDavies

Hi Allen,
we were told they should be ready by the end of next week, but we haven't even received the quotation from the plastics company yet. I hope we'll get them early March at the latest.
Chris

CTDavies

Hi Allan (and everyone else)

got them today! Well at least the test shots. So far they look great, I need to make some changes to the molds which I'll do this weekend and then I will take them back to the plastics company for the first production run on Monday or Tuesday. I got about 10 of each today, for our Sopwith Pup and Fokker D.VIII. I'll post some more pictures later.

Chris

CTDavies

A few more. Now to get the rigging done and then some more glamour shots. After that she will be covered and TEST FLOWN!!! Maybe I'll even get the rigging done over the long easter weekend.

abufletcher

That looks just GREAT!!! Hopefully, this will spur me on to get on with my Snipe!

CTDavies

Hi Abu,
I'm hoping to post detailed construction steps of the rigging over the next several days (as I said, probably starting on the easter weekend), so you're welcome to join in. We could make it a joint effort!
Mine won't be an as-close-to-scale-as-possible effort, I want it to look good while being functionable, which I think is the way to go on models this size. So it will probably be similar to what I posted over at your Snipe thread several weeks ago.
chris

abufletcher

Chris, out of curiousity, how are you handling (or going to handle) the exhaust?

I've been planning to order another one of those 90 degree adapters so that the Saito muffler can run up and down next to the engine but I'll need to look carefully at the space once I get the engine installed. Do you have a simpler solution?

CTDavies

Abu,

there is a company here in Germany that does custom mufflers which I will be seeing at the large Intermodellbau Exhibition in Dortmund next month. I'm going to show them my Pup's plans and get them to work something out , that I can also sell as an accessory. Maybe whatever we come up with will work for all of my 'rotary' biplane designs. I was thinking of using a sort of elbow adapter which I could use with the Magnum muffler, but that would lead the exhausts upwards out of the cowling and I don't want all the oil smear along the top of the fuselage, so I've pretty muched ruled that out. It might be some sort of bendy pipe that wraps around the engine over to the other side where I can lead it out of the bottom of the cowling. I'll show you here what we've come up with when I have it.

Chris

abufletcher

Here's the setup I have on my Legionaire at the moment. I'll probably add one of the silicon muffler extenders to take it down to the bottom of the cowl. The angle connector comes from Just Engines in the UK:

http://www.justengines.unseen.org/FS_mans.htm

****

Ah! But I just noticed your Magnum is mounted inverted. Hmmm..looks like the bendy pipe might be the solution (or part of it).

CTDavies

Ah, the benefits of an upright engine! My exhaust exit on the inverted Magnum is bottom right so if I wanted to mount the standard muffler hidden in the cowling it would point upwards and spew all the gunk over the top fuse. Yuck! So, right now, I think the bendy pipe is the way to go.
I went through my older posts of this thread last night and had to smile where I thought back last autumn that I'd have my Pup covered 'within a few weeks'. Funny how some things just drag (without really being a drag) on isn't it? The reason I held off on the covering is I really wanted some bare bones glamour shots with the cowling and rigging done. Getting there...

abufletcher

Here's how things worked out with my "quasi-inverted" Magnum 52 on my EIII. Not helpful in your case but maybe it'll spark an idea.

CTDavies

Your Fokker E.III looks great and the muffler is hardly visible tucked away nicely under the fuselage like that. This is what my VK Camel looked like many years ago (Ouch!)

I hope to find a better solution for my Pup.

Mode One

Chris, As I stated over at the Aerodrome website, I have had an opportunity to look over and study your 1/5th scale "upsized" plans for the Sopwith Pup and am impressed with what you've done! I haven't seen the 1/6th scale plans and other then size, don't know if there are any real differences between the two (maybe you'd like to comment?). Your plans are very thorough, well drawn and have what I would like to call a high degree of just plain common-sense. There is lots of detail and I like the fact that the rigging wire details are well drawn out and easy to understand. My input for power for this bird would be a .80 to .100 sized 4 stroke or maybe Zenoah's G20ie. The airframe would also handle more power and I would think some builders will try this.

I can't wait to get started! Will a rib kit be available and how about a nice molded cowling like you'll be offering for the 1/6th scale?

I am just completing a Dynaflite SE5a. This model is 1/5th "stand way off scale". I did some modifications to it to make it more scale like, such as lowering the top wing and adding better detail. I'm a proponent of 1/5th scale. I really like this sized airplane as they are large and have "presence", like the larger scales; but, for the most part are still fairly easy to transport and can use regular servos and medium sized engines for power. This makes them big, but affordable! I would guess this might make them a less expensive electric conversion, also. I think 1/5th scale has much to offer and don't understand why this size isn't more popular.

abufletcher

Chris, just got your email. I'm having some problems sending email tonight so I'll try again tomorrow. I'm on the same computer.

If we really have a problem then there's always the PM function here.

I see your online. I'm on iChat right now -- at least for the next 10-15 minutes.

CTDavies

Hi Mode,
thanks for the comments on my 1/5th scale Pup plans. Construction is basically the same as the 1/6th version except that the horizontal stab uses the wing ribs on a balsa core method for the smaller Pup and 'real' ribs & sticks are used for the larger one. Everything else is pretty much the same. I think you'll be fine using a .80 to a 1.00 engine for it. I can't remember what I had in my VK Camel (maybe someone here can identify it), but whatever it was, it was too large for it, as it flew on tick-over. Tough to get it down, but flew like a trainer.
Wings ribs are no problem, just drop me a line when you're ready. The plastic cowling will depend very much on demand, which so far has been very slim for the 1/5th scale version. I guess most people decide on 1/6th 'cause of the nice range of accessories available, but I totally agree with you; even on the printed plans,the 1/5th Pup looks very impressive. Maybe things will change a bit when more plans and kits are availble.
Chris

CTDavies

Hi all,
managed to start on the rigging today. As I said previously I'm going to use my own method which I had already shown over at Abu's Snipe thread. Here's a quick undown on how it works.
I want to use 1mm music wire, which can be turned the in a short piece of threaded rod to tighten it. The other end sits in a piece of brass tube and is plugged to allow rotation.
The top wire shows my initial idea using a servo fork end, but this was too 'unscale' for me right now I wanted something more inconspicuous for my Pup. The middle wire is the bottom end of my current solution with the wire fixed by the threaded rod. The bottom wire is the top end.

CTDavies

I decided to do the interplane strut bracing wires first, because if these struts are riggid, I might get around having to build a jig to do the rest of the rigging. We'll see. So on this image is the bottom fixing point with the threaded rod, which comes from a trimmed servo fork end and is welded to our own biplane fitting. The music wire is soldered to a threaded pushrod connector which was shortened a bit. It was too thin for a nice fit so a piece of brass tube was also inserted for s strong joint. I left the brass tube long enough to extend out the threaded rod a bit, just because I liked the look of it that way.