WacoNut

Sanding on the wings and adding a little filler here and there where required.
Should have no problem having the wings ready for covering today. I hope Sig ships my Koverall this week as I have next weekend off and it would be nice to get the plane covered next weekend.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

Lonnie,
I skimmed back thru the thread looking for where you did your aileron's, I think I am going to go the Plastistrut method for the corrugations and was wondering which size you used and how many packs you needed to complete the aileron's? I am going to go ahead and get the aileron's glassed over the next few days.
Later!!
Anthony

lrayj

Hey Anthony

I used Evergreen .060 half round. Ordered from Tower. I ordered 20 packs of 5 per pack. Had about five packs left over. Wanted extra in case I blew it on some.

WacoNut

Thanks Lonnie,
I have a local H/S that stocks a bunch of that stuff, I will see if they have it.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

I canceled my order with Sig for the Koverall and dope.
After talking with Gary Siebert at Pink-It about the rib tapes he said he had some large packs of Koverall he was willing to part with so I have 2 large packs of Koverall on their way here from Gary. Thanks again Gary
I stopped by the local H/S on the way home and picked up a quart of dope. The stuff stinks to high heaven but I prefer sticking the fabric down with the dope then filling the weave with PolyC. Kind of set in my ways but it works for me.

For those who are curious I fiured out the ammount of tapes required for the Waco, with Gary's help. I will be using Rib tapes for reinforcement tape on the fuse over each stringer so this will require 300ft of rib tape and 67ft of reinforcement tapes for the flying surfaces. The thing to remember about Gary's tapes are the pinked edge is the corect scale with the correct # of pinks per inch and you simply iron it down over your rib stitching. Imagine trying to to cut this ammount of rib tapes by hand. Little things like this go along ways to helping the looks of your plane.
Still working on sanding the wings and getting the aileron's ready for covering.
Anthony

nine o nine

My Feedback: (1)

I agree that the tapes from Gary are perfect for our projects. The only thing that bugs me about them is that the lengths are somewhat short....not a continuous length on a roll. Gary says that he has to make them in shorter pieces so that the width doesn't wander and lose consistency. It's a problem that can be worked around though. Have fun. Mitch

WacoNut

I received my package from Gary today,
I now have the materials to cover the plane, I thought I was going to have the weekend off but now I have to work Saturday. I will at least get a good start on the covering this weekend.
Anthony

lrayj

Great can't wait to see it covered. Know about the work problem. I was going to work some last night and got a call from work. That's what happens when you are on call 24-7. Got a little done tonight, but I'm back at work now. Between work and the weather it is hard to make a lot of progress.

WacoNut

My work has been crazy for the last year, I can count on one hand how many full weekends I had off last year and most of them was when I took vacation. I have customers from Pratt & Whitney in next week and I know I won't get any work done on the Waco then because I will have to go to dinner with them every night that they are in town. I am responsible for all floor operations and it seems like I am always putting out fires anymore. I really envy these old retired farts on here(Who will remain nameless). Alot of people say retirement it too boring, to me it would just give me unlimited building time. I have been working in the same shop since I was 18 after 24 years I am ready to retire. Well in about another 20 yrs I can start thinking about it.
Later!!
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

I'm one of those ORFs and I never get board. Been retired 10 years.

TomCrump

Bored ? I wonder how I ever found the time to work. LOL

I'm glad that Gary was able to help you out. Try the Solatex sample that he sent you. You'll like it !

WacoNut

Nothing exiting,
I have been trying to get things wrapped up to apply the fabric, ran the wiring for the lights and added ply plates to the tail surfaces for the braceing wires(almost forgot that). Going over everything one last time and making sure all the glue joints are good and everything is sanded smooth. Should be applying the fabric tomorrow.
Later!!
Anthony

lrayj

Spent this weekenf working on the side panels on the Front fuselage. These are the ones that run from the rear cockpit to the front. Attached are some pictures of the progress. I'm now ready to start on the panels at the front near the cowl.

lrayj

Also worked on the wing tip lights. Like Anthony I'm trying to get the wings ready for covering. Got to get these done before I can cover the wings. In an earlier post I showed how far I had gotten on the seat for the lights. Now I have fashed a piece to go over the lights and hold them in place. I made a mold for the lens covers from clear plastic using a vacuum form machine. Home made. Hear are pictures of the process

lrayj

Then I trimmed the lens covers to fit the seat on the wing

lrayj

Finally made the metal cover from .016 alum sheet and everything is held in place with screws. Some clean up work and these will be done

WacoNut

Lonnie your lights look great and the fuse panels.
I made the old teardrop housings for mine as I am modeling an original Waco. Still waiting on my buddy to vacuum form some lenses for me. The 1st attempt didn't turn out very well.

I spent alot of time yesterday and today trying to get ready for covering and I kept finding little odds and ends I didn't finish. One big one was the filler on the aileron spar to create the radius at the end of the aileron's, I had to do all 4 panels this morning and reshape all 4 aileron's. I would really have been miffed if I didn't notice until after covering. I finally called all the flying surfaces finished and applied a coat of sanding sealer. I have the bottom of the stabs covered, not much to show for a 10hr day in the basement. I may sneak down and cover the top side of the stabs after dinner. I can't wait to see how my modified wing tips look after covering.
Later!!
Anthony

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Lonnie,

Excellent work! I'm particularly impressed with the wing lights. I'm am working on a large Hawker Hurricane and am stumped by the wing tip light lenses. They are inset into the front of the wing tip contour. I have material for the landing lights, which I made using LEDs and a mini Maglite reflectors. What plastic did you use for the lenes? I assume that it was molded at an elevated temperature How did you warm the plastic and at what temperature?

What can you tell me about your vacuum forming procedure?

lrayj

Hey Bob

It took three tries before I got it right. The first plug I made was out of wood carved to shape and then covered with 2 coats of resin. That was sanded up to 600 grit. When I tried it they looked good until I pulled the plug. Then they hazed up. A member of my club suggested using plaster as the plug. So I filled one of the originals with the plaster to make the mold and sanded that to 600 grit and it work perfectly. No hazing. Now the plastic I used is K&S clear .030 thickness from Tower. I put the plug on the vacuum form and them laid the plastic in the frame on top of the plug and using a heat gun I heated the plastic until it started to sag around the plug. I then hit the vacuum and kept the heat on the plastic until it finally conformed to the plug. Have to be careful. Too much heat and the plastic will bubble on you. I know you should use an oven to heat the plastic, but I do not have one in my shop and my wife will not let me use the ones in the kitchen. The heat gun will work on the small stuff. Don't think it would very good on stuff much larger than this. Hard to keep the heat uniform.

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Lonnie,

Thanks, you saved me at least two mistakes. I would have made the pug out of wood and tried mold release wax, which would have probably made a mess. I have been meaning to make a vacuum table for just such occasions, so I guess I'll have to stop putting it off.

Thanks again and keep up the inspiring work.

Stickbuilder

Lonnie,

Great work there. It's making me consider getting a trailer so I can transport something in that size. Detailing a large model is so much more simple than doing one of the little ones. I can't wait to see the completed project.

Bill, Waco Brother #1

nine o nine

My Feedback: (1)

Now you're talking Bill!! Mitch

trlambsr

Hey Bill
Have just the trailer you need.. Custom designed, Professionally Made for the 40% AMR WACO.. Here it is with My 33 in it. I weights less then six hundred pounds. Any reasonable offer will be Accepted
TR
Brotherhood # 69

Stickbuilder

Hmmmm, My Volvo will pull it too.

WacoNut

I have been swamped at work this week and working long days, the worst part is I will have to work full days this weekend[:@]

So far I have managed to get the stabs and rudder covered and shrunk, they turned out great. I have the bottoms of the elevators covered. I applied sanding sealer to the wings and sanded them then applied a coat of dope so they are ready to apply the Koverall as soon as I can get to them. I am hoping to get a little done each evening, I hate to lose the momentum I have had over the last few weeks.
I need to get a few more things wrapped up on the fuse before covering as well.
Later!!
Anthony