kram

My Feedback: (7)

Nice Work!

Thanks for sharing.



mt

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Thanks, Mark.

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Fuse detailing.

I started detailing the fuse.

For a functioning canopy, slots were cut into the fuse so slotted 3/16" square brass tubing can be epoxied into the slots.
I used straight pins pushed from the inside to parallel the stringers so I didn't cut across them when cutting out the slot.
See the Ziroli P-47 build, post starting at #97 for making the canopy rails:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_80..._4/key_/tm.htm

Some easy sand was applied to the canopy frame, sanded and primer added.

Two hatches were put on the left side of the fuse: one for the receiver, air and the other for ignition/fuel.
Since the fuse is balsa and not real strong for doors (even with FG), I epoxied 1/32" thick ply over the area that gets the two doors. I made the ply 1/4" wider than the doors (3" X3" and 2"X2.5" doors). Again, I used straight pins to insure no former was breached and to locate the edges of stringers.
The corners were rounded over to appear to be large access panels.
The edge was also sanded to help reduce the visual relief height of the ply.
The slot for the piano hinge was cut first and then the piano hinge was screwed in place.
The other three sides were then cut with a razor saw, thus, insuring a perfectly fit door plus the correct contour.

Two antenna masts were also sanded out of spruce and made removable (first time I put her on her back, those masts would get snapped off!).


pic 1/2:
Slots cut into fuse for the 3/16" square brass used for canopy rails.

pic 3:
canopy rails epoxied to fuse.

pic 4/5:
Easysand put on canopy frame and primered.

pic 6/7:
Two access hatches located on side of fuse with pencil.

pic 8:
epoxy 'buttered' onto the ply and taped to the fuse.

pic 9:
Two cut off disks used to make slot for piano hinge pin.

pic 10:
Piano hinge screwed on with #0X3/16" wood screws.

pic 11:
Razor saw (without stiffener) used to cut other three sides.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Fuse detailing (cont)

pic 1/2:
One door done.

pic 3-6:
Antenna masts made with shafts.

pic 7/8:
Box for front mast made.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Fuse detailing (cont)

All the panels lines were drawn on and 1/32" wide chart tape applied.
The root around the wing and cowl got 1/16" wide tape.
Tomorrow, I'll do the flaps/ailerons and belly pan and put the final coat of primer on.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

second primer coat.

I finished up the chart tape on the belly pan and fake trim tab outlines on the ailerons, elevators and rudder using 1/16" wide tape.
Using the two part epoxy primer, I coated all surfaces to cover all easysand bondo and then went back to put a second coat on all chart tape.
I saw a couple blemishes that I missed but will just fill/sand with some easysand and then add rivets and paint.
Primer was put on outside and then taken into the shop after 'gun' cleanup to keep birds from using the plane as a 'dive bomb'!
Did some research and the fuse rivets are flush rivets to the cockpit and then raised rivets from the cockpit to the tail. Should make for an interesting look!

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rivets galore (reminds me of an old James Bond movie!)

I wet sanded the fuse to expose the top surface of the chart tape and then removed the tape.
Additional lines were penciled in for horizontal rivets.
Flush rivets were applied to the front of the fuse back to the cockpit.
One of my books shows a close up view of a pilot in the cockpit and it shows the raised rivets starting at the middle of the cockpit.
The raised rivets also go only on the forward side of each panel line.
I don't remember ever seeing rivets only on one side of a panel line: I'm guessing that they overlapped the panels to save on rivets (and weight).
I have to do some more research on the nose area to see if more rivets are needed.
One side is almost done.
I must be one sick puppy: I actually enjoy doing this (kind of like ZEN)!

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Sam, I love every minute. You're not the only sick one. We all are. Dan.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rivets (cont)

Just about all the rivets are now on the fuse.
One of my brass tubes has a brass through the middle to represent a screw head, which was used around the two hatch covers.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Horizontal stab (cont)

With the fuse and stab wet sanded and all rivets on, I can finally glue the stab to the fuse.
Some sanding was necessary to get the stab level; the distance equal from wing tip to stab, equal distance to each stab tip, distance from stab tip to ground and, finally, visual check from the front.
All sanding excluded sanding the stab saddles as these determine the correct incidence.
Once the stab was aligned, pencil lines were then drawn on the stab using the fuse edge as the guide, so I could put the stab back on close to the exact spot after applying epoxy.
Tape was applied around all areas plus saran wrap to one stab side to keep epoxy off the surface.
A liberal amount of epoxy was applied to the fuse and stab, the stab was slid into position and all measurements were again made to insure exact alignment. The left side of the stab needed lowering so I put a clamp on a square to hold the left side of the stab at the correct height.
After the initial epoxy dries, I'll then be able to add more epoxy to the top as there is a thin slot between the stab and fuse. More epoxy will easily be added to the bottom via the tail gear hole.

While the wing was attached, I also insured the wing was equal height at each wing tip plus checking the fit between the fuse and center wing.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Horizontal stab (cont)

More epoxy was added to the stab/fuse joint, easysand then was added and then a coat of primer to seal it all up.

========
Access hatches.

I used aluminum duct tape to make them.
A brass tube made the screw heads and a jeweler's small straight screwdriver made the screw slot.
I added more rivets to the horizontal stab as I noticed them in my books.

pic 1/2:
Easysand and then primered the stab joint.

pic 3:
Rivets then added to the fuse around the stab area.

pic 4/5:
More rivets added to the stab and access panels.

pic 6/7:
Fuel hatches, general access hatches and exhaust guard.
Some wrinkles around the exhaust as it's hard to bend the aluminum tape around compound curves.

pic 8:
I believe this is the entrance to the fuse for the antenna wire.

pic 9:
Tail access hatch.
Some more rivets added at an angle that I missed.
Added a note to myself to put pull/pull holes in the fuse for the rudder before painting.

pic 10:
Rudder and vertical stab access hatches.

pic 11:
Pilot step covers added plus more rivets to support that area.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rudder pull/pull.
I drilled out a hole in the side of the fuse using an 18" long drill and CA'ed some sullivan inner flex rod to the fuse.

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Rivets (cont)

Fuse:
The left side's hatches were added.
Not as many on this side.
Exhaust protector also added.
The turtle deck also got a few hatches.
I used a round servo arm to make the bulk of the hatches.
I think that I'm done with the fuse.

Belly pan:
After wet sanding, rivets and hatches were added plus the exhaust area.

Flaps and ailerons:
Started adding rivets to these surfaces.
I noticed in the pictures that I'm going to have to add more rivets to the wings for each rib.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rivets (cont)

Got both outer wings done.
I had to add more rivets after researching my books as I only had rivets around the panels lines.
That should allow for 7G pullouts!

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Hatches on top outer wings.

Two for the guns/ammo and another general purpose hatch.
The usual aluminum duct tape.
To make small radius, rounded corners, I find it easiest to:
1) cut a triangular piece off of the corner.
2) cut two more smaller triangular pieces off of the two new corners.
The three flat spots are not noticeable to the naked eye and appear to be round.
I drew some lines to make the piano hinge along the top of the gun/ammo hatches but I may screw on some real piano hinge to give it some real dimension.
Besides being impervious to any paint applied to the two part primer, I've yet to have it lift off when applying the duct tape to the surface, cutting away the waste, and then pulling the waste up (and that duct tape sticks like 'iron').

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Main gear doors.

For the front small door, I just used some 1/16" thick ply and two dubro heavy duty hinges to secure the door to some spruce that I epoxied just inside the wing's surface at the front of the wooden gear mounts.
Some #0X3/16" wood screws holds the hinges to the door and wing.
I'm figuring the wind will close the front doors with no need for a spring to pull them closed.
=========

Rivets (cont)

The bottom of one outer wing was riveted and hatches added.
For the gun shell exits, I also just used the aluminum tape to show their presence.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

final rivets.

I think that I've reached the point of 'diminishing returns' on rivets as I've just added the last ones to the center wing.
The more you look in the books, the more rivets you find: that's enough!

==========
Hinges.

All the hinges have been epoxied to the moving surfaces and plane.
I like doing this before painting as there's no way I'm mixing up that much epoxy without getting it on the parts that I don't want them to be on.
The flaps get robarts large pin hinges and pocket hinges and the ailerons, rudder and elevators get dubro's heavy duty nylon hinges.
The pocket hinges allows me to make easy adjustments to the flaps, especially with a pin in one flap that moves the adjacent flap and also allows for everything to be removed for painting and any future maintenance. Likewise, the dubro hinges have removable pins.
Oil is put on the pin hinges and dubro hinges pins and grease into the set screw on the pocket hinges before applying the epoxy. For applying the epoxy, I use a tapered popcicle stick for the flat slots and a dowel for the circular holes.
Everything is dry fitted before the 'glue up' and checked during each phase of the 'glue up'.
Some epoxy inevitably gets on the hinges but since they are very smooth nylon, it breaks free or, at the worst, an xacto blade is needed to 'pop' some of the un-needed epoxy off the hinges.
Before assembly, I cut up lots of paper towels into 2" square pieces to wipe off excess epoxy around the holes before inserting the hinge and just before final seating of the hinge.

Next is to see if I have room to make functional cowl flaps and then I should be able to start painting.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Hinges (cont)

elevator and rudder done.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

tail feathers hinges:

I replaced the multiple brass cotter pins with one long piano wire for the rudder and elevators: The wire end is bent to a U and goes through the wood tips first before securing the hinges.

============

Functional cowl flaps.

Using the GT-80 twin, I need venting at the top and there isn't sufficient air flow with stationary cowl flaps on the cowl so I have no choice but build functional cowl flaps.
I put two cut off disks together and made a hinge slot along the flaps.
Dubro heavy duty nylon hinges were then screwed to the cowl and flaps (two hinges per flap) using #0X3/16" wood screws.
I then cut away the other two sides to free up the flaps.
There should be plenty of air flow now with the flaps open.
With the functional exhaust, my usual method of using nyrod isn't going to work as the exhaust pipes are in the way for running nyrod.
I'll have to figure out some other way of operating them: it's late so I'll 'sleep on it' and see what I 'come up with' in the morning.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Rivets:

Almost forgot the cowl!
The large panels are removable (at least on the full size one) so I use my rivet maker with a piece of brass across the center to make screw heads.
For the functional flaps, I'm figuring that I have to mount a small servo on each side of the fire wall (engine in the way to mount on the cowl), and, since there are only two flaps, run a double ball link to control horns mounted on each flap: ball links will make it easy to disassemble when removing the cowl.

===========

Painting.
I'm going with the three tone paint scheme (already have the paint from the corsair!).

Figure that it was a good time to paint.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to CARDS warbird flyin in Lancing, Michigan for three days so that gives the paint time to dry.
My usual stuff: home depot Behr exterior grade, 100% acrylic diluted with window washer and floetrol to reduce viscosity.
The white (actually creme color) is done first.
Three coats were put on: the first very light (can see the primer), the next two coats normal.
All edges and crevices, done first and then the main surface.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Painting (cont)

I was off a day on going to the CARDS warbird flyin, I leave tomorrow so I could 'shoot' more paint.

The fuse and rudder gets the light blue so I masked the bottom of the fuse and stab and added the light blue.

Until the light blue dries, I'll have to wait to add the dark blue to the fuse but there are so many parts, I figured that I might as well paint those.
I get 3M masking tape from my local auto shop: green tape is used that contacts the paint and beige tape and masking paper for the rest of the surface by taping onto the green tape.
The Behr house paint is pretty thick so it's diluted 30-40% and then run through a strainer to remove any large chunks that like to clog up the 'gun'.
Since most of the surfaces that get dark blue are horizontal and the 'eye' will pick up any defects/variations in color, these surfaces get at least four coats of paint. All edges done first and the first coat is a light coat (as seen in the 8th picture) to give the rest of the coats some 'tooth'. On the wings, the third coat is run 'front to back' to insure I get good coverage and don't have any tell-tail lines.
The 'gun' is always kept perpendicular to the surface and each spray pattern is overlaid by 50% of the previous spray.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Painting (cont)

I do all my painting outside.
Today was a perfect day, cloudy and low 80's and no wind.
Sometimes I get a bug on the surface but I just wait until the paint is dry and knock him off since, usually, only the legs are touching. Any small dust seems to come off with rubbing my finger over it.
After decals are added, minwax clearcoat does a nice job of sealing and protecting the surface.
It probably depends on where you live: here in Ohio, it rains a lot and it cleans the air and keeps the dust down so the surfaces really don't get much dust on them. The water base paint also 'flashes over' quickly so most particles that I find on the surface are just laying there. As soon as I'm done cleaning the 'gun', the parts come into the garage and in about an hour, I usually remove the masking tape. The paint isn't thoroughly dry yet so any bleeding can usually be corrected with some wet toothpicks.
In this case, I'll be using my airbrush, later, to apply a fuzzy line between the colors.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Well, that should make it pretty easy to tell which side is up!

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Decals and clear coating.

I used Major Decal for the stars-n-bars and promark general nomenclature dry transfers for the 'no push', etc.
The decals are extremely thin so they fill into all the panel lines and rivets so all the detail shows.
I used to paint them but, now, I don't have to worry about 'bleeding' especially with all those rivets!
The dry transfers are an epoxy paint that is transferred to the surface of the plane with a credit card edge. Some heat from a heat gun is needed to warm the transfer and the surface.
After all decals were applied, minwax polycrylic satin water base clear coat was applied.
I still have to do work on the fuse and cowl but, with so many parts, it's nice to get some stuff done so it can be assembled and 'out of the way'.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

She's looking great Sam, may I ask what wattage gun you used to burn in your rivets with? They look great, very clean!

One great looking build sir!

Casey

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Thanks, Casey,
I'm using a Hobbico 60W iron but find that's too much.
I have a variable rheostat on a 4-gang utility box and using about half the wattage.
I like the variable rheostat as I can easily select the proper temperature.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Assembly

After the clear coat was dry enough, the flaps and ailerons were attached to the wings:ailerons with removable pins and flaps with pocket hinges.
Two Y connectors were made using 20 gauge wire for the flaps and ailerons.