P4Patti

G'day Everyone

Following the successful outcome of my husband Richard's fully composite 84" P-47 from his own moulds, I am now going to turn one out for myself. The Jug is one of my favourite warbirds and about 3 years ago I received the undercarriage for my birthday to go into a Ziroli P-47. As things go, this particular plane didn't eventuate but evolved into a plug which was designed from 3 views, cut on a cnc machine and then moulded. The first one out of the moulds has recently flown with great success. This one is "Slick Chick" which was orignally flown by Lt. Col. Frank Perego, 368th FG Commander. The one I'm about to make is "Rough and Ready" from the same Fighter Group and they should look good together.

I'm certainly not as adept, quick, neat or proficient at putting a plane together as Richard but by doing it myself I hope to learn and fully understand everything that goes into it. "Rough and Ready" will probably be aptly themed!

So to start things off here are some pics of Slick Chick and a link to a video of her flying. For various reasons I got very little video footage of the flight so a lot of it is from the onboard camera. When we get a chance I'll try to get some better fliight vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTTIo...1&feature=plcp

Also some pics of Rough and Ready colour scheme.

cheers
Patti

P4Patti

Good Friday was a great time to start so I pulled out the fuselage, tail plane and port wing moulds and made a start. The first thing was to cut foam supports for the fuse moulds as the ones which were on them broke off when the mould flexed slightly when removing the first lay up. I haven't attached these supports to the mould but just use them as a cradle to sit it in. The foam was cut on the cnc machine which made that fairly quick.

I dusted off the moulds and then put the sticky yellow sealant tape around the edge of the parting board. This will stick the plastic down when it comes time to vacuum it all down.

Next I waxed the moulds with Release Wax, let it dry for a couple of minutes then rubbed/polished it in with paper towels. The moulds were then sprayed with PVA release agent. Then a layer of 2K Automotive top coat in Platinum (silver) colour was sprayed into the mould. This platinum colour looks better than the aluminium we used last time as it has less fleck in it so not so glittery. Hopefully, the colour will be good enough to just add the nose art, markings and then weather it without any more paint having to go on. The last thing was to spray a high build surfacer which gives a backing to the thin layer of top coat. This is just a grey colour and stops the cork core showing through at all, gives it some depth.

That's all there was time for but it's enough to start laying up. I hope to really push on with this and get it done quite quickly since everything is already there. All the internals are drawn up and templates made. I still have lots of pilot making going on so it's just a matter of a bit of time juggling - you know, the usual thing but there's a huge advantage in making the 2nd one with the successful one to copy and all the moulds and jigs already on hand.

So here are some pics starting with the cnc machine then each of the steps mentioned.

cheers
Patti

www.properlittlepeople.com

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Interesting, great to see a woman with the bug as much as us men. Lucky man, your husband. Anyway is there a thread on the making of the P47 mold? Would love to see how it is done. Also will be following this thread on your build. I`m sure I am going to learn something from you.
Thanks Patti.

neville thomas

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go patti go , im with you all the way go for it , cant wait to see the finish.

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

That is some nice detail he had on that plug.

Wow, a wife.

Steve

P4Patti

Last night, with some help from Richard we got in and layed up the starboard side of the fuse. It took longer than expected - it's amazing how much you forget after a few months but it all turned out well. Tonight I got organised and cut cloth to size and filled the resin bottles and cut the peel ply and breather before we started! It's a sticky business so the more you can do before you get sticky fingers/gloves, the better.

Because of all the detail in the mould, lots of rivets and panels, there's a lot of room for air bubbles so we mix up resin and Q cells to make a paste and screed that thinly into the mould to fill the holes. Then the first layer of 100g cloth is pieced in and wet down with the epoxy. The core layer is put on top of the cloth and wet out.

We're using something called Corecork which is made specifically as a core material. It comes in lots of different thicknesses but we use 1mm. It comes on a roll about 1m wide. It's very hard to get very thin core material in Australia, the products we see people talking about in Europe or the US just aren't available here and a lot of the material only goes down to 3mm thickness (if you're lucky, mostly 6mm and thicker) which is way too heavy for our use. Another layer of 100g cloth on top of that and wetted down with epoxy. The wing stubb and tail plane stubb don't have cork in them but a couple of layers of thicker 200g cloth put in for strength, particularly in the wing stubb where the wings will be bolted on the inside.

Then a layer of peel ply goes down on that, this is exactly as the name implies and peels off the cloth when dry. It looks like fine nylon cloth and the slight weave pattern it leaves makes the glue adhere to it. Another layer of plasticy peel ply covered in pin ***** holes goes over that and finally the breather mat. This is like a fluffy fabric that looks a bit like what is inside a doona/duvet and it soaks up the resin.

Finally, this is sealed with a sheet of plastic film, by sticking it down to the yellow tape around the edge of the mould. The vacuum hose is attached and the pump turned on and we listen for leaks and seal them up. As it sucks down the layers are bonded together and the excess resin is pulled through into the breather mat. The vaccum is left on overnight.

The following pics are 1) the mould with the 3 layers all wet out 2) the peel ply and breather on top and 3) the vacuum applied and the resin soaking into the breather. The final photo is the finished half with all the peel ply and plastic removed and the edge trimmed sitting in the sun to cure.

Zulu - there isn't a thread on the building of the plug, that has evolved over quite some time with lots of trials along the way. This one was done as a foam shape with the panels applied to that. Moving on from there, Richard is now building like the original warbirds with a framework of formers and stringers and attaching the panels with the rivet markings on them to this frame work. This gives that wonderful lumpy look like a real battered warbird rather than a super smooth surface. His next project is a P-38 Lightning done like this and he may do a thread on the building of that plug and moulds.

I forgot to mention that this will be electric too. If you saw the video you would have gathered that by now! I'm actually going to put lipos into mine, Slick Chick has A123's, as we have in several of our other models but I'm not much of a solderer so I wussed out and went the easy option. It'll be interesting to see the difference. More details on that later but can't speak more highly of our experience with the A123's and have been using them for about a year now with no problems at all. A little heavier but as you'd know, warbirds need nose weight anyway.

Hey, if you want your wives to fly, ditch the brush cutters and go electric

cheers
Patti

Dash7ATP

This process sounds like it should produce a very stiff and strong shell, but also heavy.  I don't remember seeing a "cored" composite here in the states. I don't know about CompARF......

Get yourself in a few photos.............

Dash

captainron

OMG...............THE PERFECT WOMAN!


Patti, I'm with Dash7........we're loving the build but we need more pics of the pilot/owner/builder.........I too am a "JUG" fan......have three of 'em. All Top Flite. My next build will be a Meister P-47 with the Fiberglass fuse and built up wing. Gonna be watching your build from start to finish.......included one pic of one of the builds.

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

When you see the fuse without the cowl and wings you realize what a fat bird it was.

It's funny the Thunderbolt was built around it's turbocharger, and the Thunderbolt II was built around it's gun. Can you think of any other planes built around on part?

Dash7ATP

I would imagine that most modern fighters are built around their engines and weapon systems.

Dash

WhiteRook

My Feedback: (38)

one of the things about the 47 is that big round cowl that you can dress up with alot of cool kinds of nose art

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Patti for the detail description of the laying process. Please convince Richard to do a thread on the next mold. He most certainly has it down pack now and it would be nice to share his knowledge on particularly how he does the skin detail. It is the best I have seen. Most times the warbirds you see at the shows has as you said smooth skins with weathering on top. I have never seen a smooth skin P47, AT6 or P51. But some how guys always aim for these glass smooth finishes with rivets on top.

As for the women in the good old US of A, Ha haaa. the only place they want to drive to on the weekends is to the malls. These women, most of them are MALL HOUNDS. You are lucky if you get them to go with you to one show in the summer, much less to the flying field on the weekends. They are too afraid they might break their manicured nails, electric or not.

Keep up the excellent work and keep on doing what you doing.

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Dash, the P47 is one of the best and most forgiving warbirds with more than a few extra pounds. It doesn`t look like it, I know. First it look like it should not be flying and if it does , looks like it would fall out the sky any second. However the P47 I find flies excellent with extra weight, the wings don`t mind it at all. However a super light P47 is a horrible flyer. It bounces all over the place and you better watch those landings on a hot day over hard top.

Dash7ATP

Iknow that. Just a comment on the process. See mine.

Dash

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Sweet ! Hey is that a flying prop you have on there? I need to fix mine up. Have not flown it in 2 years because the diesel is too much of a pain to get. Looking to put a gas 26cc in it. Love the diesel, but not the hassle to get it. I`ll probably strip it down and give her a face lift.

Dash7ATP

I wish that could be a flying prop! It's a cheap plastic one I got from Greatg Plains (I think). It cost less than $20.00. It's a little short and not a scale shape or hub, but it does dress up the model.

Diesel? In a P-47? I haven't heard of onyone doing that yet. Is it the engine that you're having difficulty getting or the fuel? Ihave a Moki 2.1 glow in mine and it has plenty of power and sounds really good, as Ihave a nice canister muffler with duel exhausts in the scale location... Now THATis sweet.

Dash

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Yes I have in it a MDS 148 that I had converted to diesel back in 2005. I love it , lots of power and the sound is soooo sweet. But the fuel is not the easiest thing to get. What I love most about diesel is the fuel economy. I got a 20oz tank and could fly close to 25 min and still have fuel left.

Dash7ATP

Pretty neat! You can't brew up your own fuel? Kerosene, oil and some either should about do it,.... I think????

P4Patti

Got the fuse halves joined tonight. We were planning to do it last night but finished work then went out flying later in the afternoon. By the time we got home we'd run out of puff! A couple of pics showing the strip of cloth over the join. We mix up a stiffish mix of resin with glue paste to thicken it and pipe a bead along the join of both halves. A strip of 200g cloth is wet out with resin and stuck to the inside of one half with half the width of the strip standing free. The other half of the mould is carefully place on top making sure the cloth strip is inside both halves and then it's a matter of smoothing it down along the joint. Quite a sticky business again so not many photos sorry!

Tomorrow will be exciting, we'll be able to pop it out and have a look at the colour.

Dash, I love Big Ass Bird. It was one on my short list and I very nearly did that one except that there was no nose art and I'm rather partial to that. And as WhiteRook mentioned, that big cowl is ideal for all the nose art on the P-47's.

Zulu, the Mall Hounds aren't exclusive to the US unfortunately. It's basically the same here. I see very few women on the field although, there are a couple of lady instructors in south east Queensland. I have no intention of giving it up, I'm having way too much fun


cheers
Patti

P4Patti

Well with a bit of gentle persuasion she popped out of the mould. The wing stubbs are a bit of a sticking point but eventually it came free. I'm happy with the colour and think it will come up all right with a bit of dirty weathering.

My next job will be to make 2 fiberglass wing tubes, then I'll cut out the hatch and start putting the internals in. The drawings are already done so that should come together quickly when I get a bit of time to do that.

cheers
Patti

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

The composite model is impressive. However, I am more impressed that someone's wife is doing this!

Great job!

Steve

P4Patti

Back to it, bit of a weekend but we actually laid up a 2nd fuse while the moulds were out. The first one was a bit tricky to get out so the next one had the wing stubbs treated a bit like preparing a cake tin - greased and lined with plastic (not bake paper) and greased again. This proved to be a winner and by putting a slit in the cloth and slipping a prop into the gap, she popped out without all the stress of the first one. The small slit will be patched. Richard wants to have another one to put more batteries in - 48 instead of the 36 currently in Slick Chick. The cowl on Slick Chick is heavy to balance it - 1kg - so he'll make a light cowl and add the extra batteries instead. Mine will have lipos. His idea is to put an Axi 5360 that he's had sitting waiting for a home for a good while. It needs a 30 x 20 prop as it only does around 4000 rpm, tops, so it'd sound lovely. He's going to look at making a 4 bladed prop as there's only room for a 23" prop with the ground clearance.

But, back to mine! The hatch has been cut out and the outer sleeve for the wing joining tube was just made tonight. To make this the aluminium wing joining tube is waxed then a layer of thin 100g cloth wrapped around. You let that cure, then slit that lengthwise and pop it off the tube. Then wrap the ali tube in one layer of plastic with the join butt jointed down the length. Then replace the first thin layer of cured glass back over the plastic covered tube, staggering the joints. Wrap with a layer of 200g cloth and wet out with epoxy. This tube is 1200mm long and enough to do the 6 pieces inside the wings and fuse - the photos will make it clear when I get to that! By running the plastic joint lengthwise it slides off the ali tube. If you try and wrap the tube like a bandage it just tightens and is impossible to get off. Been there, tried that!

I'll get some internals cut and into the fuse over the next day or 2 and some pics of that.


cheers
Patti

Dash7ATP

patti,

Don't forget to include yourself in a shot or two. Maybe a pic of you holding that big fuselage?

Dash

Oakey

Patty you and richard are legends! good on you for kicking this thing so well

another fabulous piece of art!

all the best from down south

Craig

P4Patti

Hi Craig, hope all's well down your way.

The wing tubes popped off very neatly and Richard drilled the holes in the stubs for me - I can use a drill but not always very straight The jig was assembled to align the wing joining tubes perfectly then the fuse placed in it and the sleeves inserted. I glued them in then started cutting the bits for the hatch frame and the front cockpit former. That's now all assembled and glued in. The next bits to be cut are the firewall and motor mount. The motor should be in by tomorrow.