Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Despite recent objections that assembling an ARF is not to be considered building I've decided to call this a build thread because of all the modifications being done to the Zero. This is a Will Hobbies 71" Zero that I purchased off of ebay for the total sum of $139, including the shipping. I was not expecting much, boy was I wrong! The Zero came double boxed (a large box I might add), everything was wrapped in foam and sealed in plastic bags. All components were properly separated in different compartments within the box and no damage was found on anything. The Zero is very complete, to include a fuel tank, hardware pack, wheels, etc. Much of it will not be used but it’s in there none the less. To be honest, I’ve really not examined the hardware to see if it is useable or not. The fuse and cowl, along with some other small parts including a drop tank, are molded from glass and seem to be well done. The fuse is light but adequately rigid and includes some panel lines. (which are a bit heavy but not too bad) The cowl is a bit too thin and light for my tastes and will receive some additional glass on the inside. A nicely formed canopy is provided and was pleased to note that the fuse is molded with a recess to accept the canopy for a flush fit. The horizontal stabs and elevators are built and covered and are designed to slide onto aluminum rods which pass through the fuse. They are nicely done with the stabs being fully sheeted while the control surfaces are open structure and fabric covered just as the full size. Most important to me, the tail surfaces all have a proper airfoil shape and are not just flat slabs! The wing is provided in two panels which are joined together with an aluminum tube for strength. They are covered, as are the tail surfaces, with some sort of iron-on fabric and painted to match the fuse. The paint job is pretty bad being quite rough like the paint was shot really dry. However, the really disappointing part for me is the open structure construction. For some reason it never occurred to me that this would not be a fully sheeted wing. The wing is set up for retracts but not flaps. Overall I am very happy with the Zero and think it is easily worth much more than I paid for it. For those who are not familiar here is what the airplane looks like in stock form.

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

Chad

The Zero and the 71"span P-51D (with P-51H scoop) are about the same in value, quality, and accuracy. The 54" sapn zero and P-51D are also the same in construction, ecxept smaller. They also fly pretty good. Specially since the stress factor is minimized since they are cheap and faster to assemble. ..........For me anyway.



Note on the Chinese glass fuses, the cheap resin used will turn very soft in direct sunlight and days that are above 80 degrees. Also they have a lot of resin in the tail section, as you well know, Zeros are already tail heavy, so plan on using your own CG practices reguardless of instructions.

A great "head start" though in "building".


If you want Pics of the Zero and P-51 I can post them.

Steve

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

First order of business is the fuselage. A Robart retractable tailwheel was installed rather than the stock fixed unit. Also, a new fiberglass hatch was created (not shown) as the supplied kit part was badly warped and did not fit well. It would have been useable if we were going to attach it permanently but we wanted a hatch back here. (We being me and my Father as this is a joint project while I concentrate on my Midwest Texan) The hatch was created using the lost foam technique. Next were the tail surfaces which were stripped and glassed. We also modified them to have a scale gapless hinge. The rudder was also modified to have a gapless hinge. Horizontal stabs are currently being blended into the fuselage to remove any visible seams. The entire fuse will eventually be sanded down, panel lines cleaned up, and addition surface detail will be added along with the detail on the stabs. This project will hopefully proceed at a slow, but steady, pace so stay tuned for more updates if this interests you at all.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Steve, thanks for the heads up concerning the cheap resin issues. That will be very important here in Phoenix during the summer months!

Black Drape

Hey Chad,

I am very interested in your build. I have the same plane. My first impressions of the kit probably weren't as posative as yours. Mine came with a split down the leading edge of the fin, and a dent in the fusealage. I have the split fixed and the dent I probably won't bother with, it's not too bad. I too was pretty disapointed tht the wing was not sheeted. I have not decided whether I will sheet it or just put it together and see if it will fly. I got a set of the new Robart mechanical retracts for it, they look like they are going to be very nice. I didn't feel that I wanted to spend the bucks for nice air retracts for a model of this quality. I might be wrong about that, I will watch your build and see if you can change my mind. Keep the thread going I will be watching.

Ron

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Hi Ron, welcome aboard. Hopefully I won't be sorry about spending all the extra time and money on the Zero. I researched as much as I could before purchasing and the general consensus seemed to be good regarding the genuine GSP product. Mine came from Will Hobbies so I don't know if it is of the same quality of the GSP or CMP or whoever. I too purchased Robart retracts for the Zero, though I went with some heavier duty air units. I have a Yak-11 under construction that will use the same gear so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. They are certainly much sturdier than the Zero will require but I'm fairly certain they will fit fine in the thick wing. We should be moving on to the wing construction fairly soon which will include sheeting, modifying/strengthening of the landing gear mounts, reworking the wheel wells, scale aileron hinging, and probably the addition of scale split flaps. I will also post some pics of the engine and custom built muffler installation which is already completed. Thanks for checking in, stay tuned for more.

Black Drape

Chad

Mine is also a Wills Hobby, I got it on Ebay Just before Christmas. They had two of them for bid, I got it for $87.00 plus $45.00 shipping.I'm still not convinced it is worth a lot of time and money. I have a Giant Scale Hellcat with all of Luke Zolner's detail parts to build. This kit does not seem to have anywhere near the quality of the Cat. But, I will watch your build and maybe you will change my mind. Did you build new rudder and elevaters or are those the originals, mine hasn't been out of the box except to fix the crack in the fin. I would sure like to repaint mine, what kind of paint are you going to use on yours. Are you going to stick with the green and gray or do sometjing diferent?
Ron

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

Hi Chad

Looks good.

I noticed my CMP Zero has a flat black cowl and my wings were without holes in them. Well, thats China for you. Heres what I have so far. Glassed wing, primed Hstabs with taper at tip/eleveator joints, scale headers, plug for scale spinner, rudder solartexed with trim tab and a bit of whethering (tuff times). Has an OS 108 in it. Its kinda on hold right now.

I bought two since they were well priced at $180, but at your price, wow.

Steve

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

The little model in back is the scheme I plan on using.

Steve

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Ron, the rudder and elevators are the stock units but are, or will be in the case of the rudder, re-covered with Sig Koverall. I did not see any problem with the way they were constucted, though they probably are a bit heavier than they need to be. I have not settled on paint yet but I am leaning towards automotive type acrylic paint with a top coat of clear dope to fuel proof it. I have not settled on a paint job yet either but I'm probably not going to stick with the green and grey. I may clip the wing and make it a Hamp with the overall grey color scheme.

Steve, did your Zero have a fully sheeted wing or did you have to sheet it prior to glassing? If you get the spinner worked out I'd certainly be interested in one! My Zero will also be powered with an OS 1.08. What was the all up weight on yours, any idea? I'm hoping for something in the neighborhood of 12 pounds though I imagine it would fly fine even at 14-15 pounds.

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

Chad

My wings came fully sheeted. The spinner only needs to be primed and molded, when the shape looks acceptable. I'm sure we can work something out.

I'll figure 13-14lbs after the lump of ballast its going to need to CG correctly. Although I'm looking to use a large brass hub for a prop nut, threaded for a hold down screw for the spinner. Might minimize the dead wieght a bit.

Steve

Black Drape

Chad

How are you going to hook up the elevaters? I am thinking of using two servoes. I am not real crazy about the way they do the control horns either. I did cut into the covering on the wing where the retracts mount and there is no way that the new Robarts I got will fit in their narrow mounts. I really don't want to cut into that wing.

Ron

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Ron, we installed dual elevator servos on the Zero using the supplied torque rods.

Black Drape

Chad

how's the build coming? Have you gotten into the wing yet?

Ron

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Ron, not much visible progress really, still working on getting the tail surfaces blended into the fuselage. We did get the rudder covered and primed and ready to go on. The fuselage is essentially complete now except for finish and detail work. The rudder, tailwheel and elevator linkages are all hooked up and working and the engine, tank, and muffler are essentially complete as well. Next I will be lowering the cockpit floor an inch or so to allow for a modicum of cockpit detail.

We have stripped down one wing panel to see what we are up against. I can't believe how small of a retract unit this thing is designed for! It's going to take some serious rework to get the chunky Robart units to fit. I'm actually considering designing and building an entirely new wing. Then I could design it for the Robarts and the flaps and also add in a couple of degrees of washout. I have Compufoil and access to a laser cutter so, in the long run, it may be easier to start from scratch but I have not decided for sure yet. My priority project is a Midwest Texan right at the moment so the Zero will probably progress at a slow pace for a while yet.

Black Drape

Chad
I was really afraid you were going to say something like that. I might just put the fixed gear in mine and see if it will even fly. Then if I like it I might get a real CMP Kit. Where I fly we don't have any shade and I am alittle worried about the glass getting soft in the sun, is there anything that can be done about that?
Ron

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

Black Drape

If I may.................

At this point the CMP polyester resin is of quality that cannot handle direct sunlight. One might want to experiment with a post cure as is done on epoxy resin composites. There are specific temps and exposure times to achieve correct results. Maybe the net may have some input. Since we do not use polyester resins in our airframes, we have not done any experimenting with polyester post cure.

The CMPs, are still a great value. If they get expensive one day, one can always use one for a plug.

Steve

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Chad I have the willshobby seafury , I am adding carbon fiber rods and strips to the inside fuse , it really made a differance to the strength of the fuse and did not add much weight .
Good luck this is a great build you have going
ARe you going to spilt the flaps ?? I made my seafury ones from flight skin

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

It's just starting to warm up here in AZ so I may have to run some tests on my fuse and see if it softens up or not. At normal temperatures the fuselage is plenty rigid, no worries there.

LDM, I will be adding the scale, split flaps to my Zero. Not sure if I will put them on the existing wing or build a new wing altogether at this point.

Black Drape

Chad

Any progress on the Zero? I got some balsa today, and hopefully will tear into the wing this week and see if I can mount the gear and get it sheeted. Warbird Colors answered a post I made about the correct color to use on it, I might try their paint out and see how it works. They have the right colors for the Zero. It is a water based epoxy, safe to spray indoors and should be low odor. We're fixen to find out.
Ron

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Chad , I forgot to menthion my seafury did not come with retract mounts , luck would have it that the fixed landing gear blocks were build into the wing as if they were testing how much expoxy they could use lol . it actually burned our my dremil tool removing those blocks .

If this helps vs building a new wing , I removed the blocks , glassed the base/inner surface of the top sheeting where the base my new blocks would sit , made full length new rib doublers ,then made a ply drop in box with rails that my gear fit in with the proper angle build into the box , so when the gear was in , I had the forward strake already fixed into the wing .

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

No progress Ron, sorry. Unfortunately my work load has increased tremendously so I probably won't be doing much on the Zero for a while. I'm trying to finish my T-6 first so the little bit of time I have is dedicated to the Texan. I will be using Warbird Colors paint on my Texan as well, already have it on hand. I'd hoped to be painting by now as I wanted to have the Texan done for the 1/8th Air Force fly in this month. Alas, that isn't going to happen, but I am getting close to paint.

As for the Zero wing, I'm strongly considering just modifying the existing wing to take the retracts and NOT adding the flaps. I have a couple of other projects that I want to get back to that will be for competition and so I really don't want to put a whole bunch of time into what will be a weekend sport flyer. I really doubt the Zero needs the flaps anyway.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

One small update if anyone is still checking in. We have dropped the floor on the cockpit to allow for a bit more detail than just the pilot bust. Even though it won't be a full cockpit having a little depth goes a long way towards the illusion that there could be something there. Not sure when the wing work will start but the gear is on hand, just waiting for the time to get it done.

androsmj

Chad,

Which Robarts did you use on this project? Also, what motor and final weight?


Thanks,

Mike

PointMagu

My Feedback: (11)

I think I have this ARF. Any idea where I can locate a cowling???

Thanks!
Don