warbirdz1

Tmoth4.....To resolve your dowel problem........take a piece of aluminum tube and insert dowel inside it and then install ......no further problems......Bill.....

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Hope these pics come through ok. This is the wing center section outer rib. blind nut is inside on the back side of a ply doubler on this rib. not the second rib in as I originally thought. The slightly larger hole beside it is for the dowel that I left in the outer panel.

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Here is the outer wing panel underneath. the hatch is cut in and hinged with some BVM hinges on one side and held with some very small servo sized socket head screws on the other. It's are to make out but the hole is on the rib and an 8-32 socket head screw and washer is fed through and into the blind nut on the inner wing panel. The slight dihedral in the wing helps get at this screw.

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Another view of the outer wing panel and you can see the dowel and the screw coming through. I find that if I plug in the wings, do up this screw, it's easy then to put the 2 screws into the wing tube. Everything stays tight and there is no fear of the wing trying to rotate on the tube if a dowel was to fail. I know it's a rare instance, but it only needs to happen once to be the end of the plane.

Tmoth4

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Sean,

Thanks loads for the pictures! I'm glad you made this suggestion. I'm definitely going to follow it. I can see how the extra bolt would tighten things down and keep vibration from working the dowel loose in the hole.

Jim

Tmoth4

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Update on Ziroli Dauntless. The fin and rudder have been constructed. I used the "core" method of building the rudder. The hinging is per the plans, a thin wire passes through tubes that are buried in the leading edge of the rudder. It works very smooth and looks scale.

Tmoth4

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Here's the fin and rudder after glassing and covering. I'm glassing using water-based polyurethane. The bare wood is sealed first with Deft laquer-based clear to keep the water from raising the grain. The rudder is covered with Sig Koverall and filled with the WB poly.

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

TMoth,

I've got the SIG Koverall to cover my SBD control surfaces too. I planned to use SIG Stixit to apply the cloth to the wood, is that what you used?

I also bought Butyrate Dope to coat the cloth with after covering, then I plan to use WB Latex to paint it with. Ever used the dope on Koverall? That's what the SIG instructions say to use, so that's what I bought.

Neo

Tmoth4

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Neo,

I stuck the Koverall down with balsarite. It's probably similar to the stixit. You brush it on the framework edges so the Koverall will stick.

I have used dope with the Koverall but I like the WB poly better. It seals the cloth in 1 or 2 coats. If you have dope already you might as well use it, but be prepared for complaints from your "significant other" about the fumes.

Jim

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Tmoth,

Thanks... My shop isn't in my house... it's in my studio (work). My "significant other" there is my flying partner, and he and I have been known to "pass strong odors" in the past! ;-)

I guess it's all part of working with your best friend eh! My wife on the other hand... she'd kick me out if I started using dope! I'll probably wait until the weather warms up enough that I can do it outside anyway. Fumes shouldn't be a problem there.

Have you ever used the Latex over Dope? I'll switch to the WP poly if you think that painting Latex over the Butyrate Dope will be a problem. Do you think I should primer over it first?

Neo

pittsdriver

My Feedback: (7)

Neo, I use latex over dope all the time. I use non-tautning nitrate for the base coats. I wet sand with 400 to dull the surface and then spray the color coats. I then spray on a couple of coats of buyterate or lustercoat to seal and fuelproof. Make sure that you get a couple of good base coats of dope and sand or the paint will want to lift with any masking. I like nitrate for a base as it dries quick and is harder than buyterate and sands nicer. Also use non-tautning dope or your plane will look like a pretzel a year or so down the road. Don

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

So, let me see if I understand this correctly... I can

1) Apply a few coats of non-tautning Nitrate Dope over the Koverall

then

2) Sand and apply Lustrecoat primer coats

then

3) Sand and apply Latex Color Coats.

Will those steps work?
Can I brush the dope on?
Where can I get non-tautning Nitrate Dope? Never seen it.

Thanks,

Neo

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

Neo,

I think he means non-tautening dope, which means it doesn't shrink much, and the clear Lustrecoat is sprayed on last to fuelproof the latex. The initial coats of dope are brushed on.

Sig sells nitrate and butyrate dopes depending on how much shrinkage you want. They explain the uses of the two dopes on the cans. Their website might explain the dopes.

Jim

pittsdriver

My Feedback: (7)

Neo you don't need to prime after the nitrate, just go right to paint. If you are going to weather it you should paint it with silver first as all fabric jobs have a silver coat as a UV barrier. I just use a spraycan of silver laquer. NAPA auto has the best spray laquer. Don

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Thanks guys. So the Latex sticks to the Silver Lacquer OK?
Why the silver under the latex, even when weathering. I intend to completely coat the surfaces with the color latex coats, then paint the weathering onto the color coats. I wouldn't have the silver showing through anywhere... seems like a wasted coat?

Do I have to seal the latex with clear? I'm running gas, not glow.

Neo

pittsdriver

My Feedback: (7)

Neo, If you are painting with the Testors water base acrylics there is no need to clearcoat. I use interior flat latex mostly and although the gas won't hurt it the flat smudges and just gets dirty with fingerprints etc. so I seal it with the appropriate clear. I use buyterate for fabric covered airplanes as it gives the proper semi-gloss. For flat Use Lustercote or Perfect paint flat clear. Don

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Pittsdriver,

I'm planning to do the entire plane (glassed areas & Koverall areas) all with Latex exterior satins. I'm looking for a satin (semi-gloss) finish, not gloss or flat.

Tmoth4,

Sorry, I'm not trying to "take over your thread" ;-)
Just got a train of thought started and I can't stop!

Neo

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

Neo,

I paint my planes with satin latex. It's a little flatter than semi-gloss. I still use a satin clearcoat (Minwax) after all the markings and stuff are on. It evens everything out and adds a little more fuel-proofing. I found that the Behr latex without clearcoat softened a little where raw gas got on it. Exhaust residue doesn't seem to affect it.

Jim

Tmoth4

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More progress on the Ziroli Dauntless: The firewall has been mounted and the engine box built on. After that the fuse was glassed. I picked up a tube of the 3M green "spot putty" for the first time. it's really great stuff! Dries fast and sands real nice.

Tmoth4

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Here's a rear view. After the stab was installed I could hook up the elevator linkage and close up the bottom of the fuse. The green spot putty works nice in fillet areas. I just smeared it on with my finger.

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Man that thing's lookin' awesome! You're killin' me here... can't wait to get back on mine!

Neo

Tmoth4

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NEO,
What's the holdup on yours? Did you get your retracts yet?

Jim

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Nope. It's been over 2 months now. They called me 2 weeks ago and said they would ship that week... still not here. I called today, put on "hold" for 15 minutes. They said the production manager was too busy to talk to me and would call me back... he didn't. I'm getting pretty ****ed off about their service!

Neo

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

I'm sorry to hear about that. It's a shame. The Robarts are such nice retracts. But here's something to keep you busy in the meantime. This is the first flap I built, the center section one. It took a few hours to do it. The drillpress with a forstner bit helped out a lot. Just four more to go! The Dauntless is one complex plane to build!

NE0

My Feedback: (9)

Awesome job man... you da man! I'll be cheating... I've got laser cut flaps from AAKC. Still have to hand cut the ribs and assemble, but no forsner drilling all them holes!

I called Robart back, and they said the retracts would ship by the end of this week. 'Course that's what they said 2 weeks ago. We'll see.

Neo