lkahn4

Noah,
We seem to be 2 of a kind, ask your wife if she has some extra time for me. My wife wnats to know why I spend so much time checking my emails LOL
I told her anytime she would like to see how to build an Avenger she is more than welcome to check my emails.
As for Rosie Rivets, we are going to use that system since we are such neophytes we need ALL the help (or cheating) we can get
Will check in later and see if your wife has prescribed something for you to take

Larry

redtail

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Happy Thanksgiving and may all of you be blessed today with family and friends a plenty. I'm thankful for Noah keeping my initial build going and for all the advice, tips, and ideas given by him and all of you Avenger builders to make our Avengers, including my Avenger (one day), even better. Chic

WARBIRDRCER

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Avenger Group,

Thanks for the build tips. I am tracking your work and getting ideas on how to detail and where to aquire tools for my AD-5 build. I have an interest in building this TBM after my current project. Mr. Kellogg has my business for the future. Thanks Charlie
Happy holidays to all and to all an invitation to my war bird fly-in in 2010.

Happy Holidays
From: WARBIRDRCER

butlern

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Back at it...

Hope everyone had a good holiday.

This past weekend was perfect for spraying primer outside, but I got totally side-tracked on other odds and ends. Most of the time was spent on cleaning up the wing joints. I originally thought they look fine, but the longer I stared at the joints, the more unsatisfied I grew. So, I monokoted the outer panel roots, "buttered" the outer edges of the center section caps with Evercoat Easy Sand polyester filler, then quickly slid the panels on and tightened them in place with the nylon set screws. When the filler was set (~20 minutes), I removed the panels and then wet sanded away the excess filler that was squeezed out from between the panels. Looks perfect now! Sorry I didn't bother to take any pictures of that. Pretty standard stuff.

I then tackled the intake vent that supplies fresh air to the bombardier's compartment. I indicated above that the last thing I wanted to do was carve this part from a blob of bondo, but that's exactly what I ended up doing. Actually it wasn't too bad. Just mixed up some bondo and made a blob that was slightly larger than the part. After about 3-4 minutes, the bondo had set up enough so that I could carve it into the basic size and shape. Once fully cured, I did some sanding to finalize the shape and contour (so that it matched the contour of the fuse). Once it was finished, I glued it to a piece of 0.010" styrene and then glued the whole deal to the fuse. A little putty finished off the blending. Still need to shoot some primer on it before I call it finished, but based on what I can see it's very close to being done.

butlern

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The next task to be finished was completing the radio gear that resides behind the cockpit. This is just balsa boxes painted and glued to a balsa sheet. The assembly is put together so that it can be installed and removed easily so that I have access to the rudder and elevator servos mounted on the top of the center section.

After painting, some wires were fed through servo grommets (spares I had laying around) and then all was CA'd into place.

It's not perfect, but I think it looks fine, especially since it'll only be viewed through the greenhouse canopy.

butlern

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Lastly I painted the baffling flat black. So, I didn't really get much finished this past weekend. But that's the way it goes sometimes.

The worst of it all is that Iowa has finally decended into winter. Seasonably cold this week, and predicted to stay that way for a while. Some snow is forecast, too. So, I'm just not sure when I'll have another chance to finish the panel lines in the near future. I might have to just keep chipping away at some of the detailwork, and basically put the Avenger on hold until warmer weather and longer days return.

I do have another project sitting in the garage, so I might start the construction on the next behemoth to keep me busy until warmer weather permits me to finish detailing and painting the Avenger. My next project is not Charlie's AD-5, unfortunately. I still have plans to do his AD-5 kit, but not until I get the project in the garage finished. Hint: it'll be twin DLE-111-powered!

Larry, how have you been coming along?

Speak with you soon.

Noah

redtail

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OK Noah, as always, nice handiwork. This new project is it American or Foreign? Smile. Chic

lkahn4

Hi gang,
Noah as always you manage to (A) read my mind ala wing joints and (B) make us extremely jealous of the progress and quality of your work. Tomorrow we finish sanding spot putty fir the 2nd time and repriming the fuse (for those of you who didn't know, we had sprayed with 2 different primers and had to remove same, 2 hours of washing with MEK). We are going to try and fit the bomb bay doors tomorrow if time permits, I already have the frames for the windows made from .20 styrene so at least that's done. And Noah thanks for the headsup on the wing joints, it has been bothering me since we mounted the center section to the fuse. If we are lucky enough to get the fuse primed and set the bomb bay doors then next week we should be able to start on the gun turret and access doors...
They are prediciting snow this Saturday so no flying and since the plane is at the shop no work on it either, bummer.
To the gang and recently especially Noah for all the info and pix, it really helps

Larry

butlern

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Hey, Chic.

It's American. Grumman, actually. Only saw action in Korea.

Any guesses?

I plan to start a thread when the time comes.

Noah

butlern

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Larry,

Glad to hear that you're still working on it when you can.

Good luck with the bay doors. Take your time and it'll come out fine. Looking forward to seeing some more pictures when you get time.

And don't sweat perfecting the wing joints. It's very easy to get perfect joints... Just be sure that you use something equivalent to the Evercoat Easy Sand (make sure you can sand it easily!). And try to only "butter" the very perimeter of center section caps (and only where actually needed). Most of the filler will get sanded away, anyway.

I'll be hoping for good weather in NY so you can make the most of your weekend.


Noah

Scott Prossen

F7F TigerCat......Here Kitty Kitty???

butlern

My Feedback: (15)

Indeed, Scott.

It's going to be quite a project. If it flies, especially if it flies well, it'll be a miracle!! One way or another, it's going to be spectacular when it leaves mother Earth!

Thread forthcoming.

Wish I had your weather, Scott... then I could really get some work done on this Avenger. Tough to paint in 30 degree temps with 20 mph winds.

Hope all is well with you. Good luck with the 3-blade with the 150. Of course I'll be interested to read your report after you complete your evaluation.

Noah

Scott Prossen

You don't give yourself near enough credit. I would imagine any build you do will be highly detailed and very solidly put together. The Avenger has been a great thread to follow as you have done a fantastic "Top Gun" job. Great work as always.

Lest I forget, Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Sincerely,
Scott

redtail

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Noah, I know what you mean. I have a Korean War F-82 from the Colonel himself sitting in a box waiting to be put into the que for construction. It will not be as big as your Kat, with twin 100's, whew, that is big, can't wait to read the thread. Keep the tips and photos coming. I'll catch up one of these days. Chic

butlern

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Hey, Chic.

I'll likely start the F7F wing in another 2-3 weeks. Need to clean up the "shop" and make extra room before I drag another monster into the house. My wife is very patient with me, that's for sure. The F7F is going to be spectacular, whether it survives the maiden or not. It's going to be a ridiculous beast with twin 111cc's pulling it around.

Regarding finishing the Avenger, I really wish it was warmer here. At the very least, I wish the days were longer so I could get some things accomplished after work. No way to spray in the dark, and no way I'm spraying in my garage! On the "bright" side, only 3 more weeks until the days start getting longer! But, I'll keep doing what I can with the Avenger, when I can.

Noah

redtail

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I'm excited for ya, you know that. The wingspan on Col. Art Johnson's F-82 is about 110", what is the wingspan on that Kitty Kat of yours??? It would really be cool to get all of our Avengers together one day, say at AMA headquarters to fly them all at one time. Let the snow end soon for ya. Chic

butlern

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I'd be up for that, for sure, Chic.

Besides, I think I have the shortest drive to Muncie!

The F7F is about 118" wing span. The kit-maker is a local (Iowa) guy who I met last summer at a warbird event. I was sold immediately! Details on the kit will appear in my thread (coming soon). But here's a video which documents the most important detail: this model can be successfully built and flown!!! Mike Brown and Rich Jennings did a series of construction articles for High Flight Magazine over the past year, and the end result of their efforts appear in the video. Quite a nice result considering it's a complex plane and the flight was a true maiden voyage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjeYrQ0GhI4

Anyway, Chic your F82 is going to be a monster! I didn't realize it was so large.

Before I departed for work this morning, I added some more detail to the control surfaces (an oversight when I thought they were finished).

I added spar inspection hatches. Just like before, I used the foil tape. Just traced a penny on the tape, cut with scissors, and then made impressions around the perimeter with a piece of threaded rod. For whatever reason, the rod made very nice impressions that look pretty much like fasteners. I recommend experimenting with the impression-generating-tools on scrap before anyone decides to use this method for their project. For my hatches, I used some brass tubing to make impressions, too. But the rod just ended up coming out nicer.

Anyway, the hatches were place along the bottom of the elevator halves, and two were added to the right side of the rudder. Placement was determined using pictures and the small plastic model.

The surfaces will get primed again, and then wet-sanded to prepare the finish for final color, as well as reveal some of the details in the hatches (as shown above on the wing panels).

I think this weekend I'll fabricate all the control linkages and mount the horns on the control surfaces and install the servos in the wings for ailerons and flaps. Might as well get some of that business taken care of while I wait for better painting weather.

Noah

redtail

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Noah, all I can say is - "That is just beautiful". If all maiden flights went that well, we would be a bunch of building freaks. I know your Avenger and your Kat will be beautiful and great fliers also. Keep in touch. Chic

butlern

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The F7F should be impressive, and I am relieved to see one in action. Of course the kit manufacturer says they fly great, but it's always better to see/hear unbiased results and feedback.

Leaving work now to start on the Avenger's linkages and control horns, which will also be an impressive model with spectacular flights (fingers crossed!).

Will post again on Sunday evening if there's anything worth sharing.

Best,

Noah

WARBIRDRCER

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redtail,

Can you give me more details on the P-82/F-82? This is one of my most liked aircraft. Would like to have plans for one on the back back burner.

lkahn4

Hey Noah,
As always you certainly come up with interesting solutions for the build, love the access panels and the method for which you have so ingeniously fabricated them. So our update is that last night we sanded and spot puttied some more and got 1 side of the bomb bay doors tacked to the fuse. Today during lunch I got a chance to get some sanding done. Hopefully next Wednesday we will get the 2nd half of the bomb bay doors tacked on and some more sanding done, then another coat of primer and some more sanding (I never realized how many times we use the word "Sanding") then hopefully the last bit of primer and then on to the hatches, crew door and windows. Hope to have pix ready before Xmas.
Noah where did you get the easycoat, I went to their website but it didn't list any dealers, and btw lots of luck with your Kat, you certainly have a very understanding wife. Mine would be coming at me with a large carving utensil. Which leads me to my next build which will be a Dave Platt T-28 Trojan that I will do at home , oh yeah that's if the wife remembers to get it for me for Xmas...lol
To my fellow builders, enjoy the holiday season with family and friends and always remember there is someone out there that builds worse than you.
Larry

butlern

My Feedback: (15)

Larry,

I got the Evercoat Easy Sand (cat#420) online. I could not find it locally, and you're correct, the Evercoat website does not list distributors.

I purchased the filler from autobodytools.com, as I recall. But there are other online outfits that sell the stuff, too.

I got a huge tube of it (24 oz), although I think it's available in smaller sizes, maybe on another website. I have used very little so far, so it might be better if you found the smaller container for purchase (maybe 10-12 oz).

If you get some, test it out and play with a bit before you apply it to your model. It's a 2-part system (polyester filler and hardener), and if you add too much hardener, it'll go off really fast (2-5 minutes), so you can only work in small sections. Using less hardener lengthens the pot-life, but who knows if it'll ever cure properly in that scenario. It's also very helpful to get some putty spreaders that are sold in automotive shops (PepBoys, AutoZone, etc). The filler does not stick tightly to the spreaders. The spreaders are also highly flexible so you simply flex them to pop off the hardened filler and then they're as good as new.

I know what you mean about sanding. It's ridiculous how fast these models can be framed up, and the real work only begins when you start the sanding and filling prior to paint. Seems to never end!!

Just finished mounting several control horns... linkages tomorrow, and picture updates on Sunday.

Until then,

Noah

lkahn4

Hey Noah,
Thanks for the info I will check it today. I had told my build mate that we should have saved all the sanding dust to see if we could build another plane from it it's a good thing that they let us build at work, if I was sanding here my wife would be beating me with a hammer with all the balsa and red putty dust. I will try and get pix done next week if we can but before Xmas for sure...


Larry

redtail

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Hey there WARBIRDRCER, the F-82 Twin Mustang is Colonel Art Johnson's, he flew versions of this model at four (4) TopGun Events. I have plans, a couple of sheets of instruction (as instructions go), and two canopies. I can say fortunately I was one of the last to get the plans and supplies directly from him. Looks like the real wingspan is 103", I told Noah, it was 110", guess I was trying to keep up with him. Smile. It is number 3 in the que behind a P-47, and a "StringBag", if you do not include the Bird Dog and Avenger currently being built. Chic

77chickenhawk

any automotive local paint store, should carry it