DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Just finished my DS B17G. The engines are 4s 91Saito with a 14X7X3 with Robart retracts mains and tail wheels. I still have some small detailing to do, but I thought I would test fly it first. I thought some would be interested in seeing a few pix. I'd enjoy hearing some comments about it. You could contact me through Johnpatcarey @aol.com

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Looks great/.... Post lots more pics./... One doesn't see many B-17s.... Nice touch.. I dont live but 2 hrs from the real Texas Raider... Nice B-17;)

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Looks real nice, and should fly quite well also. You do have one major error in your markings though, the roundels you have used are are "post WWII". Should not be a red bar on them.

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

No... He's right(Roundels). "Texas Raider" did not fly in WWII. It is the restoration project of the Confederate Air Force.

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

What did the final weight come out to be...

Looks Great!!!

Ty

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

The Texas Raiders flys in WWII era markings.

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Beautiful. How did you do your finish? A web address to see more
http://community.webshots.com/album/19826768AJlEDxrDsM

Multiflyer

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

fiberglass 3/4oz with zap resin mixed with dennatured alcohol zap resin has no oder works grate. paint from brodak manufacturing p.a. thank you jpc

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

hy. ty the weight came in at 50lbs with 3 lbs of paint under and finished coats

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

hi terry i check with texas raiders the plane flys at shows all over the usa it did not fly in combat in WWII I Took a picture from there web address tail letting and noise art are the same. not fininshed yet red wing tips and tail well not exact jpc

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

See the pics below. It is the "Texas Raiders". It has WWII era markings.
There were no B-17's with the red bar in "star & bar". The red bars on roundels were not used until 1947 or later.
Also, see the pics in "multiflyer''s link posted above. Some nice shots.

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

On your finish, after you epoxied down the glass cloth, what material did you apply next before painting? Another coat of epoxy, some other filler, or straight to primer. The Brodak is good old Dope I assume. I'm in the middle of finishing a Ziroli B25 and getting very tired of sanding. The 3 pounds your finish added includes glassing and all?? From what I know that is pretty good for a plane that size. I appreciate the input. I'm in the process of learning how to make them pretty.

Multiflyer

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Multiflyer,
Check out the "tips" section at Bayou Boys R/C
http://members.cox.net/1454s/BBRC/BBRCx.html
May help you with some of you glssing and finishing questions. I have seen a lot of the plane done by these guys and they do look good.

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Good stuff. Thanks. I guess there is just no way around the sanding sanding sanding sanding sanding sanding........

Multiflyer

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

In a word, No.........:D

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

hi multiflyer.. yes months of sanding. put fiberglass on with zap z-poxy resin 50/50mix with 50 denatured alcohol. mix z poxy first well then. alcohol will give you very thin mix brush on glass i used 2'' not fome work out ward from center light pressure on brush the goal is to work out wrinkles next let dry good 24 hrs now sand with 220 dry paper. mix z-poxy same way this time brush on to fill the weave try to put heaver coat if not put one more coat on you will see that it works well . yes moor sanding. when i fininshed with fiberglass it was 46lbs i used brodak paint white primer yes more sanding. fill in all pin holes low spots scrapes all imperfections i used auto glazing putty you can find it at auto parts store easy to sand . put on finished paint. brodak paint can be sanded wet or dry if you need more info let me know o happy sanding good luck. jpc

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

What you have described I am finding is pretty much the way most do a quality finish. After doing it I can see why. The epoxy sounds like more work but all things considered it's really not. And it provides a hard surface for lasting good looks. I used the urethanes on much of my airframe but found that it took more repetitions of coat & sand, coat & sand,... Also the surface wasn't as sturdy. Easy to ding. And by the time I got done filling it completely, it wasn't much lighter. I think the trick is to use the added strength of the epoxy finish to offset the extra weight. Just build a lighter airframe and let the finish make up the strength difference.

Did you wet sand or dry sand or both for the epoxy coats and for the paint coats? Also did you use a primer coat before painting?? I'm learning that some just skip priming if the epoxy surface sand out nice enough.

Multiflyer

RE: DON SMITH B17 138'' WS
 

Saturn5,
Congradulations on your B-17 project. I hope she flies great. Will there be flight video posted here after she flies? Does she have a lockable tail wheel? I have seen R/C B-17s need to have some rudder use on take off in the past. I noticed there seems to be a lack of panel lines. Will this be a later added detail? I'm currently working on my Ziroli B-25J Mitchell. I did the glass procedure. The finish is Flite Metal. She's looking good so far.

Multiflyer,
Sanding is the key to success in this hobby. No one likes to see a poorly finished model, espescially a scale model. I know of no way to escape this for us determined builders. It is a dark necessity. The would be on looker has no idea as to the hours of labor that go into a scale model build. We either love our hobby, or we are truly insane!

"Keep 'Em Flying!"
Flak

plans for Don Smith b17
 

I know this is an old tread but Im looking for the Don Smith B17 plans. Does anybody have them that would like to sell them to me? Thank you.

Precision Cut Kits owns the rights to those plans. Patrick Wallace is the new owner of PCK.

http://precisioncutkits.com

Looks like they charge $82 for the plans. 8 sheets.

Thank you for the information. I am in contact with Precision now. Plans and parts are on order. Thank you again. Raul