here is the plane at the moment. Still need to do some sanding and the elevator needs to be built. What filler would be best to touch up gaps? Any ideas of a design for painting the cowling?

HERE is a link to RCU classifieds saito 72 for 150 shipped. Not a bad deal!

Get the iron and heat gun, at least the iron. The original Top Flight brand is still my favorite..

Grip do a lightweight filler, which should be available from most hobby shops. If not they may stock something similar.

I doubt that shipping accross the Atlantic was in ANeats mind when he posted that ad, but worth looking into.

excuse me, but by looking the pick, it seems that you mounted your ailerons servo trays upside down...........

servo should be installed on the bottom of the wing

otherwise, it looks good !!!!!!!!!

The plane looks good so far. Do you have the canopy glued down already?? If not you better tack it on to the airframe with some tape. Failure to do so could result in a ruined canopy. It doesnt come precut for a reason, and that reason is with that grade of plastic it will loose its shape if its not glued into place. REmember all the suggestions on the tail. If you build the tail and elevator stock you will have problems down the road. Anyone who hasnt made a modification on the tail and dont have a problem isnt flying 3D like they should. A parachute will rip the horizontal off. You can either build a solid elevator, frame up the elevator and sheet it or put gussets in EVERY place where there is a corner. On your horizontal you may want to either frame it up and sheet it or use kevlar flying wires. I say kevlar b/c its the best quality and the lightest. Another thing about the horizontal is that on my newer laser3D I have noticed the horizontal is coming unglued. Its important to glue it in well, and I am going to go back with two small pieces of tri stock on the under side of my horizontal stab.

Maby the wings upsidown :spinnyeye

Ian :stupid:

Don't forget to reinforce your engine mount with triangular stocks (that's a weak point on the laser 3D) and also to fuelproof engine mount and firewall with thined epoxy.

about the tail group, some modelers like to iron stab and fin before gluing them on the plane (like me), some others prefere to finish the airframe before ironing, but in any case, don't forget to glue and sand to shape blocks P29-30-31-32 BEFORE gluing the vertical fin. It will be much more easy to sand (to position them, use a piece of scrap 8mm to simulate the fin thickness)

Maby the wings upsidown

I wish it is........

but By looking the pic, it looks like the wing is bolted on the fuse (due to the minimum gap betwwen wing and fuse), and if buildd correctly it's impossible to bolt the wing upside down (due to the angle of the screw)

we will have the answer soon, but I can already feel the smell of the debonder, LOL

it could well be

Ain't it gonna be hard for the pilot to see out of that black canopy?

Look on the bright side....it makes checking out your linkages easier and keeps oil and dirt out of the servos.

Earlier in this thread there was talk of using a houshold iron. That reiminds me of an earlier time in life. Super Monkote had just hit the market. (Original Monokote was sticky backed). It was a hot and humid Minnesota day so I was in shorts. I was covering a control-line stunter (I think it was a TF Flitestreak). As I tipped the iron upside down to go around the wingtip I managed to dump very hot water out of mom's steam iron onto my bare leg. So, yes, you can use a houshold iron. But drain the water out first!

Chuck

very true. isnt the seduction wildstyle like that?!?!?!

Mmmmm, I think about something who could save your plane

If your ailerons servo trays are really upside down, you should check that that's it's not the entire wing wich is upside down (you could have done that mistake when sheeting the central part by simply putting the aileron wires exiting hole on the wrong side).
In that case, the wing bolt is only resting on a thin sheeting, and not on the reinforcement piece (P22). A take off like that is the ticket to structural failure.

It's just my opinion

YOu can just take it out with a hobby blade and turn it to its right place. No big deal.

yes, its not dificult to correct, but it must be correct if it is the case.
if the wing is upside down, simply turn it , redrill the hole for the screw to correct for the angle, and redrill a new servo wires exiting holes (no need to refill the wrong one, it will be in the wing fuselage part (invisible)

to put you all at rest the wing and rudder assembly arent in place. I just put it like that to see how the plane looks so far. the canopy isn't glued down yet, i still have to smooth off the edges of it. And the wing is slightly too big, i have to sand a little from the leading edge.
Which bits of the tail assembly should i reinforce?
Elevator and rudder?
And should i reinforce the bits connected to the fuse or the moving bits or the whole lot?

No one has given any suggestions for a paint scheme for the cowling.

I havent heard anything bad about the vertical yet. Just fix the horizontal and elevator.

I think i will tri-stock the horizontal and elevator. Should i get 6mm balsa or a harder wood?

My opinion is that you don't need to reinforce stab vicinity, but if you do it, I suggest you to install tri stock INSIDE the fuse.

I want to second the tri stock inside comment. I do not feel that 1/8 or even 1/4 lite ply is sufficient for a horizontal stab to be secured to. I added balsa inside my fuse.

Use balsa, it is a good choice for the application. Make sure that you use epoxy in this area.

Lite is good, but a tail separating would not be worth a few grams of material here.

where should i add the tri stock inside the fuselage?

all along the stab both side in my opinion (on the bottom)

For all you long time Lazer pilots-How far back have you run the CG.I am back at 175 mm if I go further will the plane get crazy.I still have a lot of coupling in knife edge even with the wing tips removed-Otherwise I love this plane.I run a YS 63/APC 13x4W.

My CG is between 6 1/2-6 3/4 inches back.