Hi Rate1
Your fuse is looking good so far...you will have overtaken me on build very soon.
do you plan to use the stock turtle deck or to construct an alternative one? If so how do you plan to go about it? Also, do you plan to use the stock ABS hatch or
. I think I mentioned earlier that I was going to use a 1/32 or 1/64 or proskin turtledeck. It is my intention to have this essentially as a non-loadbearing structute which will be removeable to access the servos, linkages, etc. It will be held on using small socket roundhead screws (I think I got them from "Great Planes") My plan is to create 3 formers at the front middle and back of the deck....the front is easy, iirc we have a former in the kit. The rear former can be developed from the plastic turtle deck and the middle former will be an interpolation of these two. The formers will be notched for stringers at the top and each side such that the side stringers rest on the top of the fuse box flush with the outer sides noting a slight allowance for the solartex covering. The skinning for the deck will overlap the sides (i/c solartex by about 1/4" and the screws will pass through this overlap into the sides and internal longerons. The screws will be pitched as per scale using Bob Banka's photo's of Patty's mount. I shall retain the back end of the plastic turtledeck in way of the fairings around the tail group (or may use that as a plug for a f/g equivalent...ABS can be a little brittle!). The ABS hatch will have to go also...construction as per turtledeck.
I personaly think that the Extra 300 is one of the most beutiful designed plane there is out there
Can't argue with that...only the Hawker Hunter comes close!...Methinks you (used to have?) some of those in your neck of the woods.....anyone in the good olde US of A can see one at Grand Canyon Airport (a Swiss one!)
One of these lines making up this beutiful aeroplane are the fuzelage side stringers wich in this kit is excluded. These side stringers are running in the middle of the fuz, along the lenght on the side of the fuz, from main wing to the tailplane. To put back what have been removed in this kit for a more scale apperance I plan to use a thin balsa stick or a possibly lite ply. See attached pic to see what I am refering to. Obviously this little stringer is going to make the covering harder to acomplish nicely, but in my mind well worth it and by chosing the right material and construction for it with a very little weight penalty.
As the fullsize airplane is framed up with round tube, I intend to use round section hard balsa for all the bottom stringers (I shall use white painted dowel for the tubes that are visible within the Cockpit and note that I intend to glaze various parts of the underside as per full-size). In addition, the stringer that you mention, is definitely going on my Extra (imo it would look daft withoout it). My intention here is to again use round section hard balsa which has been sanded flat to a taper at the most aft point and almost round just fwd of the cockpit rear. If you look at your full-size picture, you will see a diagonal line on the fuse which sort of extends below the line of the cockpit canopy at its aftmost point. On the fullsize, aft of this line is fabric (hence the solartex) but forward is either a metallic or cfrp cladding (don't know which for sure, all the full size I have seen have been painted!). Again my intention is to use 1/64 ply (or proskin) to replicate this panel so the fuse will only be solartexed from the rear to just under this cladding. The cladding will extend fwd to the engine cowling's aft edge.
I need foremost a bigger rudder than that out of stock
I think my Rudder will turn out slightly larger than stock since I need to make it a little fatter and hence longer to wash out the additional thickess (maybe 1/8"). I'll explain later but it is associated with my requirements for the Fin/Rudder shrouds or covings (methinks the proper term) and the fact that I am designing the tails to be removable ...seems all the weight you are saving on your Extra is going on mine!. I'm not sure if I agree with your 3D specification tho....there are already planes out there which are far removed from scale in order to be anywhere near good at 3Ding. In any case, the way Patty throws her fullscale version around, there is plenty of 3D capability as designed.
Later
Cheers