RE: Wave King CG?
Peter - good to hear from you.
I only very recently acquired my Wave King - in fact, I thought it was a Ken Willard designed Wavemaster until I got the "plans" for what I actually have. I see you found out where the C/G is supposed to be......
Yes, mine still has the original plastic fuselage, BUT, when I flex the central join, there are ominous crunchy noises at various places, particularly near the tailplane. Makes me just a bit nervous. My fuselage is joined with what looks like fiberglass matting (?) and what I assume is epoxy, but of course don't know what the resin is for sure.
I was sorta considering making a fiberglass mold from the fuselage before I started working with it, but that's a lot of $$ and work if I only make 1 fuselage from the mold. Also, my fuselage has quite a wow in it on top, behind the wing saddle. I'd want to straighten out a few things first, and also try to incorporate some sort of spray rails into the chines. You could, of course, always build a wooden fuselage, but that's a ton of work too.....
The previous owner has coated all of the balsa surfaces with what looks like the old red oxide automotive primer. That would have to come off, and quite a bit of work done in trying to neaten up and flatten the balsa surfaces. It's not too bad, but I am also a little suspect as to what adhesive was used to glue the balsa skins to the foam cores, and also the cores seem awfully soft, even for expanded bead foam... The wing center joint and pylon are not 'glass reinforced either - lots of details have been overlooked, and the overall work on my kit is not up to acceptable levels for my workmanship. I'd also want to redo the wing floats - mine don't look right at all... The "plans" / instructions leave much to be desired. I guess the assumption was that only highly experienced modelers would be purchasing the Wave King.
I was considering covering the entire model (except the fuselage) with light 'glass cloth, and maybe try using water-borne urethane as binder / adhesive. What are you using for final finish?
If I was to make a fuselage mold, it would not be for a long time - I simply don't have the room where I am living now.
I'd like to learn the following:
- when was the Wave King offered for sale
- where was the kit made, and by whom
- how much power can the model handle - the .60 (especially the older, loop-scavenged engines) seems rather too small
- any other information, history, flying and handling experiences and tips..........
Cheers
Rudy