You might see if there's any nail polish remover somewhere in the house.

Andrew,
I know it's like closing the barn door after the horse got out, but a little tip for next time. I bit of Vasoline on the torque rods will keep the glue from gumming them up.

Hope this helps

Ken

i thought about doing something like that b4 i started, but i thought i i was extra careful, it wouldnt happen.....and with my luck, it did. oh well, i guess ill have do something with it later today

well....heres what ive got done today......
ive glued the fuse together, installed and epoxied the landing gear block and installed all the triangular stock for support on the firewall and landing gear, installed the windshield, fuel tank floor and bottom formers and installed the pushrod sleeves. im just starting to sand the fuse, but will wait on any final sanding/filling of repairs until i have the covering. so far i only have to drill the holes in the ailerons for the control linkages, fiberglass the center of the wing (can anyone tell me the best way to thin out epoxy) cut slots for hinges and sand all the parts one more time.
and how come i cant upload more than one pic at a time?
[img][/img],[img][/img],[img][/img],[img][/img],[img][/img]

andrew66,looking pretty good keep it up,just gotta love that little coke bottle

Canada, I think we have a small error (but important).

In picture 2, it looks like you installe the landing gear mounting T-nuts on the outside of the plane. If I am right, they need to be moved to the inside. They will have zero holding power on the outside and will pull out under the first slight load.

I was just ready to mention the same thing about the blind nuts, other than that looks good

Hmmm, Bruce is on to something. I completely missed that the first time I looked at the pictures. But he is correct. Those need to be on the inside of the fuselage.

Ken

You can thin epoxy a couple of ways.

Add a drop or two of alcohol after it's mixed. I buy denatured alcohol (contains 99+% alcohol) at the home improvement store. Drug store isopropyl alcohol can be used if it doesn't have too much water in it. Around here you can buy 70% or 90+% ispopropyl. The other 30%, or <10%, is water. Everyone has an opinion on this. Mine is that you don't want to use the kind with 30% water. Be careful about adding too much. A tiny bit makes a huge difference after you stir it up.

Heat is the other way to thin it. A blast from a heat gun can make it as thin as water, but it also makes it cure faster.

In either case, use 30 minute, or slower, epoxy. The 6 minute stuff will be a rock before you know what's happening.

The experienced builders can give better advice but I'm not sure you want to thin the epoxy on the wing joint fiberglass. Thinning it for fuelproofing is fine but thinning it on a structural joint might weaken the joint.

Carrellh is absolutely correct. You don't want to thin your epoxy when you using to to put the fiberglass tape on center wing joint. Use 30-minute epoxy un-thinned for this joint.

Ken

i obviously missed it too! ive got some choice words for myself right now[:@].
i guess its time to cool down and try and figure out how im going to fix this. anyone got any ideas?
i guess i could use a nut and a washer on the inside of the fuse, making removal of the landing gear a little more difficult, but at least it will hold it in.

Aren't those just blind nuts?? Use a screwdriver to carefully pry them out and then put them back in place on the inside of the fuse.

Ken

Just relocate it to the inside. I know you can't use a hammer but you can "draw" it into place. Get a couple of allen head bolts (LHS) in a size to match the T-nuts and long enough to reach thru the plywood. 1/2 or 3/4 inch long should be fine. Put a washer on the screw (also try to get a larger washer to spread the pressure out) and thread it into the T-nut. The bolt head should now be outside the fuselage. Tighten down the screw and as you do it should seat the T-nut in place. Apply a tad of epoxy around the T-nut to retain it but make sure to keep it off the threads. Let epoxy set and remove the screws. DONE!

If you can't pry them out, try screwing a steel screw into the blind nut from inside the fuselage, then try to tap the nut out of the wood by tapping the head of the screw. You'll want to be sure the fuselage is well supported under the gear block to prevent tearing it off the bottom of the plane.

ok, i'll try prying them out first, if that doesnt work, i'll try the other methods.

well i got the blind nut situation taken care of with a little sanding/filling required. tonight im going to rough sand and fill any dents and dings in the fuse. if i have time, i was also thinking of fiberglassing the center of the wing. now another question arises as i am almost completly done the model: what brand of covering is the "best" as far as quality/durability/ease of application?
here's a pic of a color scheme i have in mind for this model, and if anyone else has a color scheme they think i should consider, feel free to post it (my abilities with the paint program are limited, so everything isnt symetrical. but you'll get the idea)[img][/img]

Nice color scheme. I do have a few observations. I've always prefered to have the lighter colors on top and the darker ones on the bottom. This seems to provide better visibility. You might also reconsider having the black and white stripes on both the top and bottom. When the plane is in the air, the pattern will be a good clue about the orientation of the plane. For example, if the stripes are only on the bottom and you can't see them, you immediately know you are looking at the top of the wing.

Edit: you'll find many people saying Ultracote is easier to use than Monokote. Personally, I've used Monokote for a long time and haven't had problems with it.

thanx for the input. i was just wondering if i reversed the blue and yellow on the wings, would it be less eye appealing. i iknow this is only my first glow plane, but i do want to get a little attention at the field. i think i will only do stripes on the bottom, b/c thats probably the part i will see the most when in the air.
and as far as the covering, i guess the price will probably be the desecion factor as per what type of covering i will use.
PS
would it be a good idea to order from tower hobbies instead of another location in canada? the price factor isnt really that different, but i wonder if it will take longer b/c it has to cross the border.

If you want to see what a yellow wing with a blue fuselage looks like, click on the link to my gallery. My first plane had these colors. Putting the stripes just on the bottom is a good choice! [sm=thumbup.gif] I can't help much about buying from Tower and shipping to Canada, but I know I've seen lots of complaints about delivery times when crossing the border.

that yellow wing actually looks alot better than it thought it would! really draws your eyes to it, i think im going to do that now.
as far as ordering covering, the hs i called today said that it would take 5-10 business days to arrive at hreir shop, and 1 day via bus to brandon. as far as price-wise there isnt much difference from tower and the hs. its just a matter of who's faster.

I'd suggest asking Britbrat about that. He lives in Ontario. Send him a PM if you want.

well, i called another place in wpg today and they have ultracote. its kinda funny that i only wanted to order covering, and ended up ordering a new tailwheel, covering, stick on trim and a sock for my iron! how am i going to explain this one to the ball and chain
anyhow, the supplies will be here either late tomorrow night or on saturday, so in the meantime, its time to let the sawdust fly!
another question: would it be ok to install the fuel tank, servo tray and other items before covering? the manual says to start covering first, but i think i can get away with doing some of it without any problems. any input would be greatly appreciated

I'm like RCKen on this one. I like to get the plane fully assembled just like it is going to fly before doing any covering. This way you can also do the balancing easier without needing to cut holes in the covering. Also, sometimes when you install things you find structural changes that need to be made.All of this is easier if you don't need to worry about damaging the covering.

Andrew66 - We watch Red Green every Saturday night here in AZ. Nice build

Ditto what Bruce and Ken said. Before I cover I've got the plane pretty much built and fully assembled. Saves things like drilling clear through the other side of something and punching a hole in that brand new covering! It also lets me go back through the assembly a second time to double check that everything was done right.