rusty, can it be applied directly to balsa to remove the wood grain?

Tail installation complete. I used some glass and 30 minute epoxy to fill the gap on the underside of the stab. It made for a very rigid mounting. Two layers of glass strip were used. The glass strip is the same as is typically used to join fuselage halves in the mold, approximately 4 or 6 oz equivalent. The blue stick is wedged in there to keep the stab level. I dremeled it flat after it was cured up.

Sometimes beauty does not grow on trees, it must be carved out of microballoons. Note how I was able to blend fillets into the molded pushrod exits. I love shaping fat, sexy fillets! The fillets are Bob Smith Industries 20 minute epoxy and old K& B white microballoons that I have in stock. I can't say enough about the BSI 20 minute epoxy. It is light, thin and sands better that polyester resin. It makes a light fluffy microballon mixture. It is used for the wing and stab skinning, as well as the glass on the stab. I'm glad that I didn't cut corners with the stab. It came out so nice, the glass sanded out very nicely. I am very happy with this build.

Some more pictures. Time to move on to equipment installation.

Yes, I am drinking the cheap beer tonight. Gotta save some cash for the Klass Kote!

Lookiing great. Do you have the fuselage paint scheme figured yet ?

Vince

Sort of. Something like this:

This is a duplication of sorts of the removable servo tray that was engineered by my Father in my original Vertigo II. Due to a nose heavy condition on this build, I have all four fuselage servos (Rudder, Elevator, Throttle & Retract) all in one tray, and set as far aft as possible. The mounting rails are spruce, and are glued and glassed to the inside of the fuselage using polyester resin. The Spring-Air retract valve mounts in the middle of the tray between the retract and elevator servos. The tray started out as a hatch from an R/C sailboat that I built 20 years ago (I still have it). I laminated it to a piece of 1/16 ply (grain cross-ways) and then milled out some excess material to lighten it up a bit. The existing cross braces keep it stiff across the rails. Re-use of existing materials helps keep the cost down, and adds a unique cool factor to the project.
Now I have to engineer a cool way to mount the battery pack as far back as possible.

Pushrods complete.
Parts used: Dave Brown arrow shafts & end caps, Robart 3/4" horns w/ ball joint, Hangar 9 4-40 ball joints (servo end) Great Planes 4-40 rods and clevis. Why 4-40 rods? Due to the nose heavy leanings of this particular airplane, I put some useful metal as far back as I could, resulting in bulletproof overkill no flex linkage. Now it is time to order some paint.

Share it with me brothers- the glorious odor of epoxy paint. Smells like........ victory.

Klass Kote. So far, very much like K&B Superpoxy. This stuff is full of solids- coats very well.

The first coat- on with a brush. It sets up fast- so you can dab up the pinholes and other flaws that become readily apparent. I use the first coat like liquid putty. Next, it's all about sanding it all off. I will spray the next coat.

Finally a break in the weather. Primer coat- this time sprayed on. First, I over-thinned the Klass Kote primer. Went with 3 to 1 (thinner/primer) ratio. Too thin. One to one seems much better. That took me by surprise. It'S OK, it's called modeling. Learn or re-learn things.
The bellypan had one coat brushed on, sanded off with 120 grit, masked and sprayed. I was concerned with the masking tape lifting off the covering, so far so good.
Remember the nose wheel hole? Gone, like it never happened. So all of this will get sanded out with 320, the 400 grit, then the white base coat will be sprayed on. I was hoping for a 6 foot finish, it looks like it may actually turn out more like a three foot finish. Nothing like exceeding expectations.

What a beauty this one is! Coming soon- side by side photos of the Vertigo II next to it's cousin, the Pheonix 7. Stay tuned.

Robert - You are making me work too hard. Just when I quit working on the Phoenix 6 #2, and the other finished one is stored, I see your construction photo's, now, I have to get the P-6 back down, and shoot some primer.
Great work ! I may be able to keep up, my P-7 is upstair's, with the word Skyglas on the box. Looking at photo's of your original Vertigo, and you have a red-white-black paint scheme on this one, meaning it is going to be R-W-Bk ? I am going to copy your pushrod design here. Looking at the photo into the fuse, the rudder pushrod is up, will it interfere with the dual elevator rod's across the top ?

Vince

Vince,
I raised the rudder servo up on 1/8" risers to assure that the rudder pushrod rides under the elevator pushrod. This, coupled with the rudder pushrod exit being lower than the elevator pushrod exit assures that there is ample clearance between the two linkages.

RED.

I sprayed the bellypan with the Klass Kote red paint. I wanted to get some real color down, take a step forward. So far, I cannot say enough about this stuff. I is very easy to work with. I did very little surface preparation on the belly pan, and the results are astounding. I can't wait to see how it just shines on the fuselage, on which I have done extensive preparation. The color does not match real well- the Econokote is more of an orange-ish red. Perhaps mixing in some yellow? I am not experienced with color mixing. Perhaps one of you guys with some experience could give me some guidance.
I sprayed the wheel pants for my Focus Sport, which were white, and the results are impressive. I did nothing to the pants except wipe them down with some KK thinner on a paper towel.

Back when K&B was available, we would mix about 50-50 red to orange when trying to match Monokote Missle Red. I don't know how close Econokote and MonoKote are, but that formula made for a perfect match for us.

Your going to have one good looking Vertigo!

JeffH- I will order a can of orange and experiment.

Gregg- Thanks!

White.

It was 107 degrees todayhere is sunny Simi Valley. But it was a "dry" heat as the say in Arizona. Low humidity is good for painting. I am still impressed with the Klass Kote paint. There are a few rough spots, operator error. I am not the world's master painter by any means, but I am still within my goal of a six foot finish, or maybe a little better. Most of the problem areas are where a trim color will be applied, so it's no biggie. I can sand those areas prior to masking. There will be a few rough spots that will show- it will be a reflection of the owner. Next will be the trim colors. We are getting close to done here.

KLXmaster, I didn't know Miller Lite made a fuel can!......

It's alcohol based fuel- for the builder.

I thought Miller light was a watering can............................

Nice paint there, Roberto!
Chris...

Does anybody know if this Vertigo II model is going to be re-kitted ?
I would be very interested in one, I think it would make a good home for my YS long stroke 61 don't you think.

James G

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Ditto on the paint, and the build.
I&rsquo;ve always had problems with laying down white, but not you, Nice!</div>

Gentlemen, thank you for the compliments. I will start masking for the trim this weekend.

James- PM'd.

Best regards,
Robert

PS: I have some upgrade beer in the fridge for this session....

A bit o' Black.

I ordered some orange to mix with the red to better match the "red" econokote on the wing. I will mask and shoot the red it arrives. Then a bit more black (the canopy) and paint will be complete.

Yes, those are rain clouds overhead. It really does rain in California, just not very often.

Robert,

nice to see your project coming to completion - at least the airframe portion. I'm sure you'll get the fuse components in readily once the finishing is complete.

Isn't it wonderful to re-create a model one had twenty or so years earlier!?

Looking forward to seeing her glow in the sun.

David.