daven

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Kevlar is a great material, just don't try to cut or sand it....

vicman

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Yeah, those scissors are worth their weight in gold for sure!

combatpigg

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Not real exciting news, but some progress. The fuselage mold halves turned out good.
It took 2 yards of 6 oz cloth and I used 1 oz cloth as the surface layer. It took a total of about a quart of polyester resin, plus a couple coats of gelcoat to start out with.
There is a little bit of touch up around the upper edges, but it'll be ready to make some parts pretty soon.
All it took to release from the plug from the mold was sliding a putty knife around the perimeter and lifting up from the aft end. There was 3 coats of Partall wax and a coat of PVA release agent over the wax, sprayed on with a Badger airbrush.

vicman

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Looks great CP!

smoknrv4

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I was wondering when you would show us some more progress....nice.

combatpigg

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One bit of advice I've gleaned off the FG threads in the other forum is that rushing the buildup while making the mold can lead to enough heat to break down the wax. So I took my time, doing each step one step or layer at a time. Total, there's about 9 or 10 layers on these molds. The glassing of the fuselage should be much easier. I'll make templates out of paper to help pre cut the cloth and also some patches of CF. This fuselage is pretty simple, but prepping the wing fillet with wax will be difficult down in the crease.

combatpigg

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The parts came out pretty good. There was a spot on one mold where the PVA lifted away from the wax, but I just kept on going...it was already too late to stop and redo it. The result was a few spots that will need to be bondo'd.
I laid up 4 layers of 6 oz cloth to form a sheet of something like G10.......this is what I used to create a flange for the cowl to lay up against. There will need to be a final fitting session to bring the cowl perfectly flush with the fuselage.
The next hurdle is to shave the sides off the Nelson engine mount, then fit the engine into the plane. The tank just barely fits, which is good.
The lay up for the fuselage ended up being 1.4 oz on the surface, then 2 layers of 6 oz cloth, then a layer of CF cloth, then a layer of 6 oz cloth back to the rear of the wing. It weighs a little bit less than a pound.

vicman

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manomanoman that looks kooo!

combatpigg

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Thanks Vicdude....like they say, so easy a caveman can do it...

One thing I'll say about FG is that it tells no lies.

One more thing, you sure can't wish your way, or "CAD" your way to the goal line.

iron eagel

Looking good!

vicman

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Having made many molds for industry in the past, I know exactly what you mean. At some point I guess I need to grow a set and figure out how to do FG molds so I can have a cool ship like you. Either that or you can send me the next one you mold.

combatpigg

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Thanks IE, it seems like lots of time goes into no results...like panning for gold.

Vic, you could always do like what Lisa's father did in the 1960s.....he rented the molds to build a 32 foot boat and did the whole thing in his driveway......[X(]!!!

smoknrv4

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Looks good CP, thats looks like a lot of time well spent.

mk1spitfire

Good work, keep at it CP.

combatpigg

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Thanks for the good vibes!

Today was "Moment of Truth" day...setting up the engine in the fuselage. I narrowed the sides of the engine and mount as much as possible on my table saw with a carbide blade. Narrowed all the way up to the outside edge of the motor mount screw heads. Even so, my original estimate for the inside width of the fuselage wasn't generous enough, so I had to slit the seam open in the front of the fuselage, then clamp the fuselage sides around the motor mount, then glass in some filler and some layers to repair the seam in the forward area of the fuselage. This turned out pretty good. I've had to do the same thing before with a cowl that was too short. Now the fuselage has a slight lump in the sides.
Next step is gluing in the firewall. I bolted the engine shaft to a flat plate and used a carpenter's square to square the fuselage up, then used epoxy and small strips of FG to secure the FW on the backside.
This is all that I got done today, but at least it is further ahead than it was yesterday.

combatpigg

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Looks like a glider fuselage with a .40 in the nose.

dhal22

CP, this is a project worthy of this forum's name. Don't see a lot like this, thx for the efforts.

smoknrv4

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What he said!

MJD

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That's probably a good sign you're on your way to 210.

iron eagel

I do not see any wasted space in that fuselage!
It is going to be one quick airplane.
It is already looking fantastic, I think all your effort is going to pay off in this attempt.
Thanks for sharing your build with us, lot of good information already!!!

dhal22

any idea on what a short kit is going to cost? [sm=teeth_smile.gif]

combatpigg

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Thanks again for the encouragement, guys. I'm too mean to quit, anyway.

MJD, I'm hoping this thing will be clean/light enough to experiment with smaller diameter props or a little more pitch. Even a decimal point in pitch could make a big difference.

dhal..If I was smart I'd make a new mold off this model that has already had changes made. Besides changes to the fuselage nose, I'm probably going to take a 1/4" off the top of the cowl...which means that a new mold should be taken off the redone cowl. The prospects of ever being able to offer a kit seem remote. This FG work is just too dang miserable to do any more than my own projects, too......[:'(] Balsa dust is bad enough, you have to be a fanatic to control FG dust.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

My hat is off to composite production workers.. [8D]

CP - this is a cool project. If you were to ever do another fuselage, my 2 cents of input would be to get away from flat sides and start thinking towards roundness. Of course that only means another seventeen hours of carving and sanding and cursing, but the point being with a composite structure you will gain much torsional strength and stiffness as well as crush resistance if you bow out the sides somewhat and connect the sides with radii.

Just trying to make your life more difficult, one step at a time. I see 6.5x8.5-9.0 props in your future..

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Those electric speed planes with the round fuselages that look like champagne flutes....you could probably do much of the shaping of the plug on a lathe.
They get pretty thin, so I'd try using baseball bat wood like ash, maple or hickory if turning such a long, spindly project on a lathe.
Making a tight fitting parting board would be a little tedious, but doing the layup would be real easy since glass cloth loves to lay inside round shapes.

dhal22

the short kit comment is just another way of me admiring your work.