Latching mechanism in place. Seems to work well, push to engage or release. Rear of the hatch could do with being more rigid though.

Got the red trim on today. Here are a few teasers.

Continuing with the painting. I'm using acrylic lacquer and masking with vinyl cut masking film and 3M fineline tape.




I'm applying the small vinyl cut graphics now so I can clear coat them. Racing number will be 04.

Ready for blue.

Blue shadow effect on, ready for clear coating.

Nice one Rod,look forward to seeing it in the flesh :-)

Clear coat. This stuff lasts for ever.





I had missed one of the shadow elements. Got that on and clear coated it. Need to wait a few days to rub it out.

The Zeus is looking sharp! Is that polyurethane clear?

No it's Dupont acrylic lacquer. It is an all lacquer finish. This is the advantage of petrol or electric as it doesn't need the 2 pot finish to resist the nitro fuel. However my next project will probably be a Matt Rubin with YS 160 so I will use a base coat, clear coat over silk.

Hi Rodney,
Since I fly almost exclusively glow powered airplanes I have to use a fuel proof finish. Clear epoxy or polyurethane are my current choices.
I assume you will be scratch building the Rubin. The only 'kit' of the Rubin that I am aware of was the Model-tech ARC version. Well built and straight, but heavy. A Rubin with a YS 160 should have plenty of power! I don't have Rubin plans, but I do have plans for the following Matt design the Diamante which will get in the build queue one of these days. I'd like to respectfully request a build thread for the Rubin as I have really enjoyed following the Zeus build!
Regards,
Will

Hi Will, Yes I will do a thread on the Rubin, not sure where yet. I got the plans directly from Wolfgang. A simple but elegant design and I am looking forwards to retracts again. I need to order some 3/16" titanium wire for them.

Working on the film covering. Curved scissors a scalpel, steel rule and a lump of steel wrapped in masking tape.



Anyone got a link to a really good covering thread?



Strip of mylar to protect the underlying film when cutting the LE overlap.

Covering done and got the racing number on, time for a preview.

Now for the all important question Rodney. What does it weigh

OK so it weighs 4.6 kg like this.With motor, silencer and 1 servo. So I'm thinking a little over 5 kg. Definitely in the ball park though. For a prototype I'm pretty happy with the weight. Need to see how it performs now.

Yeah, OK. You can go up to 5050 grams Final weight will be interesting.

Noise level would be good to know as well.

Hello
Incredible, awesome job !

Hi Claude it's been a fun project and good to be able to focus just on this.
I've been working on the motor installation. Shimmed the motor mount for a nice spinner fit. Made titanium prop bolts (also exhaust header bolts) and a 5mm to 4mm thread adapter for the spinner screw. Also got around to lightening the spinner back plate.

Congratulations Rodney, beautiful work !
Good luck with the test flights !

Thanks a lot Alex. I have asked my friend Neil to do the video. Still a few days off finishing. Got the wiring complete and turned on the radio for the first time.

Pretty much done now. Ran up the motor, it needs leaning out. Weight 5.35kg so I'm a bit disappointed with that however it would make weight with the YS200. Still it was all an unknown till I had built one and now I have a benchmark. There are plenty of options for weight saving. I'm going to wait till warmer weather arrives to do some more molding. But now for some flying, test flight as soon as I can tune the motor for a nice two stroke.

If it flies as good as it looks then you should be pretty happy. Only slightly overweight for a prototype with a 55cc gasser is VERY impressive. Looking forward to the flight reports! Good Luck!

I have installed some reinforcement for the canopy hatch, this has stiffened the fuselage considerably. Had some Redline oil stickers made and have been working on more graphics. Have decided to hard mount the motor as it was moving around too much. Made a stand for working on the model inverted.