RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

Hello Randy,
I have been avidly following your Hanriot build - but I did not think of using the JBweld to keep the bolts from crushing the AL, thanks for pointing it out - it's something I may have to consider. I suspect that the bolt-thru method to attach the struts into the v-bracket is not appropriate - and the bolts that I have used are way out of proportion!- I think there would be the same consideration (tendency to crush the strut when tightening bolts through the strut) when designing the full-size . I used this [link=http://www.wwi-models.org/Photos/Fre/Nie11/Bourget//LaKr/lk_n11_2.jpg]N11 v-bracket[/link] as a reference, feeling that it was very simliar in construction except that my axle slot must be out front. Looking at this photo, I really can't tell if the bracket is forged as one piece, or if it is two pieces, one inside and one outside, which are welded or mechanicly fastened together. Indeed, I ddon't think there are bolts through from one side to the other as I have done - maybe the v-bracket is supposed to work more by the bolts that clamp it together around the edges which is what I might try when I build the next one!

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

JB Weld. Hmm..one more product not available in Japan! [:@]

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

I stand...er.......sit in awe of your project. I finished spraying the paint on my Fokker DVII, you can tell that I hurried ( I really perfer flying to building) had I the patience that you do, it would have been a masterpiece. Please, continue with this build, it is inspiring.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

On the Hanriot it looks as though the V brackets were a combination of socket and clamp, kinda like a long pair of boots with a strap around the top!. There is a through bolt though. Once again I believe that these old airplanes just used sockets on the gear and interplane struts and relied on the tension of the rigging to hold it all together. I expect like everything else they were fishing around for a system that would work, and the one they used was not necessarily the best! If you used absolute scale bolts and fittings they would be so small as to be nearly invisible, and probably useless too! I used 0-80 brass model railroad bolts on mine and they still look too large..

Randy.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

I really wonder how one would go about fabricating truely scale parts -- I mean down to the last detail. So far I've just been trying to create the rough effect on my models. But how would one make, for example, brackets that look exactly like the original? The only thing I can imagine is that after a basic structure it made this would need to be "surfaced" for scale appearance.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

I think it would be tough to make something that is exactly scale and at the same time functional and flyable. One of the companies that make hobby type lathes had an add that showed a fellow who made a T-6 or something from metal and all the parts were exact scale, it was beautiful but not flyable, but it was pretty small if I remember right. This may be why 1/3rd scale and larger is getting so popular....exact scale parts can be made and used as on the original....

I was thinking about the lack of JB weld in Japan. You might try mixing micro balloons with epoxy. I'm sure that would work. May work better as epoxy is a little more fluid than JB weld....

Randy

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

The mechanical bits are what I find most interesting about the aircraft - and the smell. Have you ever stuck your head inside an old aircraft? Well, the closest I ever got was this SPAD replica - it may not actually be that old but there is a nice blend of presumably fuel oil and varnish smell. For a good time, go around inhaling things! I guess the smells and the wood reminds me of my other boating hobby (my RCU moniker is a reference to my ski-boat)

IT certainly is challenging to replicate all the scale bits, and many times not practical... manipulating the small bits like the 00-80 size fasteners, causes much crying and swearing, probably could not deal with hardware much small than that! However, it's an obsession of mine to find out all the arcane and obscure bits of knowledge about the aircraft, even if I can't build it exactly that way, so I go around on all these e-forums and aska lot of silly questions because you just can't easily find out this stuff. I think it would be very cool to research original source data and draw up plans for aircraft the way Fokker Team-Schorndorff is doing.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

We're definitely on the same wavelength! Just like you, it's the funky little mechanical bits that really grab me. In fact if there is any one single impression that I took away from the hours and hours I spend hanging out at the RAF Hendon museum is was that the real aircraft have so much more depth of details than our poor models. The surfaces were all so complex -- and in some curiously way irregular and even chaotic. And in fact this has actually inspired me to be a little sloppier with my models. I think we strive so hard to have perfect craftsmanship that we end up with an overly slick product. I no longer worry about things like perfectly straight seams on my coverings or minor asymmetry in parts. And I'll definitely be hand-painting all my models from now on.

So what's next on your Pfalz? ;)

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

The next move on the Pfalz should probably be the wing. Already, the motor mount, tail group, and alighting gear are done. I am very glad to have these incredibly obstacles out of the way@! Once the wing is done, I can start to determine how to arrange the electronics to balance the model.

I don't know exactly the detail of the wing construction, maybe it is similar to the Fok.E wing. Even if not 100% scale, I would like to [link=http://www.karmy.com/minimax/pictures/wing/wing.htm]build-up the ribs[/link] because I hate cutting ribs and the technique looks interesting, but it will take quite some time. I could make a couple of jigs and maybe the family would help me! ;) I don't know the exact airfoil either but maybe someone on the Aerodrome can suggest something ;)

Problem I have now, is I have already a framed up wing in the appropriate chort and span, but it is not a scale wing, it is a 2412 airfoil with ailerons. The temptation is great to work up some quick cabane struts and bolt on this wing parasol fashion - it would be a very stable configuration and would allow me to complete the fuselage, fly it, and prove out the unproven parts i.e. the tail group and undercarriage. Then the question will be, once that the thing is flying, will I finish it out or move on to something else (something bigger!)

I am quite anxious to fly a new scratchbuilt model (even if the initial configuartion not %100 scale). Since the tragic loss of the Parasol ( in my avatar) the hangar is conspicuously lacking a %100 scratchbuilt. The Goldberg Tiger rebuild in the pics is closes scratchbuild I have (fuse 100% scratch original design by me, wing 100% ARF). THe Tiger rebuilt fuse is nearly 100% hardwood , first time I have tried that and it weighs absolutely no more than the original slab-side balsa construction ARF fuse.

-G-

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

Hmm, the smell. That's very interesting. I read somewere were the sense of smell can be recalled more easily than any other. There may be more to that than you think! I remember the first time I got up close to one of these old birds and the impressions I got. There was sooo much more on the full scale level that you just are not aware of from pics and drawings. You stick your head inside the cockpit and want to drink in all the details. The stains on the wooden handles, the scratches on the painted metal fittings, the weave on the fabric and the imperfections of the hand painted markings and OH thats how the seat is attached and look how they adjust the guns!
I used to have an antique MGA which I decieded to model in 1/18 scale from one of those cast metal prebuilt numbers. I almost wore a path out to the garage looking at details and I had taken many pics! And to think I had actually restored this vehicle myself! It was amazing how differently we look at things when we want to reproduce them in scale.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

Since I starting scale building I find myself starring at the oddest things in the world. When I'm driving I find I'm checking out the exact way that the rubber part of the mud flaps on the truck in front of me are attached and the exact pattern of the rust on the tailpipe...

As I've said other places and will now say again, I'm certain that the key to scale modeling is "depth of vision" -- you simply can't model what you haven't noticed.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

I was looking at some detail photos of a restored aircraft......Wow. Unevenly spaced rivets, missing rivets, tail skid tied up with rope or chain, landing gear bungee just wrapped for looks and not in the right place.....An accurate scale model of that airplane would be non-functional, just as the museum airplane is!! But it would be accurate!!!

Randy

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

well here it is....

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

I got discouraged and did not post any pics for a long time... it has taken nearly a year since I started making the plans for this model.
Here are some (random) pics:
1) showing the servos in the wings and uper pylon with eyebolts.
2) covering the fuselage.
3) all the panels are removeable.
4) Last is a closeup of the tail skid.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

That is a nice looking plane sir. I like that black outline. Your work and this thread will be very helpful to me as I do a 1/4 scale eindecker. How long before the maiden ? I skimmed through the thread but could not find the scale. What scale is it? I ask because I'm ttrying to determine how long my Elll will take. I was figuring about 1 1/2 years . Good luck and thanks ahead of time for solving some of my problems.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

Thankyou for your kind comments Feep. The scale is 1/8th. The Pfalz company was quite faithful in duplicating the [link=http://ajbs.com/Anglais/MuseeGB/Morane-H-UKHtml/Morane-H-Master-UK.htm]Morane prototype[/link] but I have taken some liberties. But i'm please with how it all turned out, although i have been getting in a sloppy hurry lately.

The test flight will be tomorrow... weather permitting. Hopefully, there will be no wind - having no steerable tail-wheel thingy, the demonstrated cross wind component of this aircraft is pretty much... zero!

The monkey ... is ready; the cat, well, mostly indifferent.

RE: morane-eindecker thingy
 

Good luck. I'm sure we'll all be holding our collective breath.