paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

A buddy and I have been planning this for awhile now, laying out all the planning and what not. Started ordering materials for it about a week and a half ago and finally started cutting today!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, this thread is bound to stretch for infinity because from what I have seen, it takes awhile to build. There is alot of good info out there about the bird, but no real building info. What we would like to do here, is to make a pretty good list of what problems we encounter, a list of materials and so on......

With all the great deals out there with laser cutters, we thought long and hard about it. I know "true scratchbuilders" draw there own plans. We are gonna call this scratchbuilt because we are gonna cut the wood by hand. (a little more feeling of accomplishment!!!)

So today was a pretty good day, we started laying out main fuse formers and wing ribs, and had about half of it cut within about 5 hours. Mind you that in no way are we trying to attempt a speed record building a P38!!!!! But it do go pretty quick. This is the first bird of this size and detail that either of us has built. Were not trying to make a run at Top Gun, but we want to do the best job we can. We will try to make it as detailed as we possibly can.

So far, we have all the wood for fuse and center wing. All fiberglass pieces are on the way. Have Tx and 2 RX, just need servos. Gear will be had for X mas!!! During the beginning of next year we will decide on powerplants. With the holidays coming up, we probably wont see a whole lot of building time, but who knows.....

Input is appreciated!!!!!!!

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

The start of it...
thats a big pile of wood!!! lots more than a .60 size!!!!

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

We tried a technique learned here on RCU. We made copies of all our parts, then using toulene, wipe the wood, and place copy of part on wood and rub it in a little. Too much toulene, lines bleed a little. Not enough, and you have to put more down without moving part. This works pretty sweet and will save alot of time. It was said that we can use lacquer thinner, but toulene was all we had.

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

Next batch of copying parts, I will push the "mirror" button on the copy machine. Some of the parts, we noticed that it had a "front" marked on it. Since they were reversed, we had to adjust accordingly. Learning things already!!!!

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

A sheet all layed out, ready to be cut.

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

45 minutes of cutting. All we could think about was what to build next!!!! hehehe...

Really this is pretty fun stuff. Most of today, was getting organized, and laying down a system. We found that making a list of all the parts and how many required, we then could go back once they were fully cut and mark it off the list, so we dont make too many parts, or not make it at all.

Stay Tuned!!!!!!

CaptainHook

My Feedback: (80)

Go, go ,go..... I built one about.......seven years ago. 450 hours to complete w/o cutting all the wood. This is a challenging kit but has great rewards. G45's will fly it nicely but some like something hotter!! Have fun and enjoy the build.. I'll be watching.

dionysusbacchus

My Feedback: (25)

Great paperairplanes, this should be interesting! Another TRUE builder!

If you get a cook book out and bake a cake using the ingredients thats called making a cake from scratch. A scratch builder uses plans, and cuts his own parts, so you are a true scratch builder! A designer builds from his own designed plans. If you put together a fiberglass and foam job you are called an assembler!

Anyway thanks for the idea of transferring the ink to the wood, I'll be starting a Jap Rufe soon and that'll come in real handy!

Keep the momentum going!

Luke

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

This is going to be an interesting thread to follow. I've always wondered what's involved in building one of these.

Jim

YarSmytheJr

I'm sure it will take a lot of time to build AND document your assembly....but you've got some readers VERY interested in watching the progress of your P-38. Please keep the information and photos coming!

-Lee

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

i built one of nicks p-38's only to find "i beleive and have been told too" that the CG is to far aft by at least one inch. you might want to keep that in mind , ron "warbird_1"

flydoc

I've been flying my ZP-38 for the past 5 years. I balanced it according to plans, and have had no problems with it. It actually flies quite well. My advice to new ZP-38 builders is think about doing away with the boom mounted servos, and install them in the tail surfaces themselves. As far as power goes, I have been very happy with a pair of brisson 3.2s swinging 21x12 three bladed props. My 38 weighs 40 lbs.

If you have any questions during your project, don't hesitate to ask

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

WOW!!! Within the last day of starting this thread, I have received numerous PM's about little tidbits of building this plane. Also a few posts too. When we incorporate these into the plane, I will make a list of them all on here. (sorta building manual for the P38!!!)

Thanks to everyone so far who have replied!!!!!

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

Rib question. As per the plans, some of the ribs can either be balsa or lite ply. I have noticed alot of different weights of finished 38's. I realize that alot of factors play into the finished weight, but where it says to use either balsa or ply, I think we are going to go with ply. Our reason is for strength, and we have alot of ply!!!!! Any thoughts as if this will increase our weight signifigantly??? I like to build with strength in mind.....

flydoc

Paperplane,

As i mentioned, my '38 weighs 40 lbs. I did use light ply in most situations where either balsa or light ply was called for. If I remember correctly, there were places where i elected to use aircraft ply instead of light plywhen I judged that wear and tear would indicate 5-ply the better choice.

warbirdav8r

My Feedback: (11)

I have always built Nicks stuff by the plan. My p-38 has 40 flights on it, balanced by the plan and has not been a problem. My g-38 's were a tad less power than i would like so they have been changed,but that is all.

Dr. Bud

You guys will love this plane. Built one late in the 90's. Still have it. I have two G45's in mine. Plenty enough power. No Gyros in mine. Some people need them as insurance. Nothing wrong with that. Be careful of any flame outs. Happened to me once (freak thing). If I hadn't known the planes tendencies, I would have snapped it quickly.
Good luck


Bud

Falcon Jet

I'm Paperairplanes' buddy who's building the P-38, using my hangar as the central staging/building area for now. I'm sure that once we get further on done the road that we'll be using his hangar as well, gonna be big! We have a question to all out there that has Nick's P-38. On the real P-38, they discovered that when the plane went into a diving turn that the torque of the engines took over and spun the plane in. To counter act the torque of the engines, they installed engines that turned opposite of each other. Is this something to be concerned about with the model?

We appreciate any input on this!!

Chris.

flydoc

Falcon,

I too considered counterrotating props on my P-38 when i built i six years ago. But the hassels of finding appropiate 3 bladed props and a reverse rotation engine convinced me that it wasn't worth the effort, since I don't compete in scale contests.
As far as flying qualities, My '38 shows no torque induced bad habits. Maybe it would fly even better with counterrotating props, but the improvement, if any, isn't likley justify the increased difficulty in finding components, in my estimation.

GPaloz

My Feedback: (1)

3W engines can be reversed by changing the ignition sensor only. Available thru 3W dealers. I'm going to be using them in my P38 with Zinger 24 inch three blade props counter rotating. Regards G

flying2bill

My Feedback: (2)

Twinman has done it bothways and has reported that it makes little or no difference, however does add to the "cool" factor. I just got my engines back from RC Ignition where I had one engine reversed, turned cylinder around and adjusted timing, also added electronic ignitions, very nice workmanship but I have not had a chance to test run the engines yet, haven't laid out the $100+ for two props yet.

M Gill

Paper Airplanes,

I have been making kits for this plane for many years. I am reliving fond memories of tackeling problems when learning to cut out this kit!

You might want to mark your templates with how many of each is required and materials to cut it out of on the few parts that aren't marked. Also be sure to include on your "list" the small demensional parts that do not have templates (like servo mounts and such).

Mace Gill
The Aeroplane Works
http://www.theaeroplaneworks.com

longeze

My Feedback: (9)

Mace, When you cut your kits do you use lite-ply or balsa when given the option ?

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

Ok, I dont want to clutter up this post with pics of just parts, I want it to be of the important stuff and LOTS of LISTS!!!!! But here are a few anyways. All these are just for the center section. Tomorrow we are going to go back through all the parts and do final sanding to make sure everything fits. Waiting on our shipment of spruce, so we might as well make these parts pretty. Once we get our spruce, we are gonna do our dry run to see how everything fits and get a better idea of it all. Tomorrow will entail sanding, more planning with some cool beverages thrown in so we dont get wore out!!!!

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

Heres the man who drug me into this project(just kidding! Thats what friends are for!!). We sure have our work cut out for us, but were at the point now where we cant wait for our "dry run" to get a size idea of this bird!!!! Anyways, heres Falconjet. BTW, tell him real planes have rotors!!!!!! Hey Chris, I would go fixed wing, but I dont look good in high heels!!!!!!! For real though, Falcon Jet did most of the cuttin, so I guess I get to dive in tomorrow with the sandpaper!!!!! Next pics will probably be of the "dry run" and we are gonna try to get a list of some questions together to post here. Thanks again to everyone who has emailed or PM'd with answers and advice!!!! Part of what makes this hobby so cool!!!!!!