Dion made the stut covers (doors)

WWW.fliteskin.com

Like Hal said! I recommend the Flight Skin, it may seem expensive but it's great for all kinds of applications. I got a sheet and started using it for all kinds of things, I won't use 1/64" ply anymore.

Check my web site for more info on what I make for this plane: [link=http://www.zollnermodels.com]www.zollnermodels.com[/link]

Hey Mr. Z!

I think Hal really hit on something, and you know he knows what he's talking about... I think that beefing up the tail with "something between it's ears" besides just air really makes good sense.

Unfortunately Hal, and you, seem to have more equipment, time to devote, and ingenuity than me, so I have to resort to doing it more along the quick and easy route. Most kits I've seen with fiberglass fuselages use some form of the slide through method with a one piece stab for the added strength. I figured that if I'm going to be a copy cat basher, I'll try to concentrate on the easy stuff.

I really like your canopy!It looks really good...
I was thinking of bringing mine back as the latter 5 model, and the stock canopy front section is a pretty good example of the later 5 type. Would take fabricating a whole new frame behind the windscreen, but I figured the hard part of making a canopy was the front. If you see a PayPal payment from me, then that's not the case!

Dion, you're not considering doing a Hurricane anytime soon are you? There are some guys over on the KMP Hurri thread looking fora new canopy.....


Andy

Good woman! I might make an exception in your case then! lol

Andy, Can't wait to see your plane with the new canopy, be sure and post some pictures!

A big NO on the Hurricane, sorry! I don't want to offend anyone but that is one ugly plane, I'd never consider building one, ever.

For those that might want to know why we are cutting the fillet off the fuselage, look at the picture of the full scale one!

Next my fuselage after cutting off the offending areas!

Hal pointed out the error I made with my measurements, so I'm just going to use the stock stab. I'll join it as one piece and slide it through the hole in back after I fill everything.

Dion

Hal , can you please tell me how you determined that the stap incidence was wrong ? Just looking for a tip on what to look for , I probably would not have caught that .

First of all, I did not say it was wrong. My concern was getting it correct since it was necessary to cut so much away that there was no refernce as to where it should be. After consulting with Luke we agreed that it should be at a right angle to the trailing edge of the fin. My initial complaint was the stab would have not line up with the wing ( parallel ) when looking at it from the rear to the front.

Thanks Hal , did not mean to say you said it was wrong , now I understand why you were concerned with it in the first place

Flapper,
I think it is a 14x6 but will pull the nose off and check for sure.
w4dnq

Here is a question for those who are using CJ retracts in their hellcat: when you mount the gear into their ply retract housings, the air nipple that is on the side of the retract( not the air fitting thats on the end of the cylinder but the other one) is too close to the ply rib, making the airline wanting to crimp together. How did you overcome that? I'm thinking that you took your dremel to the rib and cut a recess hole?) Pictures would be great if you have them !!
Thanks!!
John

Hi old buddy! I'll answer that with what I did. You need to just Dremel out a hole in the rib and run the air line through the wing to the center section. From the root side just work a hole in the balsa rib with a Philip's head screwdriver (don't have to be pretty) if you don't have a long drill bit. Hope this helps!

Dion

Been working on this thing, several different parts at once, so progress seems slow. I filled the tail with some blue foam and sanded to the fuselage contour.

Next I covered it with some heavy glass cloth.

After that I filled the whole area and sanded it smooth.

After marking the stab incidence and airfoil outline I cut the hole. Hal was a big help with this!

Stab was then glued in, elevators now work!

The last picture is of the rudder and how I carved out the fin. Still have to make the hinges for this, but a big thanks to Hal for the idea. The fuselage is almost done!

Dion

Dion,

Great work. Hope you have it done for the Maxwell Air Show display.

Pete

Thats what I needed to see Luke!! Thanks sooo much!!
Pete, you going to make it to Maxwell AFB ? I sure hope to go and meet you and Lukester!!
Also, had Luke talked to you about going to Perry Ga?
John

Hi Pete,

Thanks! I was thinking the same thing, not sure if the Air Force will give us what we need, the club may cancel the display![&o]

Your welcome John, glad to help!

More progress....

This is the lightest, strongest easiest type of glass finish I’ve found. Z-Poxy thinned with Denatured Alcohol. Once you try it you’ll never use anything else, say goodbye to credit card squeegees, toilet tissue trying to soak up excess resin and getting epoxy all over yourself and everything in your shop!

These are my finishing materials: Z-Poxy, Denatured Alcohol, Bondo Spot Putty, Acetone and for primer I use Brite Touch.

First mix your epoxy and thin it with the Alcohol, this is not a scientific percentage, just around 60 percent resin to 40 percent Alcohol will do fine. If the resin starts to thicken just add more alcohol. All you want is enough resin on your plane to bond the glass to the wood, no more! Adding a second coat of resin is ridiculous and will only add weight and work, nothing else. Once the alcohol evaporates, all that is left is a very thin coat of resin, no other sanding or work is needed, your done with the resin! Just trim the cloth and do the other side. This is a very ding resistant surface, once resin is soaked into the balsa, the balsa becomes very hard.

Next we need to fill the weave of the cloth, this is done with some of the easiest stuff to sand in the world, Bondo Spot Putty. Thin this with Acetone to make it just a little thicker than the consistency of milk and just paint it on. It dries super fast and will be ready to sand smooth in no time, just use some 320 grit sandpaper.

Go over any bad spots or nicks you may have missed with un-thinned spot putty and sand smooth.

Give it a good coat of primer and then sand smooth, ready for final detailing and color!

Dion

Hey Luke. Looks perfect as usual. Thanks for taking the time to post the photo sequence and for providing the materials list and application details etc. This is an excellent clinic. Looks like you used a very lightweight fiberglass cloth too. Obviously, techniques like this will be applicable to every plane I ever build in the future.

Question for you experts out there: when finishing a foam core wing, would you simply fiberglass (using the process Luke described above) or would you sheet with balsa first then fiberglass? (one possible answer is "use fliteskin". I looked into it. Fliteskin would be about $200 for the wings I'm building. That's too much). What weight fg for wings?

Thanks and no problem! I use the standard 3/4 ounce glass cloth, it does a great job of holding all the wood together! YES, this technique can and should be used on an all wood plane, I highly recommend it!

The flight skin is pretty expensive, it really doesn't save that much work in my opinion but I like using it to make all kinds of other stuff. Using my method above, glassing a wing is a piece of cake. Sheet the wing with whatever balsa the kit or plans call for, then just glass it with 3/4 ounce glass cloth the way I did my stab.

Dion

Alright! You're a model building GOD! LOL

Thanks Dion,

Tom

Good Job on the stab installation Mr. Z! You and Hal are sure hard to keep up with. I think instead of my Hellcat being a Grumman or General Motors version, it may end up being more of a Yugo variety...but I'm loving it!

I'm still working on the one piece stab slide-in idea, and trying to keep the linkages inside the tail while watching my weight. I'm doing glass cloth without the inside foam, and hoping that it will be strong enough.

Also wanted to thank you for sharing the control surfaces hinge templates! They are really slick and well worth the effort!!! THANK YOU< THANK YOU< THANK YOU!!!!!

It's really fun to see an ARF getting ripped and then coming back into such an impressive scale transformation! Which one are you/we going to bash next???

Luke great job , I have a Pica 1/6 p40 in the box , I now plan on tryiing that finishing method , sounds good and easy .
Luke or anyone , where do you purchases your fiberglass , no close hobbies shops to me '
Thanks
Lou

O....K..!

Thanks C.P.! Can't keep up can ya? Looking forward to see what you come up with on your stab. The foam does not add much, most was cut out. You're welcome on the templates, scale hinges are the way to go. I doubt I'll buy many commercial hinges again, depends on the application but I think the G-10 ones are much easier to install and much stronger.

I absolutely enjoyed this build so much I do think I want to do another ARF! Imagine that! Chopping this thing up gave me great pleasure! Now all the parts both stock and custom will come back together and I'm hoping it will be impressive! I'm still wondering what I'll have when it's all done!

Thanks again,

Dion

This is probably not the right thread to post this, so I'll be brief....I bought the P-47 last week!
I'm going to seek help... ARF's Anonymous, or an intervention program... probably right after I buy a P-40...

My advice to those of you teetering on the ARF fence... RUN!!! They're like Lay's Potato Chips, you can't bash just one....

Hal,
What size wheels are you using? Also, did you get the stock Sierra retract strut length or did you custom order with shorter struts?
Thanks,
John

After lurrking around this thread for several months, you guys have inspired me to get a CMP Hellcat too. After a 25 year career in Naval Aviation, I have a bit of a bias toward Navy warbirds (although I do have a P-47).

My Cat is on its way from GlowRC and should be here later this week. I have also ordered the great looking canopy, cowl, and dummy radial from Luke. Now all I need is a set of retracts, an engine, and free time to build.

By the way, I found this print of a Hellcat with side number 83. I'm not sure this is the model for the CMP paint scheme, but its similar. ( http://www.aviationarthangar.com/f6fhellcat.html )
Thanks to all for the great ideas and tips. Keep 'em coming!

John