cimara

Barry those wheels look very good .Can you post a close up of the front of the wheel

NCIS

Winston,

Here it is with the 5/16" axle with scale nut and cotter pin. They weigh 1.53 lbs each. That makes the total gear weigh in at 7.06 lbs.

Barry

NCIS

Because of another storm I wasn't able to get the struts milled out but did finish running all the air lines in the wing and I tack glued all the wheel well walls in place. The rear wall need to be sanded down to match the contour of the TE spar but other than that I'm almost ready to epoxy all the wall in place. Plus I still have to sandwich the 3/32" balsa rear wall with the 1/64" plywood that I've cut out the front piece. After sanding the rear wall I'll glue the ply to both side and then cut it down to match the contour of the rear wall with scizzors. I have also decided to definitely switch from a F4U-7 to a F4U-5N of Guy Bordelon. Grahams Corsair inspired me to much. So the welder is going to switch from aluminum to stainless steel which he prefers and have it ready by the end of January.

Gibbs

NCIS

I've been working on installing my offset hinges for the main gear doors and am wondering how much the door will flex because the hinges are 1/16" closer together when the doors are closed than when they are open. Because of the curve of the scale wing bottom it is necessary to angle the hinges or put them just a couple inches apart. I will just have to keep trying to figure out what to do with them. I also want to announce that the welder friend of mine has changed the material for my exhaust from aluminum to stainless steel and after he decided to work with stainless he already has the headers made and the rectangular pipes that come out of the sides and bottom of the fuse just behind the cowling. My side pipes will be slightly lower than the scale F4U-5N but I don't think 3/4" is going to be a big deal. I'm happy I bought 2 cowls because now it has to be different than the 7's cowl. So there is a place for Annie Mo. I hope to have my fuselage home soon so I can take some finished pictures of the exhaust and have it powder coated flat black. I also want to see what the plane will look like setting on its wheels instead of the bottom of the wing.

Gibbs

NCIS

I am building experimental gear doors so I know how high the hinges will need to be. I tried just using balsa and it didn't work. It needs to have some beef so I can operate them. Here is how I'm doing it.

Gibbs

NCIS

I am putting my hinges slightly lower than they should be so I don't end up with them to high when the wheel well walls are already glued in. I just shim the door with small squares slightly lareger than the gear door hinges until I get the proper hieght. I made a door yesterday and tried it out today. Thes aren't the actual doors but I nee to use them for seting up my air cylinders for operation. I'll make the perfectly fitting ones after the bottom of the wing is sheeted. Then I'll cut out the wheel wells and cut out the doors. These are a little off in the middle. Plus they are both just rectangles without the proper shape of the one door that protrudes up into the retract door. I have made the doors for the other half but need to let it cure over night. I also drilled and tapped the hole instead of just drilling a hole and putting a washer and nut on the other side of the hinge for the ball link.

Gibbs

NCIS

I got side tracked today doing a fiends daughter a favor. I was aked to paint her Mig 3 ARF's wing tips and cockpit. She is out of state and wants to see it so I told her I would post it on my thread.

Barry

cimara

PM sent

TakingFlight96

Hey, Barry those look awesome !!! Can't wait to get back to Wisconsin (I'm in Iowa visiting relatives) and see her. Gee, I'm gonna have to write this one down, I can't believe you'd touch a "barf" [X(]


TF96

NCIS

Even though I was painting the Mig 3 yesterday I did manage to get my other test gear door done. Now I just need to get some small air cylinders and see how well they operate. They are ugly but for this purpose they will do the job. I also need to cut them down from 4 1/2" wode to 4" wide. I also drilled and tapped the holes for the ball links.

Gibbs

NCIS

My custom exhaust is done. I picked up the fuselage today and wanted to post some pictures for those that were asking about my friends work. The name of his shop is "The Weld Shop" in Janesville, Wisconsin. He will now start to build custom exhausts for those that want them. He only works with stainless steel and I think it is a good material to use. It is strong and with his welds I don't think vibration is going to cause a problem. My top 2 stacks on each side are a little low for the F4U-5N Corsair but that is my fault. I was going to replicate a F4U-7 French Navy Corsair and the stacks are lower. But I don't care I still love it. Now I'm happy I bought a spare cowling so I can make the correct cut outs for the Guy Bordelon F4U-5N Corsair with Annie Mo. When it's all said and done only the judges will really know the difference and I don't think I'll compete anyway. I sure hope Graham doesn't get upset that I'm copying his but it looks so awesome I just had to do it. I'll just go and fly at Warbird events for the Monsters. Pretty soon I'll have the fuse up on the wing and on its wheels for all to see. I'm holding off on that until it's in primer about another year. Maybe more.

Gibbs

If your interested in having him make you a custom exhaust just PM me. You will need to ship the engine and fuselage to him. So don't attach the tail feathers until you get it back. All you have to do is dremel out and sand the places for the stacks and he will go by any pictures you provide him.

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

Barry

Looks good

Bob T

NCIS

Not good enough Bob,

I decided I didn't like the stacks to low so I bought a block of balsa big enough to fill both sides where the new stacks will be. I filled in the spacer after cutting out the planking between the firewall and the first former. Then I filled the old spot with West systems thickening agent and Z-Poxy. The marker shows approximately where the new stacks will be. The welder just has to cut the pipes and add an inch to it so it is the correct height. Then it will be scale as it's supposed to be. I hope West systems is easy to sand.

Gibbs

NCIS

Well now that the Z-Poxy mixture cured it was time to try out how it sanded. There wasn't anyway I was going to do it by hand so I used my detail sander with 150 grit to tackle the job. I also used my drem with the large drum sander for the curve. It came out pretty good but needs a couple coats of thin putty for a smooth finish. I just applied the first coat of putty and am letting it dry so I can sand it and apply a finish coat. I also cut out a piece of 1/64" ply for the rear bulhead of the cockpit where the raised canopy hump is located in the pictures before it was just open. I think that turned out good so now back to the retracts. I'll finsh one side of the fuse before starting on the other side.

Gibbs

NCIS

I finish sanded the 1/64" plywood that is now the top half of the raised rear cockpit bulkhead and changed my canopy rails so I can use a better method of making a slider with more adjustability. Plus I finished one wheel well. So it's off to the next one and the finishing of the new exhaust stacks locations.

Gibbs

Greg Wright

My Feedback: (6)

NCIS, You need to put a air-world 400 radial engine in this plane.

NCIS

I already have a 3W 200 cc 20 hp engine that cost me $2,000.00 plus a $400.00 custom exhaust that now I'm having my friend the welder modify for me so it looks scale for the F4U-5N so I am going to stick with it. The radials are better but I just can't afford the cost.[&o]

Barry

rack

My Feedback: (11)

that 400 wont fit, 250 radial is what is neaded

NCIS

I don't have any intentions on switching my engine choice anyway. I love the sound of the Moki radials but not the price. I have been changing the stack location as stated before and was told by someone on here that Evercoat Putty was the best for faing out any low spots. I bought some today. Have any of you used this product and if so how do you like it? It is supposed to be very easy to sand. Here are progressive pictures of my putting in a new balsa block for the new stack location and the filling of the old are. Plus a picture of the Evercoat putty I bought. I guess there are several different types for different uses. Is this the right stuff for balsa and fiberglass?


Gibbs

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Gibbs,
this is the stuff that I use:
it hardens quickly and easily wet sands.

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

Barry

I originally told you about the evercoat. the easy sand as Sam mentioned above
is similar as well (same brand/manufacturer). However, it is best used on metal
products, and on your "fiberglassed" areas, not bare balsa.

NCIS

Thanks Guys,

I ordered some as soon as I got a PM or email from Sam. You guy's are great. But can I use it on balsa or won't it stick. I am filling in my old exhaust stack locations with Z-poxy and West sytems thickening agent and then after sanding that I finish it off with the putty. Some will need to stick to bare balsa. But I would like to use it as a general putty to fair out my fuse also before glassing it.

Barry

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

Barry

it shoudl stick, BUT might be a pain in the arse with sanding it.
meaning you would want to protect your balsa from not gounging
into it sanding out the evercoat.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Barry,
When I used any bondo, I tape the area off with masking tape to limit bondo to only the area that I want to cover.
Ya' gotta' work fast since bondo sets up in a matter of minutes so the tape allows you to not worry about being messy and slopping it on areas that you don't want it to be.
I mask off the area whether it's bare balsa, FG cloth or FG parts to also prevent damaging areas that don't need sanding.
I can then agressively wet sand the area while the tape is still there: once I've sanded down to the tape, I can then remove the tape and easily finish off the remaining wet sanding.
I'm sure there are many other ways to get the job done but this works well for me.

NCIS

I have been using White putty that I get through Tower. It sands smooth and pretty easy but it comes in small tubes and I never seem to have any left when I need it. Thats the reason for wanting something that is a good putty but in a quart container instead of the smaller tubes.

Barry