Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

I finally started working on my Ziroli Dauntless. Lots of parts for it to cut out but everything fits together very nicely.

Here is the fuse showing the wing saddle and the top planking applied. I substituted 1/4 balsa for most of the formers to help keep weight down. It also makes it easier to glue the 1/8 planking down.

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Here's a shot of the bottom with the wing center section attached. The ribs are 24" long! The center section is a hefty structure and is very strong. LG blocks, wing tubes and servo tubes can be seen. Waiting for delivery of the Robart retracts ($$$!)

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

This is the way it looks now with most of the fuse planking on. It's been block sanded with 80 grit paper to cut down the planking edges and shape it. The next step is to build the stab and mount it, lining it up with the wing center section.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Absolutly beutiful! you do good work. Will keep eye on yer progress. Keep up the great work!
d

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

A very nice job, what do you think of the Dauntless plan as I can't make my mind up between the hellcat and the dauntless

Steve

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

bueatiful, i love threads like this, i learn more about building from following construction than from any book or magazine, keep the pics and details coming!

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

rcfanuck,
I've built three planes from Ziroli plans: AT6, P47, and now the Dauntless. Nick Ziroli has got to be one of the best designers in the world. All of his plans are fantastic. He gives you a full sheet of patterns for all parts and, if you cut them out carefully, everything fits together perfectly. I've built from some "off brand" plans that were a nightmare. The only deviation from Ziroli's plans is that I replace a lot of the plywood parts with balsa in low stress areas just to save weight. This has had no ill effects on my other two planes.

His Hellcat plans should be every bit as good as his others. I personally have always loved the nice curved lines of the Dauntless.

shupack,
I agree. I've learned a tremendous amount by following other's threads here.

Jim

Dauntless
 

Beautiful work! :thumbup:

A friend an I plan to build two Ziroli SBDs in autum. We are a little bit concerned about the cockpits, the .30 Brownings, the sliding canopy, the RIVETS :spinnyeye ..........I guess the finishing process will take more time than the building process.

BTW do you also have Kincey's "SBD Dauntless - in detail & scale"? The best Dauntless resource for the scale modeller.

Please keep us informed about your building process.

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Tmoth,

AWESOME SBD! You make me jealous. My Bates SBD is also awaiting Retracts from Robart. The plans were for mechanical retracts, so I'll have to do some modifications and I don't want to build my wing center section until I have the Robarts "in hand."

Since mine is just the 85" (vs 100"), the Bates plans have you make a one-piece wing... no wing tubes. I'm also still trying to decide on an engine and can't finish the fuse the rest of the way up until I decide. I may have to do some kit bashing behind the firewall to accomodate my motor choice. It's amazing how much more difficult it is to find anything to fit properly due to the difference between 1/5 scale and 1/5.5 scale. I'll never build another 1/5.5 scale again... it's a ******* size.

I really like the way Ziroli has designed your fuse construction... much different than the Bates design. I think a lot of it is due to the 1-piece wing vs the removable wing & tube setup. We should stay in touch and share some detail and finish tricks as we progress. I plan to go ape**** with the interior on mine... that's my favorite part.

What SBD era are you going to do? Mine is "41 Sniper" which was James "Jig Dog" Ramage's SBD5 on the Enterprise in June of 44 in the Phillipine Sea. It will be the tri-color blue scheme. You can check out my progress at...

http://www.renderwurx.com/rc/SBD/

Keep the pics coming!

Neo

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Hi Neo,

I've been checking out your website and I got at least one idea from it. I took the fuse formers and split them horizontally at the bottom edge of the crutch. That way I could build the uper half of the fuse while the crutch was still pinned to the board. I found this an easier way to build the fuse than propping the crutch up on blocks.

I was debating whether to build a one piece wing or not. I have never used wing tubes before, but I went ahead with what's shown on the plans. It's still kind of scary though.

I'm not going with a full cockpit interior, just an inch or so down into the fuse. I definitely want to show instrument panels and the rear guns.

I can't believe how fast this thing is going together. I've only been at it a couple of weeks.

I was going to do one in the tricolor camo but now I'm thinking of doing one in the classic Midway scheme. Still haven't decided.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Tmoth,

Yeah, the top & btm half fuse construction works pretty well. Not doing a full scale interior & crew will definitely speed things up for you. I'll probably have more time in that than building the plane itself!

Neo

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Nice job.

Quick question on the center wing section. Is it permanently part of the fuselage, or is it detachable?

- George

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Neo,
I saw the detailing you did on the center rollover structure. If the rest of the plane looks like that it's going to be fantastic! You're inspiring(shaming) me to do more detailing than I had planned.

George,
The wing center section is held in place by four nylon bolts, two in front and two in back. I guess you can leave it on or off when transporting.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

The Robert gear arrived yesterday from Nick Ziroli Models. I ordered them from his site on Friday. Pretty quick turnaround I'd say.

The gears just dropped right in after just a little trimming of one rib.

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Here's the Dauntless up on it's wheels. I never thought I would get this far in just a couple of weeks. The wheels are too small. I threw on a set of 5" ones I had on the shelf. You can see that the struts angle inward like on the full-size.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Lookin' great Tmoth! Couple of days on the Robarts eh? Yet another advantage of going with the standard 1/5 scale... my 1/5.5 scale Robarts are estimated to take at least 4 weeks. I guess they have to custom make them.

What wheels do you intend to use. Mine actually calls for the 5" wheels, but I don't know which ones I'll use yet. I'm not paying big bucks for custom wheels though... I'll probably get the Dubro foam-filled rubber wheels and custom build the dome-dish wheel hub myself.

Have you figured out where you're putting your air system yet? I'm sure the Ziroli plans have it all figured out for you... I have to figure that out myself since the Bates plans call for mechanical-servo retracts. It's going to be a tight fit trying to find room for the air can.

Neo

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Neo,

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about wheels yet. I've been happy with the CB/Tatone wheels on my other warbirds but The Dauntless ones should be narrower. I need 6" ones. I'm going to check out what's available at the Toledo show. I agree, I'm not going to pay nearly as much for the wheels as I did for the retracts. I may have to fudge. I'm not planning on competing anyway.

Ziroli shows the option of putting the tank in the wing center but once it's in you can't remove it without tearing the wing up. I'm mounting the tank in the fuse like I've done with my other planes, along with the fill valve. I mount the tank with globs of silicone and just stick it wherever there's room. Because it's so light you can put it behind the CG with no effect. I use a "t" connector between the tank and fill valve. Then a quick disconnect between the "t" and the spool valve that's in the wing. When you assemble the plane at the field you just have one connection to make. The Robart quick disconnects work great. I haven't had any of them leak. You could also put the fill valve and "t" connector in the wing and put the disconnect between the tank and the "t". Then you could put the fill valve on the bottom of the wing center section where it's not too visible, but you'll have to keep it away from the exhaust.

I decided to draw a picture to show what I'm talking about.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

TM,

Thanks for the info & drawing, it's a huge help since this will be my first set of retracts. So, when you use the fill valve, does the spool valve keep the air going into the tank only and stop it from going out to the retracts? Probably a stupid question but I don't have a clue how these things work.

Neo

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

The air will go to whichever way the spool valve was when you took the plane apart. Hopefully, it was in the down position. A couple of itmes I left the retracts in the up position when I took the plane apart after flying. Next time I went out I put the wheels down manually when I put the plane together. I forgot I had left the switch in the up position and when I pumped up the gear before the first flight the gear popped up and the plane flopped on it's belly. No damage but very funny to everybody. So I always try to remember to have the (transmitter) switch left in the down position. I retract and lock the gear manually after taking the plane apart for transport.

By the way, The footpumps for tires that you can get at Walmart work great for pumping up retracts. They have a pressure gauge atached to them. I pump mine up to 90 psi on the gauge and that's enough for 5 or 6 cycles.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

TM,

Gotcha... makes sense.

I found a cool little device at Odd Lots for pumping up the retracts. It looks like a "rock box/ghetto blaster" but it's a 12volt compressor. It has a built in battery/power supply, road hazard flashlight/flashing light, a bunch of adapter fittings for the hose, and even has a port you can plug other devices into to use it as a power supply for.

It has 2 little door-compartments to keep all the adapters and wall wart in. Sweet little setup that's easy to carry and keep all of your stuff together in. It pumps up to 150psi with a built in pressure gauge and only costed $25!! I'll try it out and see how well it works.

Neo

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

More progress on the Dauntless. Stab and elevators have been constructed. Plans show optional built up elevators but I already had the ribs cut out for the sheeted version, so I went with that. I'm going to "fake in" rib structure.
Stab was finished and glassed before mounting to fuse.

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Beginning construction of the fin. It is built in place on the fuse.

Wing Insurance
 

Jim,

You wrote in one of your previous posts (which I have enjoyed following along!!), "I was debating whether to build a one piece wing or not. I have never used wing tubes before, but I went ahead with what's shown on the plans. It's still kind of scary though."

One thing I did on my Hellcat is that along with the dowels in the leading and training edge of the wing I added a a socket head screw near the leading edge of the wing along with the dowel. I got the tip from Jack Devine and I think it's a good idea. Basically he witnessed a Ziroli corsair have the leading edge dowel split in time and the result was the that wing panel then twisted off and destroyed the plane. When he went home and checked his Hellcat he found that his was cracking as well.

I'd be happy to shoot a couple pics if you're interested. Maybe overkill, but it's pretty good piece of mind too. :)

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Thanks, Sean. That sounds like a good idea. Do the bolts pass through the end ribs of the center section and outer sections? Are there access holes in the bottom to get at them? Maybe you could post a picture or two.

When you say the dowel is splitting, do you mean shearing off or splitting lengthwise? Maybe something like a piece of carbon fiber tube would be better (along with the bolts) instead of a wooden dowel.

Jim

Ziroli Dauntless Project
 

Jim,
The blind nuts are in the center section...2nd rib in. The bolts come through from the wing panel. The access is a small hinged hatch that a ball driver can get in and easily fasten the bold down snug. I'll take and then post some pics this evening.
I got the impression that the dowels cracked and split along the grain. I had thought of using some carbon rod similar to a dave brown pushrod, but once I saw how solid the bolt was I left the dowels in there. Now the dowels basically help line up the wing and there is really no stress on them whatsoever.