Phil Winks Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Here we go folks the hardware has arrived and the bench is cleared for what I believe will be a relatively easy build, the hardware setup for the Atom is as follows Rotor head Here and here good luck geting one Glass fibre plate parts here Glass fibre delta plate Here Motor Here Blade blanks Here ESC Here this is a substitute for the one Richard Harris used due to 0 stock levels at HK at the time of order, it should be well up to the job. 3 x Servos Here The following material list is what I've worked out as needed quite a bit smaller than Richards list, most of this I would think 'Mr Average' balsa basher would have kicking around : 1 off sheets of 3 x 102 x 915mm medium grade balsa (fuselage sides/tailplane/fins and sheeting) 1/2 off sheet of 6 x 102 x 915mm medium grade balsa (fuselage base and some formers) 1/2 off sheet of 9 x 102 x 915mm soft balsa (balsa infilling) 1 off strip 6 x 6 x 800mm spruce (boom) 1 off strip 6 x 12.5 x 300mm spruce (mast) 1 off sheet of 3x 150 x 150mm birch ply (U'C mount/ servo mounts) 1 off sheet of 3 x 150 x 150mm Lite ply ( several formers) 1 off length of 3mm (10SWG) piano wire (U/C) 1 off length of 1.2mm (18 SWG) piano wire (rudder coupler) 10 X 7 APC prop A little 1.6mm FG plate for bell cranks etc. Covering & Pop bottles!!!! Now lets get bashing balsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 first the tools you'll need for this stage are fairly simple. mostly self explanatory but the brass tubes, they are sharpened internally and are the best way to cut a clean round hole in balsa. 1st and fore most I photocopied the plans 3 times, one for reference and the other two to cut up for parts templates, these were then pasted to the relevant bits of lumber using photographic low tack spray mount adhesive, this allows me to accurately cut to the required lines using in most cases a fresh blade in a scalpel. any cutting tool is only as good as its blade so have plenty of fresh ones available. The 3mm ply is cut, in my case on a bench mounted jigsaw, though a scroll saw would be just as good if not safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 So 2 hrs later and we have the 29 piece kit of parts the accuracy of the drawings is pretty darned good and if using the above servo's you can cut the servo apertures as marked with confidence, I have cut the servo lead holes in f3 and 4 smaller than plan as I'm perfectly happy dissmantling a servo plug to get the wires through, if your not then make sure these holes allow a plug through. Now top tip of the week "how to cut and shape a curved line" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Bertram Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Nice one Phil, I'm on board. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 As promised countdown to the pilots briefing at greenacres, 10:00 04-07-2015 Oh and I screwed up on the material list Richard was right I forgot to add a few bits of balsa that are needed as well as the "kit of parts" the complete list is here Edited By Phil Winks on 15/12/2014 20:38:14 Edited By Phil Winks on 15/12/2014 20:47:19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Watching you Phil, I am doing one too. Already have a similar rotor head with blades so only the fus to do. The on line buid blog is a little out of sequence as I found out so if you have not yet started to assemble it is worth reading through all the way in conjunction with the mag article. Have watched Joe Anderson`s video taken in Corfu and it looks to be a good model. Had a go with one of his earlier in the year and the experience gained was worth its weight in gold. Very different techniques to flying fixed wing but at least I did not crash it. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Already ahead of you on the on-line blog being out of sequence, it is a victim of it's own success with so many people contributing. I've started glueing bits together and you'll no doubt observe over the next few weeks I'm taking a slightly different route to build this to Richard, she is, as suspected, a lovely simple build. 1st I've started with the mast support, formed by placing 2 layers of 6mm balsa between F3/F4, I did this by making 2 copies of F3/4 out of balsa and glued one to each, then with a razor saw and a very sharp 6mm chisel removed the center groove on each for the mast, the mast needs to be a close but not tight fit as I intend to make it removable, in case of damage, there seems to be a week point here and making the mast easy to replace seems a good idea. Once I was happy with the dry fit the whole assembly was glued with the mast in place, but wrapped in a bit of solafilm backing so it doesn't stick. also while this is drying the U/C plate has been constructed from UM 1, 2, and 3, here you need to make sure there is exactly twice the width of your U/C legs between UM2 and 3 and that both holes in UM1 are visible in the slot formed the U/c plate is front left of that picture. Also in the picture is the rudder support block formed by B3/B4 use your rudder servo in the slot while clamping up to help align these two, but remove before the glue starts to set!! once again Aliphatic resin used on both these. The difference in size of B4/5 creates a 6x6mm rebate this will be for the boom to locate in once this block is fixed to B1 (the fuselage base) as tou can see below. Before you glue that assembly together the front face of the B3/4 assembly must be chamfered to the mast mounting angle which is the same as the front of D1 If you look closely at that last pic there is a pencil line drawn and the chamfer runs from the bottom edge back to this line. More tomorrow evening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 I haven't given up on this for those that have noticed things have gone quiet, mainly due to lack of a functioning camera, awaiting the insurance company to replace it after I knocked of the kitchen table I have progressed a fair bit fuselage, boom mast, U/C and tail wheel/rudder control bellcrank and tail plane all complete, and with some decent light tomorrow I may be able to use my phone camera to get some worthwhile WIP pictures, one small success to report is the shrinking of the canopy over the plug, my 1st ever attempt at this procedure and it went like a dream, so fired up with enthusiasm I'll be forming the cowl tomorrow and some painting preperation too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I am all ready to go Phil, bits are cut out ready, gonna make my own blades though John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi Phil, I am probably ahead of you now. I tried the bottle shrink thing for the first time too and it worked out well. I shall not bother with a cowl until it has been flown so that I know that the chosen motor is OK. I have prepared the rudder linkage on the servo, covered the tail etc., made the mast and am just in the process of painting the tissued and doped fus. I may try to use a 2200 mAh pack and will fit the esc underneath to aid cooling and free up space. Pics when the paint is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Now your just teasing Phil ! It is quite satisfying making the canopy out of a used pop bottle, you will be using this method all the time now. Looking forward to some updated photos of your build Have a Happy New year Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Ditto to you Richard and all of the contributors on this thread. Martin Mc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Thanks for the good wishes I trust everyone had an enjoyable new years eve, and that today's weather is not typical of the rest of this year, pretty dismal and mega windy here ATM. Now camera sorted luckily Argos had the one I wanted and the insurance company gave me the go ahead to replace it so here goes, a bit of a jump from the last series of pics. 1st a couple of shots of the girl as she stands The cowl ready for painting. The tail wheel just waiting for the bell crank fitting I've made the boom removable so if I do break it replacement will be simpler Cont in next post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Also the mast is removable for the same reasons this screw and one below the cockpit pass, as with the boom securing screws through a bit of spare FG plate The second mast screw can be seen here as can the cockpit magnets and at ythe front of the cock pit 2 pins that locate into the fuselage So there she is nearly ready to paint, I think I'm simply going to get creative with what rattle cans I have in which I think include some Volkswagen orange so something like a panther colour scheme coming up methinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Wow, looking really good Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Thanks James, I hope you had a good festive break, and best wishes to you and your clan for the new year, see you at Greenacres this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Very good, thanks, hope you had a nice Christmas with your family. Yes I will be at Greenacres this year Edited By WolstonFlyer on 01/01/2015 19:17:54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 A few interesting mods done there Phil might feel the need to copy those John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Posted by john stones 1 on 01/01/2015 20:17:55: A few interesting mods done there Phil might feel the need to copy those John Feel free John the removable boom and mast came about from comments on the Atom special thread where folks were reporting breakages in these areas in the event of a hard arrival and it seemed sensible to prepare for the worst The bell crank for the rudder also has to move the steerable tail wheel and will be a mini engineering project so I'll cover it as comprehensively as possible Edited By Phil Winks on 01/01/2015 20:24:27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Cheers Phil, I may join you with the tailwheel also John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Posted by john stones 1 on 01/01/2015 20:49:04: Cheers Phil, I may join you with the tailwheel also John That was another one that came from the discussions on the Atom special thread only that one used a different system to connect the tail wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 The weather, as expected, stopped me stepping out of the sanctuary (shed) to start the painting today so I settled for a little time fiddling with the control horns and this is the results 1st the base components Note the turned down section on the wheel Collet, Then a little glue and the application of a spring loaded punch to secure the collet to the bell crank and finally the bell crank fitted, the grub screw bears on a flat ground onto the tail wheel leg if the weather doesn't play ball tomorrow I'll be balancing the rotor blades, having had a discussion with Richard on this subject I intend to give a detailed description of this process as its an area that seems to be foxing a few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Just to clarify my reasons for selecting the sizes and position for the bell crank and rudder horns, the geometry was drawn up on CAD and although the sizes are not clear on this screen shot it does give the general idea Basically the inner (red) hole on the crank will give me 22 degrees and the outer (blue) hole 40 degrees thats 17.27mm and 29.9mm of movement at the rudder trailing edge respectively, from these starting points it should be easy to use the end point adjust on the Tx to get her fine tuned Edited By Phil Winks on 03/01/2015 16:52:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Hi Phil, just got mine finished-ish and am about to take pics which I shall post on the main site. Incidentally, I added vertical 1/8x3/16 to the rudder LE`s to increase the area and stiffen them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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