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Fouga magister 1/4.5 moulded from scratch


dirk tinck

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Sorry to hear your news Dirk, I wish both you and Diana a quick recovery - I'm afraid we caught it too last month, the kids bringing it back in from primary school - so hard to manage with the little ones.  Thankfully with the double jab it was no worse than a head cold with headaches.  Stay strong and well.  Your fantastic fuselage will be there waiting for you when you safely return to the shop.

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Thanks all !!

 

@ Paul : I had Pfizer twice...    No guarantee right ??!!???

 

While i'm still not 100% , i have to do something or i will go crazy from boredom !?

 

I started  with cleaning the new fuselage. After de-moulding there's still a film of pva that needs to be washed away with water.

I made a (long) list of things to do , and on top are the rudders and wings. Before i start these , and shelf the fuse , i need to know if everything fits .(Hathes,nose cone , tail cone ,thrust tube)

 

No problem with the nose and tail cone , Just some sanding to get even seams.

The hatches require a little more work...I realize just now , i made a mistake here...I can solve it , but it's a mistake.

When i was making the plugs for the hatches (and their openings in the fuse) , i didn't take the thickness of the paint into account...this resulted in hathes who are a little oversized.I can use them after a serious trim ,but it's far from perfect.When the time comes to paint them , they will "grow "again !!

The best solution is..make new moulds for the hatches ,but first i'll try to "tape" (or even double tape ) the flanges of the moulds. This way i "win"the thickness of the tape.(smaller hatches)

 

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They fit for now (unpainted )but they don't "drop" in place...

 

On to the thrust tube : I cleared the exhaust openings with the dremel with some reserve to enlarge...

 

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After a dry fit one side... i'm very pleased !

Thesame for the left side .

 

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The best fit i could ask for !! Thanks again Andy for the perfect plug !

Glueing the tube in is for later , after the former for the rudder support is fitted.

That's it for today !?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10/12/2021 at 22:27, dirk tinck said:

Thanks for the comments  all !

 

This must be the first time i did not see my workshop for 3 days in a row !!...Thanks to , Yes... Covid.

The virus has finally got me , and my wife Diana...We think we got it from the grandchildren.

We both have mild symptons but work is out of order. Ten days quarantine now ...

I hope i'm over this soon and can restart working !! No work  , no pay !

 

Keep safe  ! Dirk

 

Best wishes for a rapid recovery!

If it's any consolation, I would vote for you as the AMOTY!

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  • 1 month later...

Hello all !

Sorry i kept you all waiting for a month but things here didn't go as planned .

Covid had me a little longer than normal out of the shop but that's behind me now.

Before we go on , i want to wish you all a very happy New Year  !!

 

Last thing i did  , december 14th , was fitting all the hatches and other things to the newborn fuselage wich is now on the shelf to make room for the rudder moulds.

I already made one rudder as a test months ago , remember ? It was usable but a little overweight at 320 gr. I will try to make it lighter without giving in on strenght.

I cleaned and waxed the moulds ,gave them a coat of pva and painted them with IMC , in mould coating.

After drying , they were layed up with 50gr of glass in the corners and a second layer overall. I got the airex parts ready together with the bleeder and perforated plastic to cover the layup and put everything in the vacuumbag.

After curing , the edges will be trimmed and cleaned.

 

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This has to cure under vacuum for at least 10hours with the current themperatures. With a proper sealed bag , the pump starts every 2 minuts for 10 seconds . (aprox)

 

Next thing to do is cut and fit the internals.

 

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When happy with the fit , glue is applyed on all contact surfaces (thickened resin ) and the moulds can be closed ,bolted together and left to cure.

 

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Thanks for watching !

 

 

 

 

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Before the moulds were closed , the contact area's were waxed to prevent them from sticking together when exess gleu finds his way out of the rudder.

I was carefully with the gleu and it paid off ! The new rudder parts left the mould very easy.

After a clean-up i was very pleased with the new parts ! 225 gr on the scale ! 95 gr less than the first one !

 

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The seams look very good and the parts still feel very strong !

I just need to spend more time on the first layer of glass in the moulds as i find here and there some small defects in the surface , nothing that can't be solved with some primer.

I only have one set of rudder moulds so next week i'm doing the other side !

 

Stay tuned !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all !!

 

I've been working on the second rudder the last two weeks . It's a very time consuming job because each part of the internals has to be hand made and fitted one by one. Anyway , prepared the moulds with wax and pva after a clean-up from the previous rudder. Also taped the moulds where there is no paint needed.  (less clean-up )

 

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Next is the lay-up with glass and epoxy : 50gr in the corners , another 50gr overall , 1mm airex , again 50gr glass , this time i used peel-ply so i don't have to sand the inside  , perforated plastic , bleeder , and get everything in the bag and turn the vacuum on , done !

 

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Next comes the internal structure : Same as before but with the horn on the other side !

 

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Everything is ready now to glue and close the moulds. That's for tomorrow...

 

Little Matteo , my grandson (2,5 j ) holds the first rudder here to give you an idea of the size :I hope one day he gets to fly one of these !!

 

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Some days ago the power plant arrived from Germany !! What a beauty ! First thing i did was fit it to the thrust tube wich was a perfect fit !! It will be in its box for a while untill i start the fuse internals...After the wings...After the tail fit...

 

Greetings from Belgium ! Dirk.

 

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17 hours ago, Manish Chandrayan said:

That is one big EDF. How many cells will it take to power that?  

Hi Manish !    It's a 128mm schubeler fan and it will be powered by 12 or 14 cells. It will produce up to 11 kg of thrust. With a more powerfull motor it can go to 13kg of thrust but then the amperage goes up to 200amps !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all !

 

The two rudders are ready to adapt to the fuselage but i'm going to make the wings first.  My granddaughter Lana (5 1/2 ) wanted to help me to unscrew the bolts that keep the mould halves together.

 

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Separating the moulds was no problem and the rudder left the mould easy.

 

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