Peter Garsden Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Posted by McG 6969 on 09/02/2020 18:11:20: Hi again, No parachutes, no Migs at the horizon as per Dirk’s blog, anyhow I decided to plank the underside of the fuse at the front as it will help sanding the foam blocks. I suspect I might have future problems when trying to align the wing dowels properly. But then Plan B will see me cutting out some access hatches… I also prepared some ‘sanding sheets’ from an idea I found on the forum (might be Andy Blackburn’s, but I can’t remember for sure). It’s just a couple of sheets of cardboard laminated - with slightly diluted PVA - and covered with different grids of sandpaper. Just apply a few strips of Sellotape or cling film to your fuse and apply that lamination at different locations to obtain different curvatures, pin down and allow to dry. To give some grip for sanding, I applied two small strips of sanding paper at the top as well. If my ‘delicate’ fingers don’t stand the torture, I’ll just add a few strips of masking tape on top… Full report available after testing. Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Sanding Equipment Control I can thoroughly recommend the Andy Blackburn sanding tool. Works a treat. He mentions it in his Canberra blog. I used it on my Canberra blog and it is absolutely brilliant. You should all use it. Makes sanding perfectly round so easy. Takes the edges off planking perfectly. I think I did mine larger going further round the curvature, but the Canberra is perfectly round rather than the Sabre having complex curves. There again, I don't need to worry in that my fuselage is fibreglass. This is the link to Andy's explanation - https://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=117884&p=3 , and mine - https://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=133958&p=5 Edited By Peter Garsden on 11/02/2020 15:57:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Twist Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Hi Chris, I'm still watching also, various factors including illness have held me back a little recently but all good to go now! Great progress and great application of Andy B' sanding method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sack Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I'm watching too - Captain 'Stalker' Grey Yes I have been entertaining myself painting my pilot and building a 'tub' for the cockpit. It makes a change from sanding the fuselage. I have based 'the office' on an excellent Fury FJ3 plan by Joe Coles and available from 'Aerofred' The tub sits nicely in the airframe but requires surgery for the battery box. Nice to see the 'Dog' coming along nicely, and motivational for those of us less technically endowed.Keep those posts coming Mr McG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 … ooh, what an avalanche of reactions suddenly. Many thanks for posting, gents. @ Mark > how is your JA-111 progressing? @ Martin > I had some idea you weren’t that far away, but no worries, I’ll call you when needed… @ Peter > thanks for confirming it was Andy B. I haven’t used his sanding tools yet but I’m plenty convinced they will be great. @ Harry > as long as you feel OK now, you’ll be soon in the starting blocks again. @ David > great approach with your Fury, very unconventional... Did you make Captain Grey yourself? Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sack Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Captain 'Stalker' Grey (stalker - a person who hunts game stealthily) was produced by Real model Pilots: http://realmodelpilots.co.uk I'm pleased with the quality and although surgery was required for his legs he does fit the cockpit quite well. There was a thread elsewhere regarding these pilots, I cannot find it at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Posted by David Sack on 11/02/2020 20:36:38: Captain 'Stalker' Grey (stalker - a person who hunts game stealthily) was produced by Real model Pilots: http://realmodelpilots.co.uk I'm pleased with the quality and although surgery was required for his legs he does fit the cockpit quite well. There was a thread elsewhere regarding these pilots, I cannot find it at the moment. I've used Real Model Pilots in the past, great pilots, and they do look good when painted. However, for my F86(s), I've recently bought a 3D printer, so am printing a generic jet pilot. I know the scale police will mark me down, but, in my defence I am claiming the fact that these pilots are flying historic aircraft …….. they do take a while to print tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 ... so, you guys are playing with pilots while I'm suffering to build the Dogs fuselage... Who? ... me? ... envious? ... nah... As I don't have access to a 3D printer and as I'm not convinced that £23+ is a bargain for a 1:10 driver, I'll stick to my cheapo/toy-ish Freewing example. I just hope I can modify him enough to look 'more expensive'. @ Ade > you wrote "F86(s)". Is it a typo or simply a plural form? I think the latter with one Golden Canadian example and a second one in Silver scheme but with 'dual sticks'. That also could explain your project of a canopy plug ! Am I close to be right??? If so, you'd better stop playing with your printer and start gluing balsa planks together... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The answer is yes..... I've glued the basic frame, and will be commencing planking this evening. Is there any merit in brushing the outside of the plank with ammonia to aid the curving? And what width planks are suggested? I'm looking at amending former 4 (from memory) in order to create a tub in which the pilot will sit. Just need to work out the clearance needed for the servos in the wing. Canopy plug will be commenced this weekend; I'll post on my build blog that. And thanks for pointing out the scale at 1/10th......... I had thought it was 1/9th Now that would really have pleased the scale police ! Cheers Ade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Hi Chris The bespoke sanding block looks a great idea. Just finished my planking and I will make one as suggested and have a go. Also thanks for the Freewing suggestion for the pilot - I searched the web and this was the only one I could find anywhere near right (I had a WW1 pilot already but he might have struggled with the controls...!) Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 @ Ade > I didn’t use any ammonia so far, but it might be better/easier. Dunno, really. There are different widths of planks around. Martin used 6mm for his prototype. I used 7mm but bevelled at one side which means around 6mm at the inside of the plank. Phil used 8mm, also bevelled at one side. Regarding amending F4 for the pilot, have a look at Phil’s blog. I think he plans to use the former but including it in the ejection seat build, so his ‘tub’ should slide over the former… Are you going with torque rods for your ailerons? As for the scale, it definitely is 1:10… your winter sleep must really be over by now… @ Rob > I didn’t try the curved sanding aids so far, but they really look promising. You’re mostly welcome concerning the cheap Freewing pilot suggestion. Your WW1 ace should probably have struggled with the reactivity of the controls, but would have been totally lost when reading the manual of the radar, I’m afraid… Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 Hello to all, Let me introduce you to my ‘new’ hi-tech lathe. In fact, it’s a combination of my vintage - 45+ y/o - power drill and a - not much younger - trusty aviation engineer’s bench vice. It took me some time to allow them to talk to each other as the ol’ lady has no reverse function, but finally it seemed to work. The idea is to bring those laminated balsa ‘twins’ to a correct diameter and hopefully try to create a kind of conical shape to them. I prepared a ply template to get the correct bevel angle… and it worked ! … Well chuffed with it. Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Twins Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 excellent... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Thank you, Phil. It was quite fun to try it without a proper lathe... and it even seemed to work. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Hello again, Next step was to epoxy the magnets and the dowels to the respective ply roundels. The rear roundel is just a dry fit to the balsa ‘twins’ so far. The black marks on the magnets aren’t an artistic ‘essay’ at all, but simply indicate the right way to glue them in. I found out the hard way, with the Vicomte 1916, that if you miss this one, you’ll never get your bits together. Strange creatures those magnets… I prepared some laminations of blue foam to become the radome/spinner. Also made up was a ply template to assist with the scale shape of that radome nose (cfr the bottom right of the pic). Hi-tech lathe, here we come… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Magnets Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Cunnington Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 12/10 for ingenuity - and patience ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 Thanks for those very kind words, Dave. ... but don't you think "12/10" is a tiny bit OTT? ... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Cunnington Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Nah, I nearly made it 13/10 but wondered if it might go to your head so I toned it down LoL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 LOL ... ... no worries, I really don't need to order a larger size hat... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 Hi there, As things went smoothly with the balsa twins, I was very motivated to try with the foam radome nose. I quickly understood that it was ‘not done’ to speed things up as that could be the main reason of a forthcoming small disaster. With that motto in mind, I went easy until I obtained a 'roundish' shape, I then added a couple of marker lines where there was too much ‘meat’. Slowly I got the shape better, but the radome was still to ‘long’. Using the ply template, I could finally refine the dimension and shape needed for the Dog. A big thanks to The Great Flyer for this template suggestion… but what a mess that statically loaded Blue Foam dust… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Lathe Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Share Posted February 17, 2020 Hi It was now about time to present and glue the laminated ‘twins’ and the rear ply roundel to the fuse. But first they were drilled to 32mm at the centre to allow the potential nose weight to be introduced if needed. I smeared some lightweight filler inside the ‘mouth’ as the access will become more difficult from now on. Here the pins were already removed. No panic, gents… the red traces at the right dowel aren’t DNA left overs, but just an indication which way to install the radome… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Filler Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 … oops… forgot to post this one. I couldn’t really resist the temptation to ‘click up’ the radome nose to its ply ‘brother’… Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Radome Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Impressive Chris. Look forward to seeing the finished model. Ade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Thanks for your kind words, Ade. To be honest, I'm quite satisfied so far, but I'm really a 'slow' builder when I see the progress of other builds. In the meantime, I'll try to keep the mojo up... Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 Hello to all, I wasn’t really looking forward to this part, but let’s have the next ‘bite’ then. I started to shape the blue foam around the mouth and back to F2. Tools of choice are two different diameter markers, double side taped with medium grid sandpaper. Also a larger diameter ‘magnesium complements’ plastic jar but I’m not sure the former contents are of any relevancy… Please note both the markers and the vitamins jar were empty before I started to consider them as ‘tools’… A few spots needed some filler - mainly at the junction with the balsa planking - but this is just a first approach before getting it ready for glassing. I don’t mind sanding balsa (not too much at once though!), but blue foam isn’t directly my best friend. This time Gaston insisted to have the radome presented in place, so I couldn’t forget to post the pic, could I? … Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Blue Dust Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Twist Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Hi Chris, that nose profile is really getting there now. Once glassed and painted it will look great. Roll on the Sabre dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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