McG 6969 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Phil 's right here, Rob. Great progress indeed, but your fuse doesn't really look as 'fat' as my Dog's one... Keep going, young man. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Thanks guys. Did a bit more this week getting the stabiliser right. I made mine out of 12mm thick balsa, shaped and sanded it then carefully measured where the piano wire rods would fit using the plan and the semi-complete fuselage. I cut grooves in the top of the stabiliser and epoxied in snug fitting aluminium tubes (I couldn't get brass the right size) holding the stabiliser at the correct angle with some tape and pins. Once set I removed them and put more epoxy in with thin balsa covers on top. Sanded these so they are flush and refitted the stabilisers. They are just about tight enough to not come off in flight but still removable for finishing etc. Good design Martin and Gordon. Edited By robk on 07/02/2020 18:26:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Fitted the wing by rounding off the fuselage planking and a bit of judicious sanding. Inserted the dowels at the front to get a fixed location then discovered I didn't have any captive nuts to fit my SLEC M5 wing bolts at the rear (I like these ones as they break on a heavy landing rather than the wing mounting). But I taped it in place so I could continue whilst they come in the post. Before finishing the underside planking I glued in 100gm of lead into the nose (the Gamma needed 110gm so I can add a bit more either in the battery box or in the nose later). Looks like I'm close in these pictures but I know its still miles away... Edited By robk on 12/02/2020 15:43:04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Also better introduce my pilot courtesy of Freewing and €5 plus postage from Utrecht. He's the right size but will need a bit of surgery to fit in... Thanks for the recommendation Chris. Edited By robk on 12/02/2020 15:47:09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Carrying on. I pinned some thin balsa fillets onto the fuselage so I could trim and fill it so it fits the top of the wing closely. Fitting soft balsa below the wing to continue the fuselage profile. Edited By robk on 18/02/2020 18:22:13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 Sorting out the cockpit. I made a cardboard template for the section in front of the windscreen then made it up from thin ply bent around a pop bottle. The cockpit fittings are just balsa offcuts. Im not sure if you can see I have made an instrument panel up from my battery condition LED meter with a few scale dials added. Its stand-off scale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 some excellent progress with the build here Rob - the belly pan and cockpit layout look really good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Thanks Phil... I have inserted some hardwood into the control surfaces so I can screw the control horns directly into them rather than having a retaining plate on the top of the surface (I always get the bolt holes wrong anyway!) As a delay before getting onto the scary bit (glassing!) I finished off the airfix model - already proven to be of use in getting some of the difficult profiles right(ish). And finally my first stab at a trial glassing. I did an elevator bottom surface. I had a good tutorial from my friend Nick so the process went ok, but... I may have got the mix wrong as its been a couple of hours and it hasn't set yet. Leave it overnight and fingers crossed. Watch this space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirk tinck Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Hi Rob, A possible cause of your resin not drying is that the two components are not mixed around enough. It's a common mistake to use the resin out of the mixing cup.The parts that ''hang on the walls'' are never mixed well.It's better to pour eveything in a second cup and use that to work with.Especially when you're low on resin and want the last bit out of the cup and scrape everything out,you're using the parts that are not mixed. Again IMO... Good luck ! Dirk . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 Thanks Dirk. It dried overnight fine - just a bit slow so I've moved onto the rest of the elevator, control surfaces and the wing. Im not using a mixing cup as the resin I am using is mixed by weight on 0.1g scales. You are right about getting everything mixed up properly though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Been busy glassing. In the swing of it now and have done the wing both sides, the tailplane, all the control surfaces, and the bottom of the fuselage - just the sides to go. Mostly ok with a very small number of bubbles here and there. I have used a scalpel to cut these out and re-glassed those bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 How are you finding the peel ply Rob? The Sabre was the first model I've used it on and have found it leaves a very nice finish, plus it's oddly satisfying to peel off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 My feelings exactly Chris - it is not difficult or expensive to use. I guess I will know how good the surface is when I start sanding... Nearly done with the glassing now anyway. For obvious reasons having a bit more time to spend in the workshop right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 So here is the Sabre now fully glassed - feels like a milestone. I was worried about this process but it was not as tough as I thought. That said, my finish is no doubt not as good as some would accept - stand off scale! Edited By robk on 29/03/2020 13:35:51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 I also have fixed the flaps and ailerons in place. Glued in place with cyano and then small holes drilled for glued in pegs made from tooth picks. Edited By robk on 29/03/2020 13:36:28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 A few days later and I had given it a first sand with wet and dry paper (wet). Then have given it its first coat of filler-primer (actually two coats). This revealed a few obvious gaps which I filled then sanded it down again with wet and dry. I am a bit surprised at how much the weave of the glass still shows through the paint. Not sure why? The peel ply looked pretty filled. Anyway, after this sanding it feels much smoother. When the wind calms down I will give it a couple of coats of grey primer. Not only the first glassed model for me its also the first one I have painted with the spray paint (using Halfords stuff). The close up photo looks worse than it actually is - not sure why. Edited By robk on 29/03/2020 13:34:51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 Rob, Looks good. In the past I have varished over the primer with "Diamond Hard" varnish. Over that I have sprayed a few different colours. All this gets rubbed back with wet-n-dry, used wet. When the primer colour starts to appear then you have sanded enough. Do this a few times for a super smooth surface. Then paint the required scheme. Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sack Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 Superb, the lighting is critical in your photo and the shadows enhance the surface effect, making it look worse - in your opinion - but in fact I think it looks pretty darned good. Martin talks about the diamond hard which is a polyurethane resin. IMO this is the perfect way forward providing a lightweight durable finish. Follow Martins instructions ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 Peel Ply is good because it soaks up resin, however you can produce the same effect with kitchen roll. It leaves, however, an imprint of the cloth weave. If you want a smooth finish then you have to wrap it in cling film for example. So you will have to fill the imprint of the weave with filler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 Peel Ply is good because it soaks up resin, however you can produce the same effect with kitchen roll. It leaves, however, an imprint of the cloth weave. If you want a smooth finish then you have to wrap it in cling film for example. So you will have to fill the imprint of the weave with filler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 Thanks guys. Just so happens I have some of that varnish in stock. I have used it in the past over solartex finishes to toughen it up and it works fine that way. I will take your advice and use it on this model. Last night I painted on the grey primer so will now give it a coat of varnish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 I have given it many coats of varnish and grey primer and much sanding. The varnish was good advice, however, my inferior planking has come home to roost and I think this is as good as it will get. So I have sprayed on the silver base coat. This plane's finish will not earn any prizes but I have learnt a lot for the next one. That's called being philosophical! I think it will be passable once all the other colours, details and weathering are done. At least its shiny now! Next job is connecting all these servos and making sure they work appropriately. The setup looks quite neat. Edited By robk on 03/04/2020 12:52:02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 Posted by robk on 29/03/2020 13:33:35: A few days later and I had given it a first sand with wet and dry paper (wet). Then have given it its first coat of filler-primer (actually two coats). This revealed a few obvious gaps which I filled then sanded it down again with wet and dry. I am a bit surprised at how much the weave of the glass still shows through the paint. Not sure why? The peel ply looked pretty filled. Anyway, after this sanding it feels much smoother. When the wind calms down I will give it a couple of coats of grey primer. Not only the first glassed model for me its also the first one I have painted with the spray paint (using Halfords stuff). The close up photo looks worse than it actually is - not sure why. Edited By robk on 29/03/2020 13:34:51 Rob, sorry if this sounds like wise after the event, but if these pics here are the base point at which you started putting your silver paint over, then you have missed out several intermediate stages that would help to give you a better base for the top colour coats to over and also a lighter model.... When you glass with peel ply you will be left with a "stippled" texture to the glass when you have removed the peel ply. At this point you must block sand the model with something coarse such as 80 grade ali oxide paper to take off the tops of all these "stipples". You then spray filler primer to fill the low points in the stipples, but you must then remove the primer from the high spots using wet n dry used wet. Once you have done this process in 2 or 3 iterations, you will find most low points are filled and any dings, dents or depressions should be filled with a surfacing filler such a 3M red acryl. Once you have rubbed this smooth you can put one light primer coat over the whole lot, rub that down with wet n dry used wet and only then think about putting on top colour coats. If you do that you should barely (if at all) be able to see the weave of the glasscloth, but you will have much less paint on the model overall. It is a ball-ache to do all that rubbing down, but worth it I feel in the end result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirk tinck Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 Totally agree with Alan but i sand everything dry.Wet sanding is history in automotive painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Been a while since I posted but I have been doing some work. Whilst waiting for paint etc. via the mail I have looked up some of the markings that will be needed for my chosen version NASA 228. I then had a go at the cockpit, painting it up (as well as the pilot to make him look less military). The paint arrived earlier this week so I spent a couple of days masking up. Then a sunny day today (if a little windy) so decided to do it. I found a quite corner of the garden and took my time. This is the first time I have done any spraying so I am pretty pleased with the result. Next stage will be the black parts of the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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