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Foamboard Mosquito


Jonathan S
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Im sure my old friend "The Professor " wont mind me tagging onto the end of this thread . We have been chatting through the foam board mosquito for quite a while , but nobody is as quick on the draw as Eric !

I have opted for a slightly smaller Mossie at 64" . It will fly on a similar package to my 60" Heinkel 111 . The advantage being that I can just use one 4s 3300 pack which I would also use in my 55" Spitfire and Mustang.

Having owned and flown quite a few twins , I am very aware that one of the few turn offs is assembly at the field and storage at home . The Mossie as a design has the unfortunate feature of having a big wing right in the centre of the fuselage . That means that if you remove the wing with a chunk of fuselage either above or below , there is an obvious weak spot just behind the wing where the fuselage wants to break . The obvious solution is to keep the fuselage intact and put two tubes through for the wings to slide onto . The down side with that , is that all of the wing connectors have to be disconnected on both sides for storage . 

I have opted to keep the front of the fuz attched to the wing leaving all connectors in place and needing only two plugs to the rear for elevator and rudder . I am using a mixture of Hobby Craft 5mm foam board and maker foam . The sound system will be built in form day one . I'm not saying I will get it right first time but its not far from the Heinkel so fingers crossed . 

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Martin , I would like to produce certain kits but as we know, it is a number game . The existing demand doesnt justify it . However I think the "problem " with foam board kits like the Flite test stuff is that it is perceived as quick fix and not a proper model . I am going to see how far I can push the foam board model with this prototype . If it "passes inspection " by my fellow modellers and critics , then perhaps a laser cut kit with the appropriate mouldings could be something .

The aim for this one is to produce a polished Mossie from materials that can be relied on in the future . 

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I think Richard's version is a good size, and as a testament to foam board my Bf 110 has now had over 80 flights and is still good. I  prefer it to my Mosquito as it is one piece, fits in the car easily and only takes 1 -3s 3000 whereas the Mosquito takes two .

It is well liked by all our club members as it sits right in the air and is totally convincing, although one member seeing it for the first time yesterday, (he arrived when it was in flight and at the time was high up and a silhouette flying slowly ) thought it was a Lockheed Constellation, must have double vision?

I had thought of making another Mosquito the same size as Richard's but as it is flying weather it won't be for a while and if he is going to kit it it will be worth waiting for.

I spent this afternoon flying my Warbirds Replicas Hurricane, built as supplied and it fly's great on a Saito 82b but it would be better with a Laser as the Saito is a lot messier than the Laser in my Seagull Chipmunk which I flew this morning. 

 

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3 hours ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

However I think the "problem " with foam board kits like the Flite test stuff is that it is perceived as quick fix and not a proper model

I admit that when Richard first mentioned foamboard, I had the same view. However, with a bit of work, I realise that that fear is totally unfounded. Take a look at my Regianne RE2005. It's now covered in brown paper/ PVA and is ready to paint, and in this state it's all but indistinguishable from a conventional construction. Apart from being nearly 2 pounds lighter, and £60 cheaper...

 

This is a full fat, flaps and retracts 55" bird, but it will fly on 3S and only a 2200 pack if I can get it to balance!

 

Graham

 

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I had been looking as well and wondered if I could reproduce some of the more less modeled planes in foam board as it would be quicker than balsa and you can buy foamboard. 

 

I bought the mosquito from flite test as love the plane and having a kit it good way to understand how its done before you go your own way. 

 

The other area of interest is 3d printed.  I was at the rchotel in corfu last week and they were testing a number of printed models from 3dprintlabs. 

They were big and heavy but flew well and looked the part. 

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4 minutes ago, Jonathan S said:

I had been looking as well and wondered if I could reproduce some of the more less modeled planes in foam board as it would be quicker than balsa and you can buy foamboard. 

 

I bought the mosquito from flite test as love the plane and having a kit it good way to understand how its done before you go your own way. 

 

The other area of interest is 3d printed.  I was at the rchotel in corfu last week and they were testing a number of printed models from 3dprintlabs. 

They were big and heavy but flew well and looked the part. 

That's exactly where I'm coming from Jonathan. Hence the RE2005. I did the same and studied the Flite Test videos, but decided to apply some of these techniques, and some more traditional ideas. I have also embraced 3D printing, but mostly for cowls, pilots etc. My view is that if I can find a canopy, I can build around that! Feel free to drop me a line if you want to chat over how I go about it.

 

Graham

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11 hours ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

I admit that when Richard first mentioned foamboard, I had the same view. However, with a bit of work, I realise that that fear is totally unfounded. Take a look at my Regianne RE2005. It's now covered in brown paper/ PVA and is ready to paint, and in this state it's all but indistinguishable from a conventional construction. Apart from being nearly 2 pounds lighter, and £60 cheaper...

 

This is a full fat, flaps and retracts 55" bird, but it will fly on 3S and only a 2200 pack if I can get it to balance!

 

Graham

 

You should have no problem with balance on that one Graham, with the long nose and slim rear fuselage, only if you make the large fin from heavy material.

 

 

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Sorry , pictures dont explain very well . 

So you buy two sizes of evergreen plastic tube , one slides nicely over the other , That way you can use the bigger ones for bearings and end stops .  But the clever trick is how to mount the tubes .  You just cut a 25mm x 13mm square of 1-1.5mm plastic sheet .   Drill a hole in one end to take the tube , then simply hot glue to a rib . If , like here, it is at an angle and not 90 degrees , dont worry , Just run a round file through at the same angle and the tube will turn smoothly in its elongated hole . 

Ive used this trick on my 102 " lancaster and it hold up really well , even when it had 4 vibrating four strokes ! 

All donations for my exclusive tip to the "Dogs home for criminally insane and damaged pups ".

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More work on the Mossie . Nacelles very simple and notice my "fake motor" in order to see where the prop driver and spinner will be . The ply doublers should spread the landing impacts through the lower wing skin and ribs while a further 1.5mm ply leading edge doubler (not yet shown ) will make sure the front of the nacelle doesnt kick downward .

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No Eric . No webs . The main dihedral brace slides in past the nacelles and the leading edge brace goes to the rib out side the nacelle. That is all super strong . 

Paper and foam motors have yet to be discovered by the rest of the world . Perhaps Ive got a jump on the Chinese for once ?

I am also working on speed controllers  based on a Cuttlefish ... 

Has to be a winner . 

I am also thinking that my next design will be entirely vegetable based .

Too far?

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  • 2 months later...

Back on the Mossie now . I really like foam board and am beginning to get more from it . This is the readily available stuff from Hobby Craft . Most people assume that you are just stuck with very stiff and straight 5mm thick slabs . However , have a look at the details below . Firstly , by gently ironing one side , you can release the glue and remove one whole side of the card. The foam board then assumes a natural curve which can be increased by gently rolling it over a worktop edge .

I also dislike leaving the edges square as it looks crude .

Below you can see that I have carefully put a deep slit in the middle of the foam (only the foam ) and then added a wedge of wood or scrap foam . This enables us to make say an 8mm fin out of 5mm foam board .

Plus , at the trailing edge , I just cut a 15mm deep "V" in the , lightly coat the groove with U por contact glue , wait for about 2mins then pinch thetwo trailing edges together . This produces a beautiful sharp and stiff trailing edge . No sanding , and no covering !

So just to clarify , the curved leading edge of the fin hides two skins of one sided foam board with a wedge to separate them and a balsa leading edge . The fin then tapers back with no spacer to end up foam to foam and parallel .

The other pictures show how to achieve the tapered section rudder from one 5mm sheet of foam board . 

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We still have a fair way to go on this one but here is the usual mock up . Spinners have been very kindly designed and printed by our very own Paul Johnson . The canopy looks a bit too tall so will be flattened to create the sleek lines we expect of the original . Overall shape is very nice and weight so far feels very good. As I said before , the aim is to create a visually stunning but practical 60" Mossie , that will run on one 4s 3300 pack and support a sound unit . This layout works well in my Heinkel , so why not pep it up a bit !

The tricky bit was making the model separate in the most practical way . So the fuselage detaches behind the canopy , slides off the wing taking the tail unit with it . The great thing about that is that only the elevator and rudder wires need to be disconnected . 

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