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Post by flyinghigh on Mar 9, 2008 5:06:20 GMT 1
I like the idea of just building it to build it. Good practice. Maybe even fit it with a dummy motor and a prop and hang it in the garage. Kinda like building model cars. I may have to pick that kit up.
What colors you going to cover it with?
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 9, 2008 5:14:11 GMT 1
I'll do it in white. Bottom wing in Red. Might do some red accents on tops of wings and vertical stabilizer. I'll have to check that other build thread. I hadn't found one before... but I never go to wattflyer.
EDIT: Just checked it out. Photos clear up where the rear stabs go. I'm going to have to do a little cutting.
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 10, 2008 18:39:55 GMT 1
Ok, I have one wing finished and am almost done with the other wing. I want to make two comments on the kit at this time for future builders. 1) On the instructions there is an image showing each of the balsa sheets and their part numbers. There is a W3 rib included on a sheet that mostly has fuselage parts. The instructions incorrectly label this part as F3. It is actually a W3 and you'll need it to finish your wings. 2) In the balsa sheet that is comprised of mostly W3 ribs, there is one rib that does not have a notch cut in the top of the rib to make room for the top main spar. The slots for the turbulators, etc is there, just not the top main spar. I went through and reinventoried all of the ribs to make sure things looked good and I wasn't just confusing parts. I looked at the picture of the balsa sheet in the instructions, the picture indicates that the rib is supposed to have a slot. Looking at the balsa sheet (with everything punched out) you can see the discrepency with the instructions. This was very easy to fix, I just lined it up with another rib and took a #11 xacto to make the slot. So far things look good. Pictures of progress are below. Installing W3 ribs:  You can see W1 and W2 in place. That sheer web piece is angled. This makes it easy to set W1 at the correct slant angle. Also, for those of you with a wandering eye, I was a Philmont Ranger in '97.  Getting later in the evening. Installing rib W4 which has two small braces on each side. The glue hadn't dried completely from installing the braces before I decided to glue it to the spars. I guess you haven't earned the right of passage into "builder" status until you've glued some part of your body to your plane. I didn't have any acetone handy. I did, however, have my camera handy so I could share and amuse people reading the thread.  I knew if I just pulled it off I would lose a fair amount of skin. It surely would have been painful and bloody. After a couple seconds of weighing my options I decided to just get after it with the Xacto knife. This turned out to be a pretty workable solution. No harm done.    I laid down the rest of the ribs. Put the top spar down, turbulators, leading edge, and trailing edge. This is where I had to stop and reinventory all the ribs as discussed at the beginning of the post.  Getting the sheer webs in place:  Removed the wing from the plans. Ready for bottom center sheeting:  Cutting the sheeting while its on the plan:  Gluing the sheeting into place. I marked the LE, TE, and CL side of the sheeting after I cut it. I did this to ensure that when I was gluing it I didn't get it backwards. I found taking extra steps to ensure accuracy when your tired is worth it.   I built up the right wing. This went quickly; maybe 15 minutes. It is ready for sheer webs and bottom center sheeting:  |
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Post by 05prostock on Mar 10, 2008 19:55:00 GMT 1
Wow. Talk about patience!
I'd love to see pics of the wing covering process
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 10, 2008 20:09:58 GMT 1
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Post by SCC on Mar 10, 2008 23:35:29 GMT 1
Hammers. Super thread and great pics.  It's really nice to see a plane coming to life. |
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Post by mararra on Mar 11, 2008 3:08:49 GMT 1
Glad to see your stuck on kit buildin ;D, most of us are  . You're makin it look easy! As for covering, I have only used the very light weight So-Lite, also know as Aero-Lite. It is very easy to apply, but has a MAJOR flaw in my mind, and that is it is translucent, which allows the framing and any marks or imperfections to show through. All the laser burn marks and scorching on end grain show through and look like smudges. Very nasty as far as I'm concerned. I suppose you could sand or bleach them out, but its easier I believe to use the more opaque and only slightly heavier Solar film or Aero film. ( www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1488 ) One caution you may already be aware of is the heavier coverings such as monocote when shrunk, can easily crush a light weight airframe such as the one you are building. Keep up the most excellent progress reports. I still think you'll give in and put her in the air! M |
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 12, 2008 21:39:50 GMT 1
Cutting the fuselage to make room for the horizontal stabilizer (the dots were burned into the wood by the mfg to help guide):  Material removed, ready for sanding. I sanded it smooth to ensure a nice snug fit with the stabilizer:  Horizontal and vertical stabilizer slots completed. Everything sanded and rounded for nice fit and appearance:  Preparing to join the wings. Sanded the spars, turbulators, leading and trailing edges flush with W1 Rib:  Cutting a slot for the dihedral wing brace:  Filing just a little at a time and test fitting. Going slow to ensure a snug fit:  Wings joined and clamped. Left wing is flat on the building board, right wing is propped up 3 3/4 inches:     Ready for covering. Sanding is important, take your time and make it look nice. I sanded the laser marks off so it wouldn't show through the covering. It also makes sure all of your joints are smooth.   Ready for covering and final assembly. This could be done as a weekend project... even for someone who has never built one of these before. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to learning how to cover it. |
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Post by flyinghigh on Mar 12, 2008 22:08:46 GMT 1
Looks great! How long did it take to sand all that?
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 12, 2008 22:18:02 GMT 1
About 20-30 minutes while watching TV. Those Great Planes aluminum sanding blocks together with the strips of adhesive-backed sanding paper make life so much easier. Because its aluminim, the sanding block is very thin so you can get it into slots and tight places... places you could never get a traditional wooden sanding block into. They help make sure you don't sand any low spots into things either... they're nice and long.
I used 180 and 220 grit.... but because balsa is so thin, and this is a small plane, I used the 220 grit almost exclusively.
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Post by mararra on Mar 13, 2008 0:16:15 GMT 1
Lookin GOOD Hammers ! You are a lot better at gettin those nasty burn marks off than I am  . I can't seem to get the scorched part on the endgrain tabs to come off. When I covered it they show thru like smudges, you can easily see them in this pic  What do ya think? M |
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mac
Squadron leader
Posts: 138
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Post by mac on Mar 13, 2008 2:50:06 GMT 1
Nice work guys!
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 13, 2008 5:19:23 GMT 1
Thanks all. mararra, what did you use to cover? It looks so thin. I can see the grain of the wood on the LE of the wings... also on the sheeting between the cowl and the col<pit. Now you've got me worried, hehe. I plan on doing my plane in white... now I'm having second thoughts. I guess I'll just do it and see how it goes. If nothing, it's practise for the real thing. My SIG Something Extra kit arrived in the mail today. Thats a whole other affair. A .40 sized plane. I'll be glad to have practise covering by the time I get to that thing. |
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Post by mararra on Mar 13, 2008 23:24:08 GMT 1
Hi Hammers,
The covering I used is called So-Lite, it was recommended by the kit maker, but I hate it ! It goes on easy but I can't stand the see thru look. There is another covering called Solar Film that is similar but more opaque; gonna try it on my next build.
Good luck with your Something Extra,
M
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Post by sackohammers on Mar 15, 2008 18:50:33 GMT 1
Getting ready to cover:  My first piece of covering (rudder):  Stretching the covering:  Finished one side:  Back side of rudder:  Covering bottom of left wing:   Stretching over the wingtip (compound curves):  Bottom of wings finished:   Putting trim around rear stabilizers:   |
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It's really nice to see a plane coming to life.
. You're makin it look easy! As for covering, I have only used the very light weight So-Lite, also know as Aero-Lite. It is very easy to apply, but has a MAJOR flaw in my mind, and that is it is translucent, which allows the framing and any marks or imperfections to show through. All the laser burn marks and scorching on end grain show through and look like smudges. Very nasty as far as I'm concerned. I suppose you could sand or bleach them out, but its easier I believe to use the more opaque and only slightly heavier Solar film or Aero film. ( 
.