My Final Attempt at Beauty UPDATED

[admiralev]

i dont know why i keep going back to covering...but with this new aileron mod i just had to try it. this time i went with econokote instead of ultracote. either my skills are greatly improving or there's magic in the air becuase this stuff looks 10x better. so far i have the fuse and ailerons themselves done. i totally mooched everything for these mods from this guy here...even the color scheme

www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=NeCubFlyer

as for the wing/ailerons, ive taken out most of the dihedral with ellis' cut and glue idea. the only thing is i found that perhaps one side of dihedral is 1/8th more than the other at the wingtips. hopefully it wont affect anything... . the ailerons have been cut out (1.75x12) and i also measured and cut for the servos. hopefully i will get everything else covered and installed over thanksgiving weekend....just in time to mount the new skis for the chicago winter! i think im going to hold off on covering the wing until i know that that possible 1/8 of an inch wont matter ;D

heres the pics. i hope you enjoy laughing at me. sorry about the size. i hate photobucket...


















admiral

[flydiver]

Nice workmanship. Too bad you don't live near me. I could do your soldering and electrics and you could do my finish work.

fly

[mrmugen]

Yeah no kidding. I'll help fly with the soldering while you wrap our planes How bout it.

Beautiful job!

Kevin

[admiralev]

thanks guys. hopefully the wings will turn out as good as good as the fuse did. patience is the key with this stuff...slow and steady wins the race

what do you guys think about my dihedral issue? i dont want to waste covering on the wing unless i know it will be ok

admiral

[Ellis]

Wow! Looks great, can't wait to see it with the wings.

That difference of 1/8" won't be detectable - IMO. My wing with the shipping damage is much worse than that, and even with the anhedral I didn't have to add any trim or sub trim. When you add the Econokote, it may change a bit - I think that gut on those vids talks about how to correct warp.

Now you need a plexiglass wind screen lol.
And a brushless

Nice job Admiral

[admiralev]

ok then. hopefully i wont warp it out more when i cover the wing. if you do decide to take the tape to the 480 definitely go with econokote. it looks great and adds a lot of extra strength. the ailerons were the hardest part so far...just a few wrinkles there.

a brushless will be in order for christmas

more pics to come!


admiral

[alexinflight]

Looks Really Good!!! I am going to mod some ailerons next! If you are going brushless, check out my "budget" 480 outrunner mod. Thread 'Hot Rodding Super Cub".

[Ellis]

Just curious,

Can you put some on a test piece and poke it with a stick, then maybe drag it down the road tied to your bumper, yell at it then set it on fire?
I'm wondering how tough that stuff is.

Ellis

[admiralev]

its pretty tough stuff. the only thing that isnt so hot is that if you get the foam to flex a lot (like on a crash or something) i could see the covering pulling away from the fuse, but with my perfect flying skills it shouldnt be a problem

i would seriously consider it. you wont be disappointed. the regular iron with one of my hanes set on the first setting, no water works perfectly...just the right amount of heat. a regular iron is so much easier to hold and work with than those dinky covering irons. i used one last time and after doing it this way i can say it is much easier

everett

[patmatgal]

NICE looking plane! I used yellow acryllic paint, sticks out like all get out. Really nice in the early AM and when the suns rays light up the yellow plane, but the paint doesn't hold up very well. Am wondering if you think the econokote will be durable enough to replace strengthening places with packing tape (leading edge of wing, wing tips and tail boom)

[admiralev]

i could see it working there. it holds up wells to dents and dings but if you hit something sharp you could cut it. because the covering is so tight to the foam it's really hard to puncture it. you would end up taking out a chunk of foam before this would cut up and pull off

[flydiver]

The econocote it really tough. It's a thin sheet of plastic. It will puncture but most likely damage is to wrinkle if the foam underneath is crushed.

Most common serious problem is warping flying surfaces with uneven application of heat and shrink.

fly

[admiralev]

the shrinking and warping can work against you, but if you have a warped wing you can manipulate the covering to shrink where you need it to and pull and hold the wing back into shape. it's almost impossible to cover foam without some warping, so you have to heat and reform it anyways

admiral

[admiralev]

MORE PICTURES!!!

this is the bottom half of the wing. it was pretty easy going. only the wingtips are a little bit dicey, but i expected minimal wrinkles there. its amazing how much the heat from the iron can shrink up the wrinkles...you really have to look close to see them. the entire wing was covered in 2 pieces of white econokote that meet and overlap a bit in the middle and then 2 5x7 pieces of cub yellow, same color as the fuse, on the wingtips. after i finish up the wing i will be putting a 1/4" strip of cub yellow 1/4" from the edge of the aileron and perhaps onto the aileron for a cool visual effect, plus a 4" piece of white in the middle of the wing on top where the rubberbands overlap and on the bottom where the wing rests in the saddle for extra durability. so far i have managed to get off warp free...knock on wood . overall it looks fantastic and i couldnt be happier. i wonder how long it will last before a crash.....?

i plan on finishing the wing tomorrow and painting up the cowl and tail pieces as i have the day off (happy thanksgiving y'all). if anyone's wondering Tamiya Camel Yellow for plastics is a perfect match for econokote cub yellow. it comes in a nifty rattle can too

admiral

[Ellis]

Looks great Everett!!
A real inspiration for the rest of us that like to pimp out our Cubs.
How does the Econokote over Econokote go?

Great job...don't crash it.

Ellis