Nick Cripps

After fitting new front discs and pads to the car it was back to the Seamaster with a job I wasn't looking forward to. With the new dowels now securely attached to the leading edge of the wing, I had to open up the corresponding holes in the fuselage former to accept the larger diameter, up from 6mm to 8mm. It wasn't just a case of boring out the existing holes on the same centres as that would introduce a gap at the leading edge of the wing seat so I had to mark the larger holes touching the top of the existing ones and then carefully open them up with a Dremel. Fortunately that went well so I was able to put the model together on the lawn for some photos. What may not be obvious from the photos is that the engine pod hatch is still in its original Solartex covering and looks a bit dull compared to the shine of the new nylon. However, I'm happy with the overall result and looking forward to when I get a chance to get the model back lakeside (whenever that will be). Experienced waterplane flyers reach for their flying boats when the wind picks up - they are much more stable and unlikely to capsize when taxiing crosswind, unlike landplanes converted with floats. This is something that has been missing from my waterplane fleet for a year or two now so I'm really pleased to get it back again.

Taking the car in for an MOT (which it failed ) restricted me to just a few small jobs today. First up was gluing the replacement dowels into the wing with epoxy and then setting it aside to fully cure. I then assembled the water rudder onto the rudder itself and installed the whole assembly to the fuselage using flocked mylar hinges. Rather than using an additional bolt to retrain the end of the spring, I trapped it beneath the control horn backplate and then bent over a small section of the other end to locate it in a hole drilled into the water rudder (which is made from plasticard, by the way). The water rudder now sits in the correct position parallel to the base of the fuselage and air rudder but is free to swing backwards if it hits an obstruction. Apologies for the quality of the photo, I even took the model outside to avoid shadows and reflections from the garage lights and it's still pretty poor. Incidentally, you can also just make out the patches on the fin where the fuel proofer has bubbled again and which will need more attention later.

Today was one of those days where you seem to take one step forward but two back, as a couple of unexpected snags arose which slowed things down a bit. The fuel proofer went well over the areas proofed yesterday so, once that was touch-dry, I moved onto the other areas of the fuselage. I'm not sure quite what happened but I think I applied a second coat of Tufcote onto one side of the fin too soon after the initial coat which resulted in the surface pickling. No problem, I thought, I'll just wait until it has dried, clean it up with wet & dry and then reproof it. Unfortunately, when I tried to sand it, the fuel proofer just flaked off. I ended up removing it all from that side of the fin and then proofing it again later. There's still the odd patch where there has been a slight reaction but I'll leave it overnight and assess it again in the morning. While that was drying, I finished off the installation of the engine and tank and bound a receiver to my transmitter to test the controls. I fetched the wing down from the garage rafters to check the aileron servo was still working ok and discovered the 2nd snag of the day: I thought that the wing was undamaged but found that one locating dowel had broken off completely and other was cracked and bent. Like most modellers, I suspect, I've made some hole borers from sections of a scrap radio aerial so selected one that just slipped over the broken dowel and fitted it to an electric drill. The cracked dowel came out rather too easily and showed that it was actually only a shortened piece from what looks like an earlier repair. Trial fitting of a new wing dowel showed the hole to be angled (hence the tapered dowel repair, I guess) and I had to use a Dremel (and some swearing!) to remove the original piece so that a new dowel would fit correctly. Fortunately, the other dowel came out fairly cleanly but I've had to open up both holes to accommodate larger diameter replacements. Oh well, back on track now.

You're right, Ace, removing a bit of the nylon mount is probably a better idea but still leaves me with having to re-route the throttle linkage as it's all a bit tight for space in that area. Definitely a plan B option if this doesn't work. Matty, I live just outside Nottingham city and we are in the high alert category now. We obviously can't blame the students but it is interesting to see that the 2 areas of the city with the biggest increase in cases are Beeston and the Arboretum which, strangely enough, are where the 2 universities are located... Anyway, back to the Seamaster. Progress has been a little slow over the last few days but, on the positive side, I have been out flying twice. Lurking in the back of a drawer in the garage/workshop, I found some unopened Ripmax Tufcote. Not sure how old it is but it mixed up ok and the 1st coat has been applied to the engine pod and upper surfaces of the fuselage. It went on well with a soft brush and, although a bit streaky in places, has sealed the covering well. I think I will apply another coat to these areas as they are the most exposed to glow fuel and exhaust residue before going on to the remainder of the fuselage. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow and finish off this little project by the weekend as I'm keen to move on to something else.

Unfortunately, Matty, I'm afraid that won't be the case. The BWA had to cancel all 3 of the usual weekend meetings at Nottingham this year and we've now had to put a hold on the monthly meetings at Billing Lake as well due to the current situation. I managed to get to the last one at the beginning of September but it's not clear yet whether we will get any more this side of Christmas - we can always hope. Of course, if it snows... Anyway, back to the plot. The photo below shows the difference between the one piece carb and inlet on the OS40 compared to the separate components on the '48. Simple answer really, swap the carbs over? Well, apart from the fact that the carb on the '40 sits closer to the rear of the cylinder/crankcase and fouls the mounting point for the carb on the '48, it's a good idea. The purists might want to look away now, but I simply ground a clearance slot in the carb mounting to allow space for the carb. This won't affect fitting of the original carb again, if required, so should work fine. This will also make the throttle linkage a bit easier. Incidentally, I did try to swap the backplates over but found there was a small difference in their diameters and the crankcase bolts didn't quite line up. I must admit, until I read Dave' comment above, I hadn't realised that the nylon I was using was any different to that I had used in my youth. It might explain why it is taking so many coats of dope to seal, even on sheet balsa. A good job I didn't use it on an open structure like a wing!

Thanks, Dave. Good to see you and the guys at the field today.

The original engine was a rather asthmatic OS40FS, pre-Surpass version. It was barely adequate but it was fun to fly the model "on the wing" rather than haul it round the sky, however, I think a bit more oomph would be beneficial. Fortunately, I picked up an OS48 Surpass at a swap meet last year which has the same crankcase width and therefore fits the existing engine mount. As usual with 4-strokes, the carb position is somewhat problematical and the '48, with a longer inlet tract, moves the carb further down the crankcase to a position where it is close to one of the mounting bolts. There's just enough space if I pull the engine forward on its mounting bolts so I hope the carb doesn't rub against the bolt. As you can see, the throttle servo has been installed but I've not yet made up the new linkage to the throttle arm - always a pain to get a good mechanical arrangement, I find. I've also installed the rudder and elevator servos on the existing bearers and put in a 1/16" ply plate to carry the rx battery. I will probably install the receiver itself in the rearmost bay, under the wing bolt plate, suitably waterproofed, which I will show later when I get to that stage.

Martin, OS46FX piston and liner sets are listed on the rcjapan.net website here, priced around £35 plus postage and probably customs charges as well.

No photos today, just a quick update on progress. With 2 coats of dope on the fuselage, I lightly flatted back the surface with fine wet & dry paper and applied a 3rd coat. There was still some evidence of blushing once that had dried so a 4th coat was brushed on. Hopefully that will be enough and I can set the fuselage to one side for a few days to let all the solvents gas off. The next job was to cover the rudder. This went much better as I had learnt a few lessons from the earlier covering efforts which helped me avoid getting any frayed edges; the odd strand being quickly removed with the wet & dry paper once the dope had dried. Tomorrow, I'll look at what needs to be done to get the engine and radio back into the model.

Thanks, Doc, always best to use the right tool for any job. I'm aware of pinking shears - my Mum always used them when cutting out material for dressmaking and they are always used for covering material on full-size aircraft - I just don't have any. I'll pick up a pair next time I'm in Hobbycraft, I think.

Not some much time to spend on the Seamaster today but some progress was made. A cope of thinned dope was applied to the rest of the fuselage which has all but cleared up the blushing present in some places, as you can see from the partially-doped front section below, and the wider picture below that. I think it will need at least one, maybe two, more coats before it's ready for fuelproofing. The dope also stiffens up the whiskers of thread that have come from trimming the edges and these can be simply removed by a quick wipe over of fresh sandpaper. Next was some further work on the new rudder. The ply doublers were glued either side of the rudder and left to dry overnight so they were ready for their initial coats of dope before covering. I was also able to spend a bit of time working on the parts for the water rudder. In the photo below are a piece of thin piano wire wound into a couple of coils for the return spring, the rudder itself and the 2 bolts; one for the pivot and the other to retain the end of the spring and act as a limit stop.