dirk tinck

Hi all ! The two rudders are ready to adapt to the fuselage but i'm going to make the wings first. My granddaughter Lana (5 1/2 ) wanted to help me to unscrew the bolts that keep the mould halves together. Separating the moulds was no problem and the rudder left the mould easy.

Hi Manish ! It's a 128mm schubeler fan and it will be powered by 12 or 14 cells. It will produce up to 11 kg of thrust. With a more powerfull motor it can go to 13kg of thrust but then the amperage goes up to 200amps !

That's massive Phil !! Looks really well !! Great effort !

Hi all !! I've been working on the second rudder the last two weeks . It's a very time consuming job because each part of the internals has to be hand made and fitted one by one. Anyway , prepared the moulds with wax and pva after a clean-up from the previous rudder. Also taped the moulds where there is no paint needed. (less clean-up ) Next is the lay-up with glass and epoxy : 50gr in the corners , another 50gr overall , 1mm airex , again 50gr glass , this time i used peel-ply so i don't have to sand the inside , perforated plastic , bleeder , and get everything in the bag and turn the vacuum on , done ! Next comes the internal structure : Same as before but with the horn on the other side ! Everything is ready now to glue and close the moulds. That's for tomorrow... Little Matteo , my grandson (2,5 j ) holds the first rudder here to give you an idea of the size :I hope one day he gets to fly one of these !! Some days ago the power plant arrived from Germany !! What a beauty ! First thing i did was fit it to the thrust tube wich was a perfect fit !! It will be in its box for a while untill i start the fuse internals...After the wings...After the tail fit... Greetings from Belgium ! Dirk.

Hi all ! I think i'll go for a mirage 2000 D for this one. The plan is to slice-up my foam board into layers of 5 and 3mm. 5mm for formers and ribs , 3mm for sheeting. The nose will be carved from two half foam blocks ,from the rest of the board , hollowed out to make room for electronics. Ailerons will be made from the balsa sheet. The parts will be glued together wit UHU por to speed things up. I already found a bleuprint with enough sections to draw-up a buiding plan. As i understood , we can do this upfront so i don't have to do this in the 48 hours. It's a fairly simple fuselage and wing ,no tail , and just two servo's to worry about ! Peace of cake !? x

Count me in Phil ! Great idea ! I only hope i can get there this time ! Are you going to start up a new topic here on the forum ?

Before the moulds were closed , the contact area's were waxed to prevent them from sticking together when exess gleu finds his way out of the rudder. I was carefully with the gleu and it paid off ! The new rudder parts left the mould very easy. After a clean-up i was very pleased with the new parts ! 225 gr on the scale ! 95 gr less than the first one ! The seams look very good and the parts still feel very strong ! I just need to spend more time on the first layer of glass in the moulds as i find here and there some small defects in the surface , nothing that can't be solved with some primer. I only have one set of rudder moulds so next week i'm doing the other side ! Stay tuned !

Hello all ! Sorry i kept you all waiting for a month but things here didn't go as planned . Covid had me a little longer than normal out of the shop but that's behind me now. Before we go on , i want to wish you all a very happy New Year !! Last thing i did , december 14th , was fitting all the hatches and other things to the newborn fuselage wich is now on the shelf to make room for the rudder moulds. I already made one rudder as a test months ago , remember ? It was usable but a little overweight at 320 gr. I will try to make it lighter without giving in on strenght. I cleaned and waxed the moulds ,gave them a coat of pva and painted them with IMC , in mould coating. After drying , they were layed up with 50gr of glass in the corners and a second layer overall. I got the airex parts ready together with the bleeder and perforated plastic to cover the layup and put everything in the vacuumbag. After curing , the edges will be trimmed and cleaned. This has to cure under vacuum for at least 10hours with the current themperatures. With a proper sealed bag , the pump starts every 2 minuts for 10 seconds . (aprox) Next thing to do is cut and fit the internals. When happy with the fit , glue is applyed on all contact surfaces (thickened resin ) and the moulds can be closed ,bolted together and left to cure. Thanks for watching !

Aaahhhaaa !! Oh waaw! i'm honored , but i just want to fly my plane of choice , and i want to make it myself !

Thanks John ! I'm afraid you've lost me there...?

Thanks all !! @ Paul : I had Pfizer twice... No guarantee right ??!!??? While i'm still not 100% , i have to do something or i will go crazy from boredom !? I started with cleaning the new fuselage. After de-moulding there's still a film of pva that needs to be washed away with water. I made a (long) list of things to do , and on top are the rudders and wings. Before i start these , and shelf the fuse , i need to know if everything fits .(Hathes,nose cone , tail cone ,thrust tube) No problem with the nose and tail cone , Just some sanding to get even seams. The hatches require a little more work...I realize just now , i made a mistake here...I can solve it , but it's a mistake. When i was making the plugs for the hatches (and their openings in the fuse) , i didn't take the thickness of the paint into account...this resulted in hathes who are a little oversized.I can use them after a serious trim ,but it's far from perfect.When the time comes to paint them , they will "grow "again !! The best solution is..make new moulds for the hatches ,but first i'll try to "tape" (or even double tape ) the flanges of the moulds. This way i "win"the thickness of the tape.(smaller hatches) They fit for now (unpainted )but they don't "drop" in place... On to the thrust tube : I cleared the exhaust openings with the dremel with some reserve to enlarge... After a dry fit one side... i'm very pleased ! Thesame for the left side . The best fit i could ask for !! Thanks again Andy for the perfect plug ! Glueing the tube in is for later , after the former for the rudder support is fitted. That's it for today !?

Thanks for the comments all ! This must be the first time i did not see my workshop for 3 days in a row !!...Thanks to , Yes... Covid. The virus has finally got me , and my wife Diana...We think we got it from the grandchildren. We both have mild symptons but work is out of order. Ten days quarantine now ... I hope i'm over this soon and can restart working !! No work , no pay ! Keep safe ! Dirk

Hi all Feeling not so well all day , i wasn't sure i would make it to the fouga works...After a walk with the dogs , i couldn't resist to take the connecting bolts out and clean up the overhanging glass. 105 in total !! Nothing but some sticking pva holds the different moulds together. If you twist the whole combo , you can hear it cracking ! So !lets try to get this baby free ! In my opinion , the small moulds arround the hatch openings must come off easy. Once you have a knife between , you can twist a little and put a mixing stick in the seam , then two , then three... By the time you reach the opposite side , the mould is free...if the pva did his job ... No problms here !! Next in line are the two front parts .After some twisting , the first fell off ! And the other side ! The nose is completely free now and still no defects ! No white paint sticking in the moulds !! The back side are the four quarters so i suspect no problems there What a beatyfull sight !! Fitted the nose cone and the tail cone : A perfect match !! Also happy i can get the thrust pipe in !! This is what you get when you forget the little worm of thick epoxy on the seam before connecting ! The liquid resin , used for the glass ribbons creeps between mould and new part , and between the moulds Well , she's out !! Another milestone !! enjoy !!

Hi all!! Thanks Phil ! @Grumpy Gnome :It's starting to weigh on me too now but it will be forgotten when the fuse is out and OK... I started on the upper side this morning as we're closed today. I did the back part first (most difficult )so that is out of the list...Special jobs require special tools , so i added a long stick to my roller and brush to reach the end of the back part (55cm )through the opening in the fuselage. Next is the little nose part. It's done thesame way but this is only 10cm. Next is the little part behind the nose hatch , just in front of the canope opening. I you ever had to work in a small place and follow your actions in a mirror , you know this is a pain !! Just one to go :The part behind the canope opening , same MO The part in the middle of the canope opening was done yesterday and the overhang is allready cut away Another vieuw of the back part : That completes the joining of the fuselage halves. When all this is well cured , the edges will be trimmed and then we're ready to take all the bolts away and open-up the shell ! Untill then , a big clean-up-shop is needed to welcome the newborn ....and the wing moulds !! Stay tuned !

The bottom side is done now (easy side , acces through the hatch openings) . The upper side will be done when the bottom side is dry , to avoid touching it . I tryed a little piece and found out that this side will be done with the help from a mirror. x

The two halves are joined now and i started to lay down the connecting ribbons glass cloth. At the seam comes a little worm of thick resin so the liquid resin has more resistance to get between the moulds.Next comes 3x100gr to reinforce the seam. x x x x x

Hi all ! Sorry but no fuselage yet...It's taking a little more time than i thought ! Sanded the inside of the fuse halves (Where the connecting layer comes) and coated the contact flanges of the moulds with pva in case some resin gets between the moulds... The fin on the underside is prepped in a different way as the rest : I can't reach in there with a glass ribbon so only thickened resin (microballoons ). To hold the resin in place , i'm glueing a foam sausage between the halves (sorry no pic). Here you can see the foam in place (also a piece for example ) x x x x x x x x x x x

Hi all ! Thanks for the comments guys !! @Paul :It was probably the one from HobbyLand (now modellbaustudio )or the one from ripping ?? I still have one from Hobbyland NIB... @Chris : I'm trying to get it out on sunday ! That's no promise though... To get it out by sunday , i need to join the halves friday night !Better move on then !! The fuse edges are now clean and i started to sand the area where the joining strips (glass )will come.Trail fitted the two halves and it looks good !! I know experts use peel ply as the last layer in the mould .This gives you the advantage you don't have to sand the surface to glue anything on or in this case join different parts (or glue formers in ). However i don't like it...When "peeling"it off,there is the risque of pulling the part away from the mould resulting in uneven joints or resin getting between part and mould (you damage the pva ) It's a little more work to sand the edges but it gives me mindpeace ... Time will tell ! Tanks for watching !! x

No time to waste ! I started to make the templates for the fuse formers while i still have access to the inside. Also trial fitted the thrust tube and its former The last thing i did was adding a little flat epoxy rest on the exhaust exit to accept the thrust tube And started the clean-up of the fuse edges

Curing overnight at 20 degr. i could stop the vacuumpump , take away the bag ,bleeder , plastic and inspect the result. It's 4pm now and i'm still recovering from a sleepless night (adrenaline is a strange substance ) but i could watch the newborn for hours . It looks like i want it to look ! Enjoy !!

Hi all ! As planned , the marathon started 4pm laminating the first layer , 50gr glass on top of the white paint , followed by 100gr glass. Sharp corners are filled with thickened resin.(before the glass ) The area's where the airex will not reach , get an extra layer 100gr. Next comes the airex , wetted with enough resin , the bleeder will absorb the exess. The airex is hold down with bolts , attracted by the magnets on the outside (bolts are easy to grab ) I also used self made clamps (drain pipe cut off's ) Next comes another layer of glass and some reinforcement layers where the tubes for wing and rudders come. That's it ! next comes perforated plastic to prevent the bleeder sticking to the resin. It's perforated to let the exess resin through into the bleeder , wich comes next before everything is slipped into the bag and vacuum is applyed So much for the pics....I was exhuasted and forgot the step by step promise...

Hi all! Tonight i painted the inside of the mould after the waxing and a coat of pva. The white paint i used is a polyurethane 2C product from HP textiles called IMC (in mould coating ) . It will connect with the following resin and glass so when the fuse exits the mould it will be like it's painted white...I hope !!? I'm going to let it cure for two days so it's hard for saturday . The second marathon starts 4pm !

I went for the pva coat tonight after the wax and the same problem occured as with the first fuse half: the pva seems to have no grip in some area's I tought i had solved that problem but i'm wrong. It must be some contamination with silicones or something... I washed the mould clean , degreased it with some mild degreaser , waxed it again and tried another coat of pva. This time i had more luck ! No problems whatsoever !! So , tomorrow i will do this to the whole mould and make it ready for paint !! Sta tuned !! Thanks for watching !! Dirk.

Before the waxing , i made the airex parts. I used thesame templates as for the first half. I used the foto's from the first half here The edges of the airex parts have to be chamfered so the glass has no problem to follow the surface and no air chambers are formed. This is done with a power file Next come the perforation of the airex with a hollow punch The airex parts are ready now. Next is cutting the glass , perforated plastic , and bleeder parts , all with the same templates , but with a little overhang.Sorry no pics... Everything is ready now for laminating the second half fuse , exept for the wax and pva ! x x x

With the parts bolted together , i taped the magnets in place with duct tape. Next come the foam blocks to protect the vacuum bag. The blocks were made with liquid 2K foam By pressing the foam block onto the mould i can find the position of the magnets and make room for them After this ,the foam blocks are all taped in place on the back side of the mould x