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15 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

Hi Mike, I must try glass cloth as the pva and brown paper doesn't work so good with B and Q depron.  I had some adhesion problems covering the 109f. Foamboard is more like depron once the paper is removed but getting it off is a faff. Sarik are advertising genuine depron but I am not sure if it is.  What is your next project? 

 

 

My next build will possibly be the Grumman Duck, But it might be a while before I get on with it, as I am thinking of moving.

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14 hours ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

Hi Michael,

 

Yes it does! Well, it takes glass cloth and EZkote, or now B&Q water based varnish. I'm in the middle of a 1/6th scale Mk1 spitfire build and have glass clothed the wings and tailplane so far. Certainly better than brown paper/ PVA and much easier to apply to foam. 

 

Mixture of black 6mm and white 3mm...

 

Graham

 

The 3 mm looks good and easier to bend for complex shapes but I wonder if the weight saving is lost on the extra framework needed to keep it rigid. I will get some and try it.

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14 hours ago, Don Fry said:

I assume you don’t use a spar, just the skin to take the loads?

I use a 6mm depron spar but only as a spacer between upper and lower surface of wings.

[Forum members' new models: Let's see them.]

21 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

Nice build Mike,  have you tried BandQ depron look alike? my 109 is clad with the 3mm and the ribs are 6mm. I have been using foamboard for the  basic construction leaving the paper on but the next build I will just use depron with balsa for support. 

 I haven't tried it Eric, but will probably do so. Thing is I still have 10 full sheets of 6 mm depron which suits my method of ribless construction. Guess when I eventually run out, I will try it.

Does B&Q look alike take grp cloth and epoxy covering? I do like to cover my models. I have seen it, and it seems very pliable, whereas the original stuff is rigid, which again suits my construction system. But that's the nice thing about foam, there is lots to experiment with.

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7 minutes ago, martin collins 1 said:

Brilliant Michael, superb looking model, any build pictures you can share or more info on the structure?

Sorry I don't do build photos Martin, I am always too absorbed with the construction.

It's all 6mm Depron. The wing is built in a jig ( it's not folded but built up,) and has just one 2mm ply rib with a small block of hardwood to take the 2.5mm wheel strut. It's covered in one layer of 50 gram cloth with two layers at the wing joints. I think it might be called a stressed wing construction, and it makes very strong wings. All of my builds utilize this method, and II was at one time thinking of doing a video on YouTube but when Depron was discontinued there didn't seem much point.

[Forum members' new models: Let's see them.]

50 inch span Depron JU87. All covered in 50gram grp cloth and west system epoxy. Scratch build from scaled up 3 view on Wikipedia, and lots of photos.

Started out in white winter camo, didn't like it, so changed to two-tone green camo. Didn't like that so added desert camo which I quite like.

1300 grams flying weight. 35/36 900 kv motor.2200 3cell lipo.

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2 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

65" 109f composite build. 

Michael if you look on this thread you will see how it was made. 

The fuselage profile and formers are foamboard with some balsa and ply, the lower wing panels are foamboard the ribs are 6mm depron and 1/8"ply, top wing skin and fuselage cladding 1/8" depron 

Thanks Eric.Mike.

[Forum members' new models: Let's see them.]

On 12/11/2023 at 20:24, Eric Robson said:

I had my Maiden flight today with my latest depron and foamboard model 65" span weight 6.5lb ready to fly, no problems apart from my fingers freezing in the cold N E wind second flight 4.5 minutes 71% left in the battery. Must be my age but I did not feel like hanging around in the cold so pleased with the result I went home some hit soup. 

Hello Eric. Looks really nice. You say that you used depron and foamboard. Just wondering which parts are depron and which are foamboard.

[Junkers flaps and ailerons.]

I did think that neutral position would be correct, but still wondering if neutral flaps should be included in wing area calculations?

[Junkers flaps and ailerons.]

11 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

A close up from that plan flaps and ailerons same neutral position 

11 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

A close up from that plan flaps and ailerons same neutral position 

 

[Junkers flaps and ailerons.]

I am just completing my scratch build 50 inch (1.27 m) JU87, and I am considering flap and aileron settings in relation to the aerofoil section, and whether they should be set in line with the lower surface or upper surface as shown in A or B in my rough sketch, or at some point in between. The flaps are fixed to save weight, but adjustable, being mounted on aluminium brackets. 

 

The wing cubic load when the flaps and ailerons are included in the wing area is 12, but 15 if excluded, so having them contribute to the wing area would be quite nice. I will publish photos of the finished model, probably at the weekend.

I imagine there will be quite a few different opinions on this so will get the popcorn out. Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Foam instead of Balsa?]

21 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

No Michael, to keep the weight down I have not even painted the white parts. It did get wet once when a shower caught me by surprise. It takes off easily from damp grass and has plenty of power so it could take possibly glassing on the hull but there are no lakes locally that would allow flying from

That's a shame, Eric. Looks like it belongs on water. I built a Heinkel HE5 in Depron which flies beautifully off grass, but I did glass it, and will fly off water when the field floods. Best of luck. It’s still a nice build.

[Foam instead of Balsa?]

3 minutes ago, Eric Robson said:

Tony Nijhus 72" Sunderland made from Hobbycraft foam board and B and Q 3mm depron. Plan was for balsa construction. Modified formers to allow for the thicker covering materials. Currently building a Me 109f details on this forum 

Lovely job Eric. Have you flown it off water?

[Foam instead of Balsa?]

9 minutes ago, FiddleSticks said:

Hi all,

 

Just wondering how practical it would be to build a balsa plane from foam instead? Went to Hobbycraft today and their balsa selection wasn't great but they got a bloody great pile of foam board - £4 per sheet or 4 for £12. Grabbed the 4 obviously lol. Plenty of little cheap designs on youtube etc for foam planes but i was just wondering if it's practical for the balsa designs that can often be larger. I don't think there's another balsa supplier around here and hobbycrafts prices were horrible!

 

Thanks,

 

FS

It's possible to build from many materials. Just think outside the box and be prepared to experiment and sometimes fail.

[Next Build?]

1 hour ago, Sheepish said:

I’m currently having a Flair Scout theme.

 

1/4 Scale Dr1 currently being rebuilt from someone else’s efforts.

 

Followed by the Fokker D7 again a rebuild from someone else.

 

Then the Barronette built from the plan and the stack of wood I still have.

 

Then possibly an Atilla from a plan too.

 

Then another rebuild this time the SE5.

 

And if I survive that lot I have the Bristol Fighter to rebuild again from some one else’s efforts.

 

They will all be 4 stroke powered with engines I have Laser, Saito and SC. 
 

I already have a Puppeteer, Magnatilla and Legionnaire.

 

I know I’m mad but who cares 🤣

Hi Sheepish. I wish I was so prolific!

[Next Build?]

50 minutes ago, leccyflyer said:

I'm coming to the end of my Go-Jet build, just the battery hatch to sort out, covering with laminating film and painting - should be done by the weekend. My diesel Outlaw fuselage is finished and just needs the engine fitting, once it's run-in and I'm concurrently doing the fix-up thing on a couple of Balsacraft Spitfires. Still have the Beaufighter and repaired EFlite P-51 to paint, but the temperature is staying below 10 degrees and not getting close to the 20 degrees for spraying.

 

That all means it's time to decide what is next for the bench. I'm committed to build a JayPee control liner by the end of the year, so I guess that is in pole position and should be a reasonably quick build. Once that's done a Vic Smeed Poppet beckons, to take advantage of my recent Macgregor Digimac 1+1 conversion.

 

To answer the question in the OP - most of my recent builds have been towards achieving success with single channel radio, fifty years since my failed attempts in my teens. There's a side project, which I give little chance of success to, of flying a control liner 50 years since my last go as well. The upcoming builds are selected on the basis of the resurgence of interest in vintage subjects after visiting the Pontefract vintage and single channel fly in in July, so are aimed at feeding my recently converted vintage 1970's Macgregor radio sets.

 

The usual selection process starts with having an interest in a particular aeroplane, researching it's history and seeing how to achieve that. That's the driver for the Balsacraft Spitfire fix-ups.

Thanks for your very interesting reply. That's what I had in mind with my OP. Not so much what people are building next, but their reasons for doing so.

[Next Build?]

Almost finished my JU87 and thoughts turning to the next build. Just wondering how others decide what they will tackle next, and what considerations if any will influence the decision?

Personally, I am thinking of a Grumman Duck in fibreglass covered depron. Reasons: not a lot of them about, fancy water flying for a change, promises to be an interesting build in depron. And of course I always liked the plane since seeing it in the movie "Murphy's War,” And there is a reasonable 3 view to work with on Wikipedia.

[Cardboard Drone]

7 hours ago, Ace said:

Certainly not precision engineering but boy is it quick and delivered a VERY effective looking plane that flew well- nice one 👏

My thoughts exactly, Ace. I found his video really entertaining, and he has almost 90,000 subscribers, so he is doing something right. Maybe he is just what is needed to bring more people into building rather than just RTF. i.e.  You don't have to be a master craftsman to build something impressive which flies. I will watch his 10-foot wingspan Hercules tonight.

[Cardboard Drone]

 

Just perusing YouTube as you do and found this guy. Fascinating Reaper Drone build. I love his free and easy style.

[IMAX B6AC 80W 6A]

As I figured. However it arrived and works fine. Just looking at the latest charger from Sky RC as they seem to have discontinued the B6 AC. Anyone got one. (B6 neo)

[IMAX B6AC 80W 6A]

Just bought one of these on e-bay for £19.99. Had a couple of these, but one of them packed up and I needed a replacement. Just wondering if they are a knock off or the genuine article.

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17 hours ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

Fantastic Michael. As Martin said, some details and tips on glassing these would be great, Maybe another thread?

 

Graham

Hi Graham.

  Only fibreglass tips I can give are to prepare well beforehand, brush a good coat of the resin onto the surface to be covered, and then lay the glass cloth onto the resin. Do not try to stipple through the cloth, as you won't get as good a bond. Remove excess resin by laying the kitchen-roll onto the saturated cloth when it is in position.

Wings I do upper surface first, let that cure, then do underside. Mask off any areas you do not want to cover, and trim cloth to these areas with a sharp scalpel when the resin is just touch dry as you remove the masking tape. As with most things in life, practice makes perfect, or almost perfect!

    Practice on lots of scrap first. Hope that helps.

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17 hours ago, martin collins 1 said:

Very impressive Michael, any more details on the models, any build pictures of them before covering?

Hi Martin.Models are:

                        Tempest with 52" span flying wt 1400 grams.

                        Heinkel HE5.   54"span flying wt 1300 grams

                        Avro 539.        40" span flying wt 1280 grams.

   All flying weights are with 2200 3cell and 35.36   900kv motors. All my models are built using 3 views downloaded on a couple of A4s and then scaled up directly onto Depron sheets. I work out construction details as I build.

   As to build photos, I do not take any.

  

                                    

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1 hour ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

Hi Michael,

 

thought about glassing foamboard myself, but I hated doing it on conventional builds! I'd be really interested to see how that turns out.

 

Graham.

 

Hi Graham.

I don't use foam board, so I can't tell you. I build in 6mm Depron and I always glass my models using 50gram cloth and west system epoxy. It makes them ding proof and adds considerable strength for very little weight penalty if done correctly. Shown are a couple of my glassed models.

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2 hours ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

One of these ?.

 

2 hours ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

One of these ?.

No. My own plan. Electric, in fibreglass covered Depron. Should be ready to fly in a couple of weeks.