Tim Hooper Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Cheers Ton! Awful weather today, so It seemed a good time to have a crack at the undercart! The front and rear frames are bent from 12swg piano wire, and were jigged on a plank of wood. The joints were bound in copper wire, before soldering together with my nice new 80watt iron. To allow the 8swg axle to move on its hair-band bungee, I added plates of brass sheet. Those central holes were enlarged to form a slot, and the spurs were used as anchor points for the bungee. Seems to work just fine! The wheels are 3¼" items (to replicate the wheelbarrow items of the original!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Posted by Tim Hooper on 13/02/2011 18:28:07:.......hair-band bungee...... Now that's lateral thinking! Although I would probably find myseld in deep do-do's if I was discovered borrowing said articles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Borrow? Who said anything about borrowing! You have to assert yourself and comandeer the articles required! tim (yes dear, coming dear......) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 I thought it about time to start on the top decking (the front part will also double as the hatch), so some strips of Sellotape were applied to the upper longerons to prevent permanent adhesion, followed by a 1/8 sheet 'floor. The formers came next, closely pursued by the start of the 1/8 strips of planking. Now somehow I need a way to be able to open the hatch without interfering with the centre-section rigging - which criss crosses over the top of the decking. More though required methinks! To give my brain a rest, I made up the motor mount from 1/4 ply, drilled to accept the blind nuts, and then added the 1/8 ply sides, together with some internal reinforcement from very hard balsa. The rear face was then sanded to yield 2° side and downthrust, before being epoxied to the front of F1. This meant that I was now able to introduce the motor to its new address (albeit temporarily! Right, I'm away for a few days, so there won't be any more progress over the weekend. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 I managed to get all the nose planking glued down yesterday, so this morning I gave it a quick sand down. After that I made a cardboard template, and used that to mark out the cockpit openings. Seemed a good idea to test fit our pilot too! The bit I always dread is seperating the hatch from the rest of the fuselage, but the Sellotape I laid onto the upper longerons earlier made life easy, so a bit of minmal jiggling with a long blade saw the hatch come away cleanly. I then took the final decision to cut the hatch in half. The rear half will cover the bolts that hold the cabane struts in place, and will be left on the model semi-permanently. I had to make clearance holes in the underside of the hatch to clear the strut fixings. Front hatch off... ....front hatch on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Lovely work as usual Tim, really nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Tim Just to say what a brilliant job you're doing & that your presentation will probably inspire more peeps to follow your example that otherwise might not think it feasible to build from an idea in your head. Keep it up . Isn't it a shame to have to cover up all that beautiful construction ? Only problem I have is that you havn't got a burbling engine up front ,but I won't mention that Best build blog ever--- IMHO Myron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thank you, gents! I've taken today off from the build, but all those stringers along the rear fuselage can't be far away now. There's still loads to do before I get the iron out and attack that big roll of Solartex though... tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 So.....given that the cross section of the upper fuselage changes from a sort of ellipse at the rear cockpit to a rectangular at the LE of the tailplane, it made sense to plot this on a sheet of card. The radiating lines are the stringers, so divided these into quarters... ....and joined up points thus. Then it was a small matter to make tracings of the sub-formers so created. These tracings formed the basis of the intermediate sub-formers, although I have to stress that a bit of fiddling and faddling was needed to make sure that all those stringers were straight and true. I then fitted little blocks between the stringers just behind the front decking. These will be shaped and sanded when the glue dries! It's all go, eh? tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 So those little blocks have been roughly hacked into shape. Now there's a single 3/16 stringer that runs along each side of the fuselage. Adding the stringer took minutes, but it has a knock-on effect in that the covering will not be flat against the fuselage side. No biggie except that little items such as the exit guides for the elevator wires now need to be raised slightly, so that they'll lie directly underneath the Solartex...... ....similarly, the lower wing mount needs a raised 'land' around it for the covering to adhere to. Those little vertical slots above the wing are for the anchorages for the rigging wires, With the motor bolted on the nose, I've set about making up the cowl. The sides are flat 1/4" sheet. You can see the built-in side thrust when viewed from above. The top and bottom of the cowl will be hacked out of scrap block - after the glue dries, of course! Now, ideally I'd like to cover the cowl in thin aluminium (eg beer can material), but I've never used this material before. The flat sides won't be an issue, but the upper and lower panels of the cowl both feature compound curves, so we'll have to see how it goes! tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r6dan Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Another fantastic looking plane You got there Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hi Tim, looks fabulous, sounds like you need to play with some lith plate Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Dan(s), Thanks lads! It's starting to come together at last. The balsa work is essentially finished, so now it's the hardward side of the project. Danny, I've never used litho plate, but I heard that it used to be available from printworks. Do they still use such material at all? tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hi Tim, yes I believe they do. I got my last batch from E-Bay. Probably not a bad idea to stock pile a little if you can. Wish I could send you some but I haven't much. If you rub normal soap on one side and heat with a blow lamp on the other until the soap goes black, then it is really malleable and will take compound curves beautifully. Once it work hardens again then more soap and more heat. I have seen some beautiful work done by the likes of Ian Redshaw. Dont cut it with scissors but score it and fold back and force gently it snaps beautifully with a lovely clean edge that even you would approve of Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Cheers Danny! I'll have a search on eBay later on. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hey Tim, if you draw a blank, I will send you a sheet. My stock is pretty low myself but it would be perfect for this model and I know its going to a good cause. Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Thanks Danny! I think I've got it sorted....... tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klippy Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Tim, what about the thick foil dishes that the stores use for putting cakes and pies on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Posted by Tony Prince on 28/02/2011 14:20:20:Tim, what about the thick foil dishes that the stores use for putting cakes and pies on? But what about all those calories? Thanks for the suggestion, Tony, but I thinks there's some pukka lithoplate on its way (as opposed to Pukka Pies, that is.....) Just to pass the time this evening, I knifed out some little discs from 1/16 balsa, and some slightly larger ones form 1/32 ply...... ...and then threaded them onto a BBQ skewer! With the cylinder barrels made, I cobbled up some cylinder heads from some little bits of scrap. And there you have it - a 100% accurate facsimile of the little-known Generic Twin engine! Just needs a little more detailing - inlet, exhausts, plug etc. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klippy Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Lovely work as usual Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks Tony! I did a little more work on the dummy engine last night. Inlet/exhausts, pushrods, plugleads.... .....and then cutout an appropriately sized hole in the side of the cowl for it to hang out of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 looks really great Tim, how did you bend the brass tubing so neatly? D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Yes very nice work there Will there be a how to make the dummy engine details on the plan Edited By Stephen Jones on 02/03/2011 19:14:26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hi Tim, Another excellent Hooper thread, as always! I've just been reading Neville Duke's book, 'Test Pilot', and it it he refers to the Hawker Cygnet in the Dunsfold museum. I quote - " It has a little 36HP Bristol Cherub engine, a top speed of 75 miles per hour, drooping ailerons which can be wound down as flaps. This type of full span, narrow chord aileron may be seen on very fast aircraft again shortly." (Written in 1953) I must say I'd never considered flaps on a biplane - could you see any advantage at model size? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hi Danny! Du-Bro market a miniature tube bender - meant for dealing with brass fuel tubing. Netty bought one from Pegasus Models in Norwich a couple of weeks ago (for bending silver tubing), so I thought I'd better give it a test flight! Stephen, I'll add what details I can, particularly the dimensions of the discs. Other than that I sort of made it up as I went along.... Pete, Thanks for the reference! I've no idea if the Ciggies ailerons could be used as flaps, but to describe them a 'narrow chord' really is a mistake; the upper ones are around 35% of the total wing chord! Mind you, flaps on full-sized biplanes certainly aren't unknown - the Gloster Gladiator springs to mind, so I'm sure there are more out there - but at model size? I really don't know if they'd be worth the effort, particularly on a lightly-loaded model such as this. tim tim Edited By Tim Hooper on 02/03/2011 20:22:32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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