Galaxy Magician builders

[Phil 9]

I have just ordered on of these from Galaxy.

 

Before it arives and I ruin a perfectly good kit can you please share ant tips for building on of these.

 

Also what is the best method for covering. I was planing on just using solarfilm as it easy and not to expensive. If you have any photos of a finished wizard/magician/mystic I would love to see them as I am also looking for ideas for colour schemes

[Bob Cotsford]

 

I've not built a Magician, nut generally measure and check everything twice before cutting or gluing. Take your time, try dry assembling (without glue) first so you know what's to be done at each stage. Epoxy for ply or hardwood to anything else, PVA, aliphatic or cyno for the rest.

When you join the wing halves, mark the chord centreline at the tips, then line up the tips to be level with each other (ie both parallel to the building board)t. A couple of mm misalignment at the root is ok. Try to get the wing, tailplane and rudder as square as possible to each other and to the fuselage, squared up models fly better.

 

I'm just covering a Crescent Tornado, a similar structure to your Magician with balsa fus and foam wings.

I'm trying World Models Toughlon in pearl blue and pearl bronze, with white solarspan mixed in.

To quote 'it's been emotional'. I'm not finding it as easy to use as Solar--- films, but it's getting there.

My Acrowot has been Solarfilm covered since new, easy to clean and repair but it's hard to stop it looking tatty as the years go by. Luckily the need to rebuild it every few years gives a chance to freshen the covering.

My Joker used film on the wing and tail, 1 oz glass cloth/poly-c on the fuselage and fin painted with Solarlac. I wish I'd gone for this on the Tornado. More work, but a better, longer lasting finish.

[Richard Wood]

Phil,

I built a Magician as a 'come back' model a few years ago after

too long as a non-modeller & enjoyed building it.

It flies well on an OS40LA.

 

My kit had been on the shelf for a few years & current kits may be

slightly different, but from memory one thing to watch out for is

the accuracy of the wing cut-outs on the fuse sides & doublers -

nothing major but they might need trimming to suit the wing section.

 

 

Adding fairings to the u/c legs reduces the slightly 'stalky' appearance.

[ken anderson.]

phil the magician is a fairly old design(but a goodin)-that by modern standards is over engineered....and will take a few knocks.. i covered mine in white solarfilm and the only mod i did was to make the rudder 1/4 in wider for knife edge flight.....i would trace all the bits before you build the model just in case ... ...

 

ken anderson ne...1.... magician fan club dept.

[Lee Smalley]

some idiot reviewed it not so long ago in the rcm+e special last year i think, one thing i will say is the wire U/C is too soft and you will constantly be bending it back into shape, personally i would buy the aftermarket U/C (fiberglass) from galaxy and mod the kit to suit, any film covering will be fine and use a lightish engine otherwise you will be adding lead to the back, oh and the instructions are a bit poo for a first time builder!!

 

but she flies great!!

[Richard Wood]

Yes, use film covering.

I used Glosstex on the wings to try the stuff out & the heat required

to shrink it cracked & raised the veneer slightly. It's also very hard to get

around wing tips & is quite heavy!

 

 

 

[Phil 9]

thanks everyone I like Richards colour scheme but I think I may lose track of the blue one althought it does look smart.

 

I was thinking a .46 two stroke engine or is this too much power/weight?

 

I will still cover in film as I am not looking to make it bomb proof it is more of a project to learn skils of building and flying before a mystic or extra wot

[Bob Cotsford]

Tip #1 - don't bother with WM Toughlon, Solarfilm Supershrink Polyester is much easier to apply.

[Richard Wood]

Phil,

It only really needs a .40 but nobody seems to bother with 40's

anymore & fit .46's or even .52's as they weigh no more & have the

same dimensions.

You could fit a .46 & just be handy on the throttle.

 

Tip - don't repeat the colour scheme on the underside of the wing.

A contrast will help with orientation.

[Lee Smalley]

i used a 46 and in my opinion its too heavy (it was an irvine) i had to use a load of lead in the tail and the rx packs was wedged as far down as i could

a poky 36 or 39 would be fantastic

[Richard Wood]

Something like that would suit it well.

The 40LA in mine is not the most powerful .40 around but is good

enough & is very light.Mine balanced ok.

The 46LA would suit it or, as Lee says a hot thirtysomething like an

OS35AX or similar.

 

 

[Phil 9]

A club member has a SC .46 for sale and I thought it may suit.

 

Should I give it a miss and get something smaller?

[Richard Wood]

Galaxy used to do the Magician/SC46 as a deal so it gets

the maker's approval.

It will be fine but bear in mind the balance issue L.S mentioned.

Maybe fitting the servos at the rear on short pushrods as is common

nowadays to get weight rearward is something to consider amongst

other things.

 

 

[Phil 9]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably have a number more of questions when I start the build

[Lee Smalley]

40 la is a very light weight engine, the irvine is on the heavy side b ut i would put a tenner on it that any 46 sized engine you use will require lead in the backside unless you stick servos in the rear, as i said in my review if i was to do her again i would have used a square pack lodged right down at the back and mybe even then the elevator servo as well a good 46 will give you unlimited verticals, what sort of money is he asking for the 46 Phil ??

[Phil 9]

the sc46 is £40 but is still fairly new

[Lee Smalley]

hmmmm it will do just be mindfull of your c of g when your building her, personally i would go for a 36

[Sparks]

Hi Phil,

 

I covered my Wizard (the little 'un) with Profilm, but left the white plastic turtledeck uncovered. The underside of the wings are yellow.

 

Don't know about it's bigger siblings, but my Wizard has some nasty flying habits. You have to keep the speed well up during landing or it drops a wing. Sudden application of the throttle produces a barrel roll (torque reaction?). It's electric, so maybe the faster pickup time of the motor compared to an IC could be the reason.

 

best of luck with yours, Sparks

[Reno Racer]

I built a Magician about 3 years ago and converted it to electric. Build is quicl and very simple, although all from plan (no instructions). It flies brilliantly, super stable and nicely aerobatic; one of my best flying models in fact. A simple fuss free model that flys as good as my Pulse XT 40.

 

Ordered the kit from Galaxy Models (obviously), but Pegasus also make the kit and they offer a fibreglass cowl, which is far nicer than Galaxy's flimsy ABS one supplied.
Motor used was a PPO3548-900kv from 4-Max. 606watts at 41A max on a 4S 4000mah Lipo and 12x6 prop. A square 4000mah 4S lipo (25C Rhino) from HK fits perfectly where the IC tank should be and the underside hatch is perfect for Lipo changes.

 

Its in storage in the UK, but before that I flew the heck out of it; I will do so again when I get back home

 

Covered mine in solorfilm,Royal Blue on top and yellow underneath with RedBull Decals (bought off EBay and originally for a bike's petrol tank). I will try and dig out a photo, I noticed that I hadn't put one in my Photo Gallery.

[Phil 9]

starting to build the kit and it does look like a small airframe for a .46

 

What is thr best glue to use for the foam pices ie the wings and turtle deck I need to glue balsa onto bare foam

[ken anderson.]

phil-i used good old white wood glue...... ithink you'll find the 46 too mucho.....and also to heavy...

 

 ken anderson  ne...1 ...tooooo mucho dept.... 

Edited By ken anderson. on 24/09/2011 08:35:20

[Phil 9]

the build is going well so far but the kit is full of balsa but short on hardware and instructions and I wondered what others have done

 

what servos

 

are snakes best to connect the tail surfaces

 

does the fin just glue onto the top decking and is this strong enough

 

the plan shows a single servo aileron (i cant see any advantage to a two servo setup on this model)

 

 

[ken anderson.]

phil-i used standard size(futaba) servo's with mine c/w snakes...also as you say one servo for the wing......cant remember with mine----is the fin not fitted and then 'cheeked' each side with balsa?....

 

ken anderson ne...1. magician dept.

[Bob Cotsford]

standard 148/3003 size should work just fine. The choice of snakes v pushrods is down to personal choice, my favourite is a Sullivan snake on elevator (or 2 on larger models) and closed loop on rudder. Just make sure the outer is well secured at both ends and supported in the middle. If I can arrange a direct path I like solid wire pushrods for throttle, more often the tank gets in the way so it's another Sullivan snake.

However....

On the Tornado I've just finished I've used Sullivan snakes for rudder/nosewheel/elevator and bowden cable for the throttle as it has some tight gaps to squeeze through and around.

Wot 4 XL - pushrod elevator, closed loop rudder - big, solid pushrod though.

Acrowot - snake elevator, closed loop rudder

Super Chippie - was pushrod on both, but I converted to twin snakes for the elevator and it made a big improvement to it.

In my opinion pushrods are ok as long as they are rigid with sturdy wire ends (preferably 3mm just to stop them flexing) with no significant bends. For the main run either large diameter dowel, 12mm or so, or carbon tube, but no weedy 6 or 8mm balsa strips or dowels please.

One trick I use with Sullivan or similar hollow snakes is to slip some thin wire down the end of the inner that will be exposed at each end, secured with a smear of PU. This stiffens it up and reduces flex where you don't want it.

 

As for the aileron servo, I've got some models with twin servos, some with single + torque rods, and unless you want spoilerons, flapperons or differential ailerons there's nothing to choose between them.

[Myron Beaumont]

I was just wondering why the closed loop system is only used on rudders,probably the least critical of all the control surfaces (but maybe the most stressed?) I've never used it myself ever,only snakes well supported or largish balsa wood push/pull rods) Just why is this?

Myron .