Sig 1/5 scale Piper Cub

[Andy Butler]

Harry, just send me a return air ticket and I'll glady buy you a pint.

[Braddock, VC]

Andy solarlac is very fuel proof so you won't need clearcoat. The only exception is round the engine bay and near that fuelling point you have which normally leak like sieves after a while.

My favourite is to mix up some epoxy finishing resin and paint it over the finished covering. It dries to a brilliant sheen and If there are any brushmarks they can be edited out with a heat gun before the epoxy dries.

[Andy Butler]

Braddock and the others who have contributed,

Thanks for the advice and tips, they are absolutely invaluable and very gratefully received. All I need to do now is get on with it.

[Braddock, VC]

Andy, you don't, don't let us miserable old gits pressurize you .

Edited By Braddock, VC on 19/11/2013 16:20:19

[Andy Butler]

No pressure Braddock, I'm just keen to get the thing in the air. I have two more builds waiting for this one to finish. I picked up a BTE Flyin' King off Ebay a while back for a ridiculously small amount and yesterday postie turned up with a Puppeteer that I bid on a while back and got it when the highest bidder pulled out. I was given a second chance offer, at the bid I made which was less than the winning bid. So I'm happy. That will also be another use for the rib stitching jig! Now I just need and engine for it. I'm thinking an OS 62V four stroke to match the 95V I've got for the King. Anyhoo...

I hunted high and low for a spray bottle to put dilute PVA in but couldn't find one, so I might just brush Balsaloc on and let that dry. I've only got to do a couple of strips about 3" wide so that should work. Then I just need to pinch Mrs B's pinking shears and do some strips. I ordered another roll of Solartex which came yesterday so I've got enough to complete the covering.

[Braddock, VC]

I'd like to see it flying as well. There's something so appealing about a cub.

[Andy Butler]

Braddock, I must admit that they have a certain charm not present in more modern light aircraft.

The rib stitching tapes have been constructed and added to one wing. It very fiddly and takes ages, I just hope the end product is worth all the effort. I need to add the pinked tapes over the top then it's ready for paint. Plus of course I've got to do the other wing. It would be nice to get the wings completely finished. Here's some photo's of where I'm up to.

This is just a scrap of Solartex so you get the idea.

The real thing.

I'll get some more when the pinking tapes are applied. Right, where does Mrs. B hide her pinking shears?

[Andy Butler]

Now the most annoying thing is that I have just realised why I made the rib stitching tapes the way I did. The rib stitches themselves were applied (effectively) to the underside of the Solartex so that when the strips were cut, they already had the rib tapes already installed so to speak. No I didn't get it at first either but Mrs. B patiently explained it again and suddenly I saw what she meant. The tapes are already there by virtue of the tex strips that the stitches were stuck to. So that's one wing finished then, and one to go then I can start painting. I did however get to play with the pinking shears though and my advice would be buy the pinked tapes from Mick Reeves. Don't try and do them yourself - I spent an hour shredding bits of yellow tex and still didn't get it right.

[Andy Butler]

I thought a quick update was due so In have covered the fuselage and all the ancillary bits, hatch, door etc. Getting the fillet at the tail wasn't as painful as I feared, but on the first side I did mess up a strip but with a little heat, it came off cleanly and went fine the next time. I have put the parts together tonight for a look at what she should turn out like. Definitely looks like a Cub now.

I have temporarily fitted the engine and have started on the cowl. First off the hole for the main shaft, as per instructions and spot on. It needs enlarging a bit to allow the drive washer through plus a little to spare. Then the slots below, the radiator aperture, a cooling air flow outlet underneath and the holes for the dummy engines. Not quite sure about these as yet, I'm going to cut the apertures, and see whether I can get some ply to sit inside the holes, blocked out a little at the rear so they're parallel to the drive shaft and glass those in place from inside the cowl. The dummy engines will simply epoxy to that. That's the theory anyway. It does at least look like there's plenty of room inside the cowl. The CD58 is completely enclosed by the cowl - which looks great but cooling might be an issue. I'll go with the instructions which says cut a fairly large hole from the bottom and see how it looks when I get that far.

[Andy Butler]

I just noticed on that last photo, it looks like the marked thrust line is at a weird angle. I think this is the angle of the shot, from the side it's absolutely true.

[Tony Bennett]

i like the cub.

nicely built so far sir.

[Braddock, VC]

That looks great Andy, not long to the off now eh.

That fin fairing looks just fine.

[Andy Butler]

Thanks chaps. I thought it was time to update you on where I'm up to. Having cut all the required holes in the cowl, and sanding down the edges, I've made two 1/16 ply panels that are fitted inside the holes for the engine cylinders. These are blocked up at the back by 1/4" so the panels lie parallel to the centre line of the cowl. These were epoxied in and left to cure. Then was the acid test - would it still fit without fouling the engine or the mount? I'm happy to report that the cowl still fitted perfectly so all is good.

Edited By Andy Butler on 21/12/2013 21:17:32

[Andy Butler]

Seem to be having a problem with images tonight - the cursor won't stay where it should. I'll try again.

[Andy Butler]

Definitely problems - anyway the last job was to epoxy glass the panels in and seal the edges. I used 17g glass cloth and finishing resin. Going to leave that to set up overnight and hopefully prime it tomorrow.

While we were away last weekend, doing the relative run, I picked up a cheap - well to call it an airbrush would be overdoing it - the Humbrol sprayer to do the yellow with so I don't end up ruining my Iwata. Cost £14 from Hobbycraft. Amazon have it a bit cheaper LINK.

[Andy Butler]

OK a bit more done. The vac formed cylinders will not be used but the radiator on the lower cowl looked about right. I did some research and decided to make a radiator panel to fit inside the square recess in the radiator moulding. This is just 1/32" ply, framed up with the same. I also found some tiny little moulded hex bolts so I drilled some 0.6mm holes and put some round the framing and 3 on the top of the moulding a la full size. I had a real job trying to photograph these but hopefully you can see what I mean. Finally, the whole thing was given a coat of prymol prior to priming. I've only got white primer so that will have to do. Looks a bit of a hatchet job at the moment but should look impressive when painted.

[Andy Butler]

Just read the words on the Prymol and Solarlac tins - doesn't need a primer. Well that's one lot of fumes I won't have to breathe in. (just kidding, I use a face mask). So going to commence painting everything in the garage (re workshop) yellow. Thank goodness the car stays outside. Having said that, Mrs B likes yellow cars.

[Andy Butler]

About time we had an update don't you think? I tried airbrushing the airframe with Solarlac indoors and the fumes from the paint made the whole house stink and I decided it was a non starter. The project was put on hold for a bit while I decided how to proceed. In the end, It waited until the summer. I chose a day that promised good weather and booked a day off work, dragged the whole lot into the garden and sprayed outside in the sunshine - much more pleasant (and probably a sight less dangerous). Anyhow once the airframe was painted and after dithering about what to do next, I decided that I would start at the back and work my way forward, so that's what I did.

Starting with the tail, the rudder was attached and the servo connections completed, including the closed loop rudder and the tail wheel assembly. The very thin stickers (decals or whatever you want to call them) were applied to the tail using the soapy water technique. Lastly the tail brace wires were added. I didn't like their method using cut off clevises as they broke as soon as you tried to bend them so I dug out some brass tube. One end was flattened and the wire soldered into the other end. A suitable hole was drilled and very carefully marked and cut and it was done.

Then the wings were completed, servos and linkages made up and the large serial number stickers were added to the top of the right wing and the bottom of the left. I had to look that up as I wasn't sure.

Then I moved on to the innards, setting up the servo electrical connections, the receiver and it's aerial placement and the remote glow driver. I don't have a picture but it all went together rather quickly. A big plus is that the false floor sits above it all and it's all hidden from view. I added a gizmo that I've had for a while, it's two switches, two charging jacks and a fuel dot in one so I took a bit of sheet balsa and cut it to fit. Once a nice tight fit was achieved, the shape was transferred to the Cub. One switch does the radio and the other the glow driver. The wiring was tidied up and tested - and it works quite well. A quick test had the glow plug heating up nicely. I added the boost circuit to it anyway and the magnetic switch site on the rear shelf up against the back window.

Windows were next using good old canopy glue and the door fettled to fit nicely. I don't know whether I'm just lucky but the latch for the door works very well indeed. I added some thin ply inside the opening so the door has something to close against, otherwise it had a tendency to fall inwards.

Anyway enough rambling and some photo's to show.

[Anthony Eden]

What's the latest, Mr B?

Tony