Martin McIntosh Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 The `spot glue` is cut through and the cowl removed. Filler is added to attempt a shape which will release from the GF female mould. Several coats of thin dope are applied and sanded every second coat. The fiiler used was made from these. Firstly mix the compound with the resin to produce a stiff paste, then mix in a few mm of hardener to a thumbnail sized dollop of paste. The setting time is critical and depends on temperature/viscosity/ammount of hardener. It can be carved after a few minutes, then sanded, then it becomes like concrete. It is very lightweight. Light glass cloth will now be added. Do not try to use tissue/dope as the dope available these days seems to react with the wax release agent and sticks like s-1t to your shoe! This, and the following sequences of producing a glass cowl will probably not interest many but I am including it for those who wish to try. It is not the accepted method but it works for me for one-offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 The next stage is to glue a plate to the base from plastic card or doped lightply. The joint, of horse, nedds to be beefed up with a filly of cyano (sorry). This can then be coated with a thin film of epoxy moulding resin (Fibretech, or as they are now known, Bucks Composites) and left in the airing cupboard for a while until just tacky. Store the remainder of this resin in the freezer and you should be able to use it for the next stage which is to apply very thin glass cloth. Again put in the airing cupboard and it should be hardened in 12 hours when it can be sanded very smooth ready for wax coating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 The cloth is added, sanded down then a coat of epoxy thinly applied and again sanded using progressively coarse to very fine paper, the latter being applied wet. This should now have no blemishes whatsoever since they will make the balsa plug extremely difficult to remove. Mine is black because I tried carbon tissue: don`t. It is then well flushed with water and a minimum of five coats of release wax applied, buffed betrween coats (twenty minutes minimumum drying time each coat), left to harden then buffed again ready for the next stage. Meanwhile I have started to cover, this time with Solarfilm polyester to keep the cost down. I have only used this once before but it is going on very easily. This is my preferred weapon which I find much more user friendly than the expensive awkward ones on the end of a long stick. The film is cut well oversize. It is then tacked around the workpiece using low heat. After turning the iron heat up a bit it can be pulled over and tacked to the edges. Trimming the straight bits is simple with a crafty cutter from SLEC. Do not shrink the surface yet but add the top piece which is easy because you will already have covered the fiddely bits. Turn up the iron a bit more and shrink both surfaces. These will balloon up so stab them here and there with a balsa knife to release the air. The holes will disappear. PS. If this is teaching Granny to suck eggs and is not appropriate on this part of the forum then please let me know as it is difficult to know just how far to go with a build blog. Martin Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 02/03/2013 22:26:14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I don't know how to suck eggs. Keep going, mate - I'm learning something with every post. Thank you. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Thanks for that Ian, I shall continue then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I'm also finding this build very useful Martin. As IanR says, I'm learning something with every post! Keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Martin Very interesting the making of your cowel .If you look at "my photos-P47D "section ,you'll see I made a cowl another way .I originally formed a plug made of packing type foam about 1/8" smaller than the required size .Then I covered it with two or three layers of glass fibre cloth using (as you'll see) the very same resin as yourself .I then scraped out the foam which left a "see-through " rough cowl .That is as much as the photo shows .Since then , I've covered it with lightweight filler ,attached plywood former to fasten to the fuselage (F1 ?)and shaped using Mk one eyeball then primed and painted .The model was given to me to completely rebuild .What a mess it was and I don't know its origin but was an ARTF.It had no cowl at all .Still not finished it . Keep up the good work .With your method you've still got a mould to make a replacement when you crash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 That sounds like a novel way to make a one off Myron. May try it sometime. Once tried to make a female mould from glass covered blue foam for a small glider but it did not work out too well. Too much sanding involved. Just about to put the remaining coats of wax on mine then I shall add the gel coat which I shall show how to make later. Meanwhile I shall continue with the covering and will post more pics of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 So some more covering. The underbelly is pinned to the wing and shaped to match the fus. The wingbolt holes are marked and cut with a suitable sharpened tube. I seem to have lost the rest of the pics in `my photos` for some reason so back in a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 I thought that I had reached a photo limit on the site so deleted a few albums. Did not realise that this would also delete them from this blog. Sorry. Any way that these can be recovered Mr mod? The film is tacked on to each end then trimmed and ironed partially over the inner surface. I cannot show these pics since the site seems to have gone haywire. The bottom and sides are added in one piece. It is finally shrunk and sealed on with a hot setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Well, only some of the latest pics of the cowl build and retract installation have downloaded so I will have to suspend this blog for a while until the problem is sorted out. No replies or suggestions from the mods as yet. I have tried many times but the pics just seem to appear in `my photos` at random. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Besides losing a lot of pics from this blog it seems to have disappeared completely from `Build blogs and kit reviews`. If anyone can read this would they be so kind as to send a reply please before I waste any more time posting more pics which I now seem able to store again. I have had no response from the moderators as yet. Why has this blog been deleted? Can it be restored please under the above heading? Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Very interesting build. Shame some of the pictures are now missing.Have you deleted lots of pictures from your account?The blog is still shown on the list here.List of build blogs for the Tucano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Martin, as always with you experienced builders it is a fascinating process to follow and I for one find much to learn, read your blog all the way though super work and many tips, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Keep going Martin, you're doing a great job. It is a shame that we're not seeing all of your pictures, very frustrating for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Hambelton Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Martin I am a member of the same club as you and have seen first hand many of your outstanding models. I am looking forward to seeing your finished Tucano flying at our club in the near future. This build has been interesting and informative. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I'm still able to read you, Martin. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Hi Martin, Just seen this and the problems you seem to be having. Looking at your albums, I can see 76 photos in Martins i.c Tucano and 93 in Tucano. Are the photos you're looking for there? The reason you can't find in the Build Blogs section is because it has been moved to the 2013 Tucano Mass Build thread - given the subject it seems more at home there. PM me if you have any unresolved problems . Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 The first missing image on the previous page was here. http://forums.modelflying.co.uk/sites/3/images/ member_albums/26815/martins%20i.c%20tucano%20072.jpg The fact that the image is no longer found would seem to suggest that something has gone wrong or the image 20072.jpg has been deleted. The %20 is just the URL encoded representaion of the space characters in the album name. Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 02/03/2013 20:02:58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Hi Pete, thanks for your reply. The reason that I put this on a different blog was to separate it from the Hawes one which I have already covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 I reached a stage where I could no longer store photos, and thinking that I had reached a limit decided to delete some to make way. Unbeknown to me it also deleted them from my posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thanks for all your requested responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Martin If you'd like to upload the following photos, I'll attempt to re-post them in the thread. I can't promise that I can, and I think it's more likely to work if you put them in a new album. Each line of photo numbers here, is from one of the thread posts, 072,078,077,079,073,074,075,076 083,084 cowl,filler 005,006,007,008,009,010,011 012,013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Back to the build then. The u/c is checked for fit and operation. The covering is started. Fiddley bits are done around the tail. A ruler heated with the covering iron and pressed into a tight corner is the accepted way of doing this. Canopy trim and some of the pin striping added along with the front upper covering. Not strictly in the normal order but will make life easier later. Not sure if I am repeating myself here but this is what I am using to make the cowl. Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 27/05/2013 22:52:08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I have to admit that the hot ruler idea is a new one for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.