Mick Reeves 1/3rd Scale Pup

[Jez Harris 1]

Because the wing has such a pronounced under camber, its vital to pack the ribs off the board - you have to use different heights across the 3/4" of the spars width, such is the curve.


Because the info is across 2 plans, and I'm a dimwit at times, I like to use masking tape to leave myself messages or info on the wings to identify key points.


I spoke to the Guru of all things model aeroplane shaped - Ian Redshaw - before starting the build, and one of the amendments he suggested was regarding the fixing of the interplane struts and associated bracketry. The plans instruct you to secure the brackets for all flying and landing wires by drilling through one spar and bolting them in place. The struts themselves are not physically bolted on. They are simply held in compression by the flying wires. The plans instruct you to insert short pins into the ends of the struts which sit in holes drilled through a single spar. Ian's suggestion was to bolt through both top and bottom spars - and make the pins in the strut ends long enough to do the same. The thought behind this is to give you a fighting chance should you lose a flying wire - an all too terminal failure!
So I made a few angled blocks out of ply..


These fit snugly between the spars and give support to both the bolts that will hold the brackets and also give a much deeper hole for the pin to sit in. I think this is a much needed improvement as the spar is drilled in three places across just 3/4" - this strengthens the weak area you create doing so - cheers Ian

[Jez Harris 1]

Next the wing tip..

One word here...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! - Nothing fitted other than the large pre-shaped ply piece.

There are 2 arrow shaped pieces as shown in the centre of this pic from earlier..


Without severe applicaion of a saw, I could not get these to fit. The "shaft" of the smaller arrrow just doesnt fit anywhere - its way to big to fit between the spars, and to get them in would mean really hacking the spars about. The front "arrow" would fit but doing so would put it so far fowards that it is in totally the wrong place - i.e not in line with the spar.
Head scratching resulted in the decision to simply chop the shaft off the arrow, and glue it straight onto the ends of the spars. It then goes together quite sweetly! Strength is maintained as the various bits join to the final rib. I will be adding 14swg wire wing tips to give the final shape to the tips and a bit more strength.


The trailing edge is again wire - I am a bit annoyed with myself here - The centre section has a trailing edge made from two layers of 14swg wire soldered together, that took forever to bend and in my opinion aren't quite as crisp as I would have wanted. Only when I move onto the wing plans do I find a tiny note stating "use two pieces of wire if using 16swg, or 1 piece if using 14swg...
I will redo the centre section later!!


The leading edge will again be glass fibre rod.

[Jez Harris 1]

A bit more scale stuff..

I need to re-create these pulley wheels..


I was perusing various dispalys in my local model shop - Mike's Models, near Birmingham, when I came across these in the boating section..




I have plonked one in place to see how they look - I think with the addition of either brass strip or maybe even plasticard, it will look about right..


Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

You just get to the point when your building a biplane that you have to now make 3 more of most of what you have done so far.

So here is what I have been up to..

Firstly, there are now 4 wings, One is complete - I will go over this in a bit more detail in a minute.


There are also 4 of these -


The ailerons are quite simple to build - a piece of dowelling, another piece of wire bent to shape and a few ribs.


One of the ribs has the horns attached - I'm doing it before I assemble the aileron so I can get at the screws easier. I've backed them with a bit of tinplate to stop the bolts pulling through.

[Jez Harris 1]

So it all just goes together - the leading edge is made up of just 1/8th sheet balsa that needs cutting to size.


You then bend a few bits of metal ..


Get the blowlamp out and some silver solder to create one of these..and glue it in place with some epoxy.


As mentioned previously, the leading edge is made up of 3 pieces of 1/8th balsa sheet. The instructions tell you to screw the ailerons onto this using robert flat hinges...I wouldn't fancy picking up the pieces after the test flight if I followed that..
I therefore cut out some pieces of 3/16th ply to give something that might stand a chance of taking a hinge.


These were fitted flush with the leading edge - the slight step down to the ply is to allow for the thickness of the hinge.


Then its a case of repeat three more times until you are bored with ailerons.

Jez

Edited By Jez Harris 1 on 08/02/2014 20:38:51

[Jez Harris 1]

Back to the wings...

Riblets and capping strips were added.


As well as a couple of scale type compression struts and the cross-bracing wires.


I am fed up of riblets and capping strips!!
Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

One of the important bits to emulate on a pup is this bit..



All that lovely metal and bracketry that holds the rudder post, the mount for the horizontal stab, and at the bottom, the post that holds the skid.

[Jez Harris 1]

Metalwork isnt a massively strong tool in my store, so this was always going to be a challenge.
I have managed quite easily to join two bits of metal together using ordinary and silver solder, but several pieces at once..

I actually managed to destroy several lengths of brass tubing, melted other bits of plate and fecked several items up the wall.

I then had a chat with Mr Redshaw, I seemed to be using all the right stuff, in the right order but without success, so we considered that I maybe wasnt getting the materials clean enough.

So this time, I set to with determination and even more flux...

First off I made a paper template.


Transferred it to brass sheet..


Cut it out with tin sips, cleaned it with wire wool, bent it in a vice, cleaned it, Drilled the requisite holes and cleaned it again - this time I then put on latex gloves to avoid contaminating the work.


Then I applied flux to the inside and the outside of the joins and to the brass tubing, I then cut pieces of solder which I wrapped around the tube at the joint, then added more flux.
I used a propane torch to heat the work as evenly as possible. When hot enough, the solder can be seen flowing into the joint.
I then repeated the process for the lower bracket.
Ta da....


I'm quite happy with this - needs a bit more cleaning yet..

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

Had to have cheeky put together just to see if everything lines up okay.
You can see here how the brass 'T' piece that fitted to the trailing edge of the horizontal stab attaches the stab to the fus.



I also managed to get the build of all 4 wings finished.

Fin next, then a bit of hinging.

I'm working up to building the undercarriage..Now that is a metalworking challenge!

I can't put it off much longer as I need it on some trotters before I can put it all together for the first time.

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

I have made the verticle fin - I left this until I could check the fir with the tail bracketry and the horizontal stab.

Again a very simple wire frame with a couple of dowels.


I also made a couple of brackets that wil take the rigging wires later. Just a piece of brass tubing and a drilled flat plate. 1 fit to the very bottom of the sternpost and will take the wires for the underneath of the stab, the other is mounted 2/3rds of the way up the post and takes care of the rear upper wires,


I wasnt too sure how to best fit this, finally I settled for a simple hole all the way through both the fixture and the post, and a simple pin all the way through to secure it.


I have been playing with lithoplate today for the upper front cowling. They are supposed to be fitted with countersunk self tappers.
Any suggestions for countersinking lithoplate accurately?
I have tried a variety of drill bits but I cant get a decent look, and the countersink bit I have just rips through the plate in a nano second.

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

More progress..

Firstly a simple bent bracket that will affix to the sternpost bracket and will (eventually) hold the steerable tail skid.


It fits here...Crikey that looks rough - need to get a bit of cleaning up done!


Bit better with a cleaning and a coat or two of paint..


Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

Oh no!!

I cant do any covering until I've sorted out the rigging..

I cant do any rigging until I can get the fus and wings together which means getting the fus in the right position..

I cant put it off any longer....

I need trotters!!

This is the one bit of the build that I'm a litte bit nervous of..

Here is what I would have preferred...


Here is what you get..Lots and lots of bits of straight metal..


And here is what I want to replicate..



The bit that concerned me is that the material is metal tube - so its not just a case of a straight forward butt joint - I have to find a way of creating curves in cut tubes that will match the curvature of the tube I'm welding together...AAARRRRGGGGHH....

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

I researched 'how to join tubing' on the internet...It totally freaked me out! - it spoke of saddle joints and all manner of lathe/machinary based ways of getting a proper angled joint.

So again I called Ian Redshaw who told me to simply geta round a round file and go for it..So I did!!

The first thing I did was spend ages on 'tinternet trying to get a 5/16th round file - figuring if I got one the same diameter as the tubing, I would get a snugglier fit..Hmmm..they dont seem to do one.

A quick trip to Wilkinsons soon had me kitted out with a 'close enough' for £3!


In just a few strokes I got this..


Put next to another piece of tube...That'll do!


Sooo...Armed with a bit more confidence I started on some of the easier bits..I cut a few flat plates from some strip steel, and a few short lengths of tubing.


I held the plate in a pair of grips, in turn these were clamped in the vice.


Added some flux to the plate


Then fluxed the tube..


I bought the pieces together and then I added a small cut off piece of silver solder - The idea of the cut off piece allowed me to :-
A - hold the tubing in place and re-position it if the blow torch disturbed it
B- take photos of the process!

[Jez Harris 1]

A dab more flux over the lot...


And in with the blow lamp, concentrating on moving the torch to heat the material as evenly as possible.


When hot enough you see the solder suddenly melt and flow through the joint - Its lovely to watch!! I ended up with lovely evenly coated welds..Phew!
These parts are the 4 bobbins that will hold the bungee that in turn provides the suspension for the u/c.


Inspired, I cracked on...
Some of the joints were ok


The hardest one was this one - the weld isnt absolutely perfect but applying full Gorilla Force couldn't break the weld so it must be ok!


In a couple or maybe 4 hours - I had produced this - I'm well chuffed with it!



I battered the joints with a mallett - Gave it to SWMBO and asked her to try and break it and it seems rock solid - RESULT!!

Just need to produce another one for the other side and then I can move onto the axle and all the pivots that go with that.

I'm chuffed to bits with the U/C so far - in the past I have spent £150 - £200 getting others to make me undercarriages. Not any more!!

Jez

[Jez Harris 1]

Its not easy holding some of the pieces in plave whilst joining them..

This is the Heath Robinson contraption I came up with...

Couple of bench vices, a metal clamp and a pair of mole grips.



Now a confession or two..
My first frame had the U/C bungee bobbins soldered at the wrong angle - I cut them off, cleaned the legs and soldered new bobbins to the other side to ensure a clean surface for the new weld.

It worked spot on and I got the bobbins at the right angle without fuss.

So I tackled the bobbins on the other frame in the same way - forgetting I had actually put the bobbins on the first frame on the other side - so I ended up with 2 identical right hand frames..

After copious swear words I got the dremel out and chopped them off.

Confession 2 - I then got the grinder out and cleaned off the old welds before deciding to gve it a final buff with a steel wire wheel in the leccy drill.
I had eye protection on and a pair of gloves so felt safe..
I started buffing - suddenly my fleece caught in the wire wheel and wrapped up - taking my t-shirt with it...The drill ended up firmly wedged in a mass of fleece fluff, BMFA polo shirt and gut......
Luckily I only ended up with a couple of decent grazes across the Man Bump..

Do they do PPE for fat bellies?

At this point I had spent over two hours to end up making just sparks and some metal filings so I gave up for the evening.

I'll try again tomorrow when I'm in a better frame of mind

Jez

[cymaz]

Slow down!!! I can't keep up

[Jez Harris 1]

Ok so on with the trotters..

Next up is the spreader bars so another bodge it jig was required.


A piece of square steel kept everything in line whist I joined the u clamps on.


That all got me here to this point.



Next I moved on to the axles - I had to join a 1/32 strip of steel to a 1/8 thick tubular axle to create the bungee guide- there was no way I could get the axle hot enough to silver solder (trust me - I tried!) - So instead I drilled a hole, tapped it and simply screwed it on.

[Jez Harris 1]

The 2 axles were prepared by simply drilling a couple of holes right the way through - one for the pivot bolt in the centre, the other to take a split pin to retain the wheels.


Here you can see how the bungee system works - the bungee is simply wound in a figure of 8 around the 2 bobbins welded to the main frame. The bungee guide on the axle keeps it all in the right place and stops it fouling the wheel.


Finally its nearly on its wheels..


Bit more to add befoe I get there though.
First off a strip of 1/16th steel bent at either end..


Tapped and threaded in the same position as the mounting brackets -


2 of these are made and fitted as braces between the mounting points..

[Jez Harris 1]

Next I added a small plate between the ends of the 2 axles. This is drilled to take one of the undercarriage bracing wires.


I then added the 2 brackets that take the bracing wires from either end of the axle assembly. You can also see the bracing wires at this point - I used 18gauge wire with simple non-threaded extenders soldered to them. These allow you to screw the supplied turnbuckles easily.


The other ends are fitted to a former added when building the fus. Three simple brackets with 90 degree bends enable you to bolt extenders through them.


You end up with a very scale looking u/c that is very strong.

[Jez Harris 1]

I decided to cover something.
I really wanted to try real stitching to gauge how do-able it is.

I grabbed the rudder as it has the least stitching. Having never tried ironing Solartex to metalwork before this was new ground for me.
You have to use a lot more heat to get the first piece on -after that you are attaching tex to tex so no more issues.


I glued a length of thread to one side.


This side has simple stiches that go over the thread - sorry for the poor picture quality!


The other side has a knot where the thread simply gets crossed over - I was worried as no matter what I did it looked messy - pulling it tighter distorted the covering too much and opened up the needle holes.


Not too worry because what I found was that adding the rib tape allows you to move the stitch to exactly where you want it and to get it all lined up. Again a poor picture - sorry!

[Jez Harris 1]

I have to say that the real stitching looks far superior to anything I have managed before.

The process is probably easier too as the rib tapes seem to need less rubbing down - I've burned my thumb quite a lot in the past trying to rub tapes down whilst still hot. Here is the finished test piece - with the edging tapes on it looks fine. Its odd how the camera has made the shape of the rudder looks distorted - it is a nice smooth curve - honest!


I've got to strip it off and re-do with a proper set of rib tapes and a bit more care - If only cos at the moment all the finished sub assemblies are hanging up and I cant hang things up when they are covered!!

[Jez Harris 1]

Another quick test was to see how the cockpit coaming could be achieved.

You get a nicely cut piece of wood with the cockpit outline ready cut.


I got hold of some polystyrene tubing from the Mick Reeves site. Dirt Cheap!!


It is a hollow tube that is dead easy to slit open allowing you to slip it onto the edge of the deck.



Mick also sells leather cloth for a reasonable price - In the past I have used the Mrs' old handbags - you can usually find a bits with stitching and even nice ready tubed bits..


I wasnt sure the best glue to use so I did a quick test - one with copydex contact glue and the other just using cyano. I want to get a nice crisp join between the ply and the leather.
Copydex was ok, but it seems to peel off the ply quite easily so I'm worried about longevity. Its also a of an art to get it lined up as it grabs quick and there is no positioning time.


Medium Cyano gave a bit of manoevering time and a much crisper edge so I will go with that unless anyone has any other suggestions?

---

[Jez Harris 1]

On with the cockpit coaming then,

With the foam tubing in place its just a matter of glueing the leather trim in place.



in the kit you are supplied with the brass eyelets required to finish the coaming off - they are a bit small!!



I had to find a way to handle them as I have fingers like chubby crayons. A tiny jewellers screwdriver fittted through them ( a 2mm flat blade jobby) , making it easier to pick them up. I did try tweezers but lost 4 as they pinged across the work shop.



the other advantage of the screwdriver was that the eyelet rested against the handle which allowed me to push them home into holes drilled through the ply decking and leather. I put a dab of cyano on each eyelt just to fix them in place.




Ready for threading..



And finally - a bit more "sewing" - I only had a thick white cotton, so a quick soak in strong black coffee gave me the shade I wanted.



Not a bad finished look if I say so myself..Another job ticked off the list!!

[Willowlea]

All hail the great Mr Redshaw - tell him he still owes me a Helena hehe

"Someone remind me what it is about building WW1 bipes that interests me?"

Because after all your hard work it is going to look and fly beautifully

[Jez Harris 1]

Phew...

So now we are up to date!

I started the build on 21st Dec last year. I've managed to do at least 2 -3 hours minimum per day with a few days off here and there and a couple of all day on a Sunday.

I reckon I have put about 100 hours in so far and I think its progressing well.

Next jobs on the list are to clad the undercarriage, create new windows for the pulleys on the wings and make the interplane strts and a tail skid.

At least this terrible weather is stopping me from flying and maximising the building!

Jez

P.S. - Feel free to make any comments - all feedback positive or negative welcome.