Levanter's Mini Jazz

[Levanter]

I was having real fun with cyano being new to me. I have not yet found anything that it doesn't stick to and the ultra-thin stuff is so invisible you can't even see where its going. On earlier attempts I though nothing was coming out of the nozzle so I kept squeezing. You can guess the rest! In amongst an Ebay joblot of bits were some extra fine bendy nozzles. Cyano and I are getting along fine now and it has really helped me with my schemes for the MJ.

By the way the fuel proofer was not fully resin resistant so don't use it to finish a plug or pattern. It wrinkled and so I had to do some finishing work on the cowl mould after all.

Back to wing and here I have tacked all the shear webs in place. The elevator was pinned in its relative position so I could get the ribs supporting the servos properly lined up.

This is a hard balse packing piece where the rear wing bolts will go. This is glued over the thin birch ply insert. The plan says Liteply but I like to use something harder. When I crash I like the nylon bolts to shear of cleanly. The hardness of the ply helps this and stops the holes getting enlarged by the bolts bending before they shear.

This photo shows soft balsa blocks glued to the lower sheeting and the trailing edge. The blocks are the same thickness as the rear ends of the ribs. When I put the top sheeting on, they will give extra support to the sheeting between the ribs.

The beginning of the sheeting. Being a Peter Miller fan I really like his rounded corners and seeing as sheeting and planking is one of my favourite jobs but that's the boatbuilder in me. Downside is you waste a bit of material but I like the look especially with clear or translucent coverings.

Here the false leading edge has been tacked on with cyano and the edge was then bevelled and dressed to match the profile of the rib and the same treatment given to the tops of the shear webs to be flush with the top spar. An easy tip to help no sand off too much material (it comes off very quickly) is to lightly mark the top of the rib and the spar with a soft pencil. You stop sanding as soon as the marks begin to disappear.

More of the top sheeting done. The leading edge top sheeting is glued to the top spar only at this stage using aliphatic. This makes it easier to line up exactly with the back face of the shear webs. Later it will be tacked to the false leading edge while still on the board. The top sheeting is about 1mm too wide so it can be sanded flush with the false leading edge again later.

Here you can see that in the centre section I have rebated the front sheeting so that the closing piece has something to land on. It also means that the radiused corners do not have to come to a point which makes it easier to keep them neat.

Here I am using a piece of scrap that I adjusted and cut on the table saw to get the right fit for the closing piece. I am using aliphatic for this so the piece is a close sliding fit. I find that when I glue the edges the wood swells slightly and it can make it difficult to insert the section without using force. It needs to go in easily because the glue grabs quickly.

Here the closing piece is trial fitted.

Here I am marking out the corners using the first piece I cut out as a template.

[Levanter]

Continuing with the wing.

Here the closing piece is ready for gluing and the hole in the centre is for the servo leads.

This is a Liteply ring to protect and strengthen the cut out for the servo leads.

Next up are the corner pieces again rebated into the top sheeting for strength and to avoid a sharp point of balsa.

Here is another corner being glued in place.

To fix the cap strips I used aliphatic painted onto the top of the ribs and then tacked the front end where the curve is greatest with a drop of cyano. The strips then followed the curve of the rib easily and were pinned at the rear ends until the aliphatic was dry.

This is the top of the wing finished. It was then taken off the board, turned over and re-pinned to do exactly the same on the underside.

Earlier in the blog I showed the lamination of the wing tips. Here they are in progress.

More bits added

And the corner filled in for crash resistance.

Finished wing tips. The strange ribbing becomes less strange when married with the wing tip.

Here, not fixed but just to show the relationships.

At last, the final wing parts ready for final sanding.

Taking a break now for another hip operation (number 8) and in the last few days I have been getting things ready and organised where I can reach them for some more progress otherwise known as re-hab and something to look forward to. Mini Jazz will be perfect for this.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

You're a tidy builder Levanter, good luck with the op

John

[Andrew Price 2]

Good luck with number 8! I hope this surgeon does as neat a job on you as you are on this build. Looking forward to your rehab.

[Levanter]

John and Andrew.

Thanks for the kind messages. I have seen the tools the surgeons use. They are a lot more agricultural than some of my modelling tools!!