84 inch Depron AT6 Texan.

[Philip Rawlinson]

Please be patient with me as this could be a long haul.

Please bear with me but I think some background to this build is required.

I am lucky enough to be in the same flying club as Depron guru, model emporium proprieter and all round good egg Electriflier so I have had the privilege of seeing up close the building and flying of the magnificient creations he has turned out at an incredible rate over the last few years.

Now he must have got tired of wiping my envious drool off his models because he very kindly offered to produce some drawings for me to have a bash at my own foam creation. After much deliberation the Texan was arrived at mainly because I have had so much fun with a foamy Texan I bought from Nitroflight with a cheapy sound module that flies great and never fails to put a grin on my chops every time I fire it up.

Roy spent many hours tweaking the drawings , which is something I have neither the ability or patience to do myself so the debt of gratitude is building up already.

I have built quite a few kits myself and also a few from plans but this is a whole other box of kippers so after studying said drawings Sir Electrifier obviously saw the drips of blood coming from my cranium due to excessive head scratching and proposed I cut my teeth by starting the horizontal stabiliser while he made a start on the fuselage (debt of gratitude grows).

Now my building skills are of the bull in a china shop type of, measure once cut wrong bin it and start again, so my first attempt looked fairly average so I jumped on it and started again (pictures to follow as my first attempt to post them ended in me losing all I had wrote and having to retrieve the laptop from the front garden)

Mr guru however has in his usual way moved on at pace as I witnessed in the shop on Saturday.

My time in the workshop is limited but I will try to update regularly and I just hope my attempts can live up to the rest, I will also have to resist the weight of the oak and breeze blocks that seem to creep into my other builds.

If you have managed to stay awake through my first ramblings well done and thanks for your time.

[Colin Leighfield]

Wide awake Philip. Can't see you going wrong with this choice of subject.

[Electriflier]

Firstly, I have to say 'I MUST BE MAD' how happy I am to be of assistance. One thing I will promise you guys on Phil's behalf is a very entertaining read. His rapier-like Yorkshire wit and very dry sense of humour will ensure his postings will be worth waiting for. Like his nickname-sake character MacGyver, Phil is armed with infinite practical and problem-solving resourcefulness and, once he gets his teeth into the build, I'm sure, will finish up with a model to be proud of.
Anyhow, as already mentioned, the plans have been drawn-up and were handed over to Phil for him to have a look at. Fully aware that the drawings would probably serve to confuse anyone other then myself waited for them to come back - which they did. Interestingly, Phil pointed out a major error on the drawings (which I wish I could say I introduced intentionally to test him), that needed resolving. It was at this stage that I volunteered to help with the build. We agreed that I should make a start on the fuselage whilst he started the horizontal tail stab. Phil's never worked with Depron before so the tail is probably a good first project.

The planform of the fuselage was spray-mounted to the 6mm depron and cut out. The main fuselage formers were also cut from 6mm depron (white , not grey).
So as to ensure the tailplane will be seated at 0 degrees, I cut a 6mm slot at the correct location for future reference.

With the knowledge that a specific motor powered my Depron Spitfire, we made the decision to run with the same setup so I knew the exact dimensions that would enable me to start working on the cowl as a starting point. The motor bulkhead is formed by the front of the battery cradle/box and set at 90 deg. Thrust angles will be introduced at the motor mount later. The bulkhead was cut from a piece of 8mm plywood and the rear of the motor mount holes, 3mm captive nuts were used. The rest of the battery tray was made from 1/8" light ply. Additional holes were drilled in the bulkhead to allow cooling into the battery compartment.

Eager to get cracking with the depron, I made a start on the cowl. (Cowl basic components shown above)

The cowl of the AT-6 Texan is not uniformly rounded, it sort of flares outward towards the rear end. So, I'll be making the cowl basically in two parts. The uniform front bit and the flared rear bit.
The cowl front-end basic construction.

I thought it best to shape the front outer rim of the cowl in dense pink foam. Once tissued and eze-coated, will be quite tough and 'ding-proof'.

The basic shape of the front-end of the cowl slides onto the front end of the ply battery box which presents the motor at just the correct depth.

The cowl as it stands after a bit of filling and sanding.
So, that's the story so far. It's Phil's thread and I hope he does most of the posting but obviously, I'll have to keep adding my two-pennarth with work and photo's of progress my end. Along with you guys, I wish him all the best in his first Depron scratchbuild.

Regards
Roy

[Philip Rawlinson]

Glad the brains of the partnership has chipped in with some photos to perk up the thread, I may have to submit charcoal sketches of my progress as my internet connection gave an estimated download time for my pictures of a week next Wednesday .

I really cannot believe how quick Roy makes the magic happen, I need to extract my digit and get a move on.

Cheers Phil.

[Roy Mundy]

I'm subscribed to your build Phil / Roy.

This is going to be great, you can't go far wrong with Roy on your side.

I wish you lots of luck and enjoyment and welcome to the world of depron.

Once I've finished my Magician build I'll be back into depron for my 2nd attempt. Keep up the good work I look forward to your posts.

regards

Roy M

[geoff noble]

looking forward to this

[Philip Rawlinson]

Hopefully a few pictures should appear below, they are all the correct pictures but not necessarily in the right order (Eric Morecambe 1976 Christmas special). The picture quality will not be up to the high standards set by Roy but that is ultimately his fault for for tempting me with all those nice goodys in the shop which left nothing in the kitty to replace the ageing box browny.

I don't think a description is necessary as it is pretty much the methods employed by Roy and the other depron gurus of a 6mm central core with 6mm ribs and a bit of carbon stiffening sheeted with 3 mm depron with a little bit of coring out to save a few grams.

There is also a 6mm square hard balsa trailing edge to give the hinges something to glue to.

I have started on the elevator this evening so hopefully a few more pictures tomorrow.

Meanwhile I called in at Nitroflight today and saw the progress Roy has made and felt that my life long ambition of being a dedicated under achiever was going well to plan .The man is truly a magician and most definitely a threat to the worlds depron forests.

Thanks for now Phil.

[Roy Mundy]

Nice clean punch out holes! did you steal Roy's new hole puncher?

I have tried to punch out holes but the depron kept tearing so I gave up, I think my copper tube wasn't sharp enough

Good work keep it up.

regards

Roy M

[Electriflier]

Posted by Roy Mundy on 22/09/2014 22:13:43:

Nice clean punch out holes! did you steal Roy's new hole puncher?

Lol, It was Phil who designed and fabricated the depron hole-puncher for me!!!
That reminds me, I must give it back!

Roy

[Andrew Price 2]

Looking good. Signing in.

[Philip Rawlinson]

A late finish at work means I only got a short time in the man shed tonight.

I had already cut out the 6mm elevator and the ribs so it was just a matter of fitting a piano wire stiffener with a couple of lite ply pieces either side to stop the piano wire pushing through and fitting the ribs on one side. I will fit the ribs to the other side tomorrow and hopefully get it sheeted.

Not much to report but I know Roy has been cantering on so he may have a more meaty update soon.

[Tony Bennett]

looks nice though.

well done sir.

[Philip Rawlinson]

Thank you Tony , as I said at the start it could take a while

If everyone had an Electriflier to help there would be a whole gaggle of nice planes flying round lol.

[Electriflier]

Hi,

Managed to get some time on the build this afternoon.

As mentioned previously, the planform fuselage shapes and formers had already been cut out of 6mm white depron. A start was made on the side view of the fuselage. To ensure rigidity of the fuselage, I cut out a slot in the depron to take a 36" long piece of 6mm x 10mm hardwood just beneath the centre line. Basically, this piece of hardwood stretches from the rear of the battery box to the rear end of the fuselage.

The top-down and side-on view which was cut from 6mm depron.

Taking the top-down fuselage piece of depron, I removed a 6mm section from its middle and glued the two resulting pieces on either side of the vertical fuselage 'keel' to form a cruciform structure Sadly, I didn't take any photographs of this stage so it's quite difficult to explain the process clearly. One thing I have noticed which isn't really apparent on first views of the aircraft is the way the front-end is not a simple cylindrical shape. Looking from the rear of the aircraft towards the cowl, the shape is quite complex, almost a 'cowl within a cowl' as you can see in the photo below.

The cruciform fuselage section was fitted around and glued to the battery box. 6mm slots were cut into the fuselage to allow the fusleage formers to slot into place.

The fuselage formers were sliced in two, 6mm removed from their centres, each slotted and located into their respective positions down the length of the fuselage.

The fuselage with all formers glued into place.

The front view showing the cowl pushed onto the front of the battery box. You can also see I have added sides to the cockpit area and also put a cockpit 'floor' in.

The rudder, as you can see above, I have fixed the ribs in place.

Also, I have introduced some 1/2" x 1/4" hard balsa to the leading edge of the rudder prior to fixing the rudder ribs. I will be fitting the same into the trailing edge of the vertical stab' as well so I'm able to use CA mylar hinges to fix the rudder.

So, it's taking shape. Just needs signing off by the gaffer before I proceed any further

Regards

Roy

[Tony Bennett]

lovely job as usual sir.

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

Mr.Roy, I do not expect anything less than the displayed impressive model ....and as Tony says ... as usual.

Rgds

Jo

[Philip Rawlinson]

I think the word is wow !!!

The speed you build at is breathtaking, the only thing I need to know is that the 6 mm x 10 mm hardwood strip along the fuselage is proper English oak

Hope to call in tomorrow or Saturday, cannot wait.

[Ian101]

You guys make it all look so easy!!

I might try some of that 5min lumberjack glue. I like Gorilla, but it takes forever.

Ian

[Roy Mundy]

We'll done Lads looking mighty fine, it was a good read with a cup of tea!

looking forward to the next installment

regards

Roy M

[Electriflier]

Just a thought after Phil came to check over the fuselage today. I look on this very much like say, the Eurofighter. Fuselage made in one location, tail made in another. Interestingly, Phil brought the horizontal tail in today to meet the fuselage for the first time and by heck - It Fits!!!!!!!

Phil points out the location of the right wing

Joking aside, the build is coming along nicely and it's not going to be too long before we're working on the wings. Retracts have been sourced (mechanical), wing layout and construction discussed. onward and upward as they say.

Roy
Tony, Josip, Ian, Roy, Thank you for your comments - aprreciated!

Edited By Electriflier on 27/09/2014 20:34:18

[Roy Mundy]

Looking Good !

[Philip Rawlinson]

Sorry for the delay in updates but as I said at the start it could be a long haul !

Well the truth is while I have been plodding along at the pace of a snail with a bad limp attempting to produce a horizontal stabilizer and elevator the depron guru has managed to churn out a pretty incredible fuselage !!!! it is true to say having seen it my im has never been as pressed

I have no excuse as I am getting in an hour or so most nights but I have to admit I am finding it rather difficult which just adds to the admiration I have for Roy, Charles and the other builders on the brilliant build blogs that I have followed on here.

I still haven't worked out how to put the pictures up in order with the adjoining text but they should show that all the elevator ribs have been fitted, the control horn hard points from 3mm lite ply fitted (both sides because we don't know which side the elevator control rod will be yet ) and the sheeting from 3mm depron started.

I have also cut out all the 6mm wing ribs and passed them onto Roy so the wing can be started.

That's it for now so thanks very much for the kind comments so far

[John F]

It's look great Philip. One thing I must ask, are you using the pot of PVA in the pics to glue the elevator ribs?

[Electriflier]

Evening,

After one rather rough week on the health front, I thought it best if I uploaded some photo's before i forget. Not a great deal of progress since my last update due largely to the fact that over the last 4 days, I've been out of action due to some mystery bug or something. (Let's call it 'Man-Flu'. Lousy sore throat, cough, no voice, temperature.......anyhow, suffice to say, the Texan has been on the back-burner.

Since the last update, I received some really neat wing ribs from the Bolton department of the Texan build (Thank you Phil) and set -to getting on with the outer wing panels.
The consignment of wing ribs from Phil

The wing shapes were cut from 6mm depron and each rib location transferred from the drawing to the wing. A 6mm slot was cut into each panel to house some 6mm carbon tube. Folks who have followed previous build of mine will know that this is the routine I always tend to follow when constructing wings. The 6mm gap was taped on the underside before the gap was flooded with 5 minute epoxy resin. Carbon tube inserted into said slot and then a cap of 6mm depron glued over the carbon tube.
Wing plate with carbon tub installed and upper ribs in place.

The centre section of the wing is quite an involved component housing dihedral brace, retracts and wheel wells and will be covered off later.
Important now that the area of the fuselage above the wing saddle got a bit of additional strength. I cut 4 additional 6mm wing seat parts and glued them into place as shown in the pic below......

The extra strips of depron that were added over the wing area have provided loads of additional strength and rigidity to this important area.

The battery hatch section of the fuselage was removed from the front end and components were cut to create end caps for the battery hatch lid. These were basically the top sections of fuselage Formers 2 & 3 so I printed out these parts and quite easily created a snug fitting hatch cover.

From bitter past experience with my Spitfire, I realise you cannot rely on just a good fit for the hatch cover and so a hatch latch was built in to make sure it stays put when flying. Easily incorporated into the hatch by glueing some 6mm balsa to form a channel which houses the latch and then epoxying the whole assembly into the hatch. Simple job then to glue a lightply faceplate with a hole onto the receiving surface to catch the bolt!

Here you can see the battery hatch removed.

Notice also that whilst I have been laying about feeling sorry for myself, I have had the fuselage on my lap working on a bit of cockpit detail. I scaled-up and printed out (on photo glossy paper), two sets of instrument panels and stuck them into the front and rear pilot compartments before painting the rest of the cockpit interior with black acrylic. Looks quite good!

Hoping to get back on it as soon as I'm feeling better than I do at present. Things have slowed down a bit over the past few days but normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

For now,

Regards
Roy

 

Edited By Electriflier on 03/10/2014 20:02:22

[Philip Rawlinson]

Firstly John F, thanks for the comment. The adhesive is lumberjack 5 minute wood glue from Toolstation (other hardware shops are available as recommended by Roy. It is used for fixing all ribs and formers while uhu por is used as a contact adhesive for sheeting. The lumberjack glue is used by putting a little glue on one side of a joint and a fine mist of water sprayed on the other then the parts pinned or clamped as the glue expands and can force the parts apart. It grabs really quickly and any excess can be easily cut away or sanded. Hope that helps.

Now onto Roy's latest update and I hate repeating myself but again Wow, the cockpit has come alive. Sorry to hear you have been under the weather , I would recommend sucking a fishermans friend but I know you are not that way inclined I will be calling into the shop tomorrow but leaving my wallet at home as last weeks visit to buy some £3.50 hinges somehow ended up with me leaving with a Spitfire under my arm !!!

Thanks for all your hard work.

Phil.