Devcon1 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 I wasn't wrong then. I have PVA, Epoxy 5min, Cyano, Kicker and Aliphatic... I feel rather inadequate now oh and some white spirit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 A man isn't measured by how many glue pots he possesses! Yep lots of different glues for different jobs and materials. Beatrice is now fully trained to stay in the cockpit during inverted maneuvers with the assistance of 2 screws under her arm pits. The engine has also undergone a service with a new piston ring, valve adjustment and a bit of a clean before final installation and the cowl has been drilled and screwed into it's final position. Still need to sort out the CoG, instruments and some decals but a Vulcan needs skinning and a Canadair needs wiring as well! The evenings are getting brighter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 Done a little bit more over the last few days as well as built the Canadair from HK. Had a bit of a session with the vinyl cutter to produce some markings. I paid my 9 year old daughter 50p to weed out the unwanted vinyl. It took her nearly an hour! Gave her a bit of a clean with brake cleaner (the Ballerina that is, not my daughter) and applied the vinyl Not copied off John but great minds must think alike! This afternoon I put her together to get some photos outside and to sort out the CoG. Still 15mm forward from the marked position on the plan so either need some tail weight of maybe a fancier sprung steerable tail wheel. Looks like the wheel boots won't be too snaggy on the grass and the prop has a good clearance to the ground. The photos outside more accurately reflect the colours, dark green and cream. In the shed the cream looks more yellow in the photos! So now I know where the battery is going I can set up the RX and switch. Must remember to connect up the ailerons as well! One job when cutting the vinyl was to cut two 40mm circles. One to patch the very annoying hole where the heat gun popped the covering and another to match on the other side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Looks terrific, reminds me of some DH planes. I like the vinyl machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyD Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 i agree with John terrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Beautiful job Chris You lads are setting the bar high this year ...limbo anyone John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Now that is really spectacular. Very 30ish indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 Thanks all. I've been trying for a 1930's era look since I first saw Peters blog and photos! I realised from my last post I still haven't done anything about the instrument panel so after clearing the bench a little I sorted it out! I started by downloading and printing a selection of instruments onto gloss photo paper. Then I cut a piece of 1/32" ply to the same shape as F3 and cut some holes in it to the same size as the dials I wanted to use with a tapered reamer. A drill bit would just rag up the thin ply. The dials were roughly cut out from the photo paper and laid out in order and the right way up to prevent mistakes! After sanding with 400G I coloured the panel with a black marker pen, making sure to colour the edges of the holes too. I put a small amount of canopy glue onto a tin lid and using a coffee stirrer applied a small amount to each corner where a dial was to go. The dials were carefully positioned to line up through the holes and stuck down onto the glue dots. The dials were printed on glossy photo paper so that when viewed from different angles they will hopefully look like they're behind glass After an hour the finished panel was divided up into squares to break up the plain ply look and glued onto F3 in the cockpit with aliphatic Looks OK from 3' away so that'll do for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Very, very neat. While I was reading this I remembered an idea that I think I picked up somewhere. They make plastic rod in various sizes. Get one a little bigger than the plywood and usung heat form it round a suitable mandrel. into a sort of spring shape. Cut the circles off and if you paint them black carefully glue them into the cut out circles (These need to be sightly bigger than the instrument faces) You get the impression of the instruments sticking slightly through the panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 Funny you should say that Peter as I was wondering how I could get a round bezel look to the instruments! I was thinking of somehow scoring the ply with a scalpel blade but was sure I'd mess it up first. I suppose you could use small brass or copper wire too and add some easy wear marks. Thanks for the idea, I'll be trying that in the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Yes, you could. Not sure what you mean by "Easy wear marks" but instruments do not normally get any wear marks. If there is an adustent control it might get a but oof polish and any mounting screws might possible lose a fraction of paint around the screwdriver slt. Basically I would say don't try for wear as the panels rarely get marked and that includes military aircraft as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Yes I suppose the dash wouldn't get touched very much. Maybe the odd chip from harness buckles if they'd reach but nothing like a trimming wheel being rubbed every flight.I'll have to have a serious play and look into cockpits and panels as it's something I don't usually put much detail into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Exemplary thread! The instruments are yet another item that deserves a separate thread with it's own title so that people can find it in future.........wire bender, instrument panel, etc etc ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Has anyone used O rings for instrument casing? They must be available in all sorts of sizes. The Boddington scale book suggests casting resin into a plasticene mould for instrument casings, but maybe that is now a project for a 3D prnter.... Edited By kc on 22/02/2016 14:19:01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks KC. Was looking at some Boddington books on Amazon last week and might treat myself to a couple. A quick update, but no photos yet. All RC gear is now installed, set up and tested. Tailwheel has been fitted and the CoG set. Will be running the engine today and checking RX again including range test. Might get a maiden tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Banner Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I haven't commented before but have been following with interest. Great looking build with some lovely detail. Good luck for the maiden tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks Jack. I know that a lot of people follow the blogs without commenting and that's fine. It's all entertainment especially with the weather we've been having recently. A couple of photo's following the radio installation. The battery is located on velcro to the cockpit floor and supported by foam which will sit on the top of the wing when fitted. RX is velcro'd to the fuselage side and the RX switch is fitted to the same side just above the wing seat. The tail wheel is just a basic unit with a piece of silicone fuel tube to absorb some of the knocks and prevent them from being transmitted to the rudder servo. The tail of the Ballerina is sitting quite high at the moment so I'll bend the wheel arm a little more to make it sit lower at the tail. Finally ran the engine in for 2 tanks to seat the new piston ring. The Slec tank gives around 18 minutes at half throttle so I'll set the timer to 12 minutes. This is how a Ballerina should sound! Beatrice reports that the engine is running rich and not too hot and has requested that the old "F" plug be changed for a new one after bedding in the new ring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Enjoy the maiden Chris it'll fly like it looks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Thanks John. I can safely say it really does fly how she looks! Maiden flight this afternoon. Had a little taxi test first to make sure the boots wouldn't snag on the strip and dropped a wheel straight into a hoof hole halfway up the boot! Not really a test as those kind of holes tug wheels off! There were a couple of members at the club so a discrete, private maiden wasn't on the cards! With Paul on the camera I taxied her out to the strip, final checks before opening the throttle to see what happens! A short run then she hit one of the many humps in the strip and leapt into the air and into a nice climb out. A trimming circuit and some up trim and she was buzzing around quite nicely. No drama or skittish behaviour just a gentle flyer! She felt quite light and floaty in the wind and would easily cope with a little more weight if you're building heavy. A few circuits and low passes followed and after about 6 minutes I called a landing. With the 6mph wind she just floated in to the strip, touching down on a rut but the undercarriage handled it just fine. Paul did an excellent job on the video with some good close ups in flight. All in, an excellent model and credit to Mr Miller another fantastic flyer. Video here if any of the guys would like to see what they're getting when they've finished building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Looked Great Chris, well done, shade nose heavy or spats creating a bit of drag ? good camera work Paul John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 I think it's still a little nose heavy John. I'll try another 2g on the tail as she's already spot on the CoG but the nose was dropping a little in the turns. 2nd flight was a little more exploratory with some simple aerobatics thrown in, for evaluation purposes of course! The rudder is huge and very effective for stall turns etc. Needed very little rudder in rolls which were sedate but not slow. The loops were a little more aggressive but still not too tight, just nice and scale like. She is very lightly loaded though and was showing up every little bump of turbulence and gusts. She'll look a little untidy in the wind if you leave her alone but I expect she'll be a dream on those calm summer evenings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyD Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 your writeup describes mine exactly,i found it alittle floaty as well,lovely for slow flybys though,you looked as warm as i was today,roll on summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Hi Chris thats great news. That is at least 4 completed now. I have enjoyed this mb more than most. It's nice to get back to a one model community project regarding your nose down in turns, have you considered aileron differential as being a possible cause? Just a thought if the inboard aileron was more draggy rather than the outer one - a bit like reverse aileron yaw. Best wishes Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Cracking video Chris. I recognise Bosley Cloud in the background so I guess you are just east of Congleton what video camera do you use? I am looking for something a big more upmarket than an iPhone. Martyn Edited By Martyn K on 28/02/2016 22:33:44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thanks Martyn, yes our site is east of Bosley Cloud, just outside Congleton. Ideal for powered flying or sloping! The video camera is a Sony Handycam HDR-CX330. I set it on landscape mode for flying videos as it doesn't seem to hunt for focus so much. 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.