Chris Barlow Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 More trinkets! The Orme is going to be littered with them in September when they all fall off our A-4's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 They'll be well bonded onto the glass skins prior to final prime - they wont be dropping off in a hurry! Although the ones on the underside might get squashed occasionally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 27, 2016 Author Share Posted August 27, 2016 So, 2 weeks to go... Having finished sanding the wing I was able to add the 3 underwing pods today, glued with epoxy. The wheel bay pods show a nice little fillet on the the 3-views between the adjacent surfaces, and as I had a 1/32" gap in places on the model where the wing underside curves away, I added a little fillet around the edge with some Aliphatic. This will bridge the gap, create the curved transition and spray up nicely to give a neat fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Fantasic work, Phil, and a great finish with the glass. I want to try glassing soon, but only when I have a little more time to tackle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 27, 2016 Author Share Posted August 27, 2016 Thanks Steve - yes, the glassing itself has proven quite quick, straight forward and enjoyable, its all the sanding and priming and resanding that's beaten me. Nearly there now, I dread to think how many hours I've spent sanding stood out on the drive though - the neighbours must think I'm mad! And there is yellow primer dust everywhere! A good productive day today, with loads of little jobs completed, and a major milestone on the glassing tonight with the last panel applied!! As well as the photo evidence below I've primed, sanded, hinged and fitted the ailerons, I've flush mounted the rx switch in the fuselage spine and final sanded the fin. My attention then turned to the cockpit/canopy. I trimmed the vac-form to size weeks back and it proved it needed the little fairing at the front to bridge a small gap (there IS a scale feature like this on a number of marks) and the grave stone shaped piece of 1/8" balsa was added to aid alignment and improve adhesion at the rear (idea taken from Steve McLarens blog) The scale antennae behind the canopy was made from 1/16" ply with a length of similar dia carbon rod glued into a slot machined into the ply. A hole was drilled carefully into the top of the canopy and down through the fuselage such that the rod passes through both - leaves a nice tight push fit with retention at both ends of the rod. I was conscious some time back I had carelessly over sanded the console area of the nose section and has lost the sharp edge look. So I remade this using 3 pieces of 1/32" ply. Much more jet like. And the major glassing milestone, worthy of a photo - the FINAL PIECE has been wetted out this evening - meaning tomorrow I can sand the fus and start the priming process. With any luck the entire airframe should be primed and sanded ready for camouflage paint by Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Twist Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Hi Phil - been in a similar place with sanding -filler and primer - repeatedly ...I have a very yellow and dusty garage floor at the moment...! I like the antennae fixing method and the cockpit detail! Edited By Harry Twist on 28/08/2016 00:37:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 A bit of work on the exhaust shroud fit this morning before breakfast. I needed to trim down my elevator actuator by 1/16" to get the shroud to fit up to the underside of the tailplane doublers without a binding issue on the snake. Like others I'll now fill the gap with thin ply walls mounted either side of the spine I've glued to the plastic tube - not quite true scale, but better then leaving the snake fitting visible like on the prototype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 An afternoon of fettling. My exhaust shroud and fin 'end cap' design needed a little more iteration before it would fit and function, I had to work around a slight binding of the snake and the inner ends of the elevators when the fin was thickened slightly by the make up piece which slides on from the rear. The result is my end cap will have to be glued in place - mainly because it supports the plastic cone which is a bit 'floppy' - plus as you can see (below) I need to pinch in the extreme trailing edge of the ply onto the fin - which will aid elevator clearance. I've left a little window so I can access and view the clevis when its fitted in place. I also need to block in the T/E. With me having a wrap around camo scheme to airbrush I want to paint the fin and tailplane before they are all assembled and glued to the fuselage. So the order of the finishing work is dictated now by that, and frustratingly, none of this can be glued just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 The UK bank holiday fell at a good time for me, allowing a huge push to get this model ready for paint. The fuselage is now fully glassed, it's sanded and filler primed ready for final sanding and blemish touch up prior to final coat primer. The rest of the airframe is complete and ready for grey primer too. Prior to the sanding I've readied the model to receive a number of scale details, eg. peg holes for the arrestor hook, other lumps and bumps, and grooves have been cut for the cannon 'anti flash' plates just below the intakes... slight devotion from scale here as the one on the starboard side should sit ON the air refuelling tube, but I've positioned it just below for ease. Question - before I glue these 1/16" ply plates in - does anyone know for sure if these should be mounted parallel to the tapering nose fuselage sides - or square to the aircraft centreline? - I seem to have contradicting 3-views here, the original plan was drawn to show them square to centreline but now I'm not so sure.... Tomorrow the fus gets it's final sand, the lumpy and bumpy scale surface features will be added and the fus will be readied for final grey primer. #weightgain Edited By Phil Cooke on 29/08/2016 23:12:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 I was up early ahead of work today and sanded back yesterdays fuselage filler primer, added the number of little scale lumps and bumps and assembled the model in full for the long awaited 'ready for paint' photo below. She weighs in at 30oz in this condition but still no R/C gear fitted and no cockpit detail, and paint still to add too of course... will be close to 3lb before she's done I think... still, no problems off the Orme at that weight! Grey primer next, then I need to learn how to airbrush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I can see the cockpit isn't bonded on yet - how are you going to blend the joint of plastic to airframe after it's painted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Oh Lordy!! The scale police are out today!! I won't be adding a blend Andy, I've never done so on any of my PSS models - and having weighed her this morning I'm more weight conscious than ever! The vac form is only 0.4mm thick and it has been trimmed to match the panel lines of the canopy frame, so a little demarcation along that interface won't be too offensive, or out of character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I wasn't policing it, just asking a question in case there was a method I hadn't seen before being used. Usually I finish the cockpit interior completely and have the "glassware" bonded on before I get to final primer, that's all. This then ensure that if there is a camo change across the frame of the canopy, it is reproduced. To get the canopy blended 100%, I usually either sand a rebate into the fuselage to accept it then bond on; or bond on then gently blend with P38 up to the bottom of the glassware. There's a panel edge on the full size, but not a step. Oh, and it looks like the outer edge of the flash guards are parallel with the flight path, not the fus sides, so I think you've got that bit spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Twist Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Looks great Phil. I am looking to see your switch-- presume its the small recess approx mid fuselage top? For info just weighed my wing (the fuz is all clamped up drying at the moment), with no servos my glassed wing weighs a smidge over 1lb -thats fully painted. So I am also probably heading for top end of 2lb or even 3 all up. Edited By Harry Twist on 30/08/2016 23:29:17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Harry, Yeah the switch has been removed to avoid getting paint on it, so all you can see now is the small square hole where the switch will reside - its positioned in the fus on a piece of 1/8" lite ply such that the very top of the switch is just protruding - almost flush with the fuselage profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Before work I added the final grey primer coat to the tailplane, wing and ailerons and wet 'polished' this with 1000 grit paper upon my arrival home - these are now complete awaiting the airbrush. The fuselage however, is not... I've spent this evening fitting the fuselage with the characteristic refuelling probe which is made up in full from 5 sections - the excellent 3D printed parts (grey sections) by Andy Meade sized for the global standard McDonalds drinking straw, with a length of dowelling locking it all off over the wing saddle. The dowelling was drilled to accept a pair of short carbon fibre pins, which fit into holes drilled through the fuselage wall just above the wing saddle doubler. The main body straw slips over the dowelling at the rear... ...and connects to the 3D printed angled boom at the front. The 3D printed part has 2 mounting features itself going through the fuselage wall, so retained front and back the McDonalds straw section simply 'floats' between the 2 hardpoints and will not need gluing. I'm still uncertain how long to make the forward section of straw - again - a number of 3 views all contradicting each other. Sized here it extends just beyond the nose, which I think is true scale for the A-4E, but highly impractical for a model - for a start it means you can't stand it on its nose to look at the tailplane prior to launch! So I think I will cut this down a little, just short of the nose. The original design intent was for the front section to be 'knock-offable' for when it catches grass or heather on landing - however I think I'm going to glue mine on and see how we go. Thanks again to PSSA member and forumite Andy Meade for the modelling of the 3D parts - if you would like a set for a small charge do drop him a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 I've also glued the fin in place - with the rounded fuselage I found it a little tricky to determine its verticality - so I slipped the wing on, levelled the airframe on the bench and fitted a simple plumb-bob to the ceiling at a position where I could back the model upto the hanging line. Having double checked the level of my building board, I trust now my fin is vertical. With the fin secured I masked off the fuselage and fin base with tape and ran a 3mm bead of epoxy (with micro balloons) around the join, a bit like sealing the bath with silicon - which will greatly improve the looks once sprayed up. Edited By Phil Cooke on 31/08/2016 23:15:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 The cockpit has also received a little attention - I had hoped to have all this complete and the canopy glued down tonight but I've run out of hours... I've added a back wall former which the ejector seat sits up against - and given the whole cockpit area a first coat of enamels (it needs another coat in the morning before work) which should allow me to fit out the cockpit and get the canopy glued down tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Very nice! You got to be happy with that epoxy fillet, looks really smooth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Amazing what you can do with some tape and a fast, wet finger Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Just before I retire can I remind you chaps of the T9 Hobby Sport electronic switch which is very neat and saves all the problems I have had trying to devise scale switches. Can't remember last time I used a standard switch. They are cheaper but rubbish in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kettle 1 Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Very nice Phil coming on a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Jennings 1 Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 A fast wet finger produces a lovely tight radius Phillet! Crikey, its started already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Garsden Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 In answer to your question about the fuel probe Phil, I too wondered how far forward to fit it and also came to the conclusion that to make it forward of the nose would be a big mistake. I too set it back behind the line of the front of the nose like you. I also considered where to mount it horizontally and again came to the conclusion that it had to be proud of the ground. When I had a slightly rough landing at the Lleyn, as you will remember it did snap off. Andy was saying that the flexible join should really be at the join with the fuselage so it can flex if it hits the ground - version 2 he said? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 It's a bit late on in people's build for me to change much - all I've done on the last set I made is to give the elbow a higher "fill rate", which makes it heavier by a few grams but adds more honeycomb support inside. If there are repeatable failures of the elbow on a certain joint, then yes I'd look at changing where the weak links are, or even magnetizing the assembly to let the whole thing pop off the fus. 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.