Super Marauder, Depron/ wood composite with contra-props and retracts.

[Colin Leighfield]

I'm not even sure that I can find the floor! I've promised myself that as soon as I have finished this one I am going to drag the whole contents of the shed outside and sort it out. Then again, I might open the door, look at it and faint. It's going to be a challenge.

[Peter Miller]

I used to work in an outside building, An old Prefab house. I had a calor gas stove in the workshop area and the floor was ankle deep in rubbish. I also smoked in those days

Friends used to live in horror at the thought of coming in there in the winter.

[Colin Leighfield]

You are clearly a survivor Peter. I like to think that I am too, at least so far anyway!

[Colin Leighfield]

I've got two free days at home, so I've spent today putting on the glass cloth with Ezekote. I've just got the top of the wings, ailerons and elevators to cover in the morning. Two more coats of Ezekote and I'm ready to start painting. It's looking good now, loads of space inside to do a neat job of radio installation and loads of battery room to allow c of g adjustment and experiments with battery size. My wife's away for a few days, I've moved into the kitchen so I can watch the TV while I'm working. Don't tell her(!)

[Peter Miller]

Apart from the idea of watching TV while building. ( I like to see what I am doing!!)..You mean that you can actually find something worth watching???

[Colin Leighfield]

It's a struggle, but trawling through channels I found the film "Patton", starting George C. Scott, that I haven't seen for centuries. I enjoyed watching that, some expected Yankee bias but overall, a decent film. Provided a pleasant backdrop to lathering on Ezekote and glass-cloth!

[Peter Miller]

I boughtthat on DVD some time ago... I think it went to the PDSA charity shop afterwards.

[Bob Cotsford]

Colin, have you used PolyC, if so would you care to give us a comparison between that and Ezecote? I've only used PolyC and found it needed a lot more than the three or four coats you sound to be using with Ezecote, but that was on wood.

[Colin Leighfield]

Hi Bob. I've never used it. I remember that in an early conversation on here about Depron that Monz mentioned PolyC might be better. I said I'd try it but never did, largely because Mike's Models sells Ezekote! I've been using this with Depron and glass-cloth mostly, although the XB42 is Ezekote straight onto the Depron plus paint. However, I've got overlap of Ezekote onto wood in some places and just today, onto the exposed balsa leading edges of the Super Marauder wing. It seems to work like sanding sealer, first coat raises the grain, sand it down, next coat makes it smoother and more varnish looking, the more you put on the better it gets.

On sanded Depron it seems to work the same. I am putting on two coats (lightly sanded) before the glass cloth. After that I have got away with paint after two coats of Ezekote, but three is better. At that point the texture of the glass-cloth is pretty well filled and it's certainly ok for a matt paint. Four will give a super finish, great for a good gloss paint finish. These things are subjective though, your perception might be different to mine. My main interest right now is how this stuff makes Depron into a tough and practical building material, without sacrificing too much of the weight advantage. I'm becoming an enthusiast, particularly as for balsa/Depron composite.

[Colin Leighfield]

Everything is covered now, ready for final coats of Ezekote and light sanding before painting. Total weight at this stage is 1235 gms, about 43 ozs, 2 lbs.11 ozs. To add to that will be the extra Ezekote, paint, cockpit canopy plus pilot, retract leg covers, control linkages and flight battery.

[Colin Leighfield]

For some reason I couldn't get the photo to attach on the previous post!

[Tony Bennett]

soon be flying then Colin.

I use Ronseal now on my depron builds, but with a tissue covering not glass.

certainly looks unusual with the contra props.

well done sir.

[Colin Leighfield]

Tony, I certainly hope so I'll have the motivation to clear the shed out and un-bury the Chipmunk so I can get on with it, it's the priority now for 2017.

I have an admission to make. Towards the end today I ran out of my 17gm glass-cloth, so I have used heavy-weight tissue on the fin, tailplane and elevators with the Ezekote. It all looks promising. I haven't tried Ronseal yet.

[Colin Leighfield]

PI thought that I would spend this evening working on the cockpit. I'm quite pleased with the result, in keeping with the military jet/turbo-prop theme. The pilot came from Hobbyking, ordered on 16 November, arrived today from the Netherlands warehouse. Priced in dollars, including shipping and handling, $4-79.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Spinner go's with the decor, the wife will love it

[Colin Leighfield]

I like the way that the grey Depron +Ezekote matches the fake granite finish on the breakfast bar. What do you think?Perhaps I should leave it like that. You're right about the spinner colour, although the wife won't love it, she won't even notice it!

[Simon Chaddock]

George C Scott won an Oscar for the role of Patton but he declined it claiming the part did not deserve it!

One gets the feeling the George C was nearly as big a Prima Donna as Patton himself but nevertheless it was a very thoughtful portrayal.

[Colin Leighfield]

I think you're right, he eventually drunk himself to death, didn't he? It was interesting the way that Patton finished up, if that happened today there would be conspiracy theories buzzing all over the place.

Both he and Monty wanted to go for Berlin. I suppose the question about Eisenhower's decision to leave it to the Russians being a mistake with very big consequences will always hang around.

[Peter Miller]

Very nice. That pilot looks great and an awful lot cheaper than mine

[Colin Leighfield]

Peter, when received, the pilot was holding up one arm, with a single finger pointing up in the air. Probably meant "start one" or something like that. I thought it looked rude, so cut the finger off, thinking no one will notice. Then I thought he looked odd with one arm up in the air for no good purpose, so I cut the arm off at a point just above and another just below the elbow, then glued it back on in a horizontal position! I think he looks fine now instead of embarrassing!

[Peter Miller]

I agree. He definitey needed some surgery.in that case

[McG 6969]

Colin, if I'm following your 'imperative surgery' correctly , your PIC is quite a tiny bit 'short-armed' now.

If it's the case, may I suggest a fly-by-wire system instead of a conventional stick to control your Marauder's surfaces... ???

Cheers

Chris

[Colin Leighfield]

Chris, I have to report that his arm is exactly the same length as it was before, it is just differently orientated. I cut and rejoined in two places to retain anatomical accuracy, which would have been lost if I had made a single cut. It made me realise that my career has been misdirected, I would have made an excellent plastic surgeon. Ah well, such is life.

I suppose you could say that controlling via my trusty old DX7 is flying by wire anyway, just don't tell my mutilated pilot. He may cope with being surgically re-aligned, but finding out that he is redundant could lead to a suicide and I don't want to have buy another one.

[Peter Miller]

I once had a skeleton as a pilot with one raised hand but he did have all five fingers

I have another skeleton waiting for a suitable model. They were picked up in my local Coop shop for peanuts, about 1/6th scale.

Next time I may the arm wave.

[McG 6969]

... 'plastic' surgeons, post-surgery traumatic treatment, Coop shops & skeleton-pilots...

This modeling world is really full of discoveries and surprises for me, Colin.

Note to myself #3 > I really must NOT forget my paper tubes...

Cheers

Chris