My Ultimate Biplane Build

[Gary Manuel]

Following on from THIS thread, here's my World Models 27% build blog.

Other than the purchase of the ARTF model itself, most of the bits I'll be using will be from a recent unplanned meeting between my lovely Thunder Tiger 28% Katana and Terra Firma .

THIS is what I'm replacing it with. It is on a fairly tight budget, so I may be making a few compromises along the way.

It will be fitted with a DLE 55RA with a decent quality (unknown make) after market Pits style silencer.

Servos will be:

4 x HiTec HS-5625MG for the Ailerons.

1 x HiTec HS-5985MG for the rudder.

2 x HiTec HS-5645MG for the two elevator halves.

1 x Futaba S3003 for the throttle.

I'll also use a RCExl Kill Switch Mk2 on the last remaining channel on my JR DSX9 Mk2 transmitter. Receiver will be a 9 channel JR RD921. Choke will be manually controlled.

I will be using a single 5 cell 3700mAh NiMh battery for the ignition and a single 2 cell 2100mAh LiFeP04 for the ignition. Both batteries will be switched via an AGM J-003 Dual Switch / Fuel Dot.

[Gary Manuel]

The first surprise I had when the model arrived was how small the box was.

It measured 1180 x 330 x 400mm.

Not bad packing for a model that has a wingspan of 1600mm and fuselage length of 1690mm.

Ah - that explains it. The fuselage does not include an engine box. That must be part of the build. Makes sense I suppose as it allows the engine box to be adapted to suit the engine used.

[Gary Manuel]

There are the wings, outer cabanes, tailplane and a pair of plywood wing incidence templates.

All nicely packaged in individual plastic bags with plenty of polystyrene packing pieces.

Fuselage, tail fin, wing tubes, undercarriage, cowl and accessories. All nicely packaged. Quality looks good so far, apart from .....

...... the cowl.

Looks like the clear lacquer coating has run in places. The cowl is also very thin (and light), to the point where is will need some reinforcement around the fixing points.

I'll comment on the various accessories later as I unpack / fit them.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Henry likes it.

[Gary Manuel]

Posted by john stones 1 on 05/09/2017 16:37:39:

Henry likes it.

Henry sucks!

 

I'm starting with the wings, so that I can pack them out of the way in wing bags while I continue with the rest of it.

They look to be well made.

 

Covering is a bit rough in places. Nothing that a good going over with a hot iron won't sort.

 

 

I found what I thought was sellotape in a few places, so I peeled it off. I realised later that is some sort of clear tape placed to protect vulnerable parts of covering from peeling off (I normally put nail varnish on these). It appears to be hot iron proof, so I'll leave it in place in future. (apologies for poor focus)

Edited By Gary Manuel on 05/09/2017 18:50:06

[Gary Manuel]

Wings and other surfaces come pre-hinged with cyano hinges.

These are apparently only temporary - these hinges are to be removed and replaced ......

...... by these metal hinges.

I used the cyano hinges in the aileron to mark the position and place the metal hinges into the wings.

There are 7 hinges in each wing.

Here's the first one waiting for the epoxy on the hinges to harden.

[Gary Manuel]

Whilst waiting for hinge epoxy to harden, I've made a start on the servo arms.

These look rather nice, with a tiny ball bearing to reduce friction and avoid free play.

 

HiTec servo discs drilled and bolted onto the supplied servo arms.

 

Servo centred using a servo tester, allowing the servo arm to be fitted.

Servo then fitted to the supplied servo trays.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 05/09/2017 19:05:34

[onetenor]

Posted by Gary Manuel on 05/09/2017 16:02:28:

Following on from THIS thread, here's my World Models 27% build blog.

Other than the purchase of the ARTF model itself, most of the bits I'll be using will be from a recent unplanned meeting between my lovely Thunder Tiger 28% Katana and Terra Firma .

THIS is what I'm replacing it with. It is on a fairly tight budget, so I may be making a few compromises along the way.

It will be fitted with a DLE 55RA with a decent quality (unknown make) after market Pits style silencer.

Servos will be:

4 x HiTec HS-5625MG for the Ailerons.

1 x HiTec HS-5985MG for the rudder.

2 x HiTec HS-5645MG for the two elevator halves.

1 x Futaba S3003 for the throttle.

I'll also use a RCExl Kill Switch Mk2 on the last remaining channel on my JR DSX9 Mk2 transmitter. Receiver will be a 9 channel JR RD921. Choke will be manually controlled.

I will be using a single 5 cell 3700mAh NiMh battery for the ignition and a single 2 cell 2100mAh LiFeP04 for the ignition. Both batteries will be switched via an AGM J-003 Dual Switch / Fuel Dot.

Both sets of batteries for ignition ? LOL

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Love the servo horns, where you get spiral wrap for servo leads ?

[cymaz]

 

I'm watching !

 

Spiral wrap

Edited By cymaz on 05/09/2017 19:18:10

Edited By cymaz on 05/09/2017 19:18:44

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Cheers Cymas.

[Rich too]

Excellent sub'd

[Gary Manuel]

Posted by onetenor on 05/09/2017 19:12:24:

Posted by Gary Manuel on 05/09/2017 16:02:28:

I will be using a single 5 cell 3700mAh NiMh battery for the ignition and a single 2 cell 2100mAh LiFeP04 for the ignition. Both batteries will be switched via an AGM J-003 Dual Switch / Fuel Dot.

Both sets of batteries for ignition ? LOL

Oops.

NiMh is for the receiver.

[Gary Manuel]

I've only epoxied the one wing at the moment. I did these dry, without putting any oil / Vaseline into the pins then wiped excess epoxy off with a cotton bud before pushing the hinges fully in.

Before I do the others, I want to wait till the epoxy has fully set to test:

1. That I can't pull them out.

2. That the hinges still move freely and are not gummed up with epoxy.

I think I'll attempt to dribble a drop of machine oil into future ones, but am a little bit concerned about getting oil onto the surface to be glued.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 05/09/2017 20:58:16

[Rich too]

I don't think you'd have a problem with them pulling out. You could pin them but I don't think that's necessary. I would probably use Robarts instead.

Nice model though, I would be tempted by one, The 33% appears to be great value...

[Gary Manuel]

I did think about using Robart hinges but decided go give the supplied metal ones a try.

Yes - 33% version is not much dearer than the 27%. My DLE111 is still in use though; and long may it remain so.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 06/09/2017 09:52:22

[extra slim]

Nice, I use one of my kids Wax crayon across both sides of the hinge joint.. once dry, there is usually a nice little "snap" when I move the hinge for any tiny amount of expoxy freeing off (or gorilla.. I like gorilla as it expands into the holes etc).. worked for me for years...

[Gary Manuel]

Hmmm - Gorilla Glue. There's a thought.

Goes on really thin and expands to fill the gaps and holes in the hinges. I'll see what the epoxy has set like and might just try GG if I'm not satisfied.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Gorilla Glue ? mind them trees

[Gary Manuel]

I'm sticking with epoxy (pun intended).

What I found was that the covering film got in the way of the hinge / epoxy joint. Also, the shape of the hinge limits how small the hinge gap can be. Like this:

What I'll be doing for future hinges, is cutting a bevel into the covering / balsa to allow the hinge to be set into the surface a little bit further. This should get the covering out of the way and allow the gap to be reduced to a minimum.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Yep i've always done that, smear the hinge line though, you will get epoxy on it.

[Gary Manuel]

I've been using "standard" Araldite rather than "rapid" for the hinges to give me plenty of time to glue all 7 hinges at the same time. As a result, I have one wing finished and the other three a day behind.

While I'm waiting for the other three, I've fitted the servo and aileron controls to the completed wing.

This is the supplied hardware for one aileron. All good quality fittings. Same bearing on the "Flag" that's fitted to the servo arms .

Aileron cutout with string for pulling the servo cable through ........

......... to the wing root. String is tied to the ply tag glued into the small hole here.

The high quality moulded plastic servo trays are handed. 2 matching pairs are supplied for each wing pair.

Care is needed to fit them the right way round - with the servo arm facing the wing root, and closest to the wing leading edge.

One thing I noted here is that the hole for the servo wire is central to the servo. The servo wire need to pass around the top of the servo to get to the hole. I was concerned that the servo wire might rub on the moving servo arm if pulled tight from the wing root, which might in time cause some damage.

To avoid this, I glued a small piece of ply into the corner. The servo wire is threaded behind the piece of ply, keeping it out of harms way.

[Gary Manuel]

Piece of masking tape stuck to the aileron and a line drawn in line with the servo arm. Nice to note that the servo / tray is correctly mounted perpendicular to the hinge line.

Flag positioned with the bearing aligned with the hinge line. Centre of the hole marked for drilling.

4mm hole drilled and hardened with Cyano. 4mm bolt and trim backplate fitted.

Trim cover fitted.

[Gary Manuel]

Threaded rod (both ends right hand threaded) and clevises fitted and mechanically centred relative to centred servo.

I use on of THESE handy little servo testers to set up the centre and check the end points without having to use a receiver / transmitter etc ......

...... one way .......

...... and the other. Plenty of movement there with the flag at the end of the 4mm bolt.

Happy with that. Other 3 wings will be done in a similar way once the epoxy sets.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Nice fittings Gary, not be any slop in those.

H.K wing bags ?