David Davis Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 I suppose we all have more kits and plans than we have time left to build them! I used to live in Devon and used to like to go to the Exeter Club's end of season auction which was held on a Sunday at the end of the flying season in a local school. These auctions were stopped when the fees demanded by the school became excessive. At one of these auctions I acquired a Fokker DVII kit produced by a company called "Air Scale UK" which I believe was based in Scotland and although I have two other unfinished projects to complete, I am considering this DVII as next winter's build. It's quite an involved structure featuring built-up tapered spars to simulate the Fokker's original form of construction but what is really unique is that it uses 1/8" dowel for the fuselage longerons presumably to simulate the steel tubing of the DVII's fuselage. I consider this to be a potential weak point especially with my landings. I could of course simply use the fuselage plan as a template and make the longerons and uprights from 1/4" square balsa strip but it occurred to me that I could use 3mm carbon fibre tube for the longerons and uprights. Has anyone used carbon fibre tube to build a fuselage and if so which glue did you use? The wingspan of the model is about 1.45 metres which makes the model 1/6 scale. I have several unemployed fourstrokes ranging from an OS 40 Surpass to a Thunder Tiger 54 which should match an airframe of this size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Clark 2 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Most dowel is so brittle it's next to useless for such a structure. Carbon is very difficult to glue reliably. Sand the area of every joint to roughen up the surface and don't touch it again before glueing. You might try the slow (12-24 hour) setting 'Araldite' epoxy, (Don't use Araldite Rapid). I certainty wouldn't trust any other make. You can get it from Halfords. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Thank you Richard. It looks like it's going to be more trouble than it's worth trying to replicate the tubing. I think I'll just use 1/4" bass wood for the main fuselage longerons and some dowel in the cockpit area to simulate the tubing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Hi David, Before you take your final decision, have a look here at Peter M's Lil' Cub build thread. IIRC, he used some 6mm beach dowel to simulate the aft fuselage tubing. Other builders (Tim?) used carbon tubing.for a more scale job. You could always ask some questions over there. Cheers & keep safe Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Actually I used 6mm BALSA dowel. Which has surviced well. I am not sure what others have used. The trouble is that balsa dowle does seem to be made from softer balsa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Actually I used 6mm BALSA dowel. Which has surviced well. I am not sure what others have used. The trouble is that balsa dowle does seem to be made from softer balsa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Clark 2 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 A problem with wood dowel is it's not made out of any specific wood so its properties vary a lot. Birch would be ok if you can be sure that's what the dowel you buy actually is. I would just use square bass or spruce, You can sand the outer edges round where it notices, such as the bottom edges of the fuselage. Mayby use dowel for the cross pieces. Other than that it won't show after covering anyway. Dowel in the cockpit is good. If you want a leather cockpit surround just use a bit of old leather from a glove cut from the wrist to the tip of a finger, so it's long enough, bent to an inverted U section to fit over the sheeting and glued on with contact adhesive. Don't try to pad it or stitch it, that always ends up looking like repaired botoxed lips with the stitches still in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 Thanks for the advice gentlemen. I've just opened the box for the first time in years. The dowel is 1/8" (3mm) thick! I have not used such small-section wood since I built that Keil Kraft Ajax in 1959! I can get 5 and 6mm square dowel but I don't think I'll bother. You have to file out each upright and cross member very accurately to ensure a sound fit. I'm going to take Richard's advice and make the fuselage out of 1/4" bass wood. The wing will be enough of a challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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