Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 (edited) A while back I received a copy of Ron Collins' original F86 plan and as he was a member of our club and this model flies well in our conditions, it has been on my build list for a while I. I felt a bit guilty not joining in the mass build but I decided I would have to build this one first. It's also much less scale and simpler to build which suits my talents better! (this is only my second PSS and the first one was pretty ropey(!). The plan is basically very similar the the RCME one on Outerzone here except that it is drawn on two A1 sheets which allows the fuselage etc. to be shown complete rather than broken into two halves. At the time I was looking for materials Balsa Cabin had little balsa stock, so I decided to build it out of XPS pretty much one-for-one with the original balsa design (eek!). I have not used XPS much before so this was a steep learning curve especially where glue was concerned. For strength I've added carbon sheet in places made from cheap 6oz carbon weave (£10/m2). I usually take quite a few photos to remind me of the good (and bad) decisions - so will stick some of these up to show how I have got on so far. Wings are conventional veneer over EPS. Fuselage and tail will all be out of XPS - any advice on how to deal with this strange material much appreciated! Edited April 9, 2021 by Mike Chantler typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Cutting the wings out of EPS: VID_20210309_222345.mp4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Adding Kevlar hinges, carbon reinforcement and veneer skins: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Adding LE, dihedral and tips (really should not of used white glue for XPS laminations - that was a bit of a disaster!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Cutting out the ailerons, servo wells, cable runs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 OK - so that's the sort of stuff I have done before, now into uncharted territory of XPS block and sheet and strange glues for the fus. (eek!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 Looking good Mike, The Ron Collins Sabre flies very well, I built one back in the early 1990's. If I remember correctly my wing was skinned with mahogany veneer as that is all I had at the time. Bring it along to the Orme and join in with the other Sabres - the more the merrier as far as I am concerned! Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share Posted April 10, 2021 Thanks Martin, I've heard it flies well from folk up here as well - is that the mass build version in your pic? And I don't suppose you remember how you got the canopy for Ron's version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gay Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 I don't remember where the canopy came from. The PSSA mass build Sabre canopy is from Vortex Vacforms and may work for your model as they are similar sizes I believe. My avatar photo is our prototype Sabre. Flies in 12mph (just with the flaps drooped) and 40+mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 I think Ron's fus. is thinned quite a bit so we may just have to make one. I'll try and borrow an old model one and have a look at the canopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Got bit distracted by a 60" plank project which is almost finished. And made slow progress on the F86 fus - as I am just not used to this foam stuff. It's a very traditional design where I am trying to replace all balsa and ply with XPS and carbon sheet (don't ask me why - it seemed like a good idea at the time!!). White stuff is 6mm XPS sheet form B&Q. Orange triangle stock is hot-wired from some old XPS panels our builder gave me. Black stuff is 6oz carbon weave turned into sheet with the help of a large mirror and peel ply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Made up fus on top of wings to ensure fit and added some carbon doublers as wing saddle of foam fus looks tres. vulnerable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) What I forgot, was that without a building board to line things up on, it was not obvious that i had built a slight banana ? Hopefully I'll sort that with the decking. And yup- looks nothing like an F86 (yet, I hope. Edited May 7, 2021 by Mike Chantler typos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwain Dibley. Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Very interesting build Mike. As you say some alternative methods and materials. She is coming along great tho Matey. Well done so far, D.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Thanks Dwain ? We'll see how long it lasts on the slope lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Bagged a second pair of wings last night for a friend who is doing a traditional (balsa) build of this model. In a senior moment I doubled the weight of resin and thought that'll be ok - but got thermal runaway in the pot towards the end of doing the skins. First time this has happened to me - boy did the pot get hot! Inspected layup after 4 hrs and not stuck ? ! Now back in bag ??? Of the 59g used probably 30-50% ended up soaked up by peel ply. Must measure before and after weight next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Interesting how the mix went dark brown and foamed(!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 (edited) Finished 60" alternative build plank. Flies fab ? so now back to F86. Had been experimenting with 'glues' for XPS and had used universal thinners to 'weld' triangle stock to sides and 5min PU for the internal formers. Theory was that the thinners would produce a joint that would sand without causing a hard ridge (unlike the PU). Hmm.. as you'd expect mixed results. Too much thinner and you get holes (as in last photo). Too little and you have a fragile joint. Was pondering how to sand top of fus. flat (to attach top decking) without shaking thinner 'glued' fuselage apart when it occurred to me that I could hot-wire it. To my surprise the hot wire went through the PU glue (although it has to be said that it was quite thin where the wire went through). Yup - and still looks pug ughly compared with some of the beautiful balsa builds you see on these forums. Hopefully it will turn into a swan of sorts lol VID_20210406_130723.mp4 Edited May 20, 2021 by Mike Chantler typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 Added ballast tube, and rear wing seating. Am beginning to like this B&Q foam cheap carbon sandwich ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 OK now i really need some help. I cut the tail-plane out of XPS - looked real nice. Covered in brown paper and WBP and looked horrible! So think I will go with 1oz glass. But any suggestions as to elevator hinges? Can I just use the glass of the top surface or is this too fragile? Do I need to add 1oz kevlar at the hinge? And do I need a bit of a spar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 Oh, and many thanks to Simon Chaddock for the steer about the foam glue. Works great, and sands ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) Excellent work, interesting, informative and very different ? 14 hours ago, Mike Chantler said: Oh, and many thanks to Simon Chaddock for the steer about the foam glue. Works great, and sands ? And that is please as I have always used PU and Upor and open to try a better/different solution - thanks? Edited May 21, 2021 by Ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 @Ace It's the yellow tube glue, as per pic in Simon's Sea Hawk build log. See https://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/48053-a-hawker-sea-hawk-in-5-mm-underlay/&do=findComment&comment=885250 I got in from Amazon, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Thanks - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chantler Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) Got diverted again by sun, garden things and sorting out programming a couple of my slope gliders to take up the hill. Still have not really got to grips with TX16s telemetry widgets and things. However, took a bit of inspiration from a DLG build I remember from ages ago and did tailplane in similar way. Just used weights as could not be bothered with hassle of setting up bag. Not perfect, but good enough for now. And very strong for the 12g per side ? Edited June 2, 2021 by Mike Chantler 1 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.