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Nijhuis Lancaster 1/9 scale


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The port aileron hinges were slotted in today. The jigs helped tremendously, kept each slot exactly the same angle. They needed widening out a nats crotchet so I hashed up a couple of slot tools out of some old hacksaw blades IMG_0093.jpeg

 

 

Edited by cymaz
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On 09/09/2024 at 20:46, cymaz said:

Another job  I forgot to mention was I’ve just put a Cortex gyro in my old Seagull Dual Ace. The DA was a test bed for the Lancaster engines. It’s now another job to do, to test the viability of the gyro on a multi-engine model.

 

Flew the DA with the Cortex. It made the landing much smoother and counteracted the gusty winds. If it just does that on the Lanc, I’ll be satisfied 

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Thanks Martin, I’ll bear it in mind. The gyro weighs in at 2oz, the landing and nav lights were about 7oz. Those are the only real extras. Of course, there’s retracts, engines ( + tanks), batteries and servos on top.

Edited by cymaz
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Set up the ailerons and tightened the push rods. I thought I might try and make my own sanding sealer and experiment with covering. This was PloyC and raw nylon.

The sanding sealer was 50/50 non shrinking dope and talc, mixed to a thin cream consistency. I gave it 2 coats leaving plenty of time to dry between. I did find that if I was over zealous with the application the talc tended to clump as the dope flashed off.

Once completely dried, gave it a good sanding with medium grit. To my surprise ( I didn’t know if would even work) the finish is like glass!

Next was to get the nylon and attach with the PolyC. An even coat was applied over the entire length. Now left to dry.

I’ll add some more coats this afternoon 

 

 

 

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Heck of a long time since I covered with nylon and it was always stuck down with clear shrinking dope. Tried PolyC on very thin glass cloth and it was reluctant to stick the awkward bits down.

Regarding home brewed sanding sealer, I use a mixture of Halfords brush on grey primer, baby powder and a little dope on top of the cloth since coating the balsa first would only discourage adhesion. Coat, sand then coat again until the weave is filled. 

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Cheers Martin 👌

I’ve done 3 different test pieces. 

  1. homemade sealer then nylon cover/Ployc 
  2. PolyC as sealer then nylon cover… etc
  3. Straight PloyC and nylon cover

Each piece has then 5/7 light coats of PloyC. I’ll leave it overnight to fully cure.

 

So far, I like the ease of clean down and no smell. It takes longer to cure and fix than dope. Maybe it’s due to the weather today, damp and rainy. 

 

 

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Checked the test pieces this morning. The PolyC really does stick ! Test piece 1 is the smoothest and has the least warping, so I’ll go with that. 

I'm still concerned about the edges lifting. I think I’ll coat the edges and overlaps with dope and seal them that way.

 

Test piece 1…

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  • 2 weeks later...

About 2 weeks since I last posted about covering the wings. I’ve checked the test piece, and it really does stick hard!

So now onto doing it for real 😬

Starboard wing has had its sanding sealer coat. I splashed out and bought a brand new 2” brush. The lightweight nylon is like gossamer, but will yield to curves etc. After putting a few pins in I went up the middle of the panel first with the glue then worked from one end to the other. Brushing in a light coat of glue and working out any creases..

Ive attached the invoice in case anyone else would like the same nylon. I’ll leave it to fully dry for several hours ( it’s raining at the moment), then go and have a look, I’m locking the garage door to avoid temptation

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Looking good. Polyc must be better on nylon than glass because I could not get it to stick too well on the latter. I take it that you intend to fill the weave with primer/filler.

When you come to paint it do not use Guild dark earth because it it very `orangey` in colour. Humbrol is spot on for a Lanc. Their olive drab is fine though.

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The weave is so fine on this nylon that 3-4 coats of Poly c might do it. I’m surprised how well it’s going in using light applications. 
 

The paint scheme will be 2k matt white and grey on top ( WW11 Coastal Command )

 

** just checked this morning, one more coat should do it. I do know , the  longer it’s left to dry the harder it gets. The test piece was done on the 23 September, 2 weeks ago, and it’s completely dried/ cured.

Edited by cymaz
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If anyone uses the same nylon and PolyC, DO NOT  use a 400 grit sandpaper to clean off the edges. It’s not epoxy ! 🥵. The edges go furry. I may be able to save it by extra coats of PolyC, we’ll see but the photo makes it look worse than in real life 

 

 

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Cut and trim edges using  a  new scalpel blade or pinking scissors and then add more glue to over lap and seal edges….I’m learning as I’m going

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  • 4 weeks later...

The wings have returned to Brian, he’s going to make and fit the engine nacelles. Progress has been made bit Brian is not 100% at this time so we’re on hold until he’s better. He’s not lost his enthusiasm for the project. Once the nacelles are done the wings will come back to me to have the engines installed and cowls fitted.

 

Back to the topic of PolyC. I’ve noticed that the longer it’s left to dry the harder it gets. It seems to turn the light nylon into a hard rubbery skin as it cures…..I’m not sure of the full cure time

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  • 2 months later...

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