Winter projects

[Ron Gray]

Due to pressure from club mates, yes I will be - £35 plus postage for the Depron, C/F spar and ply bits.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Ron Gray

[Chris Walby]

Hi Ron, Please add me to the list, better dig around and find a couple of spare motors. What's in yours as a guide + prop size? cheers

[Ron Gray]

2212 1400kv 7x5 props. 

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

13 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

Due to pressure from club mates, yes I will be - £35 plus postage for the Depron, C/F spar and ply bits.

When will mine be ready then @Ron Gray?

Merry Christmas!!

[Ron Gray]

Merry Christmas @Kevin Fairgrieve

 

if I get chance I’ll cut it this week!

[andrew exton]

On 21/12/2023 at 10:38, Graham Davies 3 said:

My big winter project is reaching the 'exciting' stage! 

 

74" span (1/6scale) Spitfire Mk1. This will be based on P9374, which was the subject of a book Peter Miller very kindly gave me. It crashed onto the beach in Calais in 1940, and sank into the sand. It was recovered in the 80s, and rebuilt to flying condition. I love a back-story, so this had to be done.

 

It's mostly depron (laminate flooring underlay from B&Q), but with some balsa and ply in order to keep it all into line at this scale. It is a proper 'full fat' model with retracts and flaps, and a reasonable amount of scale detail, thanks to Mick Reeves. It's (hopefully) going to fly on 6S, and will be covered in glass cloth, applied with B&Q water based varnish (I am not affiliated with B&Q, other DIY stores exist... ;-)). It will be painted with emulsion, and finished in the Richard Wills school of scale. It is intended to look great in the air, good on the ground at 10 ft, and only certain angles permitted to view closer than that....

 

Target weight is around 7 lb. Given that Mick Reeves superb kits fly incredibly well at 12lb plus, this should get up OK. In fact, as Richard puts it, it may be at risk of flying like a bin bag in any sort of wind... However, it's several hundred meters from the car park to our strip, and I'm gonna need several tea breaks carrying a 12lb model that far.

 

The thing to note here is how versatile foam/ foamboard/ depron can be. From others on here we have very quick build/ low cost models that take the (financial) fear out of flying and allow us to just enjoy, but it's also possible to make decent and very practical scale models.

 

I'm always up for a chat about this if anyone is getting interested. Just as an appetiser, prior to my WR FW190 build, I'm going to make a 'Dusty Crophopper' from the Disney film 'Planes' (a great watch, btw!) as my grandson is obsessed with this...

 

Graham

 

 

 

 

build thread ??? tried several times with foam total disasters 😖

 

andy

[Graham Davies 3]

Hi Andy,

 

Might be a bit late now, but I can certainly talk you through what I have done. I have done some build stuff one some of my other foam builds, such as the Regianne Re2005, which flies brilliantly.

 

It's worth persevering Andy. As long as you put strength where it's needed, and learn a few new techniques, you can create great, lightweight and cheap models.

 

Drop me a line if you want to chat

 

Graham

[andrew exton]

15 hours ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

Hi Andy,

 

Might be a bit late now, but I can certainly talk you through what I have done. I have done some build stuff one some of my other foam builds, such as the Regianne Re2005, which flies brilliantly.

 

It's worth persevering Andy. As long as you put strength where it's needed, and learn a few new techniques, you can create great, lightweight and cheap models.

 

Drop me a line if you want to chat

 

Graham

no worries Graham thanks for the reply 

il keep following forums etc rather than pestering you or others for that matter

 

andy

[Simon Chaddock]

I have to think carefully on what to build next as I am seriously out of space.

Removable wing glider is acceptable but make an generous area EDF with a removable swept wing is much harder and even then the wing takes up quite a bit space on its own.

I do like building something scale where a super light weight foam build has a distinct advantage for it to actually fly well in my rough(ish) grass field.

My current thoughts are a Douglas X-3 Stiletto. 😣

The full size was a bit of a disaster performance wise so it makes an "interesting" candidate.

I can find plenty of 3 views but so far I have yet to find any fuselage cross sections.

The wings are easy, small and thin but with such relative proportions the fuselage is what the X-3 is all about so I want to get it right.

Will have to keep looking.

     

[Futura57]

31 minutes ago, Simon Chaddock said:

I have to think carefully on what to build next as I am seriously out of space.

Removable wing glider is acceptable but make an generous area EDF with a removable swept wing is much harder and even then the wing takes up quite a bit space on its own.

I do like building something scale where a super light weight foam build has a distinct advantage for it to actually fly well in my rough(ish) grass field.

My current thoughts are a Douglas X-3 Stiletto. 😣

The full size was a bit of a disaster performance wise so it makes an "interesting" candidate.

I can find plenty of 3 views but so far I have yet to find any fuselage cross sections.

The wings are easy, small and thin but with such relative proportions the fuselage is what the X-3 is all about so I want to get it right.

Will have to keep looking.

     

Go on, go the whole hog. Retracts too 😂

[Simon Chaddock]

Futura57

My flying field is far too rough for retracts so it has to be a belly land. If I can get the weight low enough it will hand launch too rather than a catapult.

 

I do have one plane, a Depron Ballerina, that has retracts but it has to be hand launched wheels down as the wheel wells become hand holds then retracted for flight but kept retracted for a belly landing! All rather bizarre!

[Futura57]

3 hours ago, Simon Chaddock said:

Futura57

My flying field is far too rough for retracts so it has to be a belly land. If I can get the weight low enough it will hand launch too rather than a catapult.

 

I do have one plane, a Depron Ballerina, that has retracts but it has to be hand launched wheels down as the wheel wells become hand holds then retracted for flight but kept retracted for a belly landing! All rather bizarre!

 

Apollo 13 quote "Don't you worry. If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it."

 

What wasn't said though, Simon, was that only you could build a flying washing machine 🤣

 

Out of Depron, of course.

Respect.

Happy New Year 🎈🎉

Edited December 31, 2023 by Futura57

[Ron Gray]

And finally the prototype is finished

 

[Graham Davies 3]

Happy new year all.

 

Made a bit of progress on the Mk1 Spitfire in fits and starts over the holidays. It's pretty much ready to paint, once I knock up a battery hatch. Then paint the pilot and fit out the cockpit, and start fretting about the maiden...

 

For those that missed the last post (or indeed my others where I witter on about foam scale models...), this is modelled on P9374 Mk1 spitfire that was restored after spending 40 years buried in a Calais beach. The model is made from 6mm and 3mm depron in the form of B&Q laminate flooring underlay. There is judicious use of balsa, light ply and ply where needed. It's a full-fat flaps and retracts model and is 1/6 scale at 74" span (to make use of accessories and finishing parts from Mick Reeves). As you see it, all servos are fitted and apart from the lack of paint, pilot and canopy, and the fact there is a 4S rather than the 6S battery it will fly on, it comes in at 7 1/2 pounds. Given that the Mick Reeves build is generally acknowledged as an excellent flyer at 12+ lbs, it should go OK.

 

I'll keep you posted as the paint gows on...

 

Graham

 

 

[Daren Cogdon]

Silly question, and I'm sure I know the answer to this already but would like someone to confirm.....

 

Depron - is it just XPS foam with a different name?  I haven't been able to find a definitive answer.

[Futura57]

36 minutes ago, Daren Cogdon said:

Silly question, and I'm sure I know the answer to this already but would like someone to confirm.....

 

Depron - is it just XPS foam with a different name?  I haven't been able to find a definitive answer.

They are definitely different. I use both.

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

On 24/12/2023 at 11:20, Ron Gray said:

I’ve remodelled the cockpit and added extensions to the nacelles to hide the motors.

 

Extended nacelles just mean it's a late model with the two stage Merlins. 🙂 that thing is great! Has it flown yet?

Edit: I see it has! Very well too! Great work. 

Edited January 6 by Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1
Saw flight video

[Ron Gray]

Just one further modification to make, I need to move the battery trays further forward as it’s a bit tail heavy. 

[Simon Chaddock]

The original Depron was very different, particularly in white.

The way it was produced gave it a definite denser skin which made it remarkably rigid. It was a bit heavier than plain XPS. However for its intended purpose as a thermal and sound reducing underlay it was expensive. Depron discontinued production a few years ago.

You can clearly see the "skin" on each side of this original grey Depron.

They do now produce a less exotic version to compete with the other sheet XPS producers. Not as stiff as the original but still quite strong and easier to bend.

To demonstrate its strength the wing of my scale 50mm EDF "Swiss" DH Venom is made from their current 3mm white Depron. It has no wood or carbon spar and no glass cloth skin either. It relies entirely on the Depron structure.  😲 The tail booms are the same.

 Technically Depron is a trade name and just to reinforce the point their name is now printed all over one side of each sheet!        

Edited January 7 by Simon Chaddock

[Daren Cogdon]

Another Depron question....

 

I have a warped sheet.  I've read that the best way to straighten/flatten it out is to apply heat to it and apply pressure in the opposite direction?

[FlyinFlynn]

13 hours ago, Daren Cogdon said:

Another Depron question....

 

I have a warped sheet.  I've read that the best way to straighten/flatten it out is to apply heat to it and apply pressure in the opposite direction?

Built in washout?

[Daren Cogdon]

Well, what I read seemed to work on smaller sections, at least.  

 

So, I have finally made a start on the Takeshi build.  I've started with cutting out the tail parts.  They're a bit rough, so I won't post the pics until they look half-decent!

[Graham Davies 3]

Some more progress on the 1/6 scale B&Q laminate flooring underlay foam spitfire. Snappy title, don't you think?

 

This is modelled on P9374 which is the subject of a fabulous book Peter Miller generously gave me. This is an aeroplane that crashed on a Calais beach in 1940 before being excavated in the 80s and restored to flight.

 

She's not far off now. Some more finishing to bring her to life, and a few bits and pieces such as the battery hatch and gear doors, and she's all but ready.

 

Some details for you all:

• Built from 6mm (black) and 3mm (white) foam underlay. Depron, or near enough to. And a smattering of plywood, lightply and balsa.
• It will (hopefully) fly on a 3300 6S pack turning something like a 16x10 prop. Still to be defined.
• Covered in 25gsm glass cloth applied using B&Q water based varnish
• Paint is emulsion. The colours are from B&Q's valspar mixing service where they scan your colour and match to it. Both brown and green are a little light, but not bad.
• Parts such as the canopy, decals and the lovely dash kit are all from Mick Reeves. The scale is identical to his Mk9 kit, so they are close, but not perfect.
• She has flaps and retracts, complete with oleos. Thanks to EdgeTX's flexibility, I even have staggered retraction!
• At 74" span, final weight looks like it will be around the 8lb mark. Given that Mick Reeves' spitfires fly very well at 13lb, I'm hopeful...

I think we're coming a long way with foam construction...

 

Graham

 

 

[Chris Freeman 3]

Very well done Graham, it sure looks good

[Daren Cogdon]

Nice!  I have that book, too, but I've always fancied doing N3200, which was the other Spitfire Ia recovered from the beaches and rebuilt to fly.  It's still a plan in my head....!