TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 It's Friday, it's 5 o'clock and I'm going in.... Firstly let me say, my workshop is a converted corner of the study (the options were the cellar or the v. small garden shed (both of which my good lady preferred) but I stood my ground. It's a bit cramped but if I'm tidy (hmmmmm) and careful then it should suffice. The kit arrived a few days ago in the ubiquitous 'long box' ..... and the contents appear well packaged and well cut ..... No decals but I'll chase these up in the meantime. The plan is very nicely done. I'll carry this on when I've uploaded a pic of the plan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 OK - the plan - or at least a part of it. It needs rotating 90 deg but you get the drift... OK Now I'm actually going to have to do something so I'll be a wee while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klippy Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 What kit is that Tony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Apologies Tony, This tale began on a different blog and I forgot to update some of the relevant bits.... It's an EDF version of the Yak 23 'Flora' from RBC kits. The designer is a subscriber to this site - Ton van Munsteren (who has kindly offered to guide me along the way) I'm fitting it with the recommended Wemotec 480 Minifan Pro fan unit. I'm still deciding on the power unit but am considering splashing out on a Hoffman Beast EDF70 which if nothing else should ensure an easy hand-launch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 It should look like this when I'm done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Quick update. First comment is that despite good plans this build would be nigh on impossible were it not for the - so far - fantastic build photos that came on the CD. It's an odd shaped plane but once youv'e got your head around the fact that your starting by building the fuselage upside down and there only appears to be half a fuze it gets easier. Secondly, this is my first build using CA for the majority of the fix and my head's swimming with the fumes. There's a fair bit of sanding (light but necessary) where the stringers meet the formers so it's advisable to keep the CA away from the outer edge - it's just more difficult to sand hardened balsa. Thus far: The tab and slot system make this very easy and they are cut remarkably accurately - I've only had to fiddle with two slots by a tiny amount to get a perfect fit. It also means that a great deal of the assembly can be done before running the thin CA into the joints to set it all in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ton van Munsteren Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Hoi Tony, Well I am present so lets start building the YAK23. The one on your pic is from Erik Schaik looks great in real life. He has some more RBCKIT models flying and they all are beauty's Another pic for motivation Ton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ton van Munsteren Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 The hatch modification; make the tail light as possible an no problem using some more wood in the nose. Ton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 loverly plane would make a good jet trainer too! looks like one heck of a build!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Ton et al, Sorry guys but I've been a muppet and didn't get my prep right. Got to installing the paper inlet tube and found I didn't have any paint, thought I'd get on with the wing and found I'd no tracing paper (which I prefer) so it's ground to a halt until tomorrow. Those pics really do help Ton, thanks. I was thinking how difficult it was going to be to get the batteries really far forward using the existing hatch !! Up early to town for the bits then on with the build - should see some progress this weekend - other than mowing the lawns and a trip to the club to take a lesson with my Condor (the Yellow Peril) I'm pretty much clear. Have to say, I love these old jets - real characters. Until tomorrow then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Ok. Just a quick thought before I dash off for supplies. I was thinking about the colour scheme last night as it's been worrying me a fair bit. All the Yak 23's I've seen are silver....all over. From a model flying point of view this isn't great. I've a Panther F-9F which is dark blue all over and I do struggle to determine it's orientation at times (I tend to stay high so if I lose track I've plenty of time to put in gentle control inputs until I work out which way is up again!! So, I've been looking around and may be going with the colour scheme for the Yak 17 below which has the bonus that I can still use the decal set.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I like that Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks Timbo. I hope my painting skills (I have none) do it justice... The instructions show that I now need to paint the inlet tube paper ducting and glue it in at this stage however, per Ton's previous message (above and previous thread) I need to modify the battery bay for LiPo's - it was designed for NiCads. This will be much easier to do if I do it before I glue the tube into place. According to Ton, the original NiCads weighed in at 440g and I want to run this on 4 cell LiPo so I've dug around and found a perfect substitute - a 3,700mAh 4S that weighs in at 428g. This fits really well into the existing battery bay space (just need to cut a little extra depth ). The batteries per plan had a length of 180mm and the LiPo is 143mm so this will allow me, using a velcro base, to move the battery backwards and forwards until the perfect CG is obtained. I'm really glad Ton that you gave me the heads up re the change of battery now - this would have been horrible to fix after I'd fitted the inlet tube and planked and finished the fuselage. I think it would be a good idea for RBC to stick a tip sheet into the box for any future purchasers about this.... I'll drop them a line. The pic below shows the formers with the original cut-outs for the battery bay. I've used a piece of scrap 5mm sheet to provide a support for the rear edge of the battery bay floor rather than cutting out the former. This is not just to preserve the strength of the former but also because it's ply and would be a pain to cut now it's assembled. The former in front of this is balsa and has to be cut out - this is marked. I've increased the depth of the bay to 40mm even though the battery I want to use is only 35mm to allow for the angle when I'm slotting the battery in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Battery bay bottom fitted and hatch cut - should give ample room for batteries. Will sheet the sides of the battery bay with 2mm balsa then I can fit the inlet tube (now painted) and start sheeting the fuselage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Now I understand the old adage "Measure twice, cut once....." I had a niggling doubt about getting the LiPo through the hatch and into the battery bay so I mocked up a battery in depron sheet and Gaffer tape (I don't actually have any of the chosen 4 cells yet) and guess what - it wouldn't go in!! I've now enlarged the battery hatch to a whopping 128mm in length and the battery now fits snugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Why is it that the thing CA sticks better than anything is skin......?! Anyway... Sheeting the underside is slow if it's to be done well - or in my case just slow. Made a couple of errors but managed to rectify. The plans assume a fair bit of modelling experience and in this case there's no way you can get away with starting a phase without having studied ALL the relevant photos first. The big thing to watch is where the sheeting extends into the area where the wings slot in when finished. If you look closely you'll see a join just below the rear of the wing opening. Ooops. So far... The bottom of the tail is sheeted in 3mm balsa whereas there is a single 2mm strip running nose to tail therefore there's some sanding to do to get the body flush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
propogandhi Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Glad I found this thread. I'll be watching with interest. I always ALWAYS wanted one of these kits, but I never had the space for a bungy launch. I wish they made a small hand launchable version of this kit. Something say around 35" and for 3-4 cells 1500-2100mah. I've got an RBC Hawk 75 waiting in the wings, so this thread might well be the inspiration I need. All the best and please do keep us updated, looks great thus far. Ton V, any chance of Rob putting out a smaller version? Even just a plan pack? prop.Edited By propogandhi on 03/10/2009 23:49:49Edited By propogandhi on 03/10/2009 23:51:52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Hey Prop, They great news is - this model does hand launch. Ton did send me a vid (not great by his own admission but there all the same) showing it being hand-launched. I'll find my previous thread and update it so it appears in latest posts. Don't let the grass grow under the Hawk's feet T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
propogandhi Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Ohh, yes please would like to see that. prop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 Right, this weekends progress. The new battery bay has created a fair bit of work. To make it large enough for the LiPo's I want to use I had to make a fairly sibstantial hatch in the nose. This meant that the stringers from the nose to the cockpit had to be cut : I should have mentioned that a new former had to be made as the existing former cut across the new hatch: After that it was fun fun fun - sheeting the fuselage. It was at this point that I noticed there are some inconsistencies in the photos supplied and the kit. One set of photos shows a single stringer running along the top of the fuselage and the formers being rounded on top - this would give a round topped fuselage. The other set of photos shows two stringers running along the top and the top of the formers being flat giving a flat topped fuselage. As I had the bits for a flat topped fuse I went with that - I've since noticed however that the cockpit canopy assumes a round topped fuselage. Ho, hum .... a few more mods methinks. Some picks of the fuse pre and post planking... You can see here that I've a little more sheeting to do on the battery hatch cover... I have to say this is one very lightweight model so far . Hope to finish the fuse tonight and crack on with the wings this wekk.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ton van Munsteren Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Tony, Good choice to go for the 4 cell Lipo better a extra cell than lead. I read that your confussed about the top of the fuse but I think you misread the foto with one stringer because there been always two stringers. Thies two stringers are the base for the first 3mm strip that needs to be chamferd for the overlapping of the side planking. The second 3 mm strip go's on top of that and needs to sanded flush with the rounding of the fuse. I hope its clear. Great build by the way youre going like a rocket Prop. As Tony already mentioned the RBC YAK is as easy too handlaunch as every trainer model. You don't even need the full power of the fan and will go on a 3 LIpo pack with 3/4 of power setting. I handlaunch all my RBC models YAK23 , MIG 29 and even the F100 is a piece off cake. Working on the finisch of the RBC BV212 and yes that will also be handlanched. A pic of my models at a Dutch forum edf meeting. Ton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 Hi Ton, Thanks for the post and the help. I've reproduced the colour pic from the instructions below. As you'll see there s only one stringer on the top of the fuselage and the formers are rounded. It's a bit confusing. I see what you mean about doubling up the 3mm sheeting to round off the fuse - seems it may make it all a bit heavy but you're the boss.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ton van Munsteren Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Tony, Oeps youre quite right thats not clever from RBC to use foto's of the prototype build along site the kit model build, that can cause confusion. The foto is from the 2e protomodel build by RBC mr Rob Bulk and as can be seen still with the old construction as I designed. It was modified by Rob because he thought that this was more difficuld to build than the construction with two layers of 3mm. Just for fun here is the link with the build of the first prototype on RCGROUP. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86731 Ton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Right, this weekends progress. The new battery bay has created a fair bit of work. To make it large enough for the LiPo's I want to use I had to make a fairly sibstantial hatch in the nose. This meant that the stringers from the nose to the cockpit had to be cut (you can see the mock-up battery just doesn't fit: You'll also notice that the stringers were a single continous piece which meant that they retained a curve where they need to be cut. The original former had to be moved back to accommodate the hatch size - this had already been done on the above pic. I needed to create a new former slightly larger than the one I replaced to maintain the curve. Next came the sheeting. In order to sheet the upper body the rudder needs to be fitted - this is a single sheet affair and very simple to fit. The kit has been cut very accurately which makes some of the jobs a breeze. Fuselage pretty much complete including battery bay mods in around 15 hours - as this is only my 3rd ever balsa model I can put this down to the kit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Well disappointed. RBC have just advised that they don't have the decals for the plane anymore (Perhaps they should change the web-site to say this) Anyway they've sent something from another plane that may do. Let's hope or otherwise I'll be making my own from Solartrim - more work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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