[Wayne_K]

Hello.

I am in the middle of a project right now and I thought I'd post my progress.

Please feel free to add tips and techniques as you see necessary.

This is a bit of a departure from my usual 1/4 scale aerobats and .60 size sport birds. It is a 48" Wingspan model build from Guillow's plans, originally for a 24" rubber powered model. I expect I'll be powering it with a small 3-cell brushless setup.

I simply enlarged the plans by a factor of 2 on a photocopier and built it like any other scratch build. So far its going well but I'm finding the creation of a suitable cowl to be challenge. More on that later.

I will be heavy on the photos and light on the text by design. Please chime in if you have any questions.

Here is the original 24" model and plans.

[Wayne_K]

There are many different technques for these next steps. I like to trace an outline of the part from the plans onto tracing paper, glue this to poster board with rubber cement, then cut out with scizzors and X-Acto knife. Then I have a permanent set of templates. From this I trace to the wood.

Note the trusty shop-Gaui on duty.

[Wayne_K]

Then I cut myself out a kit. With a scroll saw, bandsaw, belt/disc sander, and good old X-acto blade this was an easy job.

I buy my X-Acto blades by the 100's and change blades often.

W

[Wayne_K]

The only thing left is to start building.

I usually like to start with the tail feathers, then wings, while the enthusiasm is high. Lastly I build the fuse.

Very straightforward construction, as per the original model.

BTW, I use Weldbond glue almost exclusively. No fumes, dries quickly, clear, stays flexible, easily sandable. No, I have no affiliation with the company, I just think its a great (Canadian) product.

W

[Wayne_K]

I kept the wing as simple as possible, and made it a one piece unit with no dihedral. I may regret that later. This was a slight departure from the original kit.

I also had to draw in a portion of wing in the center, taking into account the thickness of the fuselage, to make this happen. The original kit was a 2-piece wing with a dihedral. See photos below.

[Wayne_K]

Picture (s) worth thousands of words...

I love this stage of building. Huge visual progress.

The astute reader may notice several projects on the go. You are correct...

That's all for tonight. Fuselage tomorrow. Hope you are enjoying.


W

[cassat]

Yeah Wayne,

It looks great so far. I had similar ideas, but building with foam here currently.Hope you got the rain I sent thursday nite.

Cassat

[Wayne_K]

You funny man. You missed, must have went to BC.

W

[canadianf1pilot]

I'm not seeing any alerons...3 channel plane?

looking good

Bill

[Wayne_K]

Hi Bill, good question.

I had toyed with the idea of using rudder only but that option is not a good one without dihedral in the wings. Turns won't be pretty and there will be a lot of skidding, because dihedral helps bank the wing when yaw (in this case due to rudder) is present.

So I'll install the ailerons in a bit later. The technique will be similar to that employed on foam wings, you simply cut out the ailerons then cap both sides and hinge. I have used this method on several foam and built-up wings to good success and many larger scale builders use this method too. In fact, like almost all my building techniques, I stole it from a better builder on another build thread on another site.

Below are some photos of how it was done on my Pitts. I will detail the C170's later if there is any interest.

W