I started this a couple of days back and it has gone together very easily, despite my using some balsa strip that is as near to 3/32 as it is 1/8th. It should come out lighter than my usual attempts anyway and perhaps I will avoid nose weights for the first time ever!



I will only lightly sand it after I have given it a coat of sealer and will use a reduced amount of rubber.

ATB

Tom

Pretty bones...best of luck with it!

Got the tail done as far as painting the sanding sealer on and started on the wings, I'm trying not to rush this one!



ATB

Tom

So this is you "not rushing" is it Tom?!?! If you ever do start to rush we are going to suffer a severe balsa shortage

Seriously, being able to build that fast and THAT WELL at the same time is a gift few of us are blessed with.

Cheers! It helps that I am a Creature of the night and so have the quiet period after all the family have sloped off to bed and modelling (less the swearing) is a nice quiet pastime..

To fit the plan the cut ribs needed trimming by at least a eighth of a inch, some at both ends To give it over night to dry I finished the basic construction on that wing.

I think covering will really slow me down, there's lots of complex curves there I'm just not used to dealing with. I blew some of my Xmas money (yup at 43 I'm still getting Christmas presents from my parents like I'm 12!) on a fair sized order for light coloured Esaki tissue from Shortys Basement as the last lot shrunk on better than anything else I've tried.

I'm not looking forward to bending the 14 gauge piano wire either, 20 gauge is my usual level.



ATB

Tom

Tom;
Beautiful work!
Bending bigger piano wire
http://www.scale-models.co.uk/tutori...e.html#post650

Or tools to bend
http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...xd.asp?id=1291
http://www.dickblick.com/products/wire-bending-jig/

Thanks for the links Rick especially the first.

Got a bit more done overnight, will slap on the sanding sealer and do the fine sanding tomorrow, if I get time.



Excuse the mess, the kids have been using my work bench and sloped off to bed before I could yell at them to clean up!

ATB

Tom

Just spent twenty minutes trying to get that to go the right way up, stupid iPad! Will do a proper pic with. Real camera and computer tomorrow!

Looks great Tom

Mess?? That's not a mess - THIS is a mess!!

And this mess is all mine.... in the end, my daughter yelled at me to tidy it up......

At least they're your messes! That work bench is just about the last bit of space I have that's nominally all mine! Even me bed is shared with a small woman who expands to fit all the available space by the time I get to it!

Some how the pic is now the right way up. Thanks to what ever entity sorted that!

ATB

Tom

Originally Posted by Froglube

... Even me bed is shared with small woman who expands to fit all the available space by the time I get to it!

...

ATB

Tom

Make sure you place your cold hands on her behind when you get in, and there will be plenty of room

We should start a new thread...

"The Mess, The Whole Mess, and Nothing But The Mess!"

You guys know how to make me feel right at home...

Originally Posted by sparks59

Make sure you place your cold hands on her behind when you get in, and there will be plenty of room

For when my paws are too warm I keep a 6 D cell maglite on the window sill, chilling....

Going to try a little wire bending later once the kids are safely at scouts and ain't here to point and laugh at my attempts.

ATB

Tom

Heres a better pic

After a couple of days off doing family stuff and aquiring a KS wire bender I got a bit more done, mainly carving the nose and doing the undercarriage which i affixed using superglue rather than wrapping in cotton and soaking in balsa glue.



The wire bender (and a copper Thor hammer for undoing istakes!) made doing the piano wire much easier.

Final sanding and adding the dowel for the wing fixing points next.

ATB

Tom

Originally Posted by Froglube

....doing the undercarriage which i affixed using superglue rather than wrapping in cotton and soaking in balsa glue.....

Tom:

If you mean that you have omitted the binding completely, I would think that that may compromise your undercartical integrity.... I'd suggest that some binding would be advisable as CA is very brittle, and I would be afeared of the u/c parting company from the former as a result of the first sharp knock it gets....

Think of the binding as fingers wrapped around the wire - you would always grip a rod tighter holding it a clenched fist rather than squeezed between straight fingers and thumb*....

*I apologise for a really feeble analogy......!