I just received the Vulture 3.5 (3500) by SKIP MILLER MODEL's, the build thread follows. Got home and started to weight parts and do initial fit checks on all parts. This is my first composite build, so bear with me on this one.

First impressions.
The Fusalage, wing and V-Tail parts are all packed in protective bubble wrap.
Appearance looks good. Tow hook HW, carbon servo tray, V-Tail HW and wing bolts in plastic bags. Control rod sleeves for v-tail already installed in fuse.

Wing first.
Carbon spars fit real snug in wing tips and center section, most likely some wax release agent at work here, will check out later.
Center wing section to wing tips fit edge to edge with spars in place, no gaps. Alignment of pegs on both ends are good.
One center wing to fuse hold down bolt mounting hole had a little glass shard in, quick clean up with a drill bit.
The wing needs to have 4 slots-cuts where the servo rod to cleavace exits for the flaps and ailerons. See pictures below.

The Fuse.
The wing and fuse has a recessed mount molded in for a DB9 connector, it is ready to cut out and install. This can be changed to other type of
connectors with a little work. Going with a DB9 connector.
The center wing section to wing tip section has no molded connector indent or hole, I think this is to allow the user to pick their own choice.
TBD for now, will work this later. Pictures to follow.
Hatch cover is cut out and fits nicely to fuse indent lines.
The Tow hook mount location is already cut and ready for the tow hook to be installed. See picture below.

The V-tail control sleeves-rods are already installed in the fuse. Just need to install ball links-ends in vtail, there is a ball link rod hole in
v-tail surface horn, just tap and install.
V-tail alignment rods to fuse in bag, installed them and they fit very snug-tight.
Some wax release agent at work, cleaned up wax and parts are now snug, not tight.
Will leave as is and use tape to hold in place for flying. Surfaces fit good with no gaps on both v-tail stabs top, bottom, front to back. See pictures below.
The control rods appear to be a plastic outer with steel rod inside, this goes inside the outer control rod sleeve mounted already.
One end is crimped and installed with a steel cleavace and lock nut.

Assembled the entire plane as is, all parts fit with no modifications.

Now for what "YOU" are after, some pictures and weights for now.
The scale I used is NOT CALIBRATED, but close, when done I will take to work and use a calibrated scale for final weights.

Left V-tail 34.7g
Left wing-tip 260g
Right v-tail 35.7g
Right wing tip 259g
Center panel 723g, balances in center, side to side.
Fusalage 297.8g
Servo tray 11.8g
4 Servo bay covers 16g, THIS IS BEFORE CUTTING DOWN TO SIZE.
Hatch cover 10.g
Tow Hook - HW 33.1g
Both spars total 34.8g
Total weight of above 1706 grams / 28 = 60.953 oz's

My flight gear below.
4 Hyperion DS13TMB's for v-tail and ailerons. 88g
2 Airtronics 94761 for flaps. 46g
5c NIMH 1500 2/3A 116g
Futaba 14MZ 6014 FASST RX 22g
Total weight of above 272 grams / 28 = 9.714 oz's

Plane weight 1706grams / 60.953 oz's
Flight pack 272 grams /28 = 9.714 oz's
Total weight 1978 grams /28 = 70.64 oz's

The above weights do not count servo wire harness, DB9 connector or wing tip connectors or any weight needed to balance.
If weight is needed then a bigger battery to offset lead will be used.
The scale I used is NOT CALIBRATED, but close, when done I will take to work and use a calibrated scale.

Some wing pictures

Some fuse pictures.

Edit:
Lots of room inside.
Servo tray fits inside with room for your fingers to adjust and fit items inside.

V-Tail pictures.


edit:
No gaps front to back and top to bottom.
The fit is good.
Will use tape to secure and fly with.
This will allow the surfaces to be removed for travel if needed.
Getting ball cleavaces, linkages tonight or tomorrow.
With the servo tray installed this is one of the next steps to complete.

More wing pictures.


Edit:
Here you can see the DB9 molded spot.
Also see the surface horns where slots need to be cut in.

Right wing tip pictures.

Edit:
The all the servo bays have a extra carbon fiber layer inside for more strength with very little weight added.

Left wing tip pictures

Tow hook and servo tray done.
Used a wire dressing loom for a tow snake.
Lightly sanded the inside fuse where the tow hook goes and used some JB weld to help hold in place. That was a Bitch getting back that far, but do-able.
Sanded the servo tray down some, ~1/16 on both sides on the back end and a little less on the front nose end. Followed up with light sanding the inside fuse a bit and CA for securing it in.

Edit:
I lowered the servo tray a bit due to the Hyperion servos are just a little taller than the 761's from the mounting lug to top of servo.
This lets the servo control lines be in a straight line when connected up. There is still some room to go lower if needed for other servo's.
I still have ~1/8 to 3/16 under servo's. Lots of room inside. Sanded the tray out a bit to fit the servos, even the 761's would require a little sanding, this is good, allows you to make a good fit for any servo.

Sprayed tephlon oil on tow hook bolts and wiped down to prevent any JB weld ftom sticking to threads while setting up and any glue squish when bolting in place. Work as planned, screws are removable, will use locktite when done with counter sinking. Have to clean oil residue before locktite.
Need to counter sink the bolt holes a bit, planned to do this after the glue set.

You are doing a real nice job so far. Was the hole for the hook already cut out? I have no idea why they would not put that in place at the factory.

It looks like you are going to have an AUW of 75 oz when it is all said and done.

Randy

The holes and slot was already cut and it fit the mounting screws to hole alignment.


Edit: Found out by letting the user install the tow hook, the user can decide how to glue in and how much or how little glue to use.
This allows the user to help lighten or strengthen where they want, a little customization.
The time to do this was not much.
If you are after a lighter plane this lets you squeeze a few grams out.

Originally Posted by burke757

You are doing a real nice job so far. Was the hole for the hook already cut out? I have no idea why they would not put that in place at the factory.

It looks like you are going to have an AUW of 75 oz when it is all said and done.

Randy

Nice going Tony. Are you going to fly it when you are done?

Looks like a great start!

Yes!

Originally Posted by Bobalew

Nice going Tony. Are you going to fly it when you are done?

Originally Posted by burke757

You are doing a real nice job so far. Was the hole for the hook already cut out? I have no idea why they would not put that in place at the factory.

It looks like you are going to have an AUW of 75 oz when it is all said and done.

Randy

Work not done at factory is to meet price point... Is this considered 2.4 friendly with carbon servo tray? 2.4 install would need a little more attention to placement.

Looking forward to continued reports.

thx

sj