Needed something small for the backyard so... decided to build a Fokker D VI. Composite because I'll use foam (3mm Depron) and Balsa-tissue in areas as well. I'm trying to reproduce something with classic looks and avoid the slab sided foam look. I also want to use the cheapest flight gear possible (from my old scrap box) to keep the investment low. I'm sure there are hundreds of power alternatives concievable.

With a 17.5" wingspan and 84 grams worth of flight pack, I'm off to the building board.

Layout of some of the fuselage parts. Also shown are the intended flight pack components. 4 channel.

The fuse and tail will be foam with some tisssue and paper.

The wings will be old-school balsa and tissue construction. Upper is 17.5 X 3.5, lower 13.5 X 2.75 inches. Total area roughly 98sq. "

The Olfa circle cutter was used to cut the wheels and the round firewall. Not a sales pitch but I highly recommend one of these if you're a scratch builder.

The foam that is painted blue is a test a sample. I used water based Acrylic poster paint and thinned it with alcohol.

I'm American but I live in Thailand so I'm somewhat limited with availability of hobby items considered standard back home. The paint technique is also going to be used on the wings. This is the first time I've tried this so bear with me through the testing phase.

Decided to use a balsa firewall and motor mount. I have some foam planes that have been flying for over 11 years and this always seems to be a weak spot. So a bit of balsa there should do the trick.

Also going to use a bamboo elevator joiner that will also give strength to the horizontal stab.

Going to use a vacuum formed cowl, possibly a vac formed cockpit area but Bristol Board might be easier and quicker.

Still not sure on controls...

This work was done over a three day period but posted mostly today just to catch up..

Time to join the firewall and motor mount. Test fit the motor and use the assembly for a rough estimate of gear placement. Easiest way I've found over the years for positioning gear and maintaining CG.

Wanted to post a little data on specs:

Upper wing: 17.5" X 3.5" ; area = 61.25sq", lower wing 13.5" X 2.75" ; area = 37.12. Total area roughly 98 sq".

N 20 stye motor on 2s 7.4 V 450 mah LiPo.

Total gear weight 81 grams.

SPOKED WHEELS ANYONE ??? found the pic on the web but thought it might be a nice touch.

looks good

Give us time PP!!

You only posted it an hour and half ago!

I definitely like the micro mini idea. I recently picked up a couple of 10g brushless outrunners to play around with some smaller stuff. They are actually really powerful for the weight.

Is that second to last picture the finished product? Looks very scale to me. Lots of work but very cool.

Hi mini and Talon, thanks for the input. 12 hour time difference being on the other side of the planet but patience... yes.

The picture is of Rodens 1/32 scale model I found on the web... I'm shooting for something scale like that in appearance, lots of work goes into a plastic model to bring out a nice appearance so why not on a mini RC? :-) I'm going to give it a shot without going overboard on weight and effort. A good compromise between the two and hopefully a nice looking aircraft when done. I've seen an English fellow post instructions on printing lozenge patterns on tissue so... I may or may not go there but he has the correct pattern for this aircraft. Others have posted similar articles as well.

Now for the tissue part.

This is the first time I've tried to combine tissue and foam. I think it has a place in modeling here as it offers options for compound curves and simulates early or fabric covered aircraft with little addition to weight. The trick is I think to get the finishing product, in this case paint, to be compatible with both surfaces.

The tissue I used is general craft store or gift tissue, and the paint... water based poster type acrylic paint. Low cost safe items.

I had tested the acrylic paint thinned with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol applied via airbrush and was pleased with the result. Attractive, good coverage and durable. I wiped the foam board clean with alcohol and dried it prior to painting. Amazing the dirt that came off what appeared to be white clean foam!

I use gift paper tissue on my spacecraft and it works great! I print the full color graphics on it, use spray adhesive to stick it onto the foam then spray clear acrylic on top. It tightens up the skins and seals them nicely.

Check out some of my stuff http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=78981

HI Talon,

You said space stuff and initially I started thinking high power rocketry as Iwas into that big time when back in California. I had a 13 foot Saturn 1B. lots of others. Anyway, no go here in Thailand. I'll give the printed tissue a shot.

Maybe I'll start loading the parts into CAD for my CNC machine and cut kits should there be some interest.

Talon, Forgot to mention... I like the ISD... those aren't really my cup of tea but that one is pretty kewl!

I had a request through a friend to design the electrical system for a house some fellow was building up on a golf course so... that pulled me away for a bit but I'm back.

The next step.. I had tried tissue on the turtle back area (top part behind cockpit) and found the tissue drew too tight and lost the proper shape so the alternative is printed paper.

But first a little painting and the addition of the side firewall fairings. Let me post these pics and then back to it...

I've built real planes, balsa planes, plastic planes, paper planes and a few foam ones so using a little from all is a first so hang in there for my tresting phases...

I printed some tissue for the fuselage but found It didn't quite look right with foam in this particular case so I went back to plain paper. I also found the coloring as downloaded from the web was bit bright. I recall reading something 20 odd years ago about light and models etc so in a nutshell I darkened the print about 25%. Have the turtle deck done and experimenting witrh side fairings. I'm pleased with the test results so moving on.

Anyone with me on this? feel free to chime in... this bird might not not be the most popular me thinks...

The main thing about this type of model is the need to maintain the delicate look of the wings and the tail. I have resisted trying to build one of these all in foam as I find it difficult to get that fragile look. Your split of balsa for wings and foam for the fuselage is probably the best way forward. If you look at the thin profile wash out on WW1 aircraft aileron tips you will understand what I am on about. I am looking forward to this build.

I've attached a PDF of a site no longer with us on making small spoked wheels.
There's a different method outlined at: http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/t...-tutorial.html