I've been toying with the idea of scratch-build project, using foam sheeted wings and a glass or carbon fuse using the "lost foam" method.

The thought then occurred to me - why not build a glass or carbon fuse for my M60? It has a great set of wings, but I've never been happy with the fuse which, although I did a good job of shaping, was just too difficult to cover without lots of ugly seams.

Could I build a glass or carbon fuse using the current fuse as my "lost foam"? I know I would destroy it in the process, but I could just order another from NCFM if glassing the fuse doesn't work out.

I'm guessing the weight penalty won't be much (if any) once you add up the CF longeron, the added epoxy in the tail used to hold the fin in with friction, and the fact that the batt/rx sit an inch or two back from the nose in the foam version, in order to keep the nose intact. Add the weight of all that strapping tape, 3M 77 and ultracote, and it might even end up lighter.

I know the fuse on the M60 takes a lot of abuse, so I'll use some carbon strip reinforcement in all the critical areas.

What do you all think? Should I DOOO EEET?? What weight carbon/glass cloth should I use? What kind of epoxy?

first off... i dont think you can do the "lost foam" method with EPP... i could TOTALLY be wrong but i think you use other foams for that....

another thing is that you loose the purpose of epp...

if you dont want the seams of Ultracoat, just do the thinned gooped fuse... it will be close to bulletproof and look totally clean for a LONG time..

JOe

I think Joe is right. There are a few Lost Foam build threads documented on RCGroups. As I recall, most of them use simple foams like Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and others.

I don't know what kind of solvent you'd need to dissolve EPP after your FG "shell" has cured.

Another possibility might be to use the old M60 fuse, layup the FG, and after curing, use a bandsaw to cut everything cleanly in half. Then pull out the "plug" (your old fuse). You have to make sure to use whatever mold release technique the experts recommend. Then assemble the new FG fuse back together using the expert-recommended technique.

Happy Flying ;-)

John

Hmm, I think you're both right. All the lost foam threads I've seen use EPS. I suppose I could carve a new mold from blue or pink foam, if I could only figure out where to get some.

Home Depot. Tons of the pink stuff.

I've been thinking about a Full FG Moth or M60 for awhile. Does anyone make something similar?
As for DIY, the fuse is a pretty simple shape, why don't you just fake it and use the TLAR (That looks About Right) method to "inspire" your own design.

Heck, if I can get my hands on some pink foam, I'll shape a new fuse from scratch. A glass fuse could be way more slender than the foam one, since the foam must maintain minimum thickness to keep its shape. The plane should be slipperier and faster, too.

Someones beat ya to it
Carbon M60
Although if I remember it had a bit of a ding some time ago

Eryk