Bazinga! jaws on the floor!

Niiiiiiiice neons ,i have been busy building more racks for more planes and just stoped back to take a peek . You have moved fast on the fuse and the cockpit looks great. Looking foward to the wing and wiring .joe

Thanks Joe,
I am laying the clear plastic windows now and will close it up until the time comes to do the paint. I still have some days work finishing the fuselage yet. I think I will do the elevator and rudders next. They look like they are ging to be a pain. I can then hang the whole works up after and do the wing.
**Neons** Bob

I put some carbon fiber in my elev to stop it or lets say slow it from getting broke ,this came from captahabs solent 400 thread .I have bumped it hard a couple times already and so far (knock on wood ) it has held up just fine. joe

Got the wing saddle mounted to the shape of the airfoil. I also have 2 wing mounting plywood gussets in place. Then I mounted small angles on the hull bottom to make the spray turn flatter to the water and less contact to the upper surfaces and props. The plans show these. I have now to spackle the whole plane with Spackle Lite and prep sand for epoxy glass to protect the plane from dents and creases. I think a few days at it will get it done.
**Neons** Bob

Wonderfull Job on the Mars Neons,

Like your Wood/Foam method and your cockpit detail is very cool, i still have the unfinished HJ's FW 190Dora here and sometimes have a look at your solutions in the thread.
Being at home for atleast 3 other weeks with a broken leg, I tried already to get back at the bench but have to find a way to have my leg and a plane on the table

Keep the good job, I'm watching

rawy

Hi Joe

Hello Rawy,
I wish you a speedy recovery. It is unfortunate that you cannot work on the FW-190 D-6 Dora. There is not much I guess you can do in the meantime unless reading or TV. I am dragging along on the Mars here, but it will get done. I just treat foam as if it is balsawood. I have to work with 2 different glues for the 2 materials. CA and Elmers Ultimate polyurethane. CA attacks foam and is too brittle. Polyurethane gives time to work the parts and is stronger but slower to work with. I like the bonding, strength, and sanding itdown pretty well. It is light weight also after drying..

Thanks for your support
**Neons** Bob

Originally Posted by rawy

Wonderfull Job on the Mars Neons,

Like your Wood/Foam method and your cockpit detail is very cool, i still have the unfinished HJ's FW 190Dora here and sometimes have a look at your solutions in the thread.
Being at home for atleast 3 other weeks with a broken leg, I tried already to get back at the bench but have to find a way to have my leg and a plane on the table

Keep the good job, I'm watching

rawy

Hi Joe

Hi rawy we dont even want to know how you and the misses have any fun with you leg in the ceiling fan. lmao get better soon my friend.joe

I have to design the elevator for the early Mars. It has almost a straight trailing edge. The rest is close to Ivan's plan leading edge angle and the hinging edges. The early plane has what I determined to be about 24 degree dihedral also. This elevator has to be strengthened due to the 2 rudders creating twisting forces on the elevator.

The V area attached to the fuselage needs to have special attention for the mounting support also. I determined that the Y control pushrod for the elevators may not be to bad to create and connect. The rudders will be harder to fabricate and I have to get a bellcrank under or inside the elevator. I will braze up fittings if needed. I will still have to plan as I go along figuring it out. The airfoil has plenty of room inside. The ribs are pink Z-fold around 5/16" or 7mm and the perimetor is all wood. The cover skin is going to be Depron 3mm foam.

**Neons** Bob

Today I framed the rudders out. There is a combo of hard wood and balsa. The 1/8" balsa outer perimeter shape is cut in multiple pieces so the straight grain works without spltting. The both sides will be Depron after the controls and hinges are installed. The final thickness of the rudders is 3/8" inches. I pinned it together and placed it on the plane. The angles are not setup perminent yet and I am sure they are off with pins holding it.
**Neons** Bob

Hi **neons** , I have been doing mostly boats but I am now going back to planes as well, your amazing build is a fine combination of the two !
I will watch with Great interest.

Tim Thanks.
Glad to have you along. I normally build all foam. This is an exception. I have a good supply of wood and foam to use up so I am doing this combination build with it. The main thing is that it requires 2 types of glue up. CA and Polyurethane glue. CA is brittle and attacks the foam. I do also use Hot glue at times to hold a part. My last couple of seaplanes were almost all foam. Click my Avatar to get the Build Logs and video links of them. Feel free to ask any questions.
**Neons** Bob

Hi **neons**,

Great work Sir, a classic in the making, she looks splendid.
I like your adaptive methods and skills with the construction, different materials and adhesives, I sometimes 'kick off' the polyurethane glue (Gorrila) by using steam from the kettle, just hold the part with one side thinly spread with PU and hold briefly in the hot water vapour from the kettle spout, you will see the glue change colour from clear honey to opaque 'peanut butter', with the other piece lightly steamed press together and clamp/pin/tape in position. the joint will go off in 1/4 time. Also for sealing internal seams I paint the PU with a disposable brush very thinly along the join and then dip the brush once in very hot water and quickly go over the seam, the glue will foam up sealing any voids, always leave space for expansion factor of about 5 times the glue volume otherwise it becomes a Blimp! I'm looking forwards to more of your excellent progress.

@ Rawy, sorry to hear about your broken leg, get well soon mate. You could just nail a small ply sheet onto your plaster cast and work from that??? ps. use small nails!

Cheers

Al

Al, Thank you, and I also appreciate your excelent tips on the glue. I just learned another usefull idea now. I guess you will have me looking for a portable humidifier that has heat. Now if only the glue companies would come out with a good hand cleaner also. This glue leaves my fingers blackened for a week. Imagine if we could thin it out to be brushed or sprayed.
**Neons** Bob

Bob,

Great build! You are one of the fastest builders I know. Do you sleep?
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to seeing leave the water.

George