Reversing course for a few final pre-assembly touch ups!

I decided to make my plane look more stock than it was, so I added exhaust pipes off the airscoop just like real Pitts planes. I know, not really needed, but it just adds that something "extra".

I also am going to paint my cabane struts like the stock plane too. I removed th etop wing and struts, and graphite-epoxied the underside scoop to the fuselage. Mine was horribly fitting, and there's NO way that CA would have held it in two teeny places at 30mph+. I used my Dremmel tool with a carbide 1/8" cutting tool to match the curvature of the underside of the fuse as best I could, then used graphite-epoxy 1:1:1 to adhere it. This also flows nicely out and is BLACK. It filled in the gaps very well, and the scoop is rock-solid.

I then made two pipes out of 3/4" pieces of aluminum: 7/32" dia. and 3/16" dia.

They fit inside each other, to make a virtual exhaust pipe. A little CA, and some flat black paint dusted on lightly, and they look like they've been busy!

I then carefully added a small slab of balsa on the front behind the firewall on the inside of the fuselage's wooden spars to allow me to drill into the fuselage at an angle - this worked very well. I then use graphite-epoxy to adhere the pipes into the holes drilled carefully at an oblique angle on either side of the scoop, just like the real McCoy. The GE fills in nicely, and flows out to smooth out and cover over any left over roughness in the holes. A touch of GE inside the bottom fuselage to finish things up, and it's all done!

I hope this wont add too much extra weight, but I plan to fly 4S anyway. I think that I'll be okay. It adds a little bit extra to the model I think! Once the cabane struts are painted and wings added on again, I will add the finish with wing wires, and then touch up the socket screws (2.5mm I used) to hide them.

I will also be painting my connecting aileron rod white as well, just like the stock plane. (after adjusting them to match the lower set, first!)

See pix below for how the scoop and pipes came together. Tomorrow is paint touchup day on the struts... I have about 2 weeks until my new Lipos come anyway, so I thought I may as well play and finish the plane off right!!!

SkyCadet