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Hi Mike. I have a couple of those sitting around projects too. A couple of them count their age in years.
Today was supposed to be a flying day but the rain moved in earlier than forecast so I got a little shop time. All I had expected to get done was to start fiber glassing the wing center section. I'm putting a 3" tape wrap around the center section with Polycrylic as the adhesive. This morning, before leaving for the flying field, I put the tap on with the first coat. When I returned, I added a second coat. I'll let these will dry until tomorrow and then give the tape a light sanding and add a third coat. After the it will be several sessions of fill and sand until I get it all feathered out. With the extra time today, I went back into the fuselage and cut the holes in the nosewheel bulkhead for the ESC/Motor wires and the larger air circulation hole. I ussed a 1/2" Permagrit ball in a 90° head on my Dremel to cut both holes then a sanding drum in the same Dremel to clean up the holes. The photos don't show the lower wire hole well. Tom K ImagesView all Images in thread
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I passed what I consider one of the major milestones in the construction of any model: The joining of the wing to the fuselage. As usual, what looked like a 15 minute job took 2 hours. This is when I find out the wing saddles need adjustment and a million other minor details tha deed to be fixed. Once those were taken care of, the drilling and tapping of the holes only takes 15 minutes....
At any rate, we're there. That's all for this week as I'm back on the road until Thursday or Friday. Tom K |
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Well, I' m back.
I spent today getting caught up with the house, groceries and the Lancer. I'd like to finalize the servos installation so that I can start final filling and sanding in preparation to start covering. To check the approximate CG, I started putting it together. Out of curiosity, I put it on the scale and the uncovered weight is 6.5 pounds. The CG is about 1.5" behind the LE (not 3-7/8" as per plan). I still need to make and install the ailerons and cover. These should shift the CG back, but I doubt if it will shift it 1-3/8". We'll see. Tom K he uncover |
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Seems like it takes forever to make any progress on the models at this time of year.
I have been slowly making progress. All of the dings and dents have been dealt with and have finally started covering. I decided on a White and Orange scheme similar to that seen on T-28 trainers. The change will be that the bottom will be solid orange. I started on the empennage last night and made some small progress as shown in the photo below. Tom K |
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I don't understand why I used to think that the model was almost done when it was ready for covering. So far I think I've spent over8 hours with the final sanding and just covering the wing tips, the lower wing surface and the lower surfaces of the empennage. It looks like I've got another couple of days before it'll be fully covered. It takes time to do a nice job.
I've attached a couple of photos of the progress so far. Tom K |
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Lousy weather here today so I got to spend most of the afternoon on covering. With most of the orange on the wings (the next two pieces are the white panels), I shifted to the bottom of the fuselage which is also orange.
I think I may have figured out why covering now seems to take forever. I now do much more complex covering jobs. I still do s and 4 color schemes, but now they are much more complicated in their execution. Take the lower nose, for example. In the old days, I'd just cover it in orange and been done with it. Today, I added an aluminum nose ring to the scoop. This simple addition added almost 2 hours to the covering job as it took me a couple of attempts to get both the aluminum and the overlying orange correct. It did come out nice and couple add craftsmanship points if I were to compete with it. Tomorrow, I need to make a final check on the wing fit at the rear of the wing and adjust. The gap in the lower sheeting has been deliberately left wide to allow for the thickness of the covering. Now that I have most of it in place on the wing I can close it up a bit to make a nicer finish. I also need to drill and cover the 1/16" ply wing bolt plate that goes on the lower surface of the wing.. I think that the plate is the last piece of the plane to be made other than the canopy. Tom K |
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Slowly making progress with the covering. I think I have most of the orange on. Only the wing leading edge remains but that is last.
I also put the gray on for he cockpit interior. Tomorrow I start the white. Tom K |
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It's starting to come together
It seems like I've been covering forever. I have finally managed to get the fuselage covered and It's looking pretty good. I have the basic colors in place and will add the pin striping after I finish the wing. The goal is to have this completed by Christmas. At the current rate I should complete by the end of the week and then on to my Peter Rake Memorial build (his 58" Sopwith Swallow).
Tom K |
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Thanks Heggen.
Tom K |
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What covering are you using - Ultracote? You are getting me inspired to do an additional side project of recovering my 54" Lancer with Ultracote and Rustoleum paint for trim.. The picture I showed was the good side. On the right side, fuel has partially melted away the Sig enamel I used for trim. It's embarrassing to take to the field. Regardless of its appearance, it is a fun and easy airplane to fly. I trust you will find the same with the SL- 62.
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I'm using Monokote. It seems that over the last few years I've amassed 20, or so, rolls in various colors. This project is using leftover, partial rolls of bothered white and orange plus a fresh roll of each.
The orange was a leftover from my Platt Contender build this summer and the white from last year's RCM Trainer 60 build. Tom K |
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Slow progress is still progress.
Tonight, I managed to get the white sections of the wing on and the ailerons covered in both the white and orange. Hopefully, I will get the leading edges on tomorrow. Tom K |
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Thanks Jeff.
Well, I finally finished covering. The last of the orange, the LE, went on this morning and I got to do the pinstriping. The black pinstripes are 1/8" Monokote. They're not big, but I think the really make the colors "pop". To "busy it up" a bit, I then added "Stars and Bars" in keeping with the military trainer theme. Tomorrow I'll start final assembly. Tom K |
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