1/4 Scale SE5a ( The Old Dutch )

[Guest]

Thanks Trey. You are right, it is a risk, i watched my mate who is an instructor fly a nice looking Bearcat that he had just brought from someone. It flew for a while before the stab started vibrating like crazy. A few moments later it came down like a ton of bricks and was destroyed. A very sorry sight to see. After investigating it was found that whoever built it had put a but joint in the trailing edge of the stab and never bothered to brace it, as you can imaginge, the joint broke and my mate lost elevation control.

It was a beutiful looking kit, very clean to.

Cheers

Andy

[Guest]

Hi guys,

Here is the latest up date on 'The Old Dutch'.

The upper mid wing section is complete apart fron the top ply skin, it is advised to leave this off until the end incase you want to carry out any additions like the gun and running rails, i do intend to put these on and the plan shows a scale sketch so that it can be scratch built.

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The 1/4 x 1/4 balsa is my addition, i thought i would add a little more support here as this area takes a lot of stress.

The bottom section is complete now and will be ready to add into the fuse construction. Here you can see a few things, the rigging anchor points that have to be added and how they fix from underneath with a top hat nut and 3mm pin, i thread locked these due to vibration from the big engine. Also we have the chanel where the undercarriage frame work is trapped and secured. The wing retaining rods that have been glued in place as with the upper mid section. The upper skins have been added along with the bottom skin. The bottom skin isnt glued all the way along at this stage because it needs to be lifted to insert the under carriage wires first.

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The next part of the build is the tail section. This has to be built as it is needed for the fuse construction and is built as part of the fuse. Here you can see the components for the stab only, the elevators will be built next.

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Cheers

Andy

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[Guest]

Work on the Stab and Elevators is almost complete, next job is to sand the profiles before covering. The manual says to cover this section prior to the building of the fuse. Another first for me here, never coverd a plane before. I think Solarfilm is the best as far as i can make out. We will see how i go, hopefully shouldnt be a problem if i take my time.

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Cheers

Andy

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[stona]

Bloody hell! You don't hang about do you. I look away for five minutes and you've half built the thing! Seriously it's great stuff and I'm looking forward to seeing the covering.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks Steve, its not that im moving so quickly, more like how good the kit is and how easily and quickly it goes togethr. Dont worry to much... ill soon slow down when the fuse is built and i start on the scale detail and scratch builds.

Cheers

Andy

[Ian M]

Coming along nicely!

Now the tip with wrapping the metal rods in masking tape is a good idea. Only one thing worries me; I have found that over time the glue on masking tape dries up and lets go.... could this not have a fatal effect on the strength of the parts? I was wondering if something like electrical shrink tube, the type with hot glue inside would maybe be a better choice. You know best but I just thought you might like to try it out some time.

Ian M

[Guest]

Ian you have a very valid point, this is something i heard about but is also recomended by the manual. Thinking about what youhave said is a sound idea and heat shrink would be a better option i would have thought, always think of these things afterwards when it is too late. I can say though that the parts that i have done are fixed and none moving, had this been around a moving rod then i would have a problem. I suppose that the method i have used is what they also recomend so there shouldnt be an issue, hopefully he says lol

Good tip to remember for the future.

Cheers

Andy

[Ian M]

I do have my good moments!

I am sure that yours will hold. Its not as if they are going to be subjected to light and heat hidden in the wing.

I am still very impressed with the cleanliness of your work table. This is a great build Andy and I am still fighting temptation. One of the guys at work is into flying RC so I might have a chat with him on the rules and regs and see what I am up against.

I s'pose I could build them and sell them afterwards.....

Ian M

[Guest]

Thanks Ian, Flying is fantastic but building is better, Now there are people that would say the opposite. There are only two types, those that love to fly and build very little if at all and those that build but fly very little, i am the latter and would gladly give up my flying time to sit in the workshop and build. The guys up the flying club keep moaning at me and tell me to get some flying done lol.

If you gave both ago im sure for certain that you would be in the latter like me as you love your model building. Once built you can sell these easily but never recover the true costs, the amount of hours that go into these projects soon add up so we call it a labour of love. You are able to cover the cost of the materials and a little of your time but in my eyes the time is leasure and satisfaction so im happy not to be paid for it, but happy to move it on to make room for the next project.

This one is in memory of my dear mother and will never be moved on, guess its time to get an extension on the workshop.

Cheers

Andy

[Guest]

Onto the next part of the project... cover the stab and elevator with Solartex. This is my first attempt at this and was a little worried to be honest. It didnt come out to bad to be honest.

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The next step is to locate the parts to assemble the Sub Fin section. These parts are laminated together with the ply section positioned in the middle for added strength.

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The next part is the fin assembly, the parts are ready to be put together.

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cheers

Andy

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[Guest]

Covering looks great Andy. Solartex is a new one on me but it looks fantastic,was it okay to work with?

[Guest]

I remember years ago when i was returning to modelling after a break of a few years and asking for a tin of dope. The whole place went quiet and you could hear the sniggerings in the background. This guy explained the joys of Solartex and I haven't looked back since. I still love the smell of dope though!

Your covering looks spot on and, of course, the texture gives you plenty of scope for weathering techniques later.

[Guest]

Thanks guys. The solartex is fantastic Trey, you only need to get it there abouts because you shrink it with the iron once you have all the edges tacked down and all the wrinkles vanish, this was my first attempt and i now feel confident enough to cover the whole plane.

I know what you are saying Rich but people still do use dope, its a little conventional compared to the new products on the market but some still prefer to use it and i know my model shop still sells it. The other is silk, very expensive but looks great if you can get the finish right.

Cheers

Andy

[Guest]

Andy 21st Century made an Iron on covering that was tectured to make it look like doped fabric , it was rather heavy and did'nt shrink as much as conventional monocote making it harder to get a 'tight' shrink. The Solartex looks like it went down perfect!

[Guest]

Your right Trey, it works fantastic and as a total beginer to this product i would recomend it... i have been told though that it can add quite a bit of weight though marginal in my opinion and would only recomend it on the larger scale kits.

Cheers

Andy