Aerographics Hunter - Lost my F3!

[playtime222]

Could someone scan their F3 and post it on here, please?

I've lost both of mine. They were taped together while I was widening the battery box and adjusting all the slots and recesses. Now I come to actually glue the fuselage together and it's disappeared. Sigh.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[Konrad]

Here you go. It is the same basic shape as F4 if that helps.

[playtime222]

I can work with that.

Thanks for the quick reply!

I was expecting to have to shelve this one again.

[playtime222]

Took a bit of fettling 

[Konrad]

Looks good! How much distortion? Even printed parts often require me to fit them.

[playtime222]

I've built the Lightning and the West Wings Do335 so this one I feel is a simpler shape but, frankly, this one is a challenge.

Plenty of parts have corrections already noted in the instructions - e.g. wing ribs R2 and R6 suddenly stop at the front of the trailing edge piece rather than going full length. I had already cut mine out so I have no idea if there is space to correct the original printed pieces.

For me, the F3 I ended up creating had the slot for E about 1.5mm too low, so I cut another out and marked where the E slot and stringer notches are but did not filed them out. The slots for the side keel F at the back looks straight enough.

Also, for F3 when you cut it out, DONT cut off the top part - cut out the space for MOST of the battery box cos that will be awkward later and BS but leave a tab at the top so that it sits square on the plan.

F14 is a disaster - don't file out the slots for the keels until you can test fit it on the keels B and D - you file almost all of it as the keels are as wide as F13 and the marked notch is too deep anyway - I glue some scrap balsa back on and started again.

The perfectionist in me wants to remake every former from F7 to F13 just to make the inner hole the same size as the smaller motor and corresponding jet pipe. I'm just going to cut out some rings to mount all that.

My battery was about 5mm wider than the space the original markings on F2-F4 give you but that's easy to change with the original parts.

I cannot figure out what to do with the trailing edge of the tailplane when the leading edge is raised and given dihedral as per the plan. All my test fitting says leaving the trailing edge flat on the plan will give a very weird wash out which I'm sure is not the intention.

One trick I've used is all of the fragile pieces where most of them are filed away - especially F9 - glue some scrap 1/16 square for strength then gently sand most of it off after the slot filing is completed. Ask me how I know these parts are fragile My Dad used to say for tricky fragile parts like that to banana oil (no-shrinking dope) some tissue paper onto them for extra strength.

Not looking forward to fitting the paper ducting

Not looking forward to fitting R1.

Not looking forward to finding the R1s dont match the R2s and how the hell you give the wing dihedral (10mm at R6) when R1 and R2 are built flat I have no idea - sand a wedge for it?

Last but not least - noob mistake

When sanding the front base block of the fin, tape over the fin leading edge or you will sand a depression into it. Had to build that up again with some scrap. Then sanded a depressing above that. Sigh. 2 corrections

Don't let me put you off. I fret a lot over this stuff before I glue anything. The main thing I've learnt is not to notch or file out slots UNTIL I test fit them on the plan. The other 2 kits mentioned were better in that respect.

Phew. Rant over

Hope that will be of some use.

[MKelly]

Playtime,

Thanks much for all that - I've got this kit in the stash and have bookmarked your thread for reference when I get to building it.  Keep it coming!

Cheers,

Mike

[Konrad]

I truly appreciate this kind of attention to detail!
In my book bringing out issues with any product is not a rant! It is doing us the modeling community a great service.
So I'd like to thank you for taking the time to write down what you found in the way of form and fit issues.

All the best,
Konrad

P.S.

I also have the Do335 in a box. later I'd like to learn what issues you found in your build of the Do335

[playtime222]

Thanks for the comments. For me, this kind of info is what these sites should be all about

I've got 2 more 335's in my stash. TBH the build was several years ago. My biggest gripe was the canopy took a bit of fiddling but still went on fine. My Dad advised planking the nose which I did up to the cockpit and continued the plank just under the cockpit sides, all for strength. It's a fiddly bugger in various places but it does go together well. The only part which my inexperience struggled with was the solid part at the front of the ventral air intake. Took me a few attempts to be happy with the shape.

As for the hunter, being a careless bastard I've knackered the F5 and F6 quite a bit so I'm doing some in place repairs.

Real life causing delays too. Hope to get back to it over the weekend.

[playtime222]

Heads up. Some progress on the Hunter - details in the next day or 2. I may do a quick post about a Guillows FW 190 I finally finished main assembly on - just need to get it to a field and see if it can be trimmed.

[MKelly]

Excellent - look forward to seeing your progress.

Mike

[fred]

Thanks for the comments. For me, this kind of info is what these sites should be all about

I've got 2 more 335's in my stash. TBH the build was several years ago. My biggest gripe was the canopy took a bit of fiddling but still went on fine. My Dad advised planking the nose which I did up to the cockpit and continued the plank just under the cockpit sides, all for strength. It's a fiddly bugger in various places but it does go together well. The only part which my inexperience struggled with was the solid part at the front of the ventral air intake. Took me a few attempts to be happy with the shape.

Seriously suggest getting the 1:24 Scale do 335 Plan and canopy which is correct shape and fits Perfectly (if he still has them)
 From http://www.dielsengineeringinc.com/kits-plans-canopies-decals-etc.html
Having built a couple of other 335's .. Diels' is far and away the Best plan... genuinely scale as well.

[playtime222]

Looks good but I seriously don't need another project!!!!

Coincidentally, I just got the parts for this (plastic, non-flying, heresy) monster: https://www.scalemates.com/profiles/mate.php?id=25790&p=projects&project=44857. There's 150ish kits in that stash too.

For the free flight, I've got a Guillows FW190, various West Wings and Aergraphics numbers - Swordfish, Gladiator, 2 Do335s, Me163, an EE Lightning (and I have a stash of Rapiers ), a vulcan and a few old KeilKraft design in the final stages of assembly.

For RC, I have to refurbish my Dads stuff and build a Lysander and a quarter scale Piper Cub.

[playtime222]

[OK, I'm going to edit the crap out of this one so this is just the initial rambling - NB Please don't hesitate to ask if anything needs clarifying or expanding on.]

Constantly breaking fragile parts...

Check your battery size - especially width and modify bay accordingly....

Redone the wiring - a 4 pin XT plug is now used to present the 3 motor wires at the battery bay. This means the ESC, battery and timer all end up under the canopy. Hope this doesn't shift the balance too far forward.

The exhaust tube has only a .5mm diameter difference between end of the motor and F14.

If you haven't built the fuselage yet, scan all the parts BEFORE cutting them out and ensure the formers F7 - F13 have the correct internal diameter. I've built one half already and all the parts are cut out. I did correct a few of them that were smashed in an accident earlier.

To fix the motor and the exhaust, I've cut rings with the correct internal diameter. The motor mounting formers F7-9 have an outer diameter that just fits inside the keels. The ones for the exhaust tube have been cut down more to keep the weight down.

I've done the paper ducting for F5-F7 - 2 parts - pics to follow. Using the templates as a start, make them a lot larger so there is overlap the formers lengthwise. I used tissue paste cos it makes the paper wet and more manageable. If you have small pieces of sponge - break them off larger ones - this will be useful for holding the paper against the formers while it dries - careful not to have them apply too much pressure or it will bend around the former and not give a smooth tube. When the F7 part is dry, cut the excess into tabs, trim the length a bit and glue them behind the former.

The front of the motor has been taken off and glued to a piece of 1/64th ply - that was overkill but it's thinner and keeps the motor a mm more forward.

Building up the fuselage is going to drive me crazy.

The plan is to glue on F6R and F7R, reinforce with a small piece of 1/16 across to the left parts and maybe where R1 will go. Then I will fit the rear duct part.

Repeat for F5R and the middle duct.

Create and overlength exhaust tube and glue it on the back of the motor - keep it all flat to keep it straight. I'm seriously considering filing out F14/15 the extra .5mm to keep it completely straight. Glue with tissue paste.

Im going to put a small bit of shrink wrap around the 3 motor wires where they cross each former.

Put all the rings around the motor and the exhasut tube - lie it in the formers of the built up half.

Build up RHS of fuselage completely. The tube will stick out the back of F14/15 and should still move!

Move and hold/clamp/sacrfice chickens to deities to keep the motor and tube in place - test this. Undo it all, glue it, clamp it again.

Very worried about the twisting that may occur when I put the G/H parts on - may clamp the lower keel to the board.

Wings

The wing tip needs 2 x R7 AND a small piece in the middle or it is not thick enough in the middle of the rib. Also sanding the tip down runs the risk of sanding chunks off the leading edge which is very soft balsa in my kit. Plastic modellers trick - put some Tamya tape (any tape really) over it to stop it from getting sanded.

I bought a piece of right angle aluminium years ago and cut it into small lengths. These can be used to butt things up against when clamping parts onto the building bord but they can also ensure parts are vertical - in this case the wing root R2 while the wing tip is raised to the right dihedral.

The tailplane is just going to be built flat. The instructions make no bloody sense. 1/16 under here... blah blah... my arse.

[playtime222]

More pics to follow - having the resample the buggers to get the size down.

[Konrad]

Love it!

You are just like me, in it takes years to finish these models.

All the best,
Konrad

[playtime222]

Breakages, repairs and errors.

Not a good last few weeks.

Had quite a few attempts at building a jet pipe. I created a jig from a length of foam pipe insulation - the stuff with the slit down one side you push over central heating pipes.

I tried with normal paper (it's larger than A4) but don't use tissue paper paste - it just kinks the paper.

If you try to glue one end then the other, you get a kink in the middle.

I eventually got it working by using slightly heavier black paper from an art shop with a decent 2cm overlap, used 3M spray mount cos it lets you stick and unstick a few times, little strips of tamiya tape (any low tack tape will do - it's all about being able to unstick it and adjust it). You can use the jig to roll it all at once like a cigar, tape up the ends and middle. When it test fits OK, use a long piece of wide but thin masking tape for the final join - again place it tack up on the table and roll over it with the pipe around the jig.

Errors...

The motor intake is a smaller diameter than the inside of F7 - I forgot to adjust the F7's so the paper ducting is about 1cm wider...

While test fitting the motor, I dropped the whole thing twice... lost of broken formers and keels to repair - got a bit of a kink in the fuselage now but not too bad.

Today I glues the motor and the pipe in. And found F7R was upside down when I was test fitting F8R and it didn't look right. I managed to cut F7R off in one piece but the motor and pipe is still attached in several places. The challenge now is the paper duct between F7R and F6R... FML

I almost want to bin the fuselage, recover the parts I can, and do completely new parts with the correct inner diameters for F7-F13... If anyone wants to send me scans of all their fuselage parts (uncut, still on the sheet, and I've got all the flying surfaces made already) I would be grateful for the option. . It's still recoverable but 1 more cock-up and I think I'm done for this attempt.

[playtime222]

I went with the rebuild.

I recovered all the kit-supplied keel parts and the entire cockpit from F1-F4.

Thanks to a member on here, I've spent a week scratch building corrected parts - smaller internal diameter on all the rear formers -  and parts I couldn't recover from the Hunter fuselage. The original cockpit area is in place and the keels have had new balsa scarf joined into the shaped original kit parts. Now to glue the formers on...

I was in two minds about this - whether to scratch build or buy. I actually hit the button on a purchase from the Sussex Model Centre but it didn't go through. I took this as karma and went with the scratch building over the expense. Karma kicked me straight in the nuts when the kit arrived from the UK with no notice. Ah well, it will come in handy when I do an RC version.

Now, where's my aliphatic resin...

[playtime222]

Short version, the rebuild and finishing was very challenging, especially shimming up the wing roots for a decent fit. I finished and flew this bird once (in a different country for some odd reason!). Painted when I got back home and need to homebrew some decals to finish her off. Pissed I didn't make the control surfaces movable cos I am going to have to glue on some awful trim tabs I expect. Proper write up when I get a few hours. I have plenty of pics.

[PaulM]

Hi
  I have to ask , what are you using for power? I rerigged mine to accept a KP 32mm brushless fan unit , and its a missile..gets very small in a real hurry ..but looks amazing in the air
  complete rig , was 32mm fan , 10 amp speed controller (turnigy) a kp flight timer , and a 180mah Hyperion 3 s battery, housed just under the cockpit