BBA/Winter Build 2017/18 - Top Flite Corsair

willsonman

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Been getting these little details wrapped up to be ready to shoot primer later this week. The weather is looking fairly favorable so I need to push ahead. Covering is done on the bottom side of the wings. I'm also starting to mask things off to I am fully ready to just pull the parts outside and go to town.

As a matter of reference... one month from today will be my first day at SEFF. Time to kick things into high gear.
 

willsonman

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More work done on the wing prep last night. The areas around the gear doors needed some blending and I was able to identify a couple of other spots that needed some attention. The bottom side fabric covering was completed as well.

I hope to sand down the fuselage tonight and cover things up for primer. Once the primer is on I can identify additional trouble spots and prep for panel lines. Once the lines are on I can do the rivets and start shooting paint.

The plan is to try and get things wrapped up for flight and the cockpit will probably come after SEFF.
 

willsonman

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Still chilly here but I get a break tomorrow. High of 73 and little rain.

The fuselage is sanded down. Made a holy mess again in the shop last night but at least its done now.
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
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Still chilly here but I get a break tomorrow. High of 73 and little rain.

Holy crap, you're right! I did a double take when I read that and had to go check the weather. They are calling for 78* here :cool:

Saturday and Sunday look cooler but sunny. Will be nice though since I have a bunch of work to do outside in the yard and to prep the trailer for the long haul to SEFF :cool::cool::cool: Good luck with the getting her in primer tomorrow! Hope the rain holds off.
 

willsonman

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Ok, a boring update but I took pictures.

Primer I use. High build and fills imperfections.
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Bottom of fuselage-wing saddle
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Tail gear opening
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Battery hatch and motor
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Cockpit and camera assembly
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Empennage with control rods masked off.
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Cowl, battery hatch and spinner all prepped. I later prepped the prop, which I had forgotten about at the time of this picture.
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Still calling for mid-70s today so I'll be shooting primer as soon as I get home. Really looking forward to it. I need to make some major progress here.
 

willsonman

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PRIMER!!!!!!! GOt two coats on just to fill whatever imperfections as best as possible.
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Prop tips were primed with white primer and then yellow was shot onto it. Love the crisp lines.
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Callie sent me my customized graphics. Fighting bulldogs will be on the nose.
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I thought it was bad to put weight on the outer edges of props. Seems every how to balance props videos I have seen makes a point about that. I understand they can be and you will still balance them but I thought the extra weight out wide caused safety concerns and raises the probability of a prop self destructing under Centrfical / Centripetal (always confuse these two) forces. How will the paint putting weight that far out effect the performance or will it matter since this is a lower KV set up?
 

willsonman

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It is not likely to cause much concern as we are talking only a couple of grams at most and the prop spinning at a maximum of 9K RPM. Also note that this prop is intended for IC use, not necessarily electric, so it is much beefier than the standard, thinner, electric props. MA uses a glass fiber base that is very strong and I've not seen these props break often. For me, it is a non-issue.

Good thought though.
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
It is not likely to cause much concern as we are talking only a couple of grams at most and the prop spinning at a maximum of 9K RPM. Also note that this prop is intended for IC use, not necessarily electric, so it is much beefier than the standard, thinner, electric props. MA uses a glass fiber base that is very strong and I've not seen these props break often. For me, it is a non-issue.

Good thought though.

I end up painting most of my props and as long as you balance them it really isn't an issue. Never had one fail without me running into something :black_eyed:
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
...and when you are balancing, you are generally sanding on the backside of the propeller correct?




Callie sent me my customized graphics. Fighting bulldogs will be on the nose.
View attachment 104703

There was a lot of cool art in WWII.

The founder of a crewboat company I worked for was a submariner. He modeled the company logo after his sub logo.

logo.jpg
 
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wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
...and when you are balancing, you are generally sanding on the backside of the propeller correct?

What I do for painted props is to spray a coat of clear over the whole prop. Once dry I balance by adding additional coats of clear to the lighter side. I only do this for props that are close to balanced already, but the technique works well, seals in my paint, leaves a nice finish, and my hope is that it does not change the blade's geometry significantly.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
It is not likely to cause much concern as we are talking only a couple of grams at most and the prop spinning at a maximum of 9K RPM. Also note that this prop is intended for IC use, not necessarily electric, so it is much beefier than the standard, thinner, electric props. MA uses a glass fiber base that is very strong and I've not seen these props break often. For me, it is a non-issue.

Good thought though.

TY for the reply Josh. My internet is down for a while which is why I have not been in last few days.
 

willsonman

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No problem.

*sigh*

Sadly no work was done this weekend. I had many family obligations with minimal time for the hobby. I chose to use it to get the Dauntless in the air. The primer has cured out so it is just waiting for me to get very messy. Wet sanding is never fun but a necessary evil.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
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Well, lets try to wind this one up again.

Wet sanding is messy, tedious, and time consuming. Aaaaaaand its done. I was able to take a couple of hours yesterday and get this crucial step completed. This is really where you get your surface finish from. To be truthful, the surface is about 92% perfect... which is close enough for me. I intend to fly the snot out of this bird so hangar rash will eventually be more distracting than the slight surface imperfection.

Not pictured here is the cowl and cowl flaps. They too are done.
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Fuselage is done.
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Spot the imperfection game going on in this picture.
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And the wing only took an hour to do. I know! I was shocked too!
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Next up is Chart-Pak tape for panel lines. More on this later.
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
Next up is Chart-Pak tape for panel lines. More on this later.

Into the home stretch. I love this part of a build and I know you do too. Laying the lines and rivets is a bit time consuming and subtle compared to major construction, but it really brings a model to life. A few days of detail work like that, a few days to shoot and cure base coats, another day to lay down the graphics and seal them in, and you're good to go :cool:

Are you planning on weathering her intentionally? I've got a little box of my favorite weathering tools that you're welcome to use. Various washes (sand, oil, rust, burnt umber, ash, ect) along with various metallic paints for dry brushing. Of course you can just fly her frequently and let time do the trick too ;)
 

willsonman

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I usually let time do her thing. I'm not opposed to doing weathering but given my current time constraint, I'll likely opt out. Now, Had I not been invited to SEFF by YOU... yeah I would have done some weathering. :p
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
When playing the spot the imperfection game after the first wet sanding I learned a neat trick that really helps from back in the car days. You take some black primer and mist (not cover at all) the surfaces. This gives a shadowy effect and any waves or dips and dimples pop right out into view under decent lighting.
 

Tench745

Master member
When playing the spot the imperfection game after the first wet sanding I learned a neat trick that really helps from back in the car days. You take some black primer and mist (not cover at all) the surfaces. This gives a shadowy effect and any waves or dips and dimples pop right out into view under decent lighting.

I always used the colored primer trick; get two or three colors of primer to build your fill coats. Then you can see the layers as you sand back through them so you know how close you are to sanding through and/or filling your low spots.
 

willsonman

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All good points and suggestions fellas. The imperfections I speak of are weave related. Some times a pinhole is just not filled and I just say it's not worth it to go another round for ONE pinhole. There area few of those that I'm pretty sure will go unnoticed after the paint goes on.

Moving along... More big progress.

Panel lines are created by laying down vinyl chart-pak tape. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use a no-name brand of this stuff. Go out of your way to find this brand. The off-brand stuff delaminates when you remove it and it is a HUGE pain to fully remove. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
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Basic lines added to the small parts and cowl.
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Wing top
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Wing bottom
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Fuselage/empennage.
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I'll say here that I used about a roll and a half of the tape. I need to order more now but it's less than you may think to do all of these lines. So, next is more or less weather dependent. And guess what they are calling for on Saturday? Snow. And a record low on Sunday. So yeah... I need to shoot three light coats of primer over all of these lines. Then go back to wet sanding and get the lines sanded back to where I can see the tape again. After that I just peel up the tape and little grooves are left for me to add rivets to.
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
Snow on Saturday :-/ If there is a sunny day in the next week I say you develop a 24 hour bug ;-)