1:4 Scale Foamy Albatros D.Va – Flite Fest 2022 Dawn Patrol Challenge

[wilmracer]

With Udvar Hazy and the national archives less than 10 minutes from his residence, I'm pretty sure he's got access to all the historical accuracy anyone could ever hope for.

Lol... yeah, they are very nice there. Need to get an apointment to get back in there and pull more stuff for one of the Sweet Pea videos I want to do. I want more shots of the Molesworth airbase... but that is another thread and another time.

I did get some cool stuff started last night. One of the challenges here has been the spinner. It is an unusual shape and not something that is widely manufactured, particularly at this scale. To make matters more difficult my 3D printer bed is smaller than "standard", so printing one wasn't a good option. A few months back I picked up a "scale" aluminum spinner from a company that was involved in restoration of a full scale D.Va's and sells a super detailed scale kit. It has a brass backplate and still has to be drilled, tapped, and cut for the prop (and of course balanced). I think a combination of factors resulted in this being undersized for my model. So... How to get a "scale" spinner, or at least one that looks right to the eye.

I'm lucky it is April and Easter time... I've been seeing Albatros spinners everywhere and it turns out they are Easter Eggs! The profile of the spinner is an almost perfect match to a slice from the "pointy" side of an egg.

It took some searching and a few trials to find a giant plastic easter egg where that slice is the right size, but it turns out a 16" egg is just about perfect. I picked one up and have started working up the spinner. I did a rough cut last night and will continue to trim slowly using this fixed-blade method to keep the cuts perfectly symetrical. A backplate is in progress using an aluminum backplate from a Parkflyer Plastics spinner epoxied to aircraft ply and then spun on the drill press and sanded to round. Once I settle on the exact diameter I want I'll continue to trim and refine both until the fit is perfect and then I'll secure the 1/8th inch thck plastic egg shell to the backplate with tiny wood screws. I'll use the dremel to cut in the slots for the propeller, bolt it all together, and put it on the balancer this weekend. I'm confident it will work if I take my time, and from the quick mock-up I think it will look perfect.

 

[Ligbaer]

With Udvar Hazy and the national archives less than 10 minutes from his residence, I'm pretty sure he's got access to all the historical accuracy anyone could ever hope for.

5 minutes from my house lol

 

[Baron VonHelton]

There is something missing......

 

[wilmracer]

There is something missing......

May have to add that down the road. For now I'm just trying to get it ready to fly before next week

There is still a bit more of the wood covering to lay down and I haven't built the battery hatch yet (although it is just cosmetic and I could fly without it). ESC, BEC, and Receiver need to be installed, and spinner needs to be finished and installed. I'm working on the inter-wing struts now, and once those are done I need to install at least the guns and ammo belts and then install the upper wing center section, the struts, and run the aileron wires. With that done I can then cover the wings and finish the ailerons.

Still a LONG way to go but I'm happy with how she is looking.

 

[Yankee2003]

May have to add that down the road. For now I'm just trying to get it ready to fly before next week

There is still a bit more of the wood covering to lay down and I haven't built the battery hatch yet (although it is just cosmetic and I could fly without it). ESC, BEC, and Receiver need to be installed, and spinner needs to be finished and installed. I'm working on the inter-wing struts now, and once those are done I need to install at least the guns and ammo belts and then install the upper wing center section, the struts, and run the aileron wires. With that done I can then cover the wings and finish the ailerons.

Still a LONG way to go but I'm happy with how she is looking.
View attachment 224312

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Really puts my efforts to shame….😕.
The Albatross is looking top shelf!

 

[willsonman]

Really puts my efforts to shame….😕.
The Albatross is looking top shelf!

Perhaps you are missing the point or at least on grazing the point. Carl and I feed off each other and we tend to go a bit bananas. I think the community gives me more grief than him but regardless of the insanity level the reason we share our builds so openly is so that others can learn, aspire, and then subsequently do better. Carl and I have NEVER had conversations about overshadowing other builds and I think that once you meet us at FF you will quickly find that we are more often than not finding excellent attributes of EVERY build there. We go to these events to share our builds, knowledge, and experience only to get the exact same in return. I believe that shaming anyone's build is morally wrong and we would be willing to defend that builder as much as any other.

I'm NOT a competitive person but I do enjoy feeding off the passion Carl and I share. I have a VERY small following on YouTube but every video I am trying to share something for someone to learn something. Carl is the same way. We will never tell you you HAVE to do something a certain way. Find your own way. If it works, it works. We've come across too many old farts that think foam has no place in the sky and we continually work hard to change that perception. and we love doing it together.

 

[Yankee2003]

Perhaps you are missing the point or at least on grazing the point. Carl and I feed off each other and we tend to go a bit bananas. I think the community gives me more grief than him but regardless of the insanity level the reason we share our builds so openly is so that others can learn, aspire, and then subsequently do better. Carl and I have NEVER had conversations about overshadowing other builds and I think that once you meet us at FF you will quickly find that we are more often than not finding excellent attributes of EVERY build there. We go to these events to share our builds, knowledge, and experience only to get the exact same in return. I believe that shaming anyone's build is morally wrong and we would be willing to defend that builder as much as any other.

I'm NOT a competitive person but I do enjoy feeding off the passion Carl and I share. I have a VERY small following on YouTube but every video I am trying to share something for someone to learn something. Carl is the same way. We will never tell you you HAVE to do something a certain way. Find your own way. If it works, it works. We've come across too many old farts that think foam has no place in the sky and we continually work hard to change that perception. and we love doing it together.

Well said.
But make no mistake….I will be taking ugly Betty to the prom….it is the least I can do having spent so much time with her these last few months. She is going to make me proud as she breaks free from Tera Firma and reaches to the heavens. Gliding on wrinkled wings of glory. Groaning under the weight of excess filler and heavily layered paint as she awkwardly performs her low pass through show center.
Finishing a slow and steady approach with a final drop to the ground like my elderly father getting out of his pickup truck. She slowly stumbles back to the pits…. to a knowing smile on my face……”that’ll do pig……that’ll do”.

 

[wilmracer]

Really puts my efforts to shame….😕.
The Albatross is looking top shelf!

I agree with everything that Willsonman said. While the Dawn Patrol is technically a "Challenge" he and I didn't treat our 1:4 scale builds like the models being built for the challenge. @willsonman 's FVM Ö1 Tummelisa build is much more inline with the spirit of the challenge. He is absolutely right that we both feed off of each other and tend to go a bit over the top, but it is fun. Painful at times, but fun .

We also both enjoy showing off just what can be done with foam building. A mentor to both of us, a scratch builder named John Morgan, inspired both of us and really set the standard that you can build scale warbirds with foam that look at least as good as balsa builds. AND you can do it lighter and cheaper!

I will admit I AM a competitive person, but I'm NOT in a competition with any of my friends here. I love seeing all the builds and creativity taking place here and don't look down on any build. I'm actually often jealous of the quicker builds . If anything I'm competing with the naysayers who downplay foam building.

 

[wilmracer]

Well said.
But make no mistake….I will be taking ugly Betty to the prom….it is the least I can do having spent so much time with her these last few months. She is going to make me proud as she breaks free from Tera Firma and reaches to the heavens. Gliding on wrinkled wings of glory. Groaning under the weight of excess filler and heavily layered paint as she awkwardly performs her low pass through show center.
Finishing a slow and steady approach with a final drop to the ground like my elderly father getting out of his pickup truck. She slowly stumbles back to the pits…. to a knowing smile on my face……”that’ll do pig……that’ll do”.

 

[Baron VonHelton]

It's ok, I already won this thing!

 

[wilmracer]

Update from last night. Forward progress being made but I'm still skeptical that I'll have her in an airworthy state before next week. The punch list is still pretty daunting and I still have to prep camping gear and other aircraft for the trip.

I did get the inter-wing struts fabricated. The struts themselves are cut from 1/4" aircraft ply and are lined on leading/trailing edge with a CF strip for added strength. I may add CF strips to the inside of the "V" as well but I'm a bit short on the thinner CF strips and the 6mm strips won't blend well. I'll look through the scrap drawer tonight to see if I have enough to make it happen.

The struts sit into female receiver slots that are secured into the wings with gorilla glue. These will be painted with the same color as the strut and should blend well. I have did get the lower sections installed last night. I took some small liberty with the location and moved them inboard about 3" further than scale. The scale location would have put the receiving bracket 1/4" from the servo pockets. I wanted more solid foam around the stress point. The strut is secured with an 8-32 socket head bolt into a blind nut. The bolt is accessible from outboard and is part of my plan for "easy" flying wires.

My plan for the flying wires is as follows: I plan to make small aluminum brackets, either C or L shaped as appropriate. They will be permenantly connected to the flying wire and will be drilled to fit the 8-32 bolt. When setting up the aircraft I'll loosen the turnbuckle if necessary (yes, they will get turnbuckles) and then slip the bracket over the female receiver slot when I insert the strut. It then gets held in place by the bolt that secures the strut. The lower strut connection will be a C shaped bracket that is permenantly connected to the two upper inboard points as well as the forward fuselage point. The upper strut connections will be L shaped and will be permenantly connected to the lower inboard mount points. There are also wires that won't need to be removeable that run from the lower inboard mount point to the upper inboard mount points. Those are all contained on the center wing section so while I do want to be able to tighten them if they loosen over time they don't need to be easily detachable.

I'm figuring this will allow me to fully setup the plane in less than 10 minutes at the field. Not bad for a big bipe

 

[willsonman]

yes, they will get turnbuckles

Prime example of project creep right here, gentlemen. LOL

Coincidentally, I know a guy who's done a little diddy on turnbuckles for those who are unfamiliar with them...

 

[wilmracer]

Prime example of project creep right here, gentlemen. LOL

Lol... I know, BUT I do need the flying wires for additional wing-retention security.

The build will be on pause for the next week as I travel to SEFF and get some much needed downtime (and stick-time). I'd been pushing to get this done BEFORE SEFF but the other evening I caught a boneheaded mistake I made with the interwing struts and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The interwing struts will have to be redone from scratch (MAN I wish I had a laser cutter).

I really did want to have this done so I could break her in at SEFF but to look at this in a positive light at least I wont have to rush. There are a few things that I'd like to fix and a few other things I'd like to do "RIGHT" rather than just get them done. I really wanted to make the lower half of the "cowl" removeable for ease of maintenance and wiring but was going to have to leave it solid to be done in time. I also had not had an oportunity to model and print the vents, so cooling inside the cowl was a risk. There are two areas that haven't been covered with vinyl yet that don't have the right profile. I was going to live with it but now I'll have time to do it right. I also think I can tweak my files for the radiator and get it printed lighter and more scale (and I want to make that vertical post on the radiator removable so I can flip her over to change batteries without it breaking.

All of this is a long way of saying I'm actually kind of releived that the artificial deadline can't be hit. I was pulling some late nights and hadn't even started prepping/packing for SEFF. Now I can press pause, catch my breath, and get back to her in a week. After a long roadtrip with @willsonman I may even have some good ideas of improvements/adjustments to make! I do plan to bring the receiver and some spare servos so he can help me with my Horus. It has been a minute since I setup a new model on there and I'll feel better if he looks over the basic setup. He can also help me load the machine gun noises to the radio

 

[willsonman]

YOU BETCHA!!!!

 

[willsonman]

After spending 27 hours on the highway as well as 4 days of an event with @wilmracer last week I did want to share this picture. The Albatross is an amazing build and Carl is doing a great job building it. I’d like to vocalize that I’m glad he’s not rushed this build to make the SEFF deadline. There’s bittersweet news on that front but it’s not my news to tell. I will simply let my picture tell things from here.

 

[wilmracer]

I will be back at the build very shortly. I'm still digging out from under a mountain of emails and it will probably take all week to catch back up at work. Then kid and mother's day events will occupy the weekend, but progress will be made soon.

What @willsonman was referring to is that my Hangar 9 Piper Pawnee met an untimely end at SEFF. She was flying beautifully in mostly open skies when she had a mid-air with a foamy A-10. She lost a wingtip and splashed down hard in the lake. The battery was lost but the rest of the gear seems to be ok.

With the help of @Mid7night 's son we stripped the wreckage of anything useful. One of the really interesting parts are the pair of struts from each wing. They were permanently mounted on one end and then reattach at the other with a rod and cotter pin. They are made from airfoiled aluminum. The idea was hatched to modify these for use as the interwing struts. They will look more scale than what I has planning, and leaving them attached to the lower surface of the upper outboard panels will even more time during setup.

The other parts will find themselves in another build one day. That idea may have also already been hatched, but we'll see ;-)

 

[SlingShot]

It might just be me, but I think a decent looking FB design looks pretty good in colored packing tape.

 

[wilmracer]

It might just be me, but I think a decent looking FB design looks pretty good in colored packing tape.

I don't disagree, but I do prefer low-temp covering when possible due to more uniform color and blending along seams (and a lot fewer seams). In the case of this model the other choices in covering were made to both experiment and hopefully take this from looking decent to looking amazing. Finding wood-grain packing tape, and recreating a lozenge patern with packing tape, both seem like really daunting challenges

 

[willsonman]

It might just be me, but I think a decent looking FB design looks pretty good in colored packing tape.

I don't disagree, but I do prefer low-temp covering when possible due to more uniform color and blending along seams (and a lot fewer seams). In the case of this model the other choices in covering were made to both experiment and hopefully take this from looking decent to looking amazing. Finding wood-grain packing tape, and recreating a lozenge patern with packing tape, both seem like really daunting challenges

I maintain that the best covering is glass and paint.

 

[wilmracer]

I maintain that the best covering is glass and paint.

I don't disagree.