Baby Baron - Build

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
BABY BARON
Mighty Mini Sized Combat (Yeah Baby!)
2015-05-07 06.45.58.jpg

DETAILS

This is my first attempt at scaling down a plane. I randomly chose to start at 60% scale of the Bloody Baron. I fully expected to end up having to scale up slightly, especially after building the prototype...it's so TINY! Well, the results were better than I ever imagined. This thing performs a lot like it's big bloody brother! Another happy accident! :D


It uses the same power setup as the FT Mighty Mini series, and can use the same power pod as the Mini Scout and Mini Speedster. It has nearly unlimited vertical on a 2S setup. I have not tried it on 3S (no 3S batteries small enough to test at the moment), but I'm guessing it will be pretty ballistic on that setup.​


PLANS

SPECIFICATIONS

WINGSPAN:18 in457 mm
LENGTH:15 1/2 in394 mm
WING AREA:89.5 in25.8 dm2
WEIGHT (AUW):5.3 oz.150 g
WING LOADING:8.53 oz./ft225.9 g/dm2
WCL:10.8
CHANNELS:3
CONTROLS:Aileron, Elevator, Throttle

ELECTRONICS

MOTOR:Emax MT 1804
ESC:Turnigy Plush 12amp
BATTERY:450-800 mah 2S
PROPELLER:6 X 5 SF (GWS EP 6050)
SERVOS:2 X 5g (hekTronix HXT500)

SETTINGS
Ailerons : 40% Expo : 50%
Elevator : 40% Expo : 50%


IMAGES


2015-03-31 20.04.35.jpg

That's a ParkZone UMX Spitfire on the left, Baby Baron prototype on the right.
I told you it was TINY!



2015-04-26 11.10.03.jpg

The "mini me" of the Bloody Baron!​

FLIGHT VIDEO

This is my second flight with the prototype Baby Baron. My cameraman was off taking flying lessons so I got no video of the maiden flight.



Flight video of Keegan stress testing his backpackable (could be a word, who knows?) prototype (removable wing and vertical stabilizer). More details on his buld will be coming soon. I'm happy to report that it performed incredibly well. As you will see in this video, Keegan is a much better pilot than I am.


Extra background commentary from my brother-in-law and nephew. ;)



Maiden flight for version 1.1

BUILD LOG

Materials


Plans
Download the latest plans from the link above or from the SP0NZ - Plans Index.

2015-04-07 12.40.07.jpg
The tiled plans only require 8 sheets

2015-04-07 20.27.01.jpg
Tile your plans together and prepare them for transferring to your foam board

If you think you might make more than one of these planes, you may want to consider making some poster board templates. Complete instructions for making them can be found in my article DIY Poster Board Templates.

2015-04-07 23.21.21.jpg
Poster Board Templates

2015-04-08 21.31.15.jpg
All the parts for the Baby Baron take up a little over 1/2 sheet of 20 X 30 foam board​

Fuselage Construction

Parts needed:

<02> Fuselage
<03> Fuselage Doubler X2


2015-04-08 21.56.14.jpg

We'll start by assembling the fuselage, part number <02> on your plans. If you've built any of my swappable sized combat planes (Bloody Baron, Ugly Wonder, or Bloody Wonder MkIII), then this fuselage construction will already be very familiar to you.

STEP 1) Glue the C-Fold at the nose of the Fuselage. Make sure everything is squared up so the fuselage sides fold up perpendicular to the top plate.

2015-04-08 22.04.44.jpg

2015-04-08 22.06.23.jpg

STEP 2) Glue the B-Folds for the fuselage sides one at-a-time. I like to use the edge of the table to square up the fuselage with the tabs that will protrude from the top. Make sure that your sides are perpendicular to the top plate.

2015-04-08 22.07.47.jpg

STEP 3) Repeat for other side.

2015-04-08 22.09.22.jpg

2015-04-08 22.09.27.jpg

STEP 4) Next get out your fuselage doublers, part number <03> on your plans. Ensure the doublers will fit snugly in the fuselage by lining up the notch in the doubler with the C-Fold in the fuselage. After checking for a proper fit, glue the doublers in place one at-a-time.

2015-04-08 22.10.03.jpg


I'm going to assume that you already know how to build your Flite Test Mighty Mini Power Pod.

2015-04-08 22.15.05.jpg

Verify that the mini power pod fits snugly in the fuselage.

2015-04-08 22.15.44.jpg


Wing Construction

Parts needed:

<06> Wing
<07> Wing Spar

STEP 1) Cut the double 45° bevel along the score cut in the center of the wing, part number <06> on your plans.

STEP 2) Cut the single 45° bevels for each of the ailerons.

STEP 3) Remove the foam from the inside of the cavities for the spar tabs leaving the paper on the outside surface of the bottom of the wing. Note, you can choose to cut the openings all the way through, I just prefer the cleaner look you get by making the cavity.

2015-04-08 22.44.51.jpg

STEP 4) Crease at the indicated crease lines.

Your wing should look similar to the following image at this point.

2015-04-08 22.53.22.jpg
STEP 5) Score cut your spar, part number <07> on your plans, and fold it in half to establish the crease.


2015-04-08 22.22.16.jpg

STEP 6) Apply glue to the inside of the fold and glue the two halves together.

2015-04-08 22.24.17.jpg

STEP 7) Apply glue along the edge of the spar with the tabs and attach the spar to the wing by placing the tabs in the spar cavities.

2015-04-08 23.10.21.jpg

STEP 8) Carefully test folding your wing and make sure that there is a slight gap between the bottom plate and the ailerons to allow proper deflection of the control surfaces.

STEP 9) Once you are happy with the wing shape, open the wing back up and apply glue along the double bevel groove, the top of the spar, and the trailing edge of the bottom plate. Then carefully fold your wing and apply pressure for 1-2 minutes let the hot glue properly cool.

Horizontal & Vertical Stabilizers

Parts needed:

<04> Horizontal Stabilizer
<05> Vertical Stabilizer

STEP 1) Remove foam for cavities in the horizontal stabilizer, part number <04> on your plans.

STEP 2) Cut the single 45° bevel for the elevator in the horizontal stabilizer.

STEP 3) Remove foam for the cavities in the horizontal stabilizer.

2015-04-08 23.53.08.jpg

STEP 4) Glue the vertical stabilizer to the horizontal stabilizer making sure that they remain perpendicular to each other. Add hot glue to the seams on both sides of the vertical stabilizer and scrape off the excess with a scrap piece of foam.
2015-04-09 00.05.52.jpg

Final Assembly

STEP 1) Attach the tail assembly to the fuselage using the slots and tabs for alignment.

2015-04-09 00.08.24.jpg

STEP 2) Attach the wing assembly to the fuselage using the slots and the tabs for alignment. Use a square to ensure that the wing is square to the fuselage.

2015-04-09 00.09.47.jpg

STEP 3) Add servos, control horns, linkage stoppers and push rods. This process is similar to many of the Flite Test builds. If you are new to building, refer to one of the Flite Test build videos for instructions.

STEP 4) Attach the exhaust manifolds to the fuselage.

2015-04-28 22.07.52.jpg

STEP 5) Add your power pod with electronics using the same procedure as the FT Mini Scout build. Ensure the back of the power pod touches the top plate of the fuselage to obtain the proper amount of down thrust. Inset the dowels through the power pod.

attachment.php


Underside showing Rx and servo placement.

2015-03-27 23.47.18.jpg
Completed Baby Baron!​
 
Last edited:

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Keegan's building prototype 2 right now! I think plans should be here before the Easter Bunny arrives!
 

jayz 84

Posted a thousand or more times
Very sweet SPONZ. Im definitely going to build this one. I have no one to combat with except the crows around the hanger at work. ;) so i guess there in for a fight with my mini 3s setup
 
Last edited:

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Awesome John. The 3S should be a little missile!
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Faster than the Easter Bunny! Plans are available now. Download the plans and build one to put in your favorite RC pilots Easter basket (even if that's you).

The only thing better than RC Combat...mini combat! Get Some!!!
 

mad_milchmann

New member
did you make any changes besides scaling down? i already printed the bloody baron beta 2.2 plans at 60%.
so do i have to print again or can i just use them?
well stupid question i'll just have a look , but maybe ibteresting for someone else too.
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
did you make any changes besides scaling down? i already printed the bloody baron beta 2.2 plans at 60%.
so do i have to print again or can i just use them?
well stupid question i'll just have a look , but maybe ibteresting for someone else too.

Short answer:
Yes, the plans are different and you should download and print the plans to build the Baby Baron.


Long answer:
You cannot just scale down the full-size plans if you are using the same thickness building material. The Baby Baron and Bloody Baron are both designed to be made from Flite Test Foam board (Adams Readi Board) which is 3/16" thick. Because the thickness of the building material does not scale down with the rest of the plans, changes need to be made to accommodate. In addition, the thrust angle is greater on the Baby Baron than it is on the Bloody Baron. This caused the power pod to stick out below the fuselage in the first prototype. I changed the fuselage shape for the baby version to address that. I also added some cool exhaust stacks (similar to the FT Mini Scout).
 

mad_milchmann

New member
ok, good thing I didn't have time cutting and taping the plans yet. :)
I would have thought about material thickness, but not about the thrust angle.
I'll try building it with 3mm (1/8" I think) foamboard to keep it lighter so I'll have to make some small changes anyway. but I#m really looking forward to building it :)

new plans are going to be downloaded and printed immedeatly :)
I hope I have time to build soon, I'll post photos and Feedback when I'm done (or I come across anything else worthposting ;)

Thanks again for great plans and also for the fast answer and Help.
 
Last edited:

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
ok, good thing I didn't have time cutting and taping the plans yet. :)
I would have thought about material thickness, but not about the thrust angle.
I'll try building it with 3mm (1/8" I think) foamboard to keep it lighter so I'll have to make some small changes anyway. but I#m really looking forward to building it :)

new plans are going to be downloaded and printed immedeatly :)
I hope I have time to build soon, I'll post photos and Feedback when I'm done (or I come across anything else worthposting ;)

Thanks again for great plans and also for the fast answer and Help.

Can't wait to hear about your build and flying experience with it. I had the pleasure of watching Keegan fly his yesterday. He's a much better pilot than I am and he had the Baby Baron dancing in the sky. He also made his backpack-able with a removable wing and vertical stab. He definitely stress tested the removable wing, and I am happy to report that it handled it perfectly. It's a great mini sized plane. Can't wait to put a streamer on it and get it combat proven. :D
 
Last edited:

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Uploading a couple of videos of myself and Keegan flying the Baby Baron. Should have the links up soon.
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Flight video of Keegan stress testing his backpackable prototype (removable wing and vertical stabilizer). More details on his buld will be coming soon. I'm happy to report that it performed incredibly well. As you will see in this video, Keegan is a much better pilot than I am.

Extra background commentary from my brother-in-law and nephew. ;)

 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Version 1.0 Build progression...

New tiled plans printed.

2015-04-07 12.40.07.jpg

Tiles assembled. notice that the spar, fuse and doubler only have one seam, and the wing only has 4 seams. I always try to minimize the amount of cutting and taping required to assemble my plans.

2015-04-07 20.27.01.jpg

Plans glued to poster board and cut out to make permanent templates. I'm sure I'll build a few more of these.

2015-04-07 23.21.21.jpg

I plan to have parts cut in the next day or two so I can finish up the build log and write an article for this one. My goal is to have it done by early next week.
 
Last edited:

TEAJR66

Flite is good
Mentor
Very nice gentlemen. Good looking planes and some nice flying.

We will definitely have to get some combat time at FF2015. Can't wait to meet and fly together.
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Very nice gentlemen. Good looking planes and some nice flying.

We will definitely have to get some combat time at FF2015. Can't wait to meet and fly together.

Thanks for the compliments Tommy. for the version 1.0 build I plan on giving it the same color/graphics scheme as the Bloody Baron. We'll see if the graphics scale down as well as the plane did.

I can't wait for FF2015 either. I will definitely be flying combat with both sizes of the baron there.
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Pocket Travel size RC!

2015-04-08 18.52.47.jpg

Well, maybe it won't fit in your pocket, but you've got to admit, that's pretty compact. Credit where credit is due, this was done by my son Keegan. I think it worked out really well.

2015-04-08 18.48.58.jpg

Here you can see that he used some gift card plastic and a dowel to make the v. stab. removable as well.
 
Last edited: