Eclipson Model Z

[jhitesma]

I printed Tom Stanton's wing a few years back.....crashed it on launch of the maiden flight:

I should have let my wife help me launch instead of film...but she had just "helped" my launch my X-15 by throwing it into the ground so I decided to risk self launching.

But...I didn't have anything break, just glue joints failed. This was printed in MakerGeeks Translucent PLA (absolute rubbish filament and they're now out of business so no risk of anyone else wasting money with them) and I used a foam safe CA to glue it because that was the only CA my LHS had in stock at the time.

One of these days I need to try flying it again. It's glued back together but I've been nervous about trying it again and haven't had much time to fly anything the past 2 years

 

[mrjdstewart]

sorry for slow updates. i have the last of the A-print setting pieces going right now. they should be finished within the hour and then i can start the B-prints. they should go much faster. i hope to be able to have the last of the parts printed by sunday night.

hope you all have good flights this weekend. it's almost cold here in Tucson, it will be a chilly 46 degrees @ 7am with a high of 72. might have to wear a jacket.

laters,

me

 

[Keno]

Working on my "Y" build but having a problem with some shrinkages on my wing prints. Using PLA the bed side ends warp about 1/6". That make me do some sanding to remove the curve that it creates. But that seems to be a problem with out a solution for me as of this date. I have tried PET but not much improvement. any suggestions other than sanding it out?

 

[mrjdstewart]

Working on my "Y" build but having a problem with some shrinkages on my wing prints. Using PLA the bed side ends warp about 1/6". That make me do some sanding to remove the curve that it creates. But that seems to be a problem with out a solution for me as of this date. I have tried PET but not much improvement. any suggestions other than sanding it out?

got any pics?

it is hard to diagnose the multiple of variances of 3D printers and filaments without more info.

let us know.

me

 

[mrjdstewart]

finished all the B print parts and just loaded all the C prints onto the SD card. should have all done by tomorrow no problem.

this was my list that i made after the crash with all the parts needed. at the top i started to total print hours but buy then end of the fuselage i was done...too many hours.

the box is getting fuller.

canopy is original, all the others are new prints.

laters,

me

 

[Keno]

got any pics?

it is hard to diagnose the multiple of variances of 3D printers and filaments without more info.

let us know.

me

What happening is my wing prints are pulling off the mesh bed on the printed ends as much as 1 to 1.5mm. Maybe a raft would help but this is probably to be expected as it is a plastic product, maybe other types of material would be of better choice. I will have pictures of my print in the near future. Still learning the Prusa printer that replaced my Ender.

 

[mrjdstewart]

it is done. printed the last part this evening. had a rough day at the field sunday morning which put me out for the day and a little behind. should start assembly tomorrow. hope for a saturday maiden at our clubs holiday party. cross fingers.

laters,

me

 

[mrjdstewart]

assembly of the main fuse and wing was considerably easier this time. did this in under 1hr...

should be good for saturday assuming nothing goes wrong. cross fingers.

laters,

me

 

[mrjdstewart]

well, she is done. i haven't finish the final tune but it will fly tomorrow. thought i was going to be able to use the old canopy but no go, have a new one printing now. glue it together in the morning.

one little tip for anyone wanting to print/build this plane is make sure to attach all linkage connectors to control surfaces before attaching them to the aircraft. i thought i was super smart until i realized i had forgot that.

laters,

me

 

[mrjdstewart]

well it fought me the whole way, which usually makes me very nervous, like the plane is trying to tell you it's not ready. regardless i fixed the issues and sent it up. flew it 2 times without issues. sorry don't have any pics but will try and get some tomorrow.

laters,

me

 

[mach1 rc]

well, she is done. i haven't finish the final tune but it will fly tomorrow. thought i was going to be able to use the old canopy but no go, have a new one printing now. glue it together in the morning.

View attachment 150832

one little tip for anyone wanting to print/build this plane is make sure to attach all linkage connectors to control surfaces before attaching them to the aircraft. i thought i was super smart until i realized i had forgot that.

laters,

me

Really cool plane👌 it reminds me a little bit of a Bugatti 100p. What printer are you using?

 

[mrjdstewart]

Creality CR-10S+

 

[LitterBug]

I've started working on a Model-V. Having issues with stringing and will need to work on the retraction settings to get that worked out. Using an enclosed 200x200x200 printer, so warpage and lifting has never been an issue.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Keno]

Since it winter flying time is limited. I have my "Y" version ready to go and assembling a Dark Wing. I have been using the Cura profiles to print with and have not had much of any problems, except bed temp to make things stick better. The better it sticks to the bed the less distortion on the on the bed end of your print, lesson learned.

 

[kilroy07]

Sorry about your plane...I printed the eclipson... twice. It taught me alot about tip stall... twice After viewing the video I can see that it did warn me but I was too excited to recognize what I was seeing. I agree with you about the visions of being able to just print some new parts. I had the same visions but they were shattered on contact with the ground. I'm going to print it one more time. I'll do one fast trip around the field, land it if I can and then hang it from the ceiling

I had seen in one of the review videos that that model was pretty prone to tip stalls...
My print is pretty heavy, haven't maidened yet... Honestly a tad afraid it'll dash itself to pieces.

 

[LitterBug]

Success with the 4 fuselage sections of the Model-V! Stringing is mostly under control, but it could still use a tiny bit of tweaking. What little stringing is left is no longer causing any structural issues. :-D Is it OK for me to include my Model V info on this thread even though it is labeled Model Z?

Here you can see how bad the stringing was on a section of Fuse2 next to the other "good" parts.

I was thinking of the things I did to get rid of lifting and in turn warping since this is tougher to avoid on single layer 3D printed plane parts. One thing I noticed was if the printer was warm from a previous print, first layer adhesion was much better and lifting was much less. I've started pre-heating my bed for at least 15 minutes at 5-10C above what I plan to print. This has made first layer results much more consistent and easier to tune. Same thing before leveling the bed. I always make sure to preheat the bed and hotend to the temperature that will be used with XXX filament type for 15 minutes. My enclosed xyz just had a glass bed which I had to use glue/tape/etc originally. I put a sheet of PEI on the bed which eliminated all the hassle of cleaning, gluing, taping all the time. I just rough it up with a wire brush periodically and wipe it down with Alcohol and a clean cloth every other print job.

Cheers!
LitterBug