FT P-47 Thunderbolt 1.0

[RokrRJ]

Hey guys.

I'm almost finishing my scratch built p-47.

I had to use 6mm foam board instead of 5mm, because the 5mm I found was very low quality.

The tape covering is almost complete, but I still have to cut and mold the wing roots.

Current weight is 425g for the wings and 290g for the fuselage. I'm estimating that the complete build will weight around 1kg.

Even though I've used a thicker sheet of foam board, I used PVA glue to reduce build weight.

I'm currently struggling to decide on a proper power setup. I wanna use a 3s battery, cause I prefer a more scale/slow flight and thats the kind of battery I already own. Since I'm returning to the hobby after a 10 year hiatus, I have a lot of old emax 2822 motors around here, and would like to know if they should be enough for that plane using a 9x5 prop.

I plan to buy a couple more powerful motors, but since I need to buy from China and it takes a while to arrive, I'm kinda anxious to maiden the p47, lol.

I'll post a few pics and detail a few mods I did to the original plans. I based the tape covering on the five by five plane, but still gotta finish it.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Looks good. Whats the silver covering, is it paint?

 

[RokrRJ]

No, it's a very thin sticky tape. I'm from Brazil, so I have no idea what would be an equivalent in the US.

I actually think the cover is very rough looking. I could have done a better job, but 10+ years of no building and lack of experience made me cover it only after the plane was already assembled. Lesson learned, lol.

 

[Whit Armstrong]

No, it's a very thin sticky tape. I'm from Brazil, so I have no idea what would be an equivalent in the US.

I actually think the cover is very rough looking. I could have done a better job, but 10+ years of no building and lack of experience made me cover it only after the plane was already assembled. Lesson learned, lol.

I covered mine in silver foil, but it came out very wrinkly, but I think that was partially due to the fact that I put the foil on some parts after they were formed.

 

[RokrRJ]

Almost done, but I still gotta make those wing roots.

I'll have to modify the original plans and add a little bit more of lenght to them, similar to the p-51's, otherwise it's not going to cover the space between the fuselage and the wings.

I've added all the electronics inside and it's current weight is around 990g. I'm a little bit scared to maiden it using a 850g thrust motor, so I guess I'll wait for the 2830 motors I bought.

 

[RokrRJ]

Btw, as I now see those images on a PC screen, it becomes very clear that the quality of the foam board influences not only the building process, but also how the plane looks when it's finished.

I started my building process using a very low quality foam board, but only noticed that after I had to buy more sheets and only found a different brand. The quality inprovement was very noticeable, as you may see on the pictures below (low vs high quality side by side - cuts using the same razor blade) .

The mid and tail sections of the fuselage envelope were done using the low quality foam board, and you can see the foil tape is very wrinkly on those pieces.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Whats the brand of the better FB you used for the rest of the plane?

 

[RokrRJ]

It's called "pluma". I believe it's a local (brazilian) brand.

 

[Monte.C]

It's called "pluma". I believe it's a local (brazilian) brand.

This stuff?
https://www.mwmaterialsworld.com/ca/planxa-de-cartro-ploma-de-colors-280-gr-m2.html
They have a chart lower on the page. I'm not sure how 10mm and 3mm thickness can weigh the same/square meter. ??

 

[Monte.C]

Sorry - it seems like "pluma" means foamboard. My bad. But your newer FB in the pic looks just like what we have here in the states.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

It's called "pluma". I believe it's a local (brazilian) brand.

Seems like it has a more consistent foam core, your right it does cut nice too. What does the weight seem like? Is it easier to form?

 

[Monte.C]

+ good cut/good consistency.
Yeah weight is the critical comparison here. If you have a scale would you want to weigh an uncut sheet and share the weight and surface area with us?
And awesome build!

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Btw, as I now see those images on a PC screen, it becomes very clear that the quality of the foam board influences not only the building process, but also how the plane looks when it's finished.

I started my building process using a very low quality foam board, but only noticed that after I had to buy more sheets and only found a different brand. The quality inprovement was very noticeable, as you may see on the pictures below (low vs high quality side by side - cuts using the same razor blade) .
View attachment 189560

The mid and tail sections of the fuselage envelope were done using the low quality foam board, and you can see the foil tape is very wrinkly on those pieces.
View attachment 189561

that motor should work fine with a 10x4.7/5 prop and a 40amp esc.... ft uses a 2218 motor so 2822 is much bigger/powerful

 

[RokrRJ]

Seems like it has a more consistent foam core, your right it does cut nice too. What does the weight seem like? Is it easier to form?

It's a little bit harder to mold, as it is thicker and a lot denser. The paper is harder to peel, also. I'm using water + a scratching motion to remove all the paper from one side of the foam. It's a lot stronger, however...

First I built the cowl using the LQFB (low quality foam board), and had a lot of trouble with the small parts, as they would sometimes break when I was molding (pressing against an edge). The result felt squishy and soft.

My current cowling area (all the yellow nose) feels as hard as a bowling ball.

I'll put a sheet on a scale and post results later today.

 

[RokrRJ]

+ good cut/good consistency.
Yeah weight is the critical comparison here. If you have a scale would you want to weigh an uncut sheet and share the weight and surface area with us?
And awesome build!

An A2 sheet of 6mm thickness weights exactly 140g. I ran out of A1 sheets, unfortunately.

My guess is that it's a little bit on the heavier side... what do you guys thinks?

 

[Monte.C]

An A2 sheet of 6mm thickness weights exactly 140g. I ran out of A1 sheets, unfortunately.

My guess is that it's a little bit on the heavier side... what do you guys thinks?

I have Dollar Tree foamboard AND brown Flitetest FB both at 20"x30", 116g and 117g. And I'm surprised they're the same weight.

Who wants to do the math. I don't feel like it right now.
But this'll tell you right where you are with your FB.

 

[RokrRJ]

I believe an A2 sheet is exactly half an A1 sheet. That would put the weight around 280g. I guess that's why the p47 feels like a truck.

Btw, my AUW is currently ~1.020g. That's why PVA glue > hot glue, in my opinion. You shave a lot of weight using PVA, and I believe it also glues the parts together better.

 

[Monte.C]

Oh! I had trouble translating that. Should I be reading 1,020g? Haha we use a comma.
Yeah I only use hot glue to mount the servos.

 

[frogman]

I am building one of these right now from the FT speed build kit. One question I keep pondering though....is there really a need to use the removable motor pod or should I just glue the power pod in and call it done. Those skewers sticking out of the side kinda ruin the looks of the plane. If I don't plan to share the motor is there a reason I haven't thought of NOT to glue the powerpod in place?

 

[RokrRJ]

I am building one of these right now from the FT speed build kit. One question I keep pondering though....is there really a need to use the removable motor pod or should I just glue the power pod in and call it done. Those skewers sticking out of the side kinda ruin the looks of the plane. If I don't plan to share the motor is there a reason I haven't thought of NOT to glue the powerpod in place?

It should make the nose stronger, as there would be another structural piece inside.

I opted to glue the firewall instead. Definitely looks better than having skewers on the side.