"Marilyn” Mini-Sportster Build

[kacknor]

Mini Sportster Speed Build Kit
Basically the 'F' pack
Lemon RX 6 Channel DSM2
Additional mods listed below

This is my first foray into using a skin to finish a DTFB build. It’s inspired by the genuinely awesome work by Rasterize highlighted here:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?23721-FT-Mini-Mustang-Paper-Replacement-Kit

I have neither talent or software for that, so I looked for inspiration online and found this.



Thought it was pretty good, but while Betty Page was fine, I was more thinking more blonde, like Marilyn Monroe! And so it began.

It’s a Mini Sportster because I bought two of the kits on special before Christmas and had one left.

Using a combination of the Full Sized plans by SPONZ and two free programs, Paint.net and Inkscape then I started to play. Everything ended up on three, 18x24 inch pages.

Printing was done at Staples uploaded as a color engineering drawing. Full color printing was too costly for me to accept, but at about $3 bucks a page this option was good to go. Color isn’t as vibrant as photo but not bad, like an inkjet on bond paper. I’m hoping that some gloss clear acrylic spray paint used as a sealer and waterproofer will brighten it up a bit.

Progress so far:

Staples came through and I even paid ‘Rush’ fee to get them as I had a few hours today to work on it, total was $15.02 OTD

.

I used 3M Super 77, and peeled the paper before applying. Because it was a Speed build Kit I couldn’t just glue the skin on foam and cut around it. So I cut out the pieces leaving about 1/16” border. Then I placed it dry as best I could and with a pencil added little tick marks for alignment. After spraying glue on the cut out piece it was a simple matter to match the marks.



I use this hard rubber roller (Brayer) to attach plans to poster board for re-use. Came in very handy.



Glued the skin on the kit before cutting out the parts.



Due to the border I had to trim the skin on a few parts.



Gotta have pants!



Almost ready for assembly.



What’s left before I start is a few odds and ends. I’m going to add the modifications listed here…

http://flitetest.com/articles/ft-design-build-modifications

…including the steerable tail wheel.

More to come!

JD

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I can't wait to see the final product. it looks great.

 

[kacknor]

I'll be at the bench in the morning. Something is gonna happen, good or bad.

I'm thinking or trying gorilla glue, but also thinking I'd better get the seal coat on the skin before starting. Blue tape 'clamps' on bare foam is fine, but I don't trust it on the printed surface.

JD

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Very nice!

 

[kacknor]

Update 2/6/16

Back on the bench and hit a (likely obvious to many) snag.

I decided to fit test the rear turtle deck and of course I didn't plan properly. Had to adjust the image to make it work.

Did what I should have done first and printed up paper B&W and got it right. I tried it on my own printer for color and it didn't work. She was fine, colors matched quite well. The background yellow however was way too orange compared to the rest of the plane. Back to Staples for re-print. No rush on this, $3 more.



Plenty to do while waiting.

JD

 

[Rasterize]

This is my first foray into using a skin to finish a DTFB build. It’s inspired by the genuinely awesome work by Rasterize highlighted here:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?23721-FT-Mini-Mustang-Paper-Replacement-Kit
I have neither talent or software for that...

Thanks for the kind words. By the looks of things you DO have the talent for this!

Staples came through and I even paid ‘Rush’ fee to get them as I had a few hours today to work on it, total was $15.02 OTD

Not to bad. I have wondered if I should do some of mine for a large format printer.

I use this hard rubber roller (Brayer) to attach plans to poster board for re-use. Came in very handy.

Nice idea! I may steal it.

…including the steerable tail wheel.

Aways cool!

More to come!

Boy I hope so! Nice work sir!

 

[Rasterize]

Back on the bench and hit a (likely obvious to many) snag.
I decided to fit test the rear turtle deck and of course I didn't plan properly. Had to adjust the image to make it work.
Did what I should have done first and printed up paper B&W and got it right. I tried it on my own printer for color and it didn't work. She was fine, colors matched quite well. The background yellow however was way too orange compared to the rest of the plane. Back to Staples for re-print. No rush on this, $3 more. Plenty to do while waiting.
JD

I feel your pain brother. There can be a lot of trial and error especially when graphics crossover parts. Print, build, adjust, repeat. Lot's O' work goes into creating one of these. But it's worth it!

 

[kacknor]

Thanks for the kind words. By the looks of things you DO have the talent for this!

Not to bad. I have wondered if I should do some of mine for a large format printer.

Nice idea! I may steal it.

Aways cool!

Boy I hope so! Nice work sir!

I really like your detail. The rivets and panel lines are really great. You got shading going on too! What software are you using?

Thank you in return.

Staples prints up to 36" x 48" color engineering prints on #20 bond. Looks just like your home inkjet on 'plain' paper (yup, #20 bond). The yellow is very vivid, but the red is a tad on the faded orangeish side. Like a home printer. No idea about other colors, but I think I'll be finding out. 3 bucks a page for 18x20 and no tape needed!

I feel your pain brother. There can be a lot of trial and error especially when graphics crossover parts. Print, build, adjust, repeat. Lot's O' work goes into creating one of these. But it's worth it!

I knew better. Lazy. Laser printer in second floor room. I work in basement. See the update next...

JD

 

[kacknor]

UPDATE (Late) 2/6/2016

I had planed to work on this more today but it didn't happen. Life and good weather! 40 Degree F and lite winds got me out flying instead. I'm good with it.

Still, I was able to reposition the graphics for the rear deck as described above and send it to Staples. Also took advantage of the good weather to put a Rustolium clear gloss on everything. Not going to be glossy. But a nice cover to resist moisture. It darkened up the color a bit and 'sharpened' it up. I took the opportunity with the home printed rear deck and really overdid the paint just to see what happened. Not glossy. Nice feel to it, but heavy, and it loosened the glue. OK. Keep it reasonable.

Staples called late afternoon with news they had my re-print completed and I got it. Glued it to some DTPB and clear coated it too.

Ended the day by building the wing. Felt I had to use a little hot glue.



More tomorrow.

JD

 

[kacknor]

Update 2/08/2016

Made progress yesterday. Basically the fuselage is (nearly) complete. I had planed to try gorilla glue for the first time on this build. I choose not to do it because I decided to save the learning curve for another build that already wasn’t trying new stuff. I make enough mistakes building these things.

Fuse mods prior to folding. Power pod supports, and landing gear force transfer plates.



The kit landing gear support is strengthened by adding a gift card between it and the fuse. Both lay up against the transfer plates.



Added support for the elevator. A mod to my mod. No wire this time. I came across a package of appetizer skewers at the grocery. They are toothpick sized but nearly 4” long. Embedded one into the bottom forward edge of the elevator, it’s light and out of the way of both the movement and control horn.



Made a steerable tail wheel from a broken 8x4 prop and some adapters. I do wish I had a grinding wheel.
Assembled with 1/16 ply, some cheap reusable bag material (plastic cloth) and a bit of wire and cocktail straw. CA tacked it and soaked the material, hot glue braced it up. Should have bought one, would have looked better. But this was free from parts lying about. It’s serviceable. (Hat Tip to members circle&stripe and hursto75. I blended their ideas)



Forward deck glued on hatch cover. Cockpit looks great. But I was bit again. Same issue as rear deck. Oh well at this point I’m in for another $3. Should get the print today. The acquisition of Knowing can be costly. Lessons for next build.



At this point I couldn't help myself, had to push that wing in and take a look. Here it is as of last night. You can see the design doesn’t match up top forward. Relatively easy fix. Rudder and elevator servos are in, and the rest of the electronics are next. Still have to add skewer supports inside the power pod, and bend the gear and build the wheel pants.



More later.

JD

 

[NatefromOgden]

This design rocks! I tried using the FT templates to paint mine and while it is acceptable it is nowhere as nice as yours. I do like the looks of the mini Sportster and am anxious to get my flying skills tuned up with some slower airplanes so I can give mine a maiden flight.

 

[Rasterize]

I really like your detail. What software are you using?

I'm an Adobe CS user from way back. Most of my FT stuff is done in Illustrator because I can open Spoz's planes right in Illustrator, move parts around so they fit on my final size sheet better and then jut design right on top of them. The export nice pdf files. Sometimes I'll do a little details in Photoshop. Just depends.

View attachment 63562

Dude that looks awesome! I'm definitely adding you to my list of guys that have the skills to get this stuff done!
I was thinking on starting some sort of loose organization of people that can and are willing to create art for FT planes. Just a network so we can share ideas, graphics and help each other out. What do you think?

 

[kacknor]

This design rocks! I tried using the FT templates to paint mine and while it is acceptable it is nowhere as nice as yours. I do like the looks of the mini Sportster and am anxious to get my flying skills tuned up with some slower airplanes so I can give mine a maiden flight.

Thank you NatefromOgden!

The FT templates do work. They beat all to heck the mask & tape for curves and clean edges. Preparation is key. It takes a minute to spray, hours (maybe) to get the cuts correct. Take your time, do it before you assemble the parts. Take a look at the article linked in my first post.

It can be done! Self cut templates and rattle cans (plus a bit of Sharpie).



JD

 

[kacknor]

I'm an Adobe CS user from way back. Most of my FT stuff is done in Illustrator because I can open Spoz's planes right in Illustrator, move parts around so they fit on my final size sheet better and then jut design right on top of them. The export nice pdf files. Sometimes I'll do a little details in Photoshop. Just depends.

I may have to try it again. As noted, I used Inkskape. I'm an old CorelDraw! user, versions 1.0 thru about 9 (Windows 386, OMG! the real old days!) but no longer have it. I think because of that I never got comfortable in Illustrator. I do have an old (Legal!) copy of Adobe Creative Suit Design Premium that includes it along with Photoshop and a few others, version CS3. I may be forced to get more up to date, because it all resides on an old XP laptop that simply has to go away. At minimum it will be reinstalled on the workbench PC. I do u$e it once every other month, but it's only barely enough $$ to justify monthly payments or upgrade (If that's even possible anymore).

Dude that looks awesome! I'm definitely adding you to my list of guys that have the skills to get this stuff done!
I was thinking on starting some sort of loose organization of people that can and are willing to create art for FT planes. Just a network so we can share ideas, graphics and help each other out. What do you think?

Thanks, I kinda like that idea. A forum group maybe? Not sure I'm qualified, never been a good 'blank sheet of paper' guy. I have to add credits to this design and I'll put it out into the wild. Already thinking of others. At least in a change the girl, change the color kind of way...

JD

 

[kacknor]

Completed!

Update 2/10/2016

Final items complete and I think it’s done.
Completed installing and setting up the radio gear. Low/Mid/High rates. 11%/13%/15% on all surfaces.
Installed the landing gear. They look good, but I sort of expect the wheel pants to last only a few flights. The wheels I thought I was going to use had been drilled out for large wire, so I used an available larger diameter wheel. Almost too big. But hey, the memory lasts in the pictures right?

Put in a pilot, decorated the figure the best I could with fat sharpies. Fiance says she liked the female pilot. Huh? Oh. Guess so, works for me. My model paint and skills I used to use decorating 25mm D&D figurines are both long gone. So anything is possible. I think they both took off with my close up sight.

Pictures below. Maiden this coming Saturday night indoors at the dome.




JD

 

[kacknor]

Lessons Learned:

1. Bond paper when glued to foam can cause a warp. Fold and glue it soon.

2. When designing a skin, test print curved areas. Test them again.

3. I had to extend the length of the power pod by 1/2" to accommodate the spinner.

4. Wheel pants are a pain.

5. Probably better to scratch build when using a skin. The trimming seemed excessive and the recess on the edge of the foam was in places even deeper because of the need to trim.

6. I had fun building this one!

I'll put the skin up for download as soon as I make the credit notations.

JD

 

[ttprigg]

awesome job!
Post a flight video when you can...

 

[kacknor]

Yeah, me and that Mobius have to come to terms...

JD

 

[kacknor]

The Maiden... ...and second flight Disaster!

I took her to the Dome last night and flew. She's fast, There were a few of those little EDF's zooming about while I was in the air and they weren't keeping up! She needed a lot of down trim and while she'a wired for flaperons there was no time for it, I slowed her down and hung on and kept her off the walls.

But oh, she looked good going down the line, smooth and clean. Full battery flight, about 5 minutes on a 460 3 cell. Landing was decent roll out to a slow nose over.

Later I just could not leave well enough alone. Was getting ready to fly her again. I set her down and started pre-flight check as I overheard the woman saying she it was nearly time for 3D. Instead of waiting I pushed to throttle up and tried to get a circuit or two in to say it was a second flight, wanted at least two so I knew the first was not a fluke.

Rates were on HIGH. Off she went and like her red and black counterpart the elevator is near impossible for me to control on high rates. Up she went, down she came. Disaster!

Warning, The following images are not for the faint of heart. they are not of the actual scene, but a re-staging under controlled circumstance.



ARRRGHHH!!!!

JD

(Where is my glue gun?!?)