I also built one in black foamboard that I found locally. The foamboard is probably a bit heavier but I like it because it's possible to peel the paper off of it (which isn't always the case with white foam board in my experience). I haven't flown it yet but I plan to do so soon.
@Flitedesign 3d &
@Captain Jay : Big thanks for this design & plans; the build is not easy but the end result is very nice indeed. Congrats.
I took some pictures and also had some notes during the build:
- all the curved pieces need the inside paper of the foamboard removed. After removing the foamboard, it is easiest if you can bend the foamboard around something hard & round (e.g. a broomstick). Then use lots of painter's tape.
- When folding the wing, add extra reinforcements to the wing leading edge. Do it while the foamboard is still flat, before folding it. Otherwise, you risk having a tear in the leading edge like me. I think this could be fixed on the plans by having a circular relief cutout in the square concave corner.
- when building the nose section, the first piece that is bent is the belly of the plane. Make sure you insert the supports correctly (NOT like in the pictures a few posts above this one; refer to my first pic instead)
- I think it may be better to glue the nose assembly onto the wing assembly only after having installed the full fuselage (last part being I2) on top of the wing. It was hard for me to fit I2 and the intakes because I probably pushed the nose assembly a few millimeters too far back.
- when building the exhaust tube, be absolutely certain that the two slots for the tail fin align. If the fit isn't perfect, fix it later by enlarging the slots before gluing in the tail fin. Attention: the seams on both parts of the tube don't align! (see picture)
Suggestion for the plans: It could be great to have some sort of notches in both parts to help with the alignment.
- I 3D printed a canopy holder and used the templates from the plan to cut pieces from a PET bottle. I needed this because the battery I intend to use needs more vertical space. I have shared the STL in case anyone wants it. It could use some further refinement so if anyone can do better: please share your design (PS: to properly fit my design, you 'll have to cut a bit of foam where the canopy is resting on the fuselage)
- I used mainly hot glue but also some foam safe CA. The CA is especially handy for the assembly of the fuselage where a paper lip must overlap another shape
- At the end of the exhaust tube, I made a foamboard ring between the exhaust tube and the fuselage.
- Center your servo's before mounting them. And use a decent servo tester and not a botched one like I did.
- If you want to use the intake lip of your EDF unit (like I did), you'll have to cut a slot in the wing as well as in the top fuselage (see picture).
I plan to fly it with an FMS 64mm 3900kV on a 2200 mAh 4S on an 80 amp ESC (i.e. a tiny bit irresponsibly since the fan unit is built for 3S, so we'll see how long that lasts). Total flying weight will be 800g, which could be too heavy.