NEXT LEVEL P-40 Group Build

[BATTLEAXE]

I'm impressed. Very nice work!

You going to put the Tiger shark nose art on it?

I was looking up different paint schemes for it and I haven't chosen one yet. I think the shark theme is to typical. The tiger thing is cool. But the one that caught my eye was the bald eagle colors, white tail, dark brown body and the yellow nose and spinner. But I haven't decided. Which would you choose?

 

[Sero]

I was looking up different paint schemes for it and I haven't chosen one yet. I think the shark theme is to typical. The tiger thing is cool. But the one that caught my eye was the bald eagle colors, white tail, dark brown body and the yellow nose and spinner. But I haven't decided. Which would you choose?

That one sounds familiar but for some reason I cant find it when I search. So many choices, I always have a hard time deciding. I do agree the Tiger shark nose art is pretty common for the P40. Something other than that would be nice.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

So i applied it to a couple test pieces, prepped one sanded and one not sanded. Gonna let it dry overnight and sand it smooth in the morning.I just wanna see how well it adheres and how flexible it is. I know it works really well on the pink Styrofoam you use but FB might be a different story.

 

[kilroy07]

Thanks. It is goin along good so far, did a little more work to the nose, like the firewall. I used a DT plastic cutting board for the firewall, it was tip from someone else on the forums. I have used 3/16 ply on a fixed firewall on my Scout and it broke rendering complete surgery on the nose. Decided to scrap the plane. This cutting board hopefully won't be prone to breaking, should bend and bounce back some, less brittle. I also used gorilla glue to adhere it to the power pod at the back and there is a FB doubler in front so it isn't going anywhere, (lessons learned lol). I do have some small details that I notice right away but it won't make a difference to the performance. I'll post the progress later. It's actually kinda surprising me how well it's working out though, almost to the point where I am thinking something has to go wrong. I hope it flies well. Keeping an eye on your recent thread is helping too, I appreciate that.

The only thing I would add to making a plane crazy strong, is in a crash “something’s gotta give!” Meaning something has to absorb the energy of the crash (and I’d rather that be the firewall and not a motor shaft/bearing.) You’ve glued the firewall in place (as I did in my Spit) so, that would be a pain to replace now... so, I guess what I’m trying to say is..... 🤔 I hope neither of us crash... 😜 in hindsight I’m not too happy with my nose.

That one sounds familiar but for some reason I cant find it when I search. So many choices, I always have a hard time deciding. I do agree the Tiger shark nose art is pretty common for the P40. Something other than that would be nice.

That does sound familiar, maybe one from the African theater?

Been playing with the vinyl cutter for decals lately, a shark mouth and the Chinese sunburst are a real pain! Would be much easer to print out and glue. 🙄

This is coming along great, if I didn’t already have 5 projects going I’d Join ya!

 

[BATTLEAXE]

The only thing I would add to making a plane crazy strong, is in a crash “something’s gotta give!” Meaning something has to absorb the energy of the crash (and I’d rather that be the firewall and not a motor shaft/bearing.) You’ve glued the firewall in place (as I did in my Spit) so, that would be a pain to replace now... so, I guess what I’m trying to say is..... 🤔 I hope neither of us crash... 😜 in hindsight I’m not too happy with my nose.


That does sound familiar, maybe one from the African theater?

Been playing with the vinyl cutter for decals lately, a shark mouth and the Chinese sunburst are a real pain! Would be much easer to print out and glue. 🙄

This is coming along great, if I didn’t already have 5 projects going I’d Join ya!

I did do a fixed firewall on a previous plane (the Simple Scout), and I totally get what you are trying to say. It did crash a bunch of time and you are right something does have to give. The firewall on the Scout was 3/16 ply, the aircraft grade stuff, and it did eventually break because it doesn't have any give. The first crash with it was a decent hit and it slightly cracked, deforming and wrinkling some foam in the battery tray just behind the firewall. After a few more hits it did snap in half rendering itself useless. It was Gorilla Glued into place and was really difficult to remove to replace, so I retired the plane.

This firewall is made from Dollar Store kitchen cutting board (somewhat flexible plastic comparatively), so my hypothesis is it won't break. The one draw back I do see is because it wont break is the it will just keep deforming the foam till the plane can't fly lol. As far as the structure goes the Vent on the bottom which will take some abuse as well is stronger the original plans but will be harder to fix. This has been an experimental process for me anyway and is getting me ready for a MS build. I have yet to purchase a SBK, all my builds are scratch builds, mostly because I like to modify the hell out of them. SBK's don't really give you that option.

All said and done I cant prevent crashes and I am lucky to get a couple weeks out of flying out of a build anyway. This build has me batting for the fences on the build side and pushing my limits on the speed flying side so I imagine crashing will be peart of the equation lol.

Thanks for reading

 

[BATTLEAXE]

I have the color combo on the P-40 picked out. This artist rendering is close to what I am going for. I will make it more like a bald eagle once it is done. Still a ways to go yet:

 

[The Hangar]

I have the color combo on the P-40 picked out. This artist rendering is close to what I am going for. I will make it more like a bald eagle once it is done. Still a ways to go yet: View attachment 142483 View attachment 142484

SWEET!

 

[PoorManRC]

AWESOME!!! 😎👋👋👋👋

 

[kilroy07]

I have the color combo on the P-40 picked out. This artist rendering is close to what I am going for. I will make it more like a bald eagle once it is done. Still a ways to go yet: View attachment 142483 View attachment 142484

Ah, it’s a Kiwi!! ( Australian)
I recognize the markings from when I was doing some research for braceport and his Spit,
(They didn’t use the kiwi till sometime after WWII, but it still looks cool!)
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/700661654500495650/

That will look great in the air!

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Got some progress done on the P-40 over the past couple of days, I'll take ya through it:

Here I have the rear bottom skin on. This went together much easier then the nose section, relatively, forming the hard curve without tearing into the paper wasn't fun. Took some encouragement with BBQ skewers and dowels to get it to sit right. I did iron the side cheeks to a bevel where the bottom of the rudder tabs into the tail of the fuse. Makes a nice transition.

Top turtle decks were installed as per the build vid sans the top hatch. Really liking how the nose profile is taking shape. Not much to explain here

Found a spinner at the LHS for $2, It's a 2", wish I would have found a 2 1/4" to fill in the sides better but I will paint it up yellow and use it. It will be the first spinner of this style I have used.

Top hatch was pretty straight forward by this time, 2 bottom skins and 2 turtle decks later it's a breeze. It tabs in at the front with 2 pop sticks and I may install magnets in the back. It does friction fit down nice but might be takin chances there. I have lost a magnet hatch before so it may be more of a latch operation.

Now I wasn't really keen on the gap between the hatch and the fuse so there was some thinking that had to be done. So I took out the Baby Blender for a rip. 2 packs later I had a plan. I removed the paper from the top of the hatch to expose the foam and reskinned it with medium poster board, hanging an 1/8" skirt of poster board down past the bottom of the hatch to cover the gap

That cleaned things up a bit...

The canopy is the stock canopy but I cut 2" off the back. I want this to be fast plane and what better way to get a fast look then moving the canopy back for a racer profile. 300mph standing still. For the majority is all assembled and ready for electronics. I will be smoothing out all the seams and bench dings, still hafta cut out the ailerons. Paint will take awhile for curing times. Can't wait to get her up and doin some high speed passes. At the hobby store I was looking for an 8x8 APC to throw on it but they were all out, gonna hafta stick with the 9x6 for now. Broke one today on the Baby Blender and I only have one left for this one.

Thanks for reading

 

[Sero]

Got some progress done on the P-40 over the past couple of days, I'll take ya through it:
View attachment 142603
Here I have the rear bottom skin on. This went together much easier then the nose section, relatively, forming the hard curve without tearing into the paper wasn't fun. Took some encouragement with BBQ skewers and dowels to get it to sit right. I did iron the side cheeks to a bevel where the bottom of the rudder tabs into the tail of the fuse. Makes a nice transition. View attachment 142607
Top turtle decks were installed as per the build vid sans the top hatch. Really liking how the nose profile is taking shape. Not much to explain here
View attachment 142606
Found a sinner at the LHS for $2, It's a 2", wish I would have found a 2 1/4" to fill in the sides better but I will paint it up yellow and use it. It will be the first spinner of this style I have used. View attachment 142608
Top hatch was pretty straight forward by this time, 2 bottom skins and 2 turtle decks later it's a breeze. It tabs in at the front with 2 pop sticks and I may install magnets in the back. It does friction fit down nice but might be takin chances there. I have lost a magnet hatch before so it may be more of a latch operation.
View attachment 142609
Now I wasn't really keen on the gap between the hatch and the fuse so there was some thinking that had to be done. So I took out the Baby Blender for a rip. 2 packs later I had a plan. I removed the paper from the top of the hatch to expose the foam and reskinned it with medium poster board, hanging an 1/8" skirt of poster board down past the bottom of the hatch to cover the gap
View attachment 142610
That cleaned things up a bit...
View attachment 142611
The canopy is the stock canopy but I cut 2" off the back. I want this to be fast plane and what better way to get a fast look then moving the canopy back for a racer profile. 300mph standing still. For the majority is all assembled and ready for electronics. I will be smoothing out all the seams and bench dings, still hafta cut out the ailerons. Paint will take awhile for curing times. Can't wait to get her up and doin some high speed passes. At the hobby store I was looking for an 8x8 APC to throw on it but they were all out, gonna hafta stick with the 9x6 for now. Broke one today on the Baby Blender and I only have one left for this one.

Thanks for reading

Looking sharp! You did a great job on everything and the hatch looks awesome! Great idea with the poster board, My hatch is friction fit as well but I still used some magnets to be sure.
Question, you know about the foamboard grain?

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Looking sharp! You did a great job on everything and the hatch looks awesome! Great idea with the poster board, My hatch is friction fit as well but I still used some magnets to be sure.
Question, you know about the foamboard grain?

Yes I do, just played around with that theory today actually. Now the grain tests I did aren't scientific or anything but if you use the same Adams FB I do then the grain runs length wise to the sheet, parallel to the 30" side.

Have you had troubles with it before?

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Did a test fit with the spinner:

Holy crap... like I planned it like that. Actually it's just dumb luck lol

Now that looks BADASS

 

[Sero]

Yes I do, just played around with that theory today actually. Now the grain tests I did aren't scientific or anything but if you use the same Adams FB I do then the grain runs length wise to the sheet, parallel to the 30" side.

Have you had troubles with it before?

No problems as long as you bend parallel to the long side it bends smooth. Sounds like you got it. There are different techniques to doing it, I slide it on the edge of the table to compress the foam inner surface.

Keep up the good work!

 

[BATTLEAXE]

No problems as long as you bend parallel to the long side it bends smooth. Sounds like you got it. There are different techniques to doing it, I slide it on the edge of the table to compress the foam inner surface.

Keep up the good work!

I have done a combination of the same, no real rules to it, kinda whatever works to get the job done.

 

[bracesport]

@BATTLEAXE - looking forward to the painted beast!

 

[BATTLEAXE]

@BATTLEAXE - looking forward to the painted beast!

So am I. That means it will be airborne

 

[BATTLEAXE]

So this is the part that scared me the most, cutting out the ailerons. Any quality suggestions are definitely welcome:

Besides the obvious of having to fill in the void, questions are:
1. with what, FB or balsa?
2. what kind of glue?
3. what kind of hinges?

When I cut out the aileron the wing shape ballooned out some due the tension in the wing top panel. If I use HG I don't think I will be able regain the wing shape fast enough before it cools, depending on the process I guess...?

This would be one of those "hindsight is 20/20" things, definitely gonna plan for this before I fold the wing next time... life hack #273 lol

 

[BATTLEAXE]

As per usual all I had to do was go out and fly to get the creative juices flowin. I took up the Baby Blender and it all made sense.

I will be using balsa to fill in the ailerons, It is easily sanded and shapeable, will give a good amount of rigidity and...

it will be easy to install these hinges.

Process... cut and sand the balsa to fit both the wing and the aileron. Split it in half length wise, half to the wing, half to the aileron, glue the hinges on, glue to the wing and then glue it into the aileron to fit. In this process there will be a lot of dry fitting and sending but it seems to work in my mind so I am going with it. Thoughts?

 

[Sero]

As per usual all I had to do was go out and fly to get the creative juices flowin. I took up the Baby Blender and it all made sense.

I will be using balsa to fill in the ailerons, It is easily sanded and shapeable, will give a good amount of rigidity and... View attachment 142657
it will be easy to install these hinges.

Process... cut and sand the balsa to fit both the wing and the aileron. Split it in half length wise, half to the wing, half to the aileron, glue the hinges on, glue to the wing and then glue it into the aileron to fit. In this process there will be a lot of dry fitting and sending but it seems to work in my mind so I am going with it. Thoughts?

Might be easier to do CA hinges after the balsa is installed.