Phantom V3 - DLG - Design Build

[bracesport]

The moulds are completed and joined ready to do some cleanup - I will probably just clear lacquer and sand till smooth - the wing joiner is also mostly complete with its sanding so I will add the braided sleeve next - one wing will probably get the joiner permanently attached to it.

 

[bracesport]

the wing joiner is looking good @ 10g - probably did not need the Carbon skin, but hey what the heck!

 

[McGoogle Industries]

so is there any plan to post-cure? I guess you'd demold and put stuff in the hotbox? I watched a video of a guy making some catamaran floats with 3d printed molds & he made the mistake of leaving them in the sun to post cure, and made a great mess as you would imagine.

 

[bracesport]

Today I drew up the half moulds for the tail feathers - like the wings the plan is to bag them onto these half moulds to get a nice clean top surface - I will probably had sand the foam cores - the tails are asymmetric so the moulds form the lift faces - I have also made a plug for a sleeve so the vertical stabiliser will push onto and self align on the elliptical boom.

 

[bracesport]

I let them cure for a few days at room temp..

so is there any plan to post-cure? I guess you'd demold and put stuff in the hotbox? I watched a video of a guy making some catamaran floats with 3d printed molds & he made the mistake of leaving them in the sun to post cure, and made a great mess as you would imagine.

 

[bracesport]

Some testing of paint finishes to build up for smooth sanding of the moulds - clear vs silver - looks like it will work with a couple of coats and some wet sanding in-between - I have masked of the TE section to compare (before/after).

 

[bracesport]

Speaking of hard knocks - I rushed my sample and suspect the PVA was not fully cured before adding the epoxy - so it all looks pretty yucky (have to show the good and the bad) - nevertheless, the hinge works really well - I will get some wax and do another test..

You win some and you lose some!

 

[bracesport]

On a positive note - the vertical stabiliser moulds look good - I have also made a former to over mould the boom sleeve section that will be integrated into the stabiliser

 

[bracesport]

The printing is done for the four panel wing foam - like last time I will add the foil tape to the top surface as a wire guide and heat buffer.

 

[bracesport]

I did not achieve too much this week - I did add the foil tape to the profiles which helps protect the 3D printed plastic and provides a smooth surface for the wire - I also started a second test with the moulds adding a couple layers of wax and painted a section of foam foil.

 

[bracesport]

I have been thinking more seriously to make the Phantom III an F5K ship - my tweak on it is to go V tail with pull strings - the most practical way for me is a one piece fuse and wing servos - this will give me more flexibility with motor and battery and the tail servos under the wing saddle.

 

[bracesport]

Shaping up st the tail end - the removable inserts at the end are for the undercuts in the V tail mount - printing the wing saddle section with its inserts at the moment.

 

[bracesport]

I decided on a one piece fuse with canopy access (no slide on nose cone) - if you have seen my slippery pitcheron the canopy is a similar design - this canopy design will give me good access to the motor mount.

 

[bracesport]

The wing saddle sections are done - they look like they will do the job!

 

[bracesport]

The CAD is done for the Spinner and motor mount - I will do a demo print to check the fit to the motor - this one is the 1507 motor with a 22mm spinner - I can not fit the 1806 in this fuse..

 

[bracesport]

Just need to print the nose sections..

 

[FoamyDM]

Great Build log. How long do the 3D prints tend to take?

 

[bracesport]

For a pair it takes about 8 hours - I tend to print less together to reduce risk of failures!

 

[bracesport]

I test printed the motor mount and spinner - I will try and setup the ESC and do a test while I make a few small tweaks and print another set.

 

[bracesport]

Well the motor test went well - I used the 1507 with 20A ESC and the 2S 350mAh battery - it even turns the right way - the Rx is on a separate battery.