cyclone3350
Master member
Great job on the airbrushing 
Psyborgs DGA-6 Mulligan group build thread.
- Thread starter PsyBorg
- Start date
mayan
Legendary member
Love it!!!!
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
GRRRRRRR..... when you mix white paint with a light tan paint to make a cream color and apply it over dark red primer would you expect it to dry with a greenish tint? This is the second time I have had this happen.. at least the color is even over the whole thing so that's a plus. Maybe its just the lighting in here. Ill have to take it outside and see in natural light. If it still shows green I am swapping the Cream for one of the warmer reds.
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Well... I THINK I am done with the kit build. Now its down to electronics and set up.
I did all the edges by hand with a brush to clean them up. Took about 6 hours on an off as i could only hold a straight line all tensed up like that a few minutes at a time before twitches started. There are several not so perfect spots but at this point trying to fix them would only cause more damage as shaky and spastic I get trying fine motor skill efforts.
Took it outside as the sun was setting behind the big hill not far from where I live. This made for some beautiful bright shots with fall shadows and leaves and a tiny bit of wind.
Took a short video while I was out there as well... and as always Bills Law struck and the video was totally out of focus the entire time. I guess bending low with the angle of the sun made it struggle to get a focus before I started moving around it. So... back outside I went. this time over to where I fly my quads from with the table out in the waning sunlight as the parking lot was pretty much all shadow at that point.
I did all the edges by hand with a brush to clean them up. Took about 6 hours on an off as i could only hold a straight line all tensed up like that a few minutes at a time before twitches started. There are several not so perfect spots but at this point trying to fix them would only cause more damage as shaky and spastic I get trying fine motor skill efforts.
Took it outside as the sun was setting behind the big hill not far from where I live. This made for some beautiful bright shots with fall shadows and leaves and a tiny bit of wind.
Took a short video while I was out there as well... and as always Bills Law struck and the video was totally out of focus the entire time. I guess bending low with the angle of the sun made it struggle to get a focus before I started moving around it. So... back outside I went. this time over to where I fly my quads from with the table out in the waning sunlight as the parking lot was pretty much all shadow at that point.
mayan
Legendary member
Love it
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Got busy this afternoon and finished up the control rods and getting the electronics installed. All was fairly simple except the Flaps. Took over an hour and a half fiddling with those to get them to deploy as evenly as possible and still return to neutral or hit both positions at equal deflection. I also cut and added side windows on the right side. That took more time to cut accurately and not poke thru the skin. I'll start there.
First I made a template out of scrap foam to get me an idea what scale to cut them. Took three iterations but I managed easy enough and I think I am close to the real window scheme. Once the holes were cut and sanded to shape and not looking too ragged I started cutting the slots to slide the plastic into. Again taking time to be reasonably accurate and not poke thru the skin. Once that was all done I cut the plastic backing to a 3x5 business card laminate to make two window sections. They were slid into the slots and then I went around the window edges with white Gorilla wood glue to seal and keep them in place. I also filled the top slot as best I could so they could not work their way upwards. They almost look like real windows the way the glue dried to look like sealant. I might outline them in black or the red on the cowl depending on what I decide for the side strip as that's a lot of bare real estate with one color for a plane.
Next on the to do list was make the wing straps. I don't like the insecurity of rubber bands as I see too many issues from them breaking, stretching, or digging into wings. I saw a build a while back when I was building my Edge 540 where the guy used pacing tape and velcro where the rubber bands would normally go front to rear. He made two thin ~half inch strips of tape. I just went with quarter inch wood dowel cut in half and went the full width of tape. I did a double layer length wise but wrapped it again across the grain to prevent tearing under load. This is some tough stuff now. Shouldn't stretch nor rip. Just have to work the sticky stuff out of the slots cut for the battery strap so it slides easier. It should not dig into nor scar up the wing either.
Once all that was done It was time to connect the receiver and get to working each channel out. Got all the main functions done as well as high setting throws where everything is as equal as I can get by ruler. No idea what angles the max deflections are but they are at least even. I also programmed in some serious expo. 70% on ailerons and 60% on elevator since they are the two most over worked surfaces by new pilots.
To finish it up I spent for EVER getting the flaps to balance out when deployed to each position as well as equal deflection. All is now done except cutting the left side windows in, the glide test and a maiden. If the holes in the wing for CG are correct it balances out perfectly level with a 3s 2200mah pack right where it sits. So there is hope for a good glide test. The only thing is the front battery strap sits even with the edge of the battery so is not holding anything but itself in place.
Depending on other builds and where their CG works this may have to be adjusted in the plans.
Oh and one last thing for this update...... I could not have hit an all up weight this perfect if I made an intentional effort. No idea if this is heavy or light for this size craft but I will poke @mayan with a stick to see what his OG design came in at.
First I made a template out of scrap foam to get me an idea what scale to cut them. Took three iterations but I managed easy enough and I think I am close to the real window scheme. Once the holes were cut and sanded to shape and not looking too ragged I started cutting the slots to slide the plastic into. Again taking time to be reasonably accurate and not poke thru the skin. Once that was all done I cut the plastic backing to a 3x5 business card laminate to make two window sections. They were slid into the slots and then I went around the window edges with white Gorilla wood glue to seal and keep them in place. I also filled the top slot as best I could so they could not work their way upwards. They almost look like real windows the way the glue dried to look like sealant. I might outline them in black or the red on the cowl depending on what I decide for the side strip as that's a lot of bare real estate with one color for a plane.
Next on the to do list was make the wing straps. I don't like the insecurity of rubber bands as I see too many issues from them breaking, stretching, or digging into wings. I saw a build a while back when I was building my Edge 540 where the guy used pacing tape and velcro where the rubber bands would normally go front to rear. He made two thin ~half inch strips of tape. I just went with quarter inch wood dowel cut in half and went the full width of tape. I did a double layer length wise but wrapped it again across the grain to prevent tearing under load. This is some tough stuff now. Shouldn't stretch nor rip. Just have to work the sticky stuff out of the slots cut for the battery strap so it slides easier. It should not dig into nor scar up the wing either.
Once all that was done It was time to connect the receiver and get to working each channel out. Got all the main functions done as well as high setting throws where everything is as equal as I can get by ruler. No idea what angles the max deflections are but they are at least even. I also programmed in some serious expo. 70% on ailerons and 60% on elevator since they are the two most over worked surfaces by new pilots.
To finish it up I spent for EVER getting the flaps to balance out when deployed to each position as well as equal deflection. All is now done except cutting the left side windows in, the glide test and a maiden. If the holes in the wing for CG are correct it balances out perfectly level with a 3s 2200mah pack right where it sits. So there is hope for a good glide test. The only thing is the front battery strap sits even with the edge of the battery so is not holding anything but itself in place.
Depending on other builds and where their CG works this may have to be adjusted in the plans.
Oh and one last thing for this update...... I could not have hit an all up weight this perfect if I made an intentional effort.
No idea if this is heavy or light for this size craft but I will poke @mayan with a stick to see what his OG design came in at.
Baron VonHelton
Elite member
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
I thought you were gonna paint this red??
So did I till you posted the Cream colored one. I blamez YOO!!! At least I am semi following the Red and Black livery scheme.
Baron VonHelton
Elite member
cyclone3350
Master member
I did the flaps on my Dumas, and what amazing results I got. Super slow flights and perfect wheel landings. And yes, I had the same time consuming pain in the donkey set up like U did. In the end , it was worth it.
Baron VonHelton
Elite member
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Cool so I am not too far off that mark really. I see you have not added the fairings, wheel pants and second landing gear strut so that could bring our weights that much closer. At least its not enough difference to make it not flyable like I was scared I did haha.
PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Ok here is how I did the side windows. Hopefully you guys get some ideas and see how easy it is and maybe dress up your birds with windows.
First thing is to make a template so you can see what they will look like as well as make them repeatable for either side. It can be with foam or card stock but make it stiff enough to be able to trace it onto your aircraft.
Next trace it out and make all your straight cut with a razor blade. Then take an Xacto knife and saw cut any rounded corners best you can. Once that is done take a half round file and lightly shape the rounded corners. Then take a flat emery board and make the straight edges clean and flat.
Once your edges are clean and straight take a razor blade and cut from the top down into the side of the fuselage. I do about 2/3 the width of the foam with the shorter side to the outer edge of the foam. You want the window closer to the out side then in. take your time with light shallow cuts you don't want to grab the foam and bunch it up.
Now that you have cut the entire length of where your windows are down into the top of their opening it is time to slide down into any center frames again slow slicing motion keeping to the outer part of the skin.
Next I will turn the razor blade over and start cutting the lower parts of each corner upwards to meet any cuts already done from the top. Keep in mind you only need about 1 to 2 mm around the outer edges along and front , rear, or bottom of your windows.
Now that all of the cuts have been done around your window openings its time to cut the actual windows. For large windows and windscreens I use the top flat sections of fruit containers like blueberries or strawberries. They have large sections and tend to be fairly thick plastic. Its free and recycling is always good. For these smaller side windows however I use the clear plastic backing I saved from the business card laminating pack that I use the sticky part to wrap my batteries in to protect them better.
Depending on your window sizes you may get several filled in by a single sheet of this backing. If not cut to size as needed. In this case I was lucky enough the larger size was big enough to do one side by cutting the front two length wise and using the cut away section side ways for the smaller rear window.
The only thing left to do is trim them to fit completely hidden in the slots you cut and then glue them in with white gorilla wood glue. This not only dries to look like original window sealant on a real window but also the over lap keeps the paper around the edges sealed in and not able to peel away.
Later at some point when I finish painting the graphic I want I will edge the windows with black paint to hide the ugliness of the cuts and exposed foam.
So thus kiddies concludes the how Mr. Bill built @mayan DGA-6 "Mr. Mulligan" foam board design. Next phase will be flight testing once I get some time in on the tiny trainer I am nearly finished building so I don't simply explode this one on its maiden voyage. I hope there was at least one trick to making your builds better show during this process so you too can level up your quality of details in the builds you may want to look better or showcase some day.
First thing is to make a template so you can see what they will look like as well as make them repeatable for either side. It can be with foam or card stock but make it stiff enough to be able to trace it onto your aircraft.
Next trace it out and make all your straight cut with a razor blade. Then take an Xacto knife and saw cut any rounded corners best you can. Once that is done take a half round file and lightly shape the rounded corners. Then take a flat emery board and make the straight edges clean and flat.
Once your edges are clean and straight take a razor blade and cut from the top down into the side of the fuselage. I do about 2/3 the width of the foam with the shorter side to the outer edge of the foam. You want the window closer to the out side then in. take your time with light shallow cuts you don't want to grab the foam and bunch it up.
Now that you have cut the entire length of where your windows are down into the top of their opening it is time to slide down into any center frames again slow slicing motion keeping to the outer part of the skin.
Next I will turn the razor blade over and start cutting the lower parts of each corner upwards to meet any cuts already done from the top. Keep in mind you only need about 1 to 2 mm around the outer edges along and front , rear, or bottom of your windows.
Now that all of the cuts have been done around your window openings its time to cut the actual windows. For large windows and windscreens I use the top flat sections of fruit containers like blueberries or strawberries. They have large sections and tend to be fairly thick plastic. Its free and recycling is always good. For these smaller side windows however I use the clear plastic backing I saved from the business card laminating pack that I use the sticky part to wrap my batteries in to protect them better.
Depending on your window sizes you may get several filled in by a single sheet of this backing. If not cut to size as needed. In this case I was lucky enough the larger size was big enough to do one side by cutting the front two length wise and using the cut away section side ways for the smaller rear window.
The only thing left to do is trim them to fit completely hidden in the slots you cut and then glue them in with white gorilla wood glue. This not only dries to look like original window sealant on a real window but also the over lap keeps the paper around the edges sealed in and not able to peel away.
Later at some point when I finish painting the graphic I want I will edge the windows with black paint to hide the ugliness of the cuts and exposed foam.
So thus kiddies concludes the how Mr. Bill built @mayan DGA-6 "Mr. Mulligan" foam board design. Next phase will be flight testing once I get some time in on the tiny trainer I am nearly finished building so I don't simply explode this one on its maiden voyage. I hope there was at least one trick to making your builds better show during this process so you too can level up your quality of details in the builds you may want to look better or showcase some day.
Last edited:
mayan
Legendary member
Thanks for this and all the other tips you’ve given me I am definitely going to make this an option on the plans
mayan
Legendary member
Just finished up my last build, the ft stick. This one is next, I’ve been looking at the parts already. If I’m lucky I’ll have a little bit of time to start on it tonight.
Baron VonHelton
Elite member
It's winter. Not much going on, I suspect. Renting gymnasiums or auditoriums cost money, and not too many people have buildings large enough to fly inside. My testing of the Pfalz E.I showed that lots of moisture in the air, even if it's hot outside, is detrimental to foam aircraft. They literally fall apart.
I'm gonna see how much a big tub of gorilla glue costs. Hopefully, it's moisture resistant. Good thing I had BBQ skewers & fishing line holding my wings on, or they'd have literally fallen off my plane.
Good Question. I am not working on the project ATM. It is behind the P-61 project Kilroy07 "accidentally" sent. but It is next in line. I am Looking forward to sitting and getting some quality build table time.
-Matt
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
I'll build one if you ship a laser kit to me
"Try figure out the pun"
"Try figure out the pun"
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