Grifflyer
WWII fanatic
I found the same thing when I did mine, the sanding was enjoyable! Maybe after you 10 or so planes, or one really big plane it becomes less fun lol.
Willy Nillies Gentle Lady 250 Beta Build
- Thread starter Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
- Start date
shadeyB
Legendary member
Lol @Corpse it’s all in the finish 😂
When I first built foamies it never did or even thought about it
When you get a build together that your proud of and then you take it to the next level WOW it looks awesome
I have people and fellow pilots asking where I bought my planes from ! Lol
When they built the Mosquito to support the War, it was built from wood & not metal,
Removing just the rivets from the metal plane design ie build in wood it actually increased top speed by +20mph 😍
That’s My Method to my madness, my foamies are shaped, filled, Tapered, sanded to get as much magic happening as possible
speedbirdted
Legendary member
I don't get why people don't like to sand things. I think it's a hell of a lot of fun and also kinda therapeutic. Though, before you do too much of it, put a lot of thought into dust management. Trust me, the stuff gets everywhere and and will eventually coat everything in your workshop. Shop vacs are a must...
How much of a perfectionist are you in terms of sanding? For me at least I go down to 1200 grit and sometimes more primarily because it improves both the finish and adhesion of the covering material. Any serious geometrical adjustments can be done with 60-100 grit. With balsa though, the best way I've found is let the paper do the work, don't muscle it. I'm always hyperattentive to everything the paper touches because you can't unsand things.
Are you using sanding blocks? They're great for applying uniform pressure to a surface so you don't accidentally sand sections of the wood down more than others and create depressions in things or sand curves wrong. Having one in every grit you plan to use is the bare minimum, I have that plus a million other weirdly shaped ones for getting into strange places. You can get nice ones, but I prefer to make my own with just a 2x4 cut down and staples, as sandpaper does wear down itself over time and will need to be replaced. Also designate a set of blocks to be wood-only, as if you do things like sand plastic it will leave little bits of plastic embedded within the sandpaper which will leave scratches in the wood.
For large sections that have to be taken off, like a nose cone, scroll saws or even a straight balsa saw coupled with a mitre box is really nice. You can use a belt sander, but that takes a lot more time and generates a million times more dust. Here's my full-size GL nosecone which I cut to shape off the plane and then sanded with the rest of the fuselage, then I went over the seam with just a little bit of filler putty to clean it up. With the covering on, the seam is invisible. I'm honestly quite happy with how it turned out.
TooJung2Die
Master member
I could not agree more. Sanding is what takes it from an assembled airplane to looking like a finished project. Good sanding is imperative to having a good covering job. Imperfections will be magnified by glossy coverings. Bare-bones photos of an assembled build are mandatory.
I also do hardwood finishing so I have to be very careful sanding balsa. It sands off very fast! Make one swipe too many in one spot and you have to go all around again to make the rest of it match.
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
I have a dedicated wood shop we built in my backyard, all the saws are set up with dust collection and there's a beefy shop vac. Good ventilation too.
Everything I've done so far I've done with a 120 grit belt wrapped around a 1x4. The long side is a great block for large surfaces and the corners can get into tight spots. I'll go over everything with finer grits once I close up the fuse.
The nose cone was the only part here that need to be taken down before I sanded it, I do have both a scroll saw and a band saw but I used a belt sander because I didn't have much to remove. I did that for some of the fuse panels too. Good call with the filler putty, I have some lying around that I should fill the seam in the nose with.
davidbones
New member
I have a quick question. I haven't started my build yet... so I am asking in the blind.
I ordered three 2.5gram servos for this kit. I am playing with the idea of building the center wing sections with NO dihedral so I can add a small spoiler to the center of the wing and slightly increasing the polyhedral to compensate.
I know I would add a small amount of weight but it would be negligable.
What are yalls thought on eliminating the dihedral?
I ordered three 2.5gram servos for this kit. I am playing with the idea of building the center wing sections with NO dihedral so I can add a small spoiler to the center of the wing and slightly increasing the polyhedral to compensate.
I know I would add a small amount of weight but it would be negligable.
What are yalls thought on eliminating the dihedral?
TooJung2Die
Master member
I used to save the balsa dust and use it to make wood filler. But the wood filler they sell in regular hardware stores is easier to sand and the color is a good match.
You can add a spoiler but the Gentle Lady is not a fast glider. Watch Doug catching it by hand in the Willy Nillies video. I wouldn't eliminate all dihedral. You want it to be stable enough to fly itself, hands-off unless your goal is to convert the GL into some type of warm-liner.
davidbones
New member
I would rather it be stable... hence the idea of keeping the polyhedral. Was just wanting to add a spoiler because my field is small and it would help to kill the lift so I could bring it down fast.
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
Got the wingtips on today, now I've got to find some way to make the outboard sections removable. I'll see what kind of tubing I have, maybe I already have something that works. Or maybe not.
I accidentally belt sanded a knuckle off.
It also looks like my wood putty dried up so I'll have to make my own.
I accidentally belt sanded a knuckle off.
It also looks like my wood putty dried up so I'll have to make my own.
TooJung2Die
Master member
Did you get some blood on the wood? It helps to make a blood sacrifice to the goddess of the air.
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
I'm sure there's some on there somewhere hahaDid you get some blood on the wood? It helps to make a blood sacrifice to the goddess of the air.
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Welcome to the club A couple of my fingers have noticeable flat spots in them, from getting careless with a disk sander when I was like 12...
A couple of my fingers have noticeable flat spots in them, from getting careless with a disk sander when I was like 12...
"Corpse"
Legendary member
When I was grinding down a knife I took about a sixteenth of an inch off of two fingers lol. Those low grit belts get ya!
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
Hey it's not my first time
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
Covering arrived today, I'm still waiting on servos but I can start on the tail feathers for now. I'll probably start tomorrow or Sunday at the earliest as I'm a bit busy.
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
Started covering things today. I must say I like the Willy Nillies covering packs. It seems to shrink around curves well enough and it's real easy to iron out wrinkles. It took me a good minute to figure out how to make it stick, after a while I realized I forgot to take the clear backing off.
I'm anxious to get in the air so I think I'm going to forgo the removable wing panels, it'll just add weight and it's already a small enough plane on its own.
I'm anxious to get in the air so I think I'm going to forgo the removable wing panels, it'll just add weight and it's already a small enough plane on its own.
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
You might've spoken too soon, the wings are kicking my tail. I got the top of one looking good but it took me all afternoon. My heat gun is a bit too hot for this film and was causing all sorts of problems, I'll be sticking with my iron for the rest to avoid overshrinking.
I ordered three more packs to replace what I wasted, maybe they'll get here before I ship out.
Transparent film is a royal p.i.t.a.
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