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Willy Nillies Jr. Skylark 250 "BUILD ALONG"

TooJung2Die

TooJung2Die

Master member
That looks good. The white stripe makes the two darker colors seem brighter. Pinstriped curves is hard. That's why I stuck to straight lines on the Eaglet 250. Don't look at them too close though. ;) I'd use self-stick vinyl tape on curves. It bends easier.
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
You're absolutely correct about the vinyl tape. I have several colors of Pactra Trim Tape including white. Somewhere......... I just can't find it. :cry: There is such a thing as having so much hobby stuff that you can't find everything anymore.

Joe
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
Look what I just found! I knew I had it somewhere and I know there is even more! Some of this stuff is 40 years old as evidenced by the PlayCo tag on the blue stripe tube. They were a San Diego based toy store that also sold R/C. I worked late Sundays after races in 1983 as the off road R/C "expert". Hey, I made a few bucks and they sponsored my Cox/Kyosho Scorpion racing costs. They could call me anything they wanted for that deal. ;) It looks like some of the tape is still usable. Especially the white. I may pull the SolarFilm stripes tomorrow and see if I can put forth a little better appearing effort.

Joe
IMG_0003.JPG
 
W

Willy Nillies

Elite member
Turbojoe said:
OK, so here's a quick covering progress report. The fuse is pretty much done. While the original covering scheme looks really uncomplicated at this small size the curve radii are nearly impossible to reproduce (at least for me) using strips of covering material. What you see here is my 5th attempt with the white Solarfilm cut at 4 mm for striping. I had to finally call it good and just move on. From 25 feet away you won't be able to tell and if you can then just look the other way. ;) I'm about 3/4 done with the wing and the larger area of metallic red and black together look amazing. A perfect color combo.

I'm having to stretch every millimeter of SolarFilm metallic red and black as I just don't have any more. No room for errors. I'm using up years old scrap pieces as it is. (I never throw ANYTHING R/C away!)

My life is controlled by my back problems and my back says that's it for today.......:cry: Hopefully I can finish up the wing tomorrow. Then I just need to trim out the tail feathers with black. Do final assembly and fly! Weather is rainy and crappy for the next day or so then need some dry out time. IF the weather cooperates then I'm hoping for maiden this weekend AND a second flight on the Eaglet 250 . My fingers, toes and eyes are crossed......

I've given up trying to find a clear 4" canopy from the local cookie cutter Horizon Hobby controlled LHS's. I can order from Sig but shipping will be 2-3 times the price of the canopy! I'm still working on it....... View attachment 157606

Joe
Click to expand...

Loookin' Good Joe! May the weather be perfect for you this weekend! :)

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
Joker 53150 said:
Looking darn good, Joe! For the canopy, have you tried Park Flyer Plastics? They've got a ton of different size/style canopies - no idea on shipping costs for you, however.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I contacted Sparky a year or so ago about the cowl for my Pat Tritle Tri-Pacer. The cowl is $13.80 but his shipping is $10.00 minimum. The Jr. Skylark canopy is only $2.00. $12.00 is way more than how bad I want it. Looks like I'll just be shaping to wooden one from the kit. It'll look OK. I just wanted to put one of the tiny pilots in it that Doug sent.

Joe
 
OliverW

OliverW

Legendary member
Turbojoe said:
Yeah, I contacted Sparky a year or so ago about the cowl for my Pat Tritle Tri-Pacer. The cowl is $13.80 but his shipping is $10.00 minimum. The Jr. Skylark canopy is only $2.00. $12.00 is way more than how bad I want it. Looks like I'll just be shaping to wooden one from the kit. It'll look OK. I just wanted to put one of the tiny pilots in it that Doug sent.

Joe
Click to expand...
Sig makes some cheap ones...
 
rockyboy

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Turbojoe said:
Yeah, I contacted Sparky a year or so ago about the cowl for my Pat Tritle Tri-Pacer. The cowl is $13.80 but his shipping is $10.00 minimum. The Jr. Skylark canopy is only $2.00. $12.00 is way more than how bad I want it. Looks like I'll just be shaping to wooden one from the kit. It'll look OK. I just wanted to put one of the tiny pilots in it that Doug sent.

Joe
Click to expand...

I wonder if some of those blister packs in the makeup aisle at the local CVS/Wallgreens/Drug Store would fit nicely? Not sure if you'll have a use for a nice fuscia lipstick, but I suppose exploring new things is a noble pursuit! :p
 
W

Willy Nillies

Elite member
We will be offering appropriate size canopies in the near future, made in house.

As soon as we are finished catching up with the Mustang and Ringmaster orders.....

Expected price range will be in the $2 to $2.50 range.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
Willy Nillies said:
We will be offering appropriate size canopies in the near future, made in house.

As soon as we are finished catching up with the Mustang and Ringmaster orders.....

Expected price range will be in the $2 to $2.50 range.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
Click to expand...

Now that's good news! I got my kit balsa canopy ground down so it looks OK. A bit of silver paint and it'll be good to go. I'll mount it lightly and order a few clear canopies when available.

Joe
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
I could easily maiden tomorrow but I think I bit off a lot more than I can chew trying to emulate the original color scheme. Everything is covered now and I'm just working on the black trim. I finally got the black trim (and white pin striping) done on the wing and fuse and it looks pretty good at a short distance.

At this smaller scale it's SO MUCH harder than I expected! The tail feathers are just killing me! Constant positioning failures and wasted material that I don't have much of left. 100% my fault but I still keep trying. I work at it for a few minutes until I get too frustrated then take an hour or three break. I may not even black trim the V-stab. The H-stab already has me on the ropes as it is. This is my punishment for being so conservative when covering my planes all these years. Now I'm learning a more involved covering job the hard way.....:cry:

Joe
 
W

Willy Nillies

Elite member
Hey Joe,

We masked then rattle canned our display/demo Eaglet. Worked out pretty good, quick and fairly easy. But we did straight lines. :)

I'm sure your Skylark will be awesome no matter the level you decide to finish it.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
TooJung2Die said:
So that's how you did it. Here I thought you had some secret method for bonding covering film. :) I'll remember that.
Click to expand...

I thought exactly the same thing! I avoid overlapping colors at all costs and in the pictures his Eaglet looks like it was done with covering. The Jr. Skylark is my most ambitious covering project ever and it's likely a simple walk in the park for most people. I just always take the easy way out when it comes to covering. The main reason I haven't tried paint is that here in Phoenix summertime heat tends to cause covering to change tension so much so that I've watched covering flutter in flight on a hot day! I don't know if paint would hold up to that. We're approaching summer. I may have to build a test plane just for testing out things like this. I wouldn't doubt that I've been approaching covering/painting all wrong all these years.

Joe
 
W

Willy Nillies

Elite member
Ha! In case you guys haven't noticed, we try to do everything on these kits as simple as possible. The paint sticks very well with very little prep time. We use scotchbrite pads to lightly scuff the area to be painted - usually only takes a couple of quick wipes (just be careful on corners!), then wipe down with acetone and paint. For lines we use the thin blue line 3m tape to make our lines. It works VERY well. Areas that don't get paint are then masked off with news print, scrap paper or whatever we have handy. We have the best luck with Krylon brand rattle cans available at Wallyworld and many other stores - can get pretty much any color you want.

We also use this method on doculam covering and it works very very well.

The paint wont stick well if you don't scuff it with a scotchbrite pad first.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
 
Turbojoe

Turbojoe

Elite member
She's finally DONE! Well about as done as she's gonna get. It's not perfect but I did my best to make it looks somewhat like the original Jr. Skylark. I'm happy with it because that metallic red Solarfilm looks SO good in person. The camera can't do it justice though. I wish I had a few more rolls of it.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome overall. A.U.W. with the 500 mah battery is 7.19 ounces and it balances right on the spar with no ballast added. I set it up with aileron droop matching the wing curve. I had to take a shot with the Skylark and the Eaglet together. Hopefully both will fly tomorrow. Weather looks good and batteries are charging now. If the cricket club is using the area then I'll have to wait until Monday as there just isn't anywhere else around here that is as good to fly from.

Joe
Almost ready to fly!.JPG
Buddies.JPG
 
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