WacoNut

ALot of progress this weekend,
The wing mounting is now complete, the wing is bolted on a the incidence is corret as well as tip to tp angle and tips to tail. I have the wing saddle marked to shave out 1/16" to allow for the fillet base. I think I will try to form the fillets out of light weight spackle. I put the wheels on to see how it looks and so far so good. It is starting to look like a Chipmunk.
I will pick up some spackle tomorrow and start on the fillets. If I can manage to get a few evenings worth of work I should be able to have the plane ready for covering next weekend.
If anyone out there has some detailed pics of Chipunks please post them so I can get some panel line and rivets details.
Later!!
Anthony

mmattockx

Looking good, Anthony! I am going to keep this thread up front for my build once the kit gets here. I can't wait to see the final product and get a flight report.


Mark

WacoNut

I am back to work on the Chipmunk,
I have the wing fillet base glued in and I added some braces to hold the fillet contour once the wing is removed. I will carve and sand the braces to the fillet radius that I am looking for at each brace. I will ten be able to build up the fillet. I will need to let the base and braces dry for about 4 hours before doing anymore work. I will post some additional pics of building the fillets as I go. Here is a pic of how it looks now.
Anthony

WacoNut

I am back to work on the Chipmunk,
I added some more braces to the fillet base then sanded the fillet contour into the braces. I then cut some strips out of 1/16" sheeting and planked the fillet. After that dried I gave it a sanding to smooth out any high spots then applied a coating of light spackle to finish filling in the fillet. After this dries I will apply another coat of spackle and sand the fillet to final shape. I will give the fillet a couple coats of sanding sealer to help harden up the spackle before covering.
Here are a few pics of the steps taken to build the fillets.
Anthony

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Anthony, the fillets are looking good. That is a good way to make them and it keeps the weight down too.

WacoNut

They are not pefect but they are looking good.
I still have alot of sanding to do to the whole plane before covering this weekend.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have the wing fillets finished,
I have some more sanding,filling and more sanding to do before I am ready for covering. I am hopeing to be covering the plane tomorrow. The wing fillets still have some minor imperfections, these will be filled after covering with high fill primer and or spot putty before painting.
Fillets are not hard to do they are just a little time consuming, they really add to the looks of your plane and they can easily be added to almost and model. Here are a few pics of how the fillets look.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have the entire airframe sanded and the 1st of 2 coats of sanding sealer applied. With any luck I will get the 2nd coat on and dried and get the bottom of the wing covered tonight. I am going to try to get the whole plane covered by the end of the day tomorrow and let the PloyC cure all week before starting to primer and sand next weekend.
Anthony

RVM

Wow this is looking really nice!

WacoNut

Thanks,
It will really start to come together once I get the covering on it and it get primered.
Anthony

mmattockx

Anthony,

What sanding sealer did you use and where did you buy it. I am watching the finishing part closely because I want to try Koverall and PolyC for the next fabric finish I will be doing. I have used Koverall with dope and liked it, but the lack of nasty fumes and light weight of the polycryllic are very attractive.

And yes, it is looking very nice so far.


Mark

WacoNut

Mark,
I used Minwax sanding sealer, it is a Laquer sanding sealer. Any laquer sanding sealer will work just fine. I purchased it at home depot. I will be using dope to attach the fabric at the edges and let that dry then shrink the fabric before applying the PolyC. I will then apply 6 coats of PloyC to the Koverall sanding after the 3rd and 6th coat.
I prefer attaching the fabric with the dope for a couple of reasons, the dope cures very fast and blends the seams very well with just a couple coats. The can put up with the smell just doing it around the edges. I am sure you can use PloyC to apply the fabric but Dope is my preferance.
If you want to keep the fabric appearance apply 3 coats of Poly C. If you want a smooth (metal finish) apply 6 coats of PolyC.
Later!!
Anthony

WacoNut

The wing is covered and ready to start applying the PolyC,
I thought I had 3/4 of a quart of PolyC on the shelf but when I went to get it it wasn't there Oh well I will swing by Home Depot after work tomorrow and pick up a quart. I will work on getting covering on the fuse and the rest of the flying surfaces in the mean time.
The wing looks really good and I do not anticipate having to use much filler if any after priming.
I will take some pics once I start applying the PolyC.
Later!!
Anthony

mmattockx

Hey Anthony,

One more question - are you brushing the PolyC on or spraying it? I used to brush the nitrate dope on, then spray the color butyrate coats. Is this the same?

Thanks,
Mark

WacoNut

I will be brushing on the Polyc with a 3" nylon brush. Once I get the last coat on and dried it will be sanded smooth and primered. I will then detail the plane with panel lines,rivets before painting with Latex.
Anthony

mmattockx

Anthony,

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to seeing how the process goes, it sounds like a great alternative to dope and the health hazards associated with it. It appears that the PolyC is very light, too. The guys using it to glass with .5oz cloth are reporting finished weights similar to films, but with the gorgeous finish and durability of paint. What do you clearcoat with after the latex?


Mark

WacoNut

I use Nelson's Hobby Specialties Clear Gloss,
You can probably use Warbirds Color Clear also.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have almost finished applying the covering, I will try to get the PolyC finished by the weekend so I can get to the primer and detail work.
We had a major ice storm here yesterday into lastnight, I lost power and heat for 11.5 hrs lastnight and had several of my large trees in my front yard broken up from the ice.
Anthony

mmattockx

Pictures!


Mark

WacoNut

Here are some pics from the ice storm,
I am going to have a big mess to clean up once everything thaws out[]

I will take some pics of the Chipmunk tonight when I start laying on the PolyC.
Anthony

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

That will keep you busy for a while. Sorry to see that. We got a little ice in southern Indiana too but not enough to cause any damage.

WacoNut

Well the ice storm held me up some this week with the power outage and cleanup,
I started applying the PolyC tonight. As you can see from the pics below the wing looks a little white from the Sig Koverall then in the other pics you can see how the cloth becomes translucent after the PolyC is applied, that is how you know you have good penetration of the PolyC. I will apply 3 coats before sanding then apply an additional 3 coats before giving it a final sanding and primer.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have been very busy this week at work and just got back to working on the Chipmunk,
I have the wing and fuse primered with Duplicolor High Fill Primer, I have sanded 80% of the primer back off and I have added some spot filler to fill in a few low spots. I will let this dry until tomorrow evening and start sanding again. The wing and fuse are coming out very smooth. Once I get the plane sanded back down I will lay out all the panel lines and start applying the Chart Tape and getting ready for the final coats of primer.
I will be making several different types of rivets and fasteners on this plane to help me learn some more techniques for future projects. I am going to be putting more detail into this plane than I really should but it is mostly a testbed to rty new things on. I would rather do it to this plane 1st before tring it on a plans built 1/5 scale warbird.
I will post some pics after I finish sanding and before I start the final primer coats.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have the fuselage sanded out after spraying the high fill primer,
I am half way thru sanding the wing out and my sanding sponges is wore out, I will pick up another one tomorrow. The fuse looks good and only had a couple spots that I had to go back and put some spot putty in to level out. As you can see in the pic below the fuse has a mottled look after sanding, there is very little primer left in the low areas and the fuse is now smooth as glass. I will feather in the spot putty after is dries and start laying down the panel lines.
Later!!
Anthony

RVM

It is looking good so far. Are you going to paint it as Art Scholl did or do something original?