Aerodrome RC 1/10 Alb D Va

Jecull · 9 May 2009, 10:01 PM

Howdy all,
I've been going on this project for a couple of months now. I'd had a great spurt of working on it while my fiancé was recovering from a motorcycle accident. As I was faster at working on it than gett the images processed, I'll post a few a day till I get caught up...

Here's an overhead of the front cabane mounting block. The engine mount plate is visible below.

Weird that I didn't get images of the frame-up of the fuse. But this one shows the stringer after being fitted to compensate for the line of it going through the front cabane block.

I guess I'm just an old style modeler, I just couldn't see doing the tail cone out of foam. Since I decided to sheet with birch ply, I figured this would give me a better surface to glue to.

Bottom of the cone stringers were cut away to mount the satbilizer. This became a nonissue after the stab broke in the middle while working on the sheeting.

That did give me an idea though...

Jecull · 10 May 2009, 05:33 PM

The start of shaping the V struts. The right hand one is near complete & the left is stock off the sheet.

Showing the difference of this here. I made larger fillets over the joints to fair the fillets better.

Fin & rudder. The fillet for the control horn was quite delicate & I'd broken it & reglued a couple of times while getting the horn in. I'd been thinkinig about a dummy rod for the non-control side (as I'd like to do this for the ailerons)...

Stab & elevator. The slot on the reinforcing plate for the control horn need to be widened to accecpt the ply horns provided in the kit. I've made another one for the opposite side to make a simple pull/pull system.

This is why I'd cut out the stringers... The stab has to slip in somehow as it's a complete unit. It wasn't long after this shot that I'd inadvertantly snapped the stab between the two sides while sanding.

jumpinjan · 10 May 2009, 05:50 PM

Its looking good.
I have a 1/8th, Fok D.V to finish up
Jan

Kaiser Bill · 10 May 2009, 07:38 PM

Great to see someone building "stick and tissue". This is what I started out on some 50+ years ago. Cleveland kits and Banana oil....ahhh the memories.

Kaiser Bill

Jecull · 10 May 2009, 08:09 PM

Thank you gentlemen. Thankfully I got to build my Dad's Slow Poke before this so I had my feet wet. I've not done a project like this in many years. I've got a partially built Estes Rocket/.049 canard (don't remember the name off hand). That might give you an idea how long it's been!

Jan, do you have a thread for your D V? (I'm paging through your Posts list) I'd like to have a look at that. After this one I'm considering the D VI that's out there...

I'm a bit younger than you, Bill, but started out the same way. Managed to never finish much, and crashed what did fly, but there is still something to be said to going back to the old way. The number of ARFs is pretty impressive & is keeping the hobby alive, but so much can be said for building & flying your own that it's hard to explain the satisfaction of that experience to the younger guys.

Jecull · 10 May 2009, 08:42 PM

Happy Coffee wishes to make Happiness in your mouth! Did some long stinits & this suff was quite helpful....

Cabanes. After getting the upper wing together, I'd realized that the cross strut is a bit short & the angle on the front, as planned, doesn't reach the cabane wire. I'll make up another set when I need to.

The #5 Top mock-up for plywood. I've been contemplating using balsa for the top, as it'll get a decal anyway, but I'm worried about the difference in stress tolerance. The ply will take more than balsa and I'd be worried about warping the fuse....

#5 top after trimming. I'm using the centerline of the stringer as a guide for these. Like the original, I'll have to tweak each of the side panels to make them fit.

Both of these layouts went out the window when I decided to use a single piece for each of the stabilizer panels. Unfortunetly, this is what set me up for breaking the stab in half. *sigh*

More tomorrow!

-Jim

Jecull · 11 May 2009, 08:41 AM

Long shot of the fuse after sheeting the fin & stab. The gear has been silver soldered. I'm going to try Kurt's dual axel & bungee trick.

Closer look at the sheeting. The grain should come through nicely when painted.

Close up of fin & rudder. I've since extended the hinge slot on the fin to lessen the gap at the top.

Spars & Bars! The layout stayed like this for a couple of weeks as I needed to go back to work. I thought I'd an image of the dry fitted ribs but I must've lost it.

Wings nearing completion. I'm still amazed at how quickly we can build now. In the days before Stupid Glue(c) it'd take hours before we could move anything. now it's just a few seconds. Remember those days Bill?

-Jim

Jecull · 11 May 2009, 08:47 AM

& to answer the potential question: What colors are you going to make it?

I love Mark's models. The detail is great so, between them, Chris & Koloman's replicas, & the 1/48 Eduard kit, I think I can figure out where all these little bits go! Thanks guys!

-Jim

jumpinjan · 11 May 2009, 06:12 PM

I have no building thread, but here's a picture of my 1/8 D5. I DO NOT like the cabane & undercarrage strut's attachment method. So, instead of the butt-glue joints, you can see what I did. The cabane wires just slide into the brass tubing. My way is much, much stronger. I have been building FF scale, WWI models since 1968 (first flew them in 1962), so I have seen many models loose their gear & top wing with struts too weak.
Also, a picture of my 1/5 scale Fok D.V (69" wing span) that I just purchased. The colors are wrong (they are close, but not correct) and its going to be repainted with Klass Kote epoxy.
Jan

Jecull · 11 May 2009, 06:45 PM

Sweet! I like that arrangement & it's easier than making the blocks via laminating (although the block method works too). That looks like it'll be a real sturdy bird when it's complete. What are you going to power it with? Your bought one does look a bit on the dark side...

-Jim