Thanks Ray. The LG fairings went on aas an afterthought. It was too easy to do not to have them.

Stars I think. How do you think it would look with the fuselage and rudder blue with white stars and a red sunburst on wing and stabilizer?

If you do it, it'll look cool, guaranteed. 

--Ray

doing a red tissue finish should slow you down Bill. It'll look really good though. I'm guessing black trim?

Black trim is my idea for it.  The tissue finish will not take very long on a plane this small!  I just have to ge the time to do it from start to finish! LOL!!

I have some gold tissue, but I am hot sure just how goos it will show up on the red........

Bill would you please take pictures of the different steps? Like how you cut the tissue. How you lay the tissue on. Things like that? I am a patient maan. Do not worry about how long before you get the time. I'll wait. Just show us how you do it.

Hi Frank,

I will do that.  With a "project" this small, I am a touch concerned about how it will go, but excited to see the outcome!   With a larger subject, it isn't hard at all to do with patience.  With something this small (I just ain't use to working with these litle buggers!) it is going to be challenging for me.  That's part of the reason I want to do it!

Bill <><

You shoulda tried building the Queen Bee.

HI Ray,

I used to detail cockpits in 1/72nd scale WW II fighter models...........

Just not used to working with flying planes this small!!

Bill <><

you won't really start having fun till you try covering the area in the tail between where the push rod exits and the rudder.

Well Frank!  The Nitrate is drying on the Snapper.  Once it's cured, I will do the final sanding and the covering will commence.  Going to use the red Jap Tissue all over.  I have all the colors known to man in Jap tissue, so what trim color do you suggest?  Remember, it will be doped on colored tissue!

Bill <><

I guess black Bill............or Dark Blue. Won't most of the other colors let the red shine through.

I'm just now taking a break from masking my Snapper. I'm doing the bottom of it too.

Bill,
Is the colored jap tissue you use the same stuff that you can find in the gift wrapping section used for gift bag tissue(like Hallmark, ect)? Just wondering if it is the same stuff...looks the same...

Jap Tissue is different than gift wrapping tissue................

How about let's talk about set backs. I have about 6 hours into masking off the Snapper for a good ole patriotic scheme. I managed to cut a little nick in the covering. Now look what I got.............oooh nooooo!!

I'm fixing that hole. Right now I'm waiting for the dope to dry and hoping it draws up tight.
We'll see. If this doesn't look good I'll cut it out and do it again.

Im assuming that area will be the dark blue /stars section, so your patch wont be noticable?

One tip to help hide patches.  Most of you know this, I guess, but for those who haven't heard it:  Cut your patch a *little* bigger than you normally would, then tear the edges of the silkspan along the cut lines.  Not a lot, just all th eway around so that it is not a "sharp line".  This really helps the edges to blend in with less work.  The torn edge is "softer" than the cut edge.

Bill <><

And you have to use clear to get the patch started. I used white and it failed. I have since cut out the original patch and have replaced it with new silkspan using clear dope for the adhesive and the first coats. Patience and protocal are everything.

Yep, never had any success with trying to use colored dope to stick on any kind of covering.  And you cannot use nitrate after you have put down anything else!   Learned that one the hard way!

Patch # 2 is working out real good. You just can't rush the protocal.
Tomorrow I will have pics of a most excellent paint scheme.

Protocol?  What Protocol?  .....Weee dont need no stinkin' Protocol!!!

I'm sure it will be most excellent...

Star and stripes forever...I can hardly wait to see it.

--Ray

I can hardly wait either Ray. That hole sure came at a bad time. I'd planned on putting clear coats on it by now.

what repair??

Just dont screw it up again... 

Looks GREAT Frank!

I wouldn't expect anything less from you!Very Patriotic and a Great recovery from you lil' accident.  

  Now, about that Heat.......

BTW...Whats the bottom look like?

Looks GREAT Frank!

I wouldn't expect anything less from you!Very Patriotic and a Great recovery from you lil' accident.  

  Now, about that Heat.......

BTW...Whats the bottom look like?

Thanks Richard-----I did find another tear on the bottom. Still have to fix it. I skipped putting stars on the bottom to make the repair easier.

RSM called me about using pictures of my Heat for their website so tomorrow I'm cleaning the shop and getting back to work on it.

Here is a picture of the bottom of the Snapper. I'm going to pick up some vinyl lettering for the name and my AMA #.

Thanks Richard-----I did find another tear on the bottom. Still have to fix it. I skipped putting stars on the bottom to make the repair easier.

RSM called me about using pictures of my Heat for their website so tomorrow I'm cleaning the shop and getting back to work on it.

Here is a picture of the bottom of the Snapper. I'm going to pick up some vinyl lettering for the name and my AMA #.

Bummer on the tear down there, youll make it right though! All the publicity your models are getting goes back to you being a true craftsman of model building! Congratulations on the RSM spread, will be looking for it to come out. Did you ever get the engine mounts drilled? I think the last pixs I seen of it, you were about ready for the clear coat? That is one sharp paint scheme. You will, however, need to eat several boxes of wheaties the day you test fly it!

It'll just be a couple days Ray. I picked up a pilot today for it. He's a little bigger than I'd like but he'll do.

EDIT--------got the touch ups going. I'll have it final assembled tomorrow. How do you like it now?

Beautiful as expected...I think the takeoff run will be a little shorter if you put wheels on it.

--Ray

Beautiful as expected...I think the takeoff run will be a little shorter if you put wheels on it.

--Ray

Wheels? O.K. wheels. I'm going to try and have it RTF by tomorrow evening Ray. I keep finding spots I need to fix and I think that big white space on the fuselage sides needs a red stripe.
It feels a little crazy putting so much into it but shoot............why not?

And Ray would those be 8 or 12 thousandths? Which?

Oh and by the way that 300 posts on our giro thread was really something. We sure had a lot to say about that little plane. The 12 year old kid is probably frozen in a snow drift with his. He shoulda taken his time.

Bill thankyou for letting me join you on this thread.

My Snapper is RTF now. Here are the pics. Weighs 6 1/2 oz.

Lines--Spiderwire of course!  I do have a set of 35' .008 cable, but they look so fragile I've never used them.  Always figured, if I ever go to a contest...

I have used .012 x 35'.  That might get a little heavy at 42', certainly at anything longer.

6.5 oz. on the Snapper is good, maybe a skosh heavier than mine but it looks so good it's worth it.  Award-winning job.
Thanks for making my planes look so good!

--Ray

I have a roll of Siderwire.........I've used the .008 limes before they really aren't very robust. I guess I'll try different things this year. Now that I'm hooked on 1/2A.

Thanks again for the compliments Ray.

Frank,

You have a great looking airplane. I have a couple of general questions and comments:

Have you tried the "Hallmark" tissue for covering? I understand that it is adequate but heavier.

I have heard of some using that tissue for trim because it comes in so many colors, and is much cheaper than Jap tissue.

Sometimes a small split in covering (like sanding through at a rib..  ) can be repaired by aligning the tissue with a T-pin and CAREFULLY applying Brodak Rejuvenator. Same with a punched hole if tissue can be aligned.

I've always looked at Hallmark tissue and thought it would work for covering a plane. I never actually tried it though. I probably will now since you figure it will work too. It would certainly be worth a go at it.
At 45 cents a sheet I can't say that Jap tissue is very expensive but the wide variety of colors that Hallmark offers is a sure selling point.
You know, I found one more tear on the bottom wing. It was about a quarter inch long and right against a rib. I lined up the ends and glued it with clear dope. It worked! I don't know how strong it is but I'll bet it'll hold as well as anything. The Jap tissue isn't all that strong anyway. So it will probably get a tear somewhere else first.
I'll be sure to try some Hallmark next time George. Thanks for the tip.

My LHS has quite a few tubes of Jap Tissue. Apparently there isn't/hasn't been much call for it so I suppose I may have an unlimited supply.

If you need some George I could always buy some for you and send it in a tube.

I have built 3 Snappers over the years, the first one was Cub powered, and flew OK.  The second had a Wen Mac and silk covering - what a toad.  The third was quite recent, and I did EVERYTHING to lighten it up - scratch built with light 1/32" balsa, Holland Wasp engine, balloon tank, Litespan covering (no paint required, lighter than Jap tissue, but tougher) and clear epoxy on the wood.

Would you believe 4 ounces?  37' of .008 solid wire lines.  5x3 prop. Completely capable of a competitive pattern.  Loved that model to death!  I put an Atwood Shriek on it for one flight.  Whoa Nellie!  That puppy came right back off again.