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Macchi-ized Fancherized Twister Build

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Matt Colan:
Brings me back to the days of building in my dorm room during college. Great report as always!

Ken Culbertson:

--- Quote from: Matt Colan on March 28, 2024, 07:29:27 AM ---Brings me back to the days of building in my dorm room during college. Great report as always!

--- End quote ---
Did your roomate complain most about the smell or the dust?  I taught mine how to hand launch and pit for combat.  LL~

Ken

Jake Moon:
Thanks to everyone for the replies! The theme of this update is sanding. I do almost all of the outside jobs (sanding, filling, doping etc.) at night when the weather drops from 95 degrees and 90% humidity to only 83 degrees and 90% humidity.

Balsa filler is not available in Singapore, but I found a substitute in model railway putty. I looks, weighs, and sands the same, and is annoying to apply. I think it's the same stuff. After filling, I sanded the filler sections with 240, 320, 400, 600, then 800-grit sandpaper. Non-filled areas started the process at 400. Here's the airframe now.




I foolishly used the filler for filets as well. This proved to be impossible to get perfect as I kept gouging the filler or getting it uneven or standing too much of it away. Eventually I just called it a day. Part of the intent of this project was to learn how to build, and I certainly learned here.




I made the fuselage/rudder transition piece (what on earth is that thing called?) from 3mm balsa and glued it in place.




Here's a little detail that I'm pretty pleased with: the shroud that the tailwheel would retract into during flight.




The fuselage fun and filler added 0.4 ounces, so the airframe now sits at 19.5 ounces.

Ken Culbertson:
Jake, you should be able to get wood filler at a hardware store.  "Plastic Wood" works great but is a bit heavy.  Min-Wax makes a light wood filler that is pink.  It turns pine color when it dries.  It sands really well.  Love Twisters.  I will warn you that they don't glide well after the engine quits which makes the F2B landing a challenge!

Keep it up - Ken

Matt Colan:
Excellent work Jake!!

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