hello friends
i am just about to finish the Thundergazer electric version for a friend, and would like to share the building process here
right now just needs the clear and hinging.
i have been professionally building model airplanes for the last 20 years in Brazil, focused on R/C Jets and Scale models, but i am a control line flyer, and my long time friend Rogerio asked me to build the TG for him, so he came with the fantastic RSM kit. Usually i don't build C/L for clients, but i know this guy since my 17´s, He's a really nice guy and a 100% dedicated pattern flyer. He's also championing electrics down here and developed a NICE timer for C/L use, so i couldn't say no to him.

The kit: awesome quality by RSM, the balsa is the best I've ever seen, nice plans, great package and value considering amount of wood that came in.
a few plywood parts came missing (no problem, i have plenty scrap at workshop), plans would benefit of more details on cowl and tail end or even better, manual/pictures. wood selection is on ultra light and soft stock, and i think some harder balsa would be better for some parts (will deal with that along building description) and finally due to local Brazilian shortage of materials, the carbon fiber and Carbon veil requested could be added on the kit, although the price would raise a lot. this is not putting kit down, just a foreign view of the kit.

the Project : Mr Fitzgerald design is really awesome,looks gorgeous, use of materials and clever design to make things light and strong

Deviations : i was requested to use Yatsenko´s metal bellcrank instead of supplied carbon fiber unit, removable titanium landing gear and choose to modify the cowl to my own design, since the plan don't show it clearly, and we moved to electric Powerplant, so we can play with nose design too.

first thing with this kit : study VERY  carefully the plan, there is lots information written here and there, you i´ts easy to skip vital steps, like adding carbon fiber strip lammination to the tail LE and TE.
i choose to laminate and sand the LE/TE before construction, because the structure it´s too fragile to be handled and sanded properly later, and instead of an airfoil section sanded freehand, i opted to do it flat and tapered towards tips. No way i could sand perfect airfoil shape identical on the four sides and i belive is better to have a straight and true surface than a assimetrical one

Great thread. I have this kit so, I'm glad to see how it's built.

MM

Subscribing. Fred-
You might find the attached PDF from Mark Drela (sailplane guru) useful for sanding.
Thanks for the pics!

R,
Chris

Welcome, of course.

OK, now comes the Fuselage
have sanded both mount supports to the nose curvature and cut a fair amount of rear part to save weight, as electric engines vibration is minimal,we don't need such a beefy lumber here.
building is straightforward until you have to do the bottom sheeting.
this must be done with the fuse firmly attached to the bench
you sheet a 1/32 balsa over the fuse and the worst part here is to trim perfectly before gluing and to keep it straight while gluing
to help bendind the sheet i used Windex or similar
metal rods are butted to the sheet and hold with tape to keep the thin sheet from distorting and contacting all the formers perfectly
the goal here is to make a butt joint of 1/32 sheet with the 1/8 fuse side and still leave a perfect lip for the next 1/16 sheeting. this is the tricky part indeed
next came carbon veil sandwich glued with finish resin and the top 1/16 sheet. i glued both at the same time, so the finish resin bonded both balsa layers.
sounds easy but it's not!end result is awesome, really strong and a beautiful radios bottom fuse, that if was made with balsa blocks would cost lots sanding and  and hard to achieve, plus weight.
as you can see i left the wing belly part off this process for now (more on that later)

I like the way you did the cooling holes on the top of the nose of the fuse. Are those fiber glass? Can't wait to see it done.

Cheers, Jerry

thanks Jerry!
they are arrow shaft push rod tube lef overs from Dave Brown

Hyperion motor?
Looks like it could be...

now the real fun begins!
THE WING: OK, at first the rib pattern may look a bit intimidating, but it's easy once you properly support the longerons.
main spar is accomplished with 2 really soft balsa 3/32 strips and a carbon fiber strip between them. too tricky to accomplish without distorting the final spar, and too soft to my peace of mind.i decided to epoxy the Dave brown carbon fiber strip between 2 harder 1/8 balsa, and then trim straight and cut in 2, saving cost and finishing with a straight spar and less flexible, weight gain was minimal. Don't forget to sand the carbon strip prior to gluing!
as Rogerio bought the Yatsenko´s landing gear, new half ribs where done using side view of the plan to align the new legs, no big deal.
plan asks for a full rolled over molded sheeting and no LE spar.
again, i deviated for 2 reasons> i wanted a LE support to rest the ribs and thought the LE would be too fragile without a minimum spar, so i used the left over original spar material and made cuts at ribs LE to fit them.
my wing Gig was borrowed from Rogerio, it's a nice aluminum device he assembled after Martin's (stunthobby.com.br owner) drawings.
i have clamped LE and TE and then it's just matter of adding ribs and squaring them while gluing
hope the pictures are better than my explanation.
it's a beautiful wing and indeed fun to build!

How can i move this topic to the building forum?
i think i have posted on the wrong section (open forum)

Send a pm to the moderator of this forum, or the owner of the forum, Robert S.

Epoxy Motorman, just scuffed the CF with 150 grit sandpaper and epoxied under pressure of weights

And then problems started! as i have said, my last control line model was ages ago, as you can see, i first passed the stranded cable through the bellcrank without the copper bushing and sheeted the center section. Upon talking with Rogerio, he said, please bush it or will brake!, ok, there it goes the sheeting and some surgery done to make the bushings. a week later, after new sheeting added to the center section, i found the unit is stuck, really hard to move! there it goescenter sheeting again LOL... i have used acid instead of flux to solder the bellcrank shaft to the washers and corrosion stuck everything. More surgery, grease added to the bush and new soldering and another last sheeting.OK, my bad, primary errors, but who never failed?i will never fail on that again for sure!

Fred, we all can see that you are a wonderfully skilled craftsman. There are lots of people here on SH that will be happy to help you. I'm a newer C/L guy myself, so these folks have saved me many times.
Please ask anyone if you are not certain and someone will help you out before execution of the building step.
We are all enjoying your great build show.

hello Chris! thanks a lot for the kind words! indeed from time to time i checked here for advice, but these 2 mistakes are so basic that i would be ashamed to tell!
just lack on attention indeed
plane is about to have clear cote, so o will follow here with building log!

wing saddle made with 1/64 ply, balsa strips and super fill by brodak (first time i have used this stuff, and realy liked!)

Another way of doing things and it looks great.

thanks John, i usually go for the normal routine, but as i spend so much of last years on r/c only building, here and there i used a new approach, not necessarily better, but hopefully with same results

Never thought of the spring latch for use on a control plane, but I don't fly electric and seldom need to remove the cowl.  I like it.

tail : another hard to accomplish area. Fin is a very flimsy open structure, and i opted to sheet it with 1/64 balsa in order to paint it. Just sanded 1/16 of the structure and sheeted.
the tail unit is a handfull to be built due to the narrow section to sheet with the lamination of carbon and 1/16 - 1/64 balsa.
next everything was sanded, doped and sylkspan  used for fuselage, tail parts, flaps and belly pan.
2 primer pack, bit of sanding, almost no filler added as i have blended most of the wood to wood finish with super fill
 

hi Charles! thanks a lot man!
will look for the MIG here, after all i am a scale builder by heart!
the first time i have "planked" a plane, if this is the right word, was a NAT6 awful control line kit, back in 1987, indeed my third kit!it's a very strong method and nothing beats for compound curved models
the avatar is my De Bolt Continental, cut from plans, i have entered last year Brazilian Naftalina meeting and won first prize on control line category, this meeting is for planes prior to 1980 ( R/C, C/L & FF)
this year i missed the mark due to model finishing delay...
follow some pics of the Continental, indeed a lovely looking plane but no good flier at all. Max 20 for power and slc/silkspan covering

Fred:

Absolutely awesome build!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this and especially for all of the pictures of the various steps in the building process. So very many of us are "visual learners" so pictures along with written descriptions are most helpful.

Would you have any objection to me copying the pictures along with the written description of the various steps and posting it on my web site in the "Building Guides" section? If I can do this it will help many folks who purchase the kit and answer many of the questions they may have. Please drop me an e note at eric@rsmdistribution.com as I assure you that I will do this only with your permission.

Fred:

Absolutely awesome build!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this and especially for all of the pictures of the various steps in the building process. So very many of us are "visual learners" so pictures along with written descriptions are most helpful.

Would you have any objection to me copying the pictures along with the written description of the various steps and posting it on my web site in the "Building Guides" section? If I can do this it will help many folks who purchase the kit and answer many of the questions they may have. Please drop me an e note at eric@rsmdistribution.com as I assure you that I will do this only with your permission.

hello Eric! very nice to meet you, and yes, i would love and be honored to have my pictures and building notes added to your store! will email you ok? thanks a lot for the kind words and congratulations for such outstanding kits!

Building the wing in the kit is allot different if you don't add the leading edge.


MM

i forgot to mention about the flaps: i choose to oracover the wing, but the flaps are too soft and would twist in flight, so i have opted to silkspan and paint them.
added a 1/8 ply cap to stiffen the horn end and 3 lamination each side of carbon veil with finish resin on the 2" over the horns.
on the wingtips i have added a brace following the spar line to help support it and made a small leading edge block to get a better look and anchor the oracover more smooth
next transparent blue oracover was used

finishing: fuselage and tail was silkspan covered, and 2 part primer added. little or no filler was needed.
had a lot of trouble with the paint over oracover. i skip sanding it slightly and had adhesion problems and lift a lot of the white when unmasking the checker pattern, so i had to wipe off all of the wing white, scuff oracover with 2000 grit and paint it again.
pain is automotive lacquer.
panel lines drawn (i prefer to mix b&W and use grey) as they will be more subtle and will show off either over light or dark colors.
now the clear coat....

thanks a lot Chris!
right now i am gluing hinges, clear is ready, as soon as the weather gets better i´ll post some pics of the finished painting, after the clear the panel lines REALLY stand out!
best regards
Fred

Great craftsmanship. Good job!