Author Topic: "77" - The thing is taking shape... (pics update) (Read 7787 times)

Claudio Chacon · « **on:** December 01, 2009, 05:36:36 AM »

Hello guys,
Here I am with some updates of my project. Hope you find the pictures somehow usefull.
First batch, the alignment process:

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:40:24 AM »

Some more of the alignment stage...

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:50:52 AM »

The plane is already covered: Polyspan on wing, stab and elevators. medium Silkspan on fuse, fin, flaps and rudder.
Three coats of nitrate dope over everything, almost ready to begin with the finishing task.
Still have to make the canopy (the one you see is just a test) The actual canopy will be slightly taller and longer...

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:53:47 AM »

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:57:05 AM »

Incoming...

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:00:48 AM »

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #6 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:11:07 AM »

Since I couldn't get a military pilot , I made one helmet out of balsa
and added some detail to the cockpit, just to dress it a bit...

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #7 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:17:19 AM »

Last batch folks. Hope you liked the stuff...

See you guys around,
Claudio.

Michael Floerchinger · « **Reply #8 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:18:37 AM »

WOW!! Incredible detail!

Thanks for sharing Claudio!

Tom Niebuhr · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:46:06 AM »

Claudio.

You are a true craftsman!

Thanks for all the detail pictures show the take-apart construction. I will put them in a special personal book that I keep for construction.

Thanks again from all of us.

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2009, 07:24:13 AM »

Claudio:
WONDERFUL workmanship and thank you for sharing the pictures. A question about your wing removal: are the bolts in the bottom of the fselage the complete mounting system? The reason I ask is that I did that on a Strega but then I added one bolt on top , through the top of the fuslage and into the bellcrank platform - seemed to really stiffen up the mount...

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2009, 10:00:10 AM »

Michael, Tom, Dennis, thank you very much for your kind words, always so encouraging...

Dennis,
Yes, the wing is held down with four 4-40 socket head bolts (and their respective blind nuts, of course). I've been using this system for years and never had any problems whatsoever. Perfectly stiff and strong enough to withstand the worst flying conditions.
Once you attach the parts together -even without the bolts in place yet- you can "feel" that the wing and fuse become a whole monolithic unit.
In some of my ships I used 6-32 bolts, but found that this was overkill.

Kind regards,
Claudio.

Derek Barry · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2009, 12:55:24 PM »

Beautiful work!!!

Randy Powell · « **Reply #13 on:** December 01, 2009, 01:19:46 PM »

Looks very good, Claudio. As always, fantastic workmanship. The build is very, very clean. You should talk to Pete Peterson about doing a transparent finish to show off all that very beautiful work.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #14 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:03:42 PM »

WOW, absolutely great workmanship in those pictures. How long did it take you to make the cowl?

proparc · « **Reply #15 on:** December 01, 2009, 04:27:05 PM »

This is like a good movie in that, you just don't want it to end!!
Absolutely world class building.

Warren Wagner · « **Reply #16 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:39:57 PM »

Claudio,

Superb work ! And to think we still have the *Finishing Episodes* to look forward too.

Thanks for taking the time to post all of the photos.

Cheers.

Warren Wagner

wwwarbird · « **Reply #17 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:51:50 PM »

NICE!!! Beautiful work!

Doug Moon · « **Reply #18 on:** December 01, 2009, 05:55:54 PM »

WOW! Check out those wood fillets! I am jealous of those babies!!

I love the two scoops on top!

I noticed a relief on the bottom at the rear exit of the cowl. What is that for?

Richard Grogan · « **Reply #19 on:** December 01, 2009, 07:48:30 PM »

Quote from: Doug Moon on December 01, 2009, 05:55:54 PM

I noticed a relief on the bottom at the rear exit of the cowl. What is that for?

Rear-mount turbocharger. (don't really know either, but sounded really cool!

)

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #20 on:** December 02, 2009, 04:56:43 AM »

Thanks guys! Thanks a lot for all the compliments!
I'm really glad to know that you are enjoying the photos and like my work as well.

I always look AVIDLY for pictures in the forum, there's nothing more inspirational for me. Every single picture we see posted around this great forum has something to tell us, so I keep my eyes wide open.
There's so much to learn yet in this ride...

Matt,
I don't know really how much time it took me, but I guess between 10/12 hours more or less...

Doug,
The notch you see in the bottom of the cowl is there to clear the rod of the starter battery. You know that Saitos have the glow plug located in a weird position (tilted to one side and not in the middle of the engine).

OK guys, thanks again.
My best regards to you all,
Claudio

Gene O'Keefe · « **Reply #21 on:** December 02, 2009, 07:58:04 AM »

TOTALLY AWESOME !!!!!!

Bradley Walker · « **Reply #22 on:** December 02, 2009, 08:36:42 AM »

Insane...

Where did you get those cool jigs?

John Sunderland · « **Reply #23 on:** December 02, 2009, 09:59:13 AM »

..From our earlier correspondence I knew this was going to be something special! As noted by so many others..."Wonderful craftsmanship!"

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #24 on:** December 02, 2009, 10:39:49 AM »

Thank you very much Gene, Brad, John. You are very kind...

Brad,
I made the jigs myself out of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). A carpenter cut the pieces for me and I put them together.
By the way, the fuse jig you see is not my creation. I've seen it in a photo posted elsewhere in this forum by Mr. Walter (Umland?) aka "builditright".
A great tool and very easy to replicate. It serves not only as a building jig but also as a very good alignment device that holds the finished fuse firmly in place, as you can see in the pictures.
Congratulations to whoever created this simple and useful tool!

See ya,
Claudio.

W.D. Roland · « **Reply #25 on:** December 03, 2009, 10:16:53 PM »

NICE!!!
Cool!

Cool, nice!!

Nice and cool!!

More pics?

Randy Powell · « **Reply #26 on:** December 04, 2009, 08:50:43 AM »

So Claudio, what are your ideas for a paint scheme. Something to compliment that beautiful workmanship I hope. Maybe match the the color of the pilot's helmet?

And what did you carve the pilot's helmet out of? Very nice work. I'm not sure I could get one that round if carving it by hand.

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #27 on:** December 04, 2009, 04:13:04 PM »

Hi Randy!
Well, the color selection is done, but not the paint scheme yet.
This time, as I want to keep the weight to an absolute minimum, the base color for wing and stab will be tinted (dye) yellow instead of an opaque color. The other colors will be black, white and green with nitrate dope as the binder (got he pigments already).
For the clear coat I'll use PPG #880 2K. The fonts for the license and lettering are selected as well.

Oh...I noticed that you didn't like the candy apple red of the pilot's helmet

...I thought it was a nice touch...
It is carved out of soft balsa and yes, It took me a while to get it round and symmetrical, but it was a rainy Sunday morning...

Kind regards,
Claudio.

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #28 on:** December 04, 2009, 04:14:56 PM »

Quote from: W.D. Roland on December 03, 2009, 10:16:53 PM

NICE!!!
Cool!

Cool, nice!!

Nice and cool!!

More pics?

Thanks Roland, glad you liked it!

Bryan Higgins · « **Reply #29 on:** December 06, 2009, 08:33:45 AM »

Claudio
Marvelous, Just Marvelous.

Randy Powell · « **Reply #30 on:** December 06, 2009, 01:46:10 PM »

Claudio,

I like the red a lot. I thought maybe it would be used in the trim scheme. The color sound interesting. Can't wait to see the final product.

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #31 on:** December 07, 2009, 06:42:17 AM »

Quote from: Bryan Higgins on December 06, 2009, 08:33:45 AM

Claudio
Marvelous, Just Marvelous.

Thank you very much Bryan!

Cheers,

Claudio.

Larry Cunningham · « **Reply #32 on:** December 07, 2009, 12:19:16 PM »

What a fabulous thread, Claudio.

Thanks for posting it, your workmanship is an inspiration to us all. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed model.

Best regards,

L.

"It's a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get." -Arnold Palmer

Claudio Chacon · « **Reply #33 on:** December 08, 2009, 07:04:41 AM »

Thank you so much Larry! I really enjoy sharing this building pictures...
More to come as soon as I can move forward with the finishing stages

.

Kind regards,
Claudio