I started in last night on repairing the Avenger that I picked up in Milwaukee last November. I purchased it second or third (or maybe fourth) hand. I understand that it was originally built by Dave Trible, and I think he powered it with a PA .40. Through my historical investigation I'm pretty sure it hasn't flown or even had an engine run in it since Dave let it go. Talking with Dave I guess he had put very few flights on it himself as the .40 didn't have quite enough power for the 63-1/2" span bird. It sounded like it was one of those flew it a few times and hung it on the wall kind of things.

 When I got ahold of the model the underside of the wing had some light damage, nothing structural, just a bunch of hangar rash holes in the covering from being banged around by the previous owners. I'm going to patch and touch up the wing first and if that goes well I then plan to add a few 1/2 bulkheads in the belly and close up the pipe tunnel. I'm going to mount a Saito .62 on the nose so the tunnel won't be necessary. I suppose I could make a torpedo and stick in there...

 More Avenger info here: http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=33240.0

Looking good Wayne.  I'll be watching.  I've not forgotten about getting those old drawings to you.  I'd like to get the chance to work them over a little and make a copy.  In the near future I'll get to it.  I want to see your finished work here and know how she goes with the four stroker.  If I did that today I'd put a .61 or even .76 in it but the problem there would be fuel capacity.  Would have to rethink the tank compartment.  Eventually I will because a future project  will have similar issues.

Dave

Addendum;  when you close up the pipe tunnel be sure you leave some opening to allow the air coming in the front cowling aperture out at a somewhat expanded rate.  If you'll look into the front you'll see the effort to get air out faster than it got in.  This is the secret to getting these basketballs through the air.

 I've got all of the patches on the wing, lightly sanded with just a couple of coats of clear on them so far.

 Now it's time to see how closing up the pipe tunnel is going to go. I attacked it tonight and so far it's gone way easier than I expected. First I made up four bulkheads to give me something to glue the "plug" onto, and also to support it's shape while I push everything into place when it's time to glue. I also sanded all around the perimeter of the existing tunnel opening in the belly to give a nice square edge for the "plug" to mate up with. This also gets things down to fresh wood for the gluing process later.
 
 It pays to save good scraps. I had a nice piece of pre-molded 1/8" balsa left over from back when I scratchbuilt my Helldiver. The radius was almost exactly what I needed for the plug. I'd figured beforehand that my biggest problem was going to be cutting the "plug" to the proper overall shape to minimize any filling later on. I was worried about it because the sides of the tunnel opening are not really parallel, and are also little bit wavy from front to rear. Just in time, my brain suddenly spit out a GREAT IDEA!!! First, I cut a length of the pre-molded piece slightly wider that necessary. Then, I sat it on top of the tunnel opening and carefully "mashed" all the way around it a few times to put a reference groove on the inside for cutting the piece out. I was only able to get away with this technique because the fuselage sides are very stiff on this model, I'm not sure I would have tried it otherwise. (After digging into it I'm thinking that Dave must have glassed the fuse?) I lifted the piece off and flipped it over and holding it into the light just right (shadowing) I could see enough of a groove that I could "trace" it with a fine line pen for my cutting reference. This worked out very well, it just took a little time sanding after that to get a perfect fit...

You're going to have a winner there.

 Got the tunnel piece glued in last night using 30 minute epoxy. Tonight I was able to get it all sanded and faired in and then put on two coats of 50/50 clear. I think I might put a piece of carbon veil over it next, I'll decide after a little more sanding.

 
 ...added a layer of carbon veil tonight. It overlaps the seam by about 1/8" to a 1/4" all around the perimeter. This will help speed up the finish prep and also add some integrity to the spliced in piece.

And I was thinkin' that a little propeller and some fins on the back of a tuned pipe would look pretty cool. Too late, I guess.  Steve

Damned fine job.   

That looks great and I think David will be proud of yah.  

 Thanks guys, it's getting there, I'm just plugging along...

 Hey Doc, are you going to make Polk City? Hoping to see you, Jim, and maybe even Dave there. Maybe you guys can set up a caravan?

Still up in the air about the Polk City contest.  It would be great to get up there again, even just to spectate.

 Another area that required touching up was the "glass" for the ventral gun position. Dave did a great job when he originally detailed this airplane.

 While the insignia is drying I've started in on plugging the front of the pipe tunnel at the firewall. First, I scraped away and sanded some of the old fuel proofer (epoxy?) in the area. Then I made a filler bulkhead out of 1/8" lite ply. Once I finalize the fit I'll scuff sand and clean the entire engine compartment, glue in the filler piece, and then coat the entire compartment with 30 minute epoxy.

 Shot what should be the final clear coats on the Avenger resto/mod/repair over a few sessions last night and this morning. I'm not impressed with my ink work, but it is what it is. I'll let it dry now for at least a week to get good and hard and then I'll try my hand for the first time at a little dope finish rubbing and buffing. Usually I just spray the final clear, let it dry, and then call it good on the finish. Dave had this thing so polished up though that I have to try my best to blend it all in as best I can. I really hope to achieve the same original overall shine to further disguise the repairs, we'll see how it goes.

 Finally, all done and ready to fly. I'll still try to do a bit more polishing on the bottom of the wing, but other than that we're ready to go...

Outstanding work Wayne!

Derek

Way cool!!!!!

Marcus

Wayne that looks fabulous!!  Great workmanship!  Please fill us in with your flight report.

Dave

Nice work Wayne, It looks really good!

Can't wait to see some pic's of it outside at the field! 

Yeah, things happen.  I tell people I do more damage on the ground than I do when I'm flying.   Try a door knob on a plane that had never been flown yet.   Didn't know if I should cry or stomp it on the ground.

However this patch comes out, that airplane is saweeeeet!! You do great work, my friend!

 Thanks for the info and tips Dave, we'll see how it goes. There might be something to your acetone theory on this older dope finish, this thing is really brittle.

 I actually have a brand new pint of Brodak rejuvenator. I've never used the stuff on anything before. I'm not planning on trying this on the Avenger but I've often wondered if you could just hang up an older model, spray the whole thing with a good even coat or two of rejuvenator, and "bring it back to life". Has anyone here ever tried that process? If so, what kind of thinner/rejuvenator ratio would be best?

 Well, I finally got the Avenger finished up...again...

 As kind of an experiment I did this last (hopefully!) repair with a small brush, sanding it smooth between every coat of clear, color, and the final clearcoats. The final sanding was with 1500 and then I finished it off with a good buff with some silver polish. The shine came out nice and even with the rest of the plane. A little half circle crack showed up once it got filled with the polishing compound, I didn't know it was there until then, I'll just have to live with it. It's pretty weird that it cracked though because it's in the freshly painted area. The repaired blue spot is actually a much closer color match than it appears, for some reason the spot brightens up in the photos. Anyway, I just mixed it as close as I could get to Dave's original color, it looks pretty good from across the street.