This is a review of the Brodak ARF Super Clown which was made available a couple months ago. My son Michael received one as a prize at the Radio Control Club of Detroit’s CL contest on 3 Jun 06. Since there was another CL event at the club on the 17th he wanted to have it ready to show off. Nothing like deadlines to hurry a project along, so here we go. Additionally, since construction was relatively fast and without any serious problems, no construction photos were taken.
The box is well made to protect the contents and a complete list of items needed to complete the model is on the front of the box as well as some of the model features. The instruction book is complete and easy to follow, but the pictures and text are not always on the same page and the pictures tend to be on the dark side. Also there was mention of adjustable lead outs on both the box and instructions but none on this model.
The contents were well packed and no damage was found. The covering needed a few spots of tightening here and there, but over all was fairly well done. The overlapping was sufficient, but I will be sealing the seams with some thin water based polyurethane just to be safe. This model is all yellow with a red tail. The hardware package was complete with parts to mount the engine, landing gear, wheels, wheel collars, horns, pushrod and pushrod guide. The cap head bolts and nylon lock nuts are metric and could be replaced with #4 standard hardware if you like but I saw no reason to. I chose to use a single pushrod with a nylon clevis instead of the solder link part that was included just as a preference. I also chose to replace the barrel hinges that came with the kit, which I think are better than the nylon CA hinges mentioned in the instructions, with Dubro pinned hinges just for personal preference.
On this model I chose to use an OS FP 20 and found to make the 1 ¾ inch Dubro spinner fit tight, I had to remove about 3/16” of balsa between the hardwood mounts behind the hole that was already made for the engine. I assume that a similar modification would be needed for a tight fit using a spinner on either the FP or LA 25. The width spacing of the hardwood is such that you will need to take care centering any of these engines in the mount so that you keep the holes in the wood.
The flaps, stabilizer and elevators all come with the slots precut and the hinge slots are recessed for the barrel style hinge. This is a nice addition to the kits and helps reduce the assembly time. The wood for these parts is pretty thin, about 1/8”, and it would be hard to get the slots centered and stay in the wood. As it turned out, I needed to make them a little deeper for the hinges I chose to use, but current slots provided a good guide for the Slot Machine that I used. When inserting the hinges, I chose to use Pacer Hinge Glue after lubing the barrel sections up a bit. Likewise, the flap horn holes are predrilled and the suggested 30-minute epoxy yields a secure fit.
The remaining installations are fairly straight forward following the instructions. The only variance I used to the instructions was to insert the flaps before gluing the wing in place. This was because the slot was a little thinner than the flap. The vertical fin went on without issue as well. Make sure that plenty of glue is used on the wing side of the hinge as there is not much contact surface to adhere to. Additionally, I opted for epoxy for all the wood-to-wood joints.
The controls were set up as described except that I used a solid rod with a threaded end and the plastic clevis to make the final adjustments. The elevator does not have plywood added for a mounting pad for the horn. This would be a nice addition to the kit. Fortunately, the elevator wood was fairly hard, so I think it will work fine. The pushrod from the bellcrank to flap horn was a little difficult to install, so taking a file to the end before gluing may be in order for easier installation after assembly.
The final assembly portion of the instructions was the only shortcoming of the assembly process, in particular the tank mounting section. I view this kit as something a beginner would have no problems with for assembly and set up. However, the lack of instruction for tank assembly to the model might leave a new flyer wondering what options there are. I chose to use J-bolts and rubber bands, the box suggests tank mounting brackets and others have used wire through the fuse to hold the tank in place. An additional page showing a couple of options might be helpful to a new person.
Final weight for the model is 28 oz with the OS 20 FP, stock muffler, 2 oz Dubro clunk tank, 9x4 APC prop and 1 ¾ inch Dubro spinner. It turned out to balance about ½-3/4 inch behind the leading edge. Both Michael and I flew the airplane in this trim and it flew well, but will benefit from moving the CG back to the suggested point in the instructions. I plan on adding about an ounce of tail weight to bring it to proper balance.
Overall, I would give this airplane kit a rating of 9 out of 10 for ease of construction and overall quality of the components. The shortcomings are in the quality of the instructions (mainly pictures and placement) and omission of the tank mounting instructions. Plywood reinforcement on the elevator would be a welcome addition as well. My time to assemble this one was 5 hours from start to finish. A good buy for someone just starting out and would like a plane that could be flown in many events .
John Paris
Topic: Brodak ARF Super Clown (Read 1596 times)
