Barbettes sealed into the deck, Rudders are firmly in place now with the swing arms attached. I marked out where the rudder servo will be placed to line up the links with the servo arm. Disassembled the port shaft as I will be installing the shaft bearings , grease port and filling the stuffing tube with grease then reinstalling the main shaft gear wheel and for alignment with the pinion and testing under power to see how well it turns. Once that is done the motor mount will be secured to the hull bottom and I will wire up the motors.
Barbettes sealed into the deck, Rudders are firmly in place now with the swing arms attached. I marked out where the rudder servo will be placed to line up the links with the servo arm. Disassembled the port shaft as I will be installing the shaft bearings , grease port and filling the stuffing tube with grease then reinstalling the main shaft gear wheel and for alignment with the pinion and testing under power to see how well it turns. Once that is done the motor mount will be secured to the hull bottom and I will wire up the motors.
Well I had fun with it last night with a half a dozen set backs or so. I was cold and tired and maybe should have held off from working on that. However I completed the port shaft and ready to dry run it on the bench to check for how smooth it will run. Shaft is greased and the gears are aligned.
Drive shafts were completed mostly and dry tested. They are purring like a kitten so far. Just need to secure the motor mounts and then wire up the motor harness to the motors and for the throttle switches. Next up is the Pump.
I have the rudder tubes greased and the rudders mounted. The front edge of the rudders are very close to the prop hub. I will take pics of this later this week to post. Currently working on the pump and pump installation.
Servos and receiver are currently drying. I had them dipped in tool dip. Motor mounts are secured to the hull with Goop. I got the deck with me and will begin scribing the planking.
I got a 2nd coat of tool dip on the servos and the receiver. The motor mounts have dried and are secured. So far so good.
Waterchannelling completed. Fully sealed. Main deck scribed with planking. Servos test fitted in their servo mounts. Servos fully waterproofed. Will be varnishing the main deck with several coats of wood stain varnish this week. Will be working on making the firing box platform and installing the poppets. I hope to begin sheeting the model in another week or 2 . I have a battery tray to mount install yet and of course the pump.
First 2 coats of Marine Varnish on the main deck, Drive system is compete. Only need wiring. Co2 mount is installed and I started making the battery tray . Pump installed not hooked up yet.
Battery Tray completed. Need to waterproof it. Rebuilt the rudder servo mount. All I had time for so this is a very short update. Still progress is good.
Underside of the main deck is sealed with varnish and dried very well. The deck has taken on a darken hue but looks great!.The planks I scribed are sealed under the multiple coats of varnish. Yay!
I will get more pics this weekend. Supposed to be cooler so I will be working on it both Sat and Sun. I want to begin sheeting the beast very soon. But first after the servos are installed I will be installing the dummy shafts and props.
I finished resining the braces for my battery tray and co2 mount and pump mount. The main deck is completely sealed with varnish both sides and it came out very well. I waterproofed the wood of the radio box and installed internal bracing. I drilled out the holes for poppet valve placement and have the valves installed. I test fitted the firing servos and they fit really good so only a matter of securing them into their mounts inside the box. My next task is to install the rudder servo and links for good, install the throttle servo and it's switches which are already wired. I want to start drilling out the slots for the prop struts and slots for the outer wing stuffing tubes . From there I wil be prepping the balsa sheeting and begin the sheeting of the hull.
Good progress today. I cut the areas for the stuffing tubes and the prop struts. Made the stuffing tubes and inner sleeves of the tubes. Made the prop strut and soldered it to the stuffing tube. I made a A- brace for each stuffing tube and installed the assembly into the hull wing areas. I sealed fiberglass cloth to both inside and outside over the entry points of the assembly to the hull. Then I applied Bondo putty around the entry holes for the strut and the stuffing tube. That is dry now and needs to be sanded. I trimmed excess cloth away with the dremel and cleaned it up. I cut off 1/4 in thick hard balsa sticks and glued them to the inside of each rib for reinforcement and additional strength of the ribs. Then I sealed each rib with resin filling in the gaps and waterproofing the sticks.I sanded off excess drops of varnish from the main deck. Reinforced the pump mount with additional backing. Installed 2 firing servos inside the servo box and installed 3 poppet valves again for test fitting after securing the servos. I test fitted the deck and it fits very nicely still. The struts are very strong and will support the full weight of the model. I can install large drag discs to them if need be . I was hoping to get pics today but I ran out of time. I picked up servo extension leads to install in the receiver for later hook up and test fitting. Once I get the struts cleaned up and sanded , clean up an excess resin droplents from the ribs I can install the internal armor and then start prepping the balsa wood for attachment to the hull. I am leaving the building of the superstructure till last as I want to ensure all the systems are working reliable and secured in the hull. I will get more pics once I clean up the strut area .
I finally hooked up the rudder servo to the rudders using rods and links and mounted the servo mount in position. I have some pics to post this evening .
