Pretty much up to speed with the Starboard wing now.
I've kind of ground to a halt as I've run out of resin. Yes the little bit that the factory give you with the kit is most certainly not enough to do the whole aircraft. Same goes for the fiberglass tape - the 40mm tape is running out now. Luckily Pete gave me some extra tape and I have just ordered some more resin so hopefully it will be all systems go again by next weekend.
The starboard wing does not seem to be made as well as the port one. Just little things here and there, but a more major thing cropped up when I drilled the hole for the bell crank and found the rib underneath to be in a different place to the port one.
I made a paper template of the port wing section where it's bell crank hole was and the markings are in exactly the same place on the starboard wing - so it wasn't a case of it being marked up in the wrong place. Also the aileron when fitted has it's horn lining up perfectly with the hole which also leads me to think the rib was fitted in slightly the wrong place. We are only talking about 5mm here but it does make a difference.
Anyway it is not the end of the world and can be reinforced from the other side, but I must say it did worry me when I first saw it. Now I have filed it down a bit it seems to be not quite so bad as I originally thought. I will most likely be up at Pete's again this weekend for another training day and he has promised to show me how to fix it then. I will post again about this when it is done.
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| Starboard wing rib |
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| Port wing is fine |
In the meantime feast your eyes on the latest version of the paintjob. A bit more flowing now - not so many straight lines as before. Also there is now a chrome-like (think McLaren F1) strip that separates the black and orange. Should look quite funky when done.
Hi Andy, glad you sorted out the hitch. Its funny, the curvy line on your paint job is what I had on my design......but I'm sticking to white for the main on the top.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Krishna
Hi Krish,
ReplyDeleteTell me more about your kit - is it fixed gear or retractable? Which engine are you going for?
I agree with white for paint on top in a place like Oz as the UV and heat will be much more than you'd ever get in the UK.
What colour will you paint the underneath?
Regards
Andy
Andy, I bought the kit secondhand from the US, it being imported there 5yrs ago. It is a retractable version (which I wanted as I am a sucker for looks) and it came with a Jabiru engine. Although for a long time I was set on the ULPower engine, the economics of the situation started to kick in and I found it hard to pay a total cost of $140K Aus for essentially a toy (the freight and import GST kills us here). So I think I'll stick with the Jabiru, like a mistress whom I know has faults!
ReplyDeleteThe kit comes ungelcoated, unlike your one, and so there will be a lot more work to finish. Since the twister has beautiful lines, I think its easier to get away with boring white. My wife thinks Pete's old check scheme underneath is funky, but since I'm likely to be spraying it, I'll have to see if I end up doing that.
I am keen on going for glass cockpit and have long liked the AFS set up but I am not sure of the maintenance cost of these gizmos. I'll probably need to rethink things closer to that point.
Cheers Krishna