Making good progress with the Air scoop and having lots of fun doing it. I think this is the most rewarding part of the kit so far for me (although strictly speaking is NOT part of the kit).
After cutting out the panel I stuck the foam core of the scoop to that panel - using runny micro.
Next up I had to stick stirring sticks using body filler to the underside of the hole so that the panel would sit at the right depth - to allow for 3 layers of glass and some filler. So it had to be at a lower level that the surface of the rest of the fuse panel.
After that I used some more stirring sticks and body filler to hold the panel in place - as it has to be upside down when making the flange.
Flipping the whole thing over I put duct tape on the scoop panel - duct tape does not adhere to the resin so is an excellent mould release.
I also didn't like the gap being left open - and possibly having resin drip in there and bond everything together - that would have been a disaster. So I filled the gap with some plasticine. This also does not bond to resin.
Next step was cutting out 4 layers of fabric - for which I used a paper template so each piece was accurately cut and the same size.
I decided to strengthen the edges of the flange hole with a layer of carbon - just to put back some stiffness that has been lost in this area. It's the same thing you have to do if you have a retractable version and cut the main gear holes in this area.
As I had read that riveting fiberglass is not a great idea I chose to add little buttons of carbon - two layers on each side of the flange in the areas where the nut plates would go.
The next day I was a little nervous that everything would release properly but it was absolutely fine. I got a stirring stick - sharpened at one end and slide that underneath the flange and gently eased it up. After doing this all round I flipped the whole thing over again and just pulled the scoop off with very little force - result!
Next came the clean up and cutting the flange down to about 15mm width all round except for the carbon areas for the nut plates.
A final test fit to see how the scoop sat on the flange and then it was time to put 3 layers of glass on the outside of the scoop.
Just as well I had Zen music playing - a bit a of a stress to get the fabric to happily sit around all those tight curves. I did it in 2 pieces - one big piece that pretty much covered the whole thing - then a smaller piece that was just the front lower part of the intake.
Next up will be putting body filler on the scoop to get it ready for painting (which I will leave up to whoever paints the rest of the plane). Then drilling the screw holes and installing the nut plates.
Hole cut for panel |
Sticks to set panel height |
Sticks to hold panel in place for flange |
Plasticine to fill gap |
Panel taped with Duct tape and gap filled |
Cutting fabric with template |
Carbon reinforcing |
All done - released easily. |
Flange cut down and showing postion of nut plates |
Test fit - looking good |
Getting 3 layers of glass on the scoop - not easy. |
No comments:
Post a Comment