Week 256 - Trim tabs, Long Range Tank and Paint update

I've made up some fixed trim tabs out of ali sheet.

They will go on the rudder and starboard aileron, fixed with double sided tape (same as Pete does).

The holes are drilled so they will be easier to bend.

With the long range tank I decided to cut off the sides and just make the width the right size to slide in through the seat area. So I've got to remake the sides and then make the back and top.

I've used some plywood to make up the shapes needed and will lay up directly onto these, overlapping onto the base and back as I go.

I visited Murray again today to see how things were getting on with the paint. 

We sorted out the masking of the 'curve' which is the critical bit that will determine what shape the black takes on the fuselage sides.

We also figured out the locations for the registration letters - which will be sprayed on rather than vinyl - so they have to be right.

The orange on the spinner looks stunning (see the video below). When it is out in the direct sunlight it looks great and then indoors it takes on a different look as well. 

The rest of the fuselage has been 'flatted back' in preparation for the final clear coat which will go over the entire paint job (black, silver and orange) giving one smooth uniform surface with no ridges.

I think Murray will finish it this week so I guess it should be back in my garage by next week.

Fixed trim tabs

Making up plywood molds for the sides of the long range tank.

The filling tube will be mounted about here and is long enough so the opening can go outside of the cockpit when refueling.

After filling it can be zip tied to a bracket back inside in about this position.

Spinner - photo taken inside

Spinner - photo taken outside

Blue masking line shows where the silver and black will go below.

Happy now with the way this mask line is looking and the position of the rego.

Wing rego will be in silver.

Slightly revised paint design

After discussing the design with Murray I've made a few small tweaks.

As Murray says "Just because something looks good in 2D doesn't mean it will look good in 3D".

The main problem area was the tail. The solution was to move the black and silver down so it doesn't touch the tail/fuse junction. This is to eliminate any weird looking areas where colours start and stop. The opposite was the case with the wing junction where the black goes completely over the top and bottom as it did before, so no problems there.

I've also sorted out the rego artwork and masks are being made up for those now.

Murray will shoot the orange first then the black - the orange is slightly transparent so cannot be put over the black without some show-through.

The orange is quite a tricky paint to apply as it will be in 3 parts. A flat base (of orange) then the pearl, then a clear coat. The pearl must be done in 'one go' with all parts in the correct place for it to look right.

Today I visited Pete and got the aileron fairings. They are just stuck on with double sided tape.

I also got a chance to see his cold air inlet mod. He says that for all that effort he has not noticed any difference in performance. Also as there is no alternate air selectable then flight through freezing rain is not a good idea.

Hopefully next week I will have some photos to share of an orange Twister.

Revised paint design for the fuselage.

Pete's Twisters are in plain white now while they look for a new sponsor.

Aileron trim tab. Need to make some of these up.

Aileron pushrod fairings are a close fit.

NACA cold air intake.

Doesn't make any discernible difference according to Pete.

View inside the NACA duct.

Aileron fairings. Will need the edges tidying up and fitting at the back.

Some placards.

Visit to the painters

I drove up to see Murray today and drop off the gear leg fairings.

It also gave me an opportunity to see how things were progressing and discuss some finer details.

I did a bit of work to the long range fuel tank and hope to make much more progress with that this week.

I'll be visiting Murray again next week to 'sign off' the shape of the flowing line down the fuselage side before he shoots the orange.

Oil Cooler scoop looking sweet.

Cowling awaiting a rub down and more primer

Wings are almost there.

Looking pretty flawless in primer

Other bits in primer with a few spots of filler here and there.

Nice garden ornament Murray! Hawker Hunter nose section.

Fuse looking much nicer now with the top joining line rounded off.

Painting progress

I got a few photos from Murray today.

The wheel spats look mint!

Blue stuff is 'guide coat' on the primer I believe.

Yellow stuff is filler - and I thought I did a pretty good job already on this area - seems not!

Wheel spats looking pretty damn sexy.

Week 251 - Gear leg fairings and Paperwork

Hours to date: 2585.5

I finally got around to fixing up the gear leg fairings.

As you will see below they were wafer thin at the leg to fairing junction, so I put 2 layers of glass on the outside to strengthen them up and allow a little more material to be taken off on the inside (to allow for the paint thickness on the gear leg later).

I also fixed up the gaps in the front edges by building up multiple layers of glass underneath and then sanding down the top surface until the same thickness was achieved overall. I hope I've got this right as I am sort of working blind as the rest of the aircraft is away - although I did measure the gaps before it left.

The proper way to fix these gaps would have been to do a lay up directly onto the fuselage base with the fairing on top. This would ensure a correct profile to the fuse base.

The other thing I've been doing and am still doing is paperwork!

Lots of it as you can see below. I applied for a 'Completion Pack' from the LAA and they sent a wad of paper and forms to fill in.

I should be visiting both Pete and Murray next week as Pete has said he will make up some aileron pushrod fairings for me next week (fingers crossed!). When those are done I will take them and the gear leg fairings up to Murray.

I spoke to Murray yesterday and he had put primer on all the control surfaces and the wings and is just about ready to do the same with the fuselage. After that gets flattened off and a gloss coat goes on he will see all the little imperfections and more work will be needed before the top coats. He did say he thought I'd made a "cracking job" of the kit so that was nice to hear.

I've got some more resin on order so when that arrives I will start back on the long range fuel tank.

Hopefully more to post about next week.

Wafer thin gear leg fairing - even has some holes in it it's so thin after making it fit the gear leg.

Adding layers of glass to the front corners to fix the gaps.

All done. 2 layers of glass added to the top areas, then filler to smooth everything out.

Multiple layers of glass sanded down from the top to end up with the same thickness as the rest of the part.

Paperwork trail from the LAA

Making my way through it slowly...

Off to the painters

A very strange feeling today, seeing the fruits of my labour driving off into the distance.

I guess this is what it must feel like sending your child off to school for the first time?

I know it is in safe hands with Murray Flint though, he was very particular about tying everything down securely.

In 5 weeks or so it should be back.

Murray tying things down.

All done, ready for the road.

It will look a little more colourful next time we see it.

Week 247 - Fuselage Base, Gear fairings and wing fitting.

Hours to date: 2568.0

A fairly busy week, lots of heavy lifting and moving wings around.

The fuselage base is now finished on the outside, still have to bond the inside at the back - only the bits you can get to through the baggage area mind you.

Had a bit of fun when I couldn't get one of the wings off. I forgot to tape up one small area on the inside and that stuck quite well!

The solution was to use a long piece of wood and with a piece of foam taped to the end to protect the spar - hammer it out using a soft mallet on the wood.

Turns out I had to use this method each time on each wing, as I am working by myself and I cannot really pull that hard on the wing to get it out without the fuselage moving too.

So that was 6 times in all as there is the wing to root gap - filled with flock, then the wing to fuse outside profiling to do - using micro - top and bottom, one at a time. What a long week!

I've also been fitting (well trying to) the gear leg fairings. They fit so tightly around the gear leg that even when you take almost all the material off the inside of them they still do not slide down the leg without having to take a bit of material off the gear leg itself. By this time they were very thin at the opening and I couldn't help them getting a crack or two. Will have to repair those later.

As you will see below they don't fit that well to the fuselage at the front either which is a real pain - still not absolutely sure what to do here as a fix. Probably will have to build out the area that has a gap underneath with layers of glass then sand down the top area afterwards and try to get a nice finish, this won't be easy...

After reading the manual about the fixings I decided to do an 'Andy mod' to them as if you just used the M6 screws straight into the fiberglass fairing it would be no time at all till they had worn out the holes and the fairings would work down the leg and be loose. No good at all I thought, so what to do? I modified some washers by cutting 8 slots and roughing them up so that the flock would ooze through the slots and bond them in place. The same type of principle as the composite threaded post fasteners I have used elsewhere. They have holes in the base for the flock to ooze through.

Now we have a metal to metal contact and hopefully this should last and keep these fairings tightly in place for a good while.

I wasn't looking forward to cutting the threads into the gear legs for the M6 screws but as it turns out the gear leg is quite soft - not solid carbon as I previously thought - so it was quite easy.

Unfortunately these fairings cannot be fixed to the fuselage base as they must be free to move when the gear leg flexes. I see Adrian Hatton did it the other way around and fixed them to the fuse rather than the leg.

I've got the painter - Murray Flint - coming down on Monday to pick everything up and get going on the paintjob. I am ready, sort of :) Maybe I will have to take a few small pieces up to him later on, we'll see what he says on Monday.

Things may go a bit quiet on the blog while Murray is painting as he will have everything for 5 weeks, however I still have a few little jobs to do so will be updating with those as I go.

Fuselage base bonded on and reinforced with glass tape on the edges, then made flush with filler.

Extending the root edge to match the flap - it had to have 15mm added. I used two pieces of glass tape, one on the top and one underneath - seemed to work out okay.

This is the area I forgot to put packing tape on so it stuck. (central vertical bit).

Solution to removing stuck wing? Hit it with hammer lad! Wood through the spar tunnel.

Washers modified for bonding to the gear leg fairings.

Bonded in place. Hopefully these will last longer than just plain fiberglass touching a metal screw.

On the wing gaps make sure you use plenty of flock so it oozes out - don't scrimp here!

Gear leg fairing, fits okay everywhere except at the front inside edge.

Fitting okay everywhere else.

The Starboard side is even worse - quite a bit gap here. Gonna be a pain to fix.

Up on the hoist to get the gear legs back on - not fun trying to do this by yourself!

Fuselage base looks good now it is all fitted and flush.

Final access panel done at last. This one is on the top of the fuselage just behind the firewall.

All that work is worth it for the tape width gap you end up with. Hardly any room for paint!