Scale Wendell Hostetler 30% Piper Cherokee Glass Fuselage Build.

[TonyHallo]

I have 6 molds ready for PVA however my compressor has failed. It is a Craftsman oil less compressor, it was rebuilt in Novermer, put a new sleeve and piston ring in, cleaned up the reeds and plate. Worked good when the fuselage was primed twice in December, last time PVA was sprayed just ran constantly and would not build pressure, I assumed the reed valve plate was bad so I ordered one. Nope, the piston ring failed. Have replacement coming today.
Have the color on the right wing tip, had trouble with the darn ratter can paint lifting. Might be ready to mount on the parting by the weekend.
Working on the nose wheel pant as well, might be ready for paint by the weekend. Plan to use KELVAR while laying up the pant, thinking this is what wheel pants should be made of for us grass flyers. Carbon and glass is stronger but not as tough as KELVAR. Pretty sure every wheel pant I have or had developed cracks in the corners or near the mount area. Thinking 2 ounce glass, 8 ounce KELVAR, topped with 4 ounce glass. If all goes well will make a mold for the main pants and lay that with KELVAR.
In the first photo, the mold for the main gear fairing is from the previous build. The shape and details were

copied from the RC guys Cherokee, it's not exactly scale so I'm trying to rework the part and make a new mold.

 

[BalsaDust]

Nice. I thought it looked like a Vega.

 

[AKNick]

I always wondered why all the ARF manufactures do not use strategic kevlar on wheel pant layups. Good on you for thinking the way you do!

 

[TonyHallo]

Quick update on the air compressor. In November I installed the ring as shown in the first photo, it made sense to me that the cup would face the pressure to aide sealing. Yesterday a photo popped up showing the ring installed the opposite direction. I turned over and it seems to pump OK so will keep an eye on it. I hate the noise the compressor makes but do enjoy the oil free air.

 

[TonyHallo]

Got the right wing tip mounted on the parting board, now wax on, wax off for a while.
Picked up 2 pounds of Chavant plasteline clay on Amazon, up until this point been using Playdough clay, seemed to work OK, will see if this works any better.

 

[dhal22]

More GREAT work.

 

[AKNick]

Can you explain the use of non-hardening clay verses just using a plaster/epoxy/or hardening molding clay instead? Just about every time I read your posts I continue to learn something new. I love your builds!

 

[TonyHallo]

The board with the alignment marbles will be removed after the top half of the mold is complete so the non hardening clay makes removal easier. Whatever you use you must be able to remove it without damaging the plug. When doing the rudder I though hot melt glue would be an excellent way to hold the plug in place, turned out to be a mistake, pulled the paint right off, had to rework it. I have read that some folks use paraffin to seal the gap, dam it up and pour it. I suspect the hot paraffin may cause the same problem when using rattle can paint.
The Chavant clay seems smoother than the Playdough clay so it seems to work with..
It is all waxed, clayed and PVA'ed in the photo ready for tooling coat

 

[TonyHallo]

Busted the rudder plug out of the mold this morning. I have changed the waxing process and it is working better. Historically I would put several coats of wax on the plug or the mold right in a row. One of the YouTube videos I watched indicated that you need to let the wax cure for a hour before applying the next coat, darn it works better, parts almost fall out. I was expecting trouble getting the rudder plug out but not so. The stab tip came out very easy as well.
Let see the right wing tip mold is started, have the tooling coat and a layer of 2 ounce cloth on, the left wing tip is just about ready for final sanding and the nose wheel pant has the final coat of primer on. Really getting tired of this mold stuff and looking forward to getting the Champ wings on the bench.

 

[TonyHallo]

Found an old can of Kyron fluorescent yellow paint and decided to use it up. Sprays much better than the current Kyron Fusion paint that I'm using. It does dull as it dries and hoping it shine up with fine wet sanding and polishing.