3D EMHW 2.15 Ultimate

[ThePledge]

Did much of the finishing work on the hatch and mounted the canopy.

First installed the mounting points for the blind nuts and supports for the phenolic tabs attached to the hatch. Built these with the hatch in place so the supports would be right up against the tabs so when the bolts tighten down the tabs won't bend. Put outer balsa plates in to provide an area to cover around the access holes for the bolts.

Then glassed the hatch with Zpoxy and 3/4 cloth. Enjoyed this step. I've been looking around and threatening to glass things ever since

Missed a small spot on an edge and had to patch it. Looks perfect after blending it back in. Did two light coats following the directions in the glassing/painting threads. Thanks Jetpainter and everyone that contributed.

Painted the interior with textured Rustoleum paint. Not sure I'd use that again, appeared to be a fairly heavy option, but not sure what I expected with the texture. Looks cool though.

The canopy was difficult. I guess I didn't spend enough time dry fitting and had a bunch of trouble trying to get it to fit once the glue was applied. It actually looks a lot better than I expected once the tape came off even if the position is slightly off. Need to do a little sanding of the lexon edges and clean up the seam between the canopy and the top of the hatch and it should be ready for a glaze and paint!!

 

[Terryscustom]

WOW, that's a sexy looking hatch! GREAT JOB!!!!

 

[ThePledge]

Thanks Terry,

It's a credit to EMHW it looks as good as it does after I got a hold of it

 

[ThePledge]

Cut in the pockets for the lower wings. There is quite a bit of extra material to sand away to get a tight fit. The pocket acts against rotation as much as the anti-rotation points. The leading edge runs into a light ply former. I chopped away at that rather than the leading edge of the wing. I glued a small strip of 5x5mm balsa behind the former to support the sheeting where the former was removed.

Cut the holes in the front deck for the middle struts. Thankfully the sheet with the measurements was exactly where I left it last summer otherwise this would have been tough to measure.

Cut the holes with a blade then sanded them out with a file. I still need to widen a slot to allow servo wires out and possibly cut holes to tighten the rear bolts down. I still need to do a little planning to figure out how to bolt the strut in after covering so it looks clean. If I need to cut holes to allow access to the bolts I could cover from the middle out and cover past the slots, but stop before the access holes which would be filled/sanded or at the very least covered over.

Figured I'd throw it together for some motivation, getting real excited!!

Making up hardpoints to attach the cowl next. No cowl ring, I'll do little hardwood blocks with 4/40 threadserts. Any recommendations for the number of hardpoints? I was thinking 6-8, but not sure what is required on a 100cc size cowl.

 

[Terryscustom]

They do a great job on the cowl too. I'm still extremely tempted to order one of their Pitts kits. I may have to put that on my list for next Winter so I have a project that would last a few months instead of weeks.

 

[ThePledge]

Haha, we have opposite problems, if I do something next year I'm looking for sheeted foam so it goes together a little quicker. I don't have a crazy amount of time into this though, I just didn't do anything since last summer. You'd make quick work of one and they're a lot of fun.

The cowl looks ready for paint. Here's a shot that shows the cheeks.

Their Pitts are awesome, huge fat fuse. They look like they fly great from the videos I've seen.

 

[Naughty Monkey]

Always look forward to the motivational shots. My problem is getting motivated to do the motivation shots!

 

[WMcNabb]

Figured I'd throw it together for some motivation, getting real excited!!

Looks AWESOME!! Keep up the great work!

 

[ThePledge]

Always look forward to the motivational shots. My problem is getting motivated to do the motivation shots!

It's a vicious cycle

Looks AWESOME!! Keep up the great work!

Thanks!

 

[ThePledge]

There aren't many pictures of the sheeting in the bottom forward area so here's what I did. Sheeted the obvious place which connects some unsupported sheeting coming down from the sides.

In the rear of the plane the covering should be almost totally riding on balsa stringers and the face of lite ply making up the rear assembly. In the forward area there are a few points where covering was going to end up on the edge of the lite ply. So made up little 3x3mm balsa strips, glued and then sanded about 50%+ off to leave smooth edges to cover.

Also capped an area behind the trailing edge of the wing that would have been really difficult to sand smooth due to the lite ply edges and the epoxy I used in this area.

Hinged the wings to the ailerons and am continually impressed with the level of precision these kits are made with. There's a picture of a nice tight gap, but what you can't see is the other side where the end of the aileron almost perfectly matches the end of the wing.