Monday 31 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 and Fouga build updates

I had to have a quick break from modelling as I needed to go to Germany for a couple of days with work, but I got back in the swing of things quickly on Sunday. 

Here is the new servo tray, at last mounted in the Fouga, complete with two servos :


I've never seen a model Fouga with a decent nose light, so I trimmed mine down with a razor saw, then drilled out the micro-balloons therein to accept my new Flytron unit.  Here you can see the bubble lens that covers is in the background :


I have got some pics of the unit on in the nose - but I can't find them.  I will try and upload them when I can. Here is a picture of the nose with the lens epoxied on.  It needs a quick clean up as the sticky stuff from some tape is left on there, but you should get the idea :



The Ilyushin now has its wings joined, ready for torque rods then covering :


Wednesday 26 October 2016

Fouga Magister and Ilyushin IL102 build progress

Firstly, the Fouga.  I have made up a small servo tray that will carry both mid-sized servos for the vee-tail (Corona 339HV - metal geared, digital, high voltage capable), which will be glued to the fuselage floor.  A long thin plate is screwed in over this to hold them both in the bracket.  I glued and glassed in the final former last night, so the fuselage is nearly done.


I have decided to change the way the wing is constructed on the IL102.  Instead of adding more foam for a centre section, I have decided to use the centre tray as an integral part, and add a second shear web / spar made of 1/16th inch birch ply.  This whole assembly can then hold 3 servos comfortably (2x aileron / 1x bomb drop), and be covered easily as it is now.


So that was a dry-fit, parts have now started to be glued together :



I also ordered up a nose light for the Fouga yesterday, along with all 5 landing lights for the C17, as well as more servos and LiFe batteries for the new builds.  Phew!

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Fouga Magister build - wings are on

Just a very short update, but here she is with the wings on.  Is that 6 days since she arrived?  I think it is.  Now the wings are on the spar, I can do the last bits of glueing on the fuselage - F4 with the vee tail wire supports, and the ABS finisher on the back of the fuselage.


Fouga Magister build - overall progress

This has build has really gone together quick, and so it should with only a few formers to glue in, foam surfaces to cap off...and that's about it!

F1, F2 and F3 now glassed in, along with the wing joiner tube :


Cockpit floor shaped up - it's a biggie!


Wing LE, TE, tips and servo boxes all glued in and sanded.  Final fill stage started, and wing end caps to add, then these are ready for covering :


I want to take my time over the cockpit install, as it is large, but I have about 4 hours of building left in this airframe, then covering / spraying / finishing.  Very happy!


Thursday 20 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - wing veneer and engines

Last night, I set the wings in their beds with the poplar veneer attached by a thin skim of Gorilla Glue.  This morning I pulled them from the beds, gave them a quick sand, and hey presto!  Two panels ready for LE and TE's.


The engine pods have now had their final shaping, and a little light filling where required due to dings and scrapes from handling.  Here they are on the fuselage for a quick dummy run.


And the engines on their own, ready for the centres to be cut out on the fretsaw.


Wednesday 19 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - wing spar

I Gorilla glued in the main spar to both wing panels this morning, and by lunch, the glue had done its stuff.

Nice bond
I had already put the masking tape down to protect the foam from any spillage, so it was sanding time.  A quick blitz with the big Permagrit, then down to a rubber block with fine on it, and we're just about there.


Once I knock the glue back on the other panel tonight, I will get the veneer onto them which I have already cut to shape and prepped.  With a bit of luck I'll get the centre section done and veneered too, then we're a lot closer to getting things complete.

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - wings and engines

Last night the Good Lady Wife and I cut the wings for the '102, here they are on the bench after being cleaned up :


Stubby little things aren't they?  Don't forget they are missing their TE's, LE's, and some quite chunky tips with down-trurns, just like the A10.  I sanded a spar slot into the underside of the wing for a spruce spar that is 1/4" wide by 3/8" deep :


The only thing left to do here is to make the parallel chord centre section, then things can start being glued together.  

I have started to shape the engine intakes this afternoon whilst the exhaust sections dry :



New project - Fouga Magister for PSS

It's been a long while since I've actually bought a kit to build, but I've pulled the trigger on one of the best - a Fouga Magister from Island models.

Picture ruthlessly stolen from the PSSA Online website

My kit should now be winging it's way to me, so I've been looking at colour schemes of course!  I quite fancy either a Luftwaffe trainer scheme, or D-ICFF which is privately owned now and sports a simple but effective scheme.

This..?

Or this?

I'm really looking forward to this one, they just look so right in the air.

Monday 17 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - fuselage continues

I veneered the engine nacelles at the weekend, and prepped them to have the airfoil section cut out too.  Unfortunately I didn't get around to cutting the wings as garden DIY was in order due to it being a nice weekend.  Next up for these is the addition of the intake and exhaust sections.  These will be glassed off of the aircraft for ease of access, then glued up with a spacer plate to offset them out a touch, as per full size.


I've stuck a doubled-up 3mm liteply former in the front of the fuselage to accept the wing dowel too.  I'm pretty close to sealing up the fuselage now and giving her a first sanding.



I've sorted another new airframe too - of one of the most (IMHO) attractive jet trainers ever made.  More on that when she lands!

Thursday 13 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - fuselage modifications

After much ruminating, I decided a single piece wing will do the job.  This means that there will be the traditional 2 dowels for location at the front, along with a nylon bolt or two at the rear.  This also means that there will be no servo connections on show, which is not only good for looks, but for airframe efficiency too.

First stage, cut out the wing seat and reinforce with hard 3/16" balsa.  This is wood-glued into the sides and clamped :


In the background you can also see the tailplane - now shaped - and glued together at the required angle (66mm dihedral under 1 tip).

As the wing is more-or-less mid-mounted, I will also need to have a tray mounted to the underside of the wing that will be come away with it when dis-mounted.  It's a nice snug fit at the moment, and here you can see it pushed back onto the fuselage with some markings on it :


Yes, two SLEC bomb releases of course!  The '102 is a ground attack and CAS aircraft, so she will need to drop some ordnance.  Here the tray has been marked and slotted to hold the bombs.  These will be driven by a single servo in a staggered release pattern.

A weekend at home beckons, so other than a bit of DIY getting in the way, the wings shall be cut!


Tuesday 11 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build - fuselage and engines

I used the balsa end plates as guides, so that Shona and I could run the hot wire around them.  After a quick lick of the Permagrit block, they looked like this :


That's just gently placed alongside the fuselage, with the tail feathers pinned in place too.


My next big decision is on the wing - whether to make it a one piece wing (making quite a big cut-out into the bottom of the intakes and fuselage), or plug-in onto a spar (increasing weight and alignment complexity).

I have also noticed from looking at pictures this morning that the rear decking taper should be a lot sharper that what I have - easy to put right at this stage thankfully!



Friday 7 October 2016

Ilyushin IL-102 build progress, and the final PSSA meet

A bit more triangular section into the fuselage, and a bit of reinforcement in the nose around the wood join :



The some thick planking :



I think the cockpit area might be too bulky...I will check that against some pictures soon, and modify if necessary.

The start of the engine pods :


I'll hot-wire this to shape, then plank them in 1/16th balsa.

This weekend is meant to be the final Orme visit with the PSSA, but as time goes on, the forecast gets worse.  It looks a lot better in south Wales, so I think I am talking myself into staying more local and hitting the VR98 slope instead on Saturday and Sunday.


Tuesday 4 October 2016

Design study - Ilyushin Il-102

From Wikipedia :

"The Ilyushin Il-102 was an experimental jet-powered ground-attack aircraft designed by Ilyushin. This aircraft was never chosen for production, being surpassed by the Su-25, and only a few development prototypes were built."

The IL-102 is a form of "shturmovik", or ground-attack aircaft, the type of which Russia was renown for producing in the Second World War (see IL-02), but this one only got as far as two prototypes.  So then - a few pictures :






Look how UGLY it is!  Brilliant.  And now a 3-view :


Broad wings, nice proportions, boxy fuselage that should go together quickly, right?  Even the cockpit is the same front and rear, just slightly cut-down to match the curve in the rear deck.  Oh yes - a rear cockpit for a rear turret - novel!



How could it be made?  An easy balsa fuselage with thick balsa top and bottom to get the curves; blue foam engines with balsa block front and back; and a foam wing with an inset spruce spar, top and bottom.

Here's some sketches : 

Roughly 1100mm wing span produces a 1000mm length, or thereabouts.  No need to change from a scale wing - its plenty broad enough.  A 3lb weight would produce a wing loading of around 15oz/sq. ft, which is quite a nice figure, but she's more likely to hit 4 pounds I'd say.

So..wouldn't it be a shame if I...

..WENT AND BUILT IT?!





2 hour's worth of work last night, and she's coming along well.



Monday 3 October 2016

The M55 has landed!

At the weekend I met up Simon Cocker at one of his storage workshops, and exchanged cash for a load of bits to make a 4.5m span Myasishev M55 "Mystic".  Needless to say, she's a bit of a beast, with a root rib length of 704mm!  

I will tickle bits and pieces along at a slow rate, but as you can read, there are a few jobs on the build list in front of that.

Here's a teaser of the colour scheme :


C17 Progress - tail build up

I have been doing some hinge-ing on the Big Grey Cloud recently, attaching elevators and rudders at this point.  I've copied the way in which Matt Jones uses the "point" type of knuckle hinge, offsetting the hinge into the control surface and creating a pocket therein for the joint.

Here are the elevators going in :



You can really push the surface up against the wing / tail when doing this, which results in the smallest of hinge gaps.  I love it.

Same on the rudders :


The rudders benefit a bit more by having a shroud attached to the fin.  This enables the huge radius on the front of the rudders to be masked a bit from view, giving a much more scale-like result.

I mounted the tailplane then, and have glued on the pink foam LE of the tailplane assembly :


And the foam part added on :



The build continues to plod along!