SZD- 48 Jantar Standard 2 scratch build?

[SteveNeill]

A little of both. I usually try to cut in whatever I can and clean it up afterwards.

Took a trip to town yesterday and bought "The Stuff Dreams are made From". Lots of 4 inch foam and some pink. I use to think quarter scale RC planes were big. These are much bigger but I have seen they get bigger still. I stop at 1/3rd as I just simply run out of room. As it is I'm going to have some trouble taking this on meets even with my RV.

[SteveNeill]

Not much to see but it was a two hour drive to get this stuff and there's nowhere to buy it locally in Ventura. Printouts of formers. Got to make a profile for cutting the blocks and stations for the formers. /cut formers on the scroll saw etc. This will take some time as I have client jobs at the studio building a Star Trek model for a client and visual effects for a feature film. I'd rather be building.

[JimD]

Steve, your plans workbench has an attractive roll to it...and a tablecloth too! 😉

[ARUP]

Jim... the 'workbench' definitely isn't an early VW Beetle!

[SteveNeill]

Ha. 1985 300 zx which I had restored inside and out about 2 years ago.

[SteveNeill]

But back to more serious matters. Servo's.

I haven't built anything quite this big before.

With a nearly 16 foot span and a 7.5 foot fuse I'm concerned about servo cables being very long, voltage to them, best servos for the wing, elevator. rudder, and release.

I'd love to hear what you have to say so I can add it to my list of things to buy.

Thank you and I promise I won't build the glider on the car bench.

[lenb]

Steve,
Using any of todays quality equipment on 2.4 you won't have any issues with cable length. My 10.4m Nimbus has 19 servos in it and 209' of wire and has never had any issues. I use Spectrum radios and either Spectrum, or JR servos. Along with Hitec is 7955 for retract. MKS are also excellent servos.

Theres another thread on here where we are discussing servos with Pete914


Thank you for your support by the way.
We appreciate the help

LEN

[SteveNeill]

Len thanks a bunch and you're welcome. I plan to add more support when I can this is a great forum and group that reminds of the pre-troll days of adults(well we are kids who love our toys but you know what I mean) that help each other and share knowledge in the true spirit of the love for the hobby. Sorry for the mouthful of words.

I have been reading that thread with great interest. I plan to use the 7955 qne 54's on my build and you are right about the insurance,

Thanks a million,

Steve

[SteveNeill]

Today I start cutting foam. Will post pictures tomorrow.

[JimD]

I will be sitting over here in the corner with my bag of popcorn watching! 😃

[SteveNeill]

Oh that ole popcorn.

I blocked out the foam with a profile and template locations 1-23.

Went to start cutting the profile right and left halves on the band saw only to find that my band saw didn't have the clearance to cut 4 inch foam by a quarter of an inch. Now what? I considered going and buying and new larger band saw when I stepped outside in the back of my shop and saw that my neighbor's bay doors to his shop were open and staring at me was this huge old bandsaw. I spent the next 2 hours there and cut the profiles and the cross sections.

I had a lot of foam left over so I took and piece and using the two formers I had cut already (F10-F11) and made a test cut freehand with the smaller bow I made using the old battery charger on 6 volts. I haven't done this in years so I didn't want to waste a actual section. The cut came out pretty clean and I was pleased.

Dug out my old "Feather Cut Bow" (remember those for cutting wing cores?) and will be stringing it up for better cuts on larger sections and wing core sections.

This was fun to do and it all came back to me. No matter what I will be using lite spackle on the foam to smooth over the areas were the bow hung up. After that I can glass it with 4oz and epoxy.

I was thinking of using two layers of soft 4oz cloth but then again I have the strength of the foam so 1 layer may be enough and as always I want to keep the weight down. I'll know after I get the first layer on because I'll be able to see how strong it is. I can always add another layer.

The templates worked out well. The wire traveled well over the CA hardened edges. Tomorrow I'm going to cut more templates and more foam sections. Bit by bit I'll have the shape of the fuse.

[SteveNeill]

Cutting the inside. I'm going to glass inside too and make some bulkheads. I'll need them for the tow release at best.

Dig that old battery charger I have had for years. I have a good power supply but it's for modeling lighting and electronics for the movie models I make. If it detects and short a relay kicks in and cuts off the power. So using the old battery charger still is a good cheap route for a power supply.

[Tom]

Looks good! What I ended up doing with my cutting bow was to secure it to the work bench so the wire was in the vertical position.......that way I wasn’t “free handing” both the bow and the foam and was able to get much smoother cuts by manipulating the foam block with both hands thru the wire.....and I also use an old battery charger to cut with.....I’ve always used 12 volts......it allows for faster cutting speed.

[SteveNeill]

Thanks for that Tom I will do that. I have several bows of different sizes. The one I was using yesterday works best at 6 volts because of it's shorter length of wire. 12 volts for the Feather cut.

[lenb]

Really nice sequence of photos Steve, very well done and documented. This is exactly what this site is about, sharing the detail of a build such as yours. I'm subscribed and watching with HUGE interest.

[SteveNeill]

Len thanks so much for the kind words. I have done this is in the past for many venues including magazine and video production of how I make things from Mr. Spock's ears to radio controlled submarines. I'd rather be doing the sailplanes because they fly and flying is king.

A bit more yesterday but it got pretty cold even for us here in Ventura. In the large bay are of my studio is where I do most of the dirty work and it gets pretty cold back there. I'm thinking of moving up stairs to the second floor of the studio we have heat up there but cutting foam in a less then well ventilated area is not advisable. Not to mention the foam bits and dust.

I cut a few more templates and wired cut a few more sections. They seem to fit well together and prospects for the future are looking good. Once I have both right and left halves of the fuse constructed in the foam I can then contour sand them to a smooth and consistent shape. I do this before I apply and fillers. Best to get the best shape without it and cut down of the weight it might add.

Here are some pictures of the day’s fun. I tried the bow clamped to the table but found for some reason I do better at freehand. I will try again Tom's method I think it’s a matter of getting the hang of it.

[ARUP]

Nice pics! One time I was hot wiring styrofoam wing cores and ruined one when the wire hung up on a cigarette butt. I guess one of the factory workers thought to dispose his butt in the foam makin' machine! If there is any chance sump'n will go 'wrong' through no fault of my own then just let me do it!

[SteveNeill]

I would have loved to see those pics if there had been any. Well you must have got those cores in the end.

Well this will get boring in awhile if it hasn't been by now. It will take me time, maybe to the end of the week as I get spare time to cut parts. Then the real fun begins, contour sanding, filling, glassing. But for now here's some more pictures of progress. I found some more time today to go over to the studio and bow cut some more.

There's a lot of clean up and smoothing but I'm not going to start much of that until I have both sides. Cockpit edges need lots of straightening. All this is easy.

So here are more pictures. It shows I'm really doing this.

I have been a member of the RPF (replica prop forum) and when I first joined I started out in a thread to build a 66 inch scratch built USS Enterprise from the original series of Star Trek complete with lights and working nacelles.
Evidently the members there were taking bets behind my back that I would never make it, or maybe try but never complete it. But I did it and some people lost money I found out. I used many of the same processes I'm using here, but I made masters and molded them in RTV silicone and cast my parts in epoxy glass. This plane is a one off. My studio is out of space for storing molds I have so many.