40% Ka-3 part scratch part kit

[Gene C]

Great suggestion, Thanks!

[ARUP]

Make sure your clear plastic isn't defective! I went through all the fuss of fitting to perfection then was horribly surprised to reveal defects in the plastic when the protective film was removed. Take the film off then put 'blue' masking tape in it's place.

[Gene C]

Thanks for reminding me, must be just old age mind block. My son has access to both a CNC router and laser cutter. Time to but in a call for some assistance.

[gunny11]

Gene, I at Aviation Concepts Rc can cut out the little sliding window on my laser cutter.

[Gene C]

The start of what my be a long process, cutting and fitting plastic. Now that the canopy frame is formed, soldered and holding shape, the 0.040 PETG plastic windscreen are being roughly cut to shape. It appears the the canopy frame is shortly to enter the glass bead booth and then a coat of black paint before a windscreen is rashly glued in place. There is still the sliding window to cut out on the left side, just how I'm not sure yet.
But for now the Ka-3 is starting to take on some class.

[SteveNeill]

Amazing and inspiring.

[Gene C]

Now that the festivities are past there was time to get back in the shop to jig up the eyebrows. The eyebrows were made from 1/8 dia welding rod, heated and bent using Visegrips against a flat surface. The nose OD diameter is approx 1/4” so bending 1/8” dia brass tubing would have been painful without kinking. The jigs were simple as it was only for a one time use, but they managed to hold the eyebrows in position for soldering. To make things easier, only one eyebrow at a time was soldered.

[Soaranator]

Do you know Jim Cunningham - slot car racer from San Diego area?

[SteveNeill]

Beautifully done. BTW if you guys want to see some slot car stuff I post my other hobbies on my blog: steveneill.blog

[Gene C]

While waiting on some water based stain, finish sanding was put on hold. Besides that I got side tracked on a second canopy frame using 3/16”dia brass tubing. A good part of the frame was fitted and soldered together using jigs, other parts were set by hand. What’s left is the wing leading edge eyebrows that will need to the formed and attached to the main canopy frame. This however will have to wait until my patience has recovered to some extent. It looks simple enough but it is been quite laborious to pull off so far.
My idea for the wing eyebrows was to use 1/8”dia brass tubing filled with glass beads and sealed before bending around a form of the wing leading edge. Only time will tell how this will all work out. Hopefully the new canopy frame will hold form better than the wood one.

[ARUP]

Slot cars... what fun! I have a few.

[ARUP]

The kitty cat might leave claw marks!

[Gene C]

Slot cars! I once race a Revell Ford GT back when it was the fasted thing on four wheels. However that was well over 50 years ago not that I'm old.

[SteveNeill]

I know what you mean about the masks. Especially the double respirators. Harder to do good work with them on. I'm amazed I made it to 66 without them but I use them more now as I don't want to press my luck. Yes the age and experience does help. One of my other hobbies is `1/32 slot cars. Recently I started scratch building cars again. Built my first one this week in 50 years. They are better than I built back then.

[Gene C]

It has finally come down to final sanding. Most of the rough sanding has been done already, except for the leading edge spruce and contour. This will be masked off so as not to damage unwanted areas of the leading edge sheeting.
The N-95 dust mask (used for the first time) is to help prevent the condition known as “self-inflicted COPD” during the process. The problem with the mask is you can’t plow off the dust to see what is left. For this the brush and the shop vacuum will be put to use this time.
What I do miss at times like this is the extra set of hands, maybe I can teach the shop cat to hold on to the wing, but that might take for ever, so I’ll just have to make do with the two hands available.