Remec's 1/2 Scale Jonkers JS-3

[Parallax]

Picked up the 1:2 Remec JS-3 yesterday and unpacked it today. There a couple of projects in front of this absolutely fabulous airframe. Joze and his brothers are Craftsmen; there are no flaws that I can find. The opening you see is to accommodate a Ceflix 1000. To my utter surprise - both sets of wings (15m / 18m) were also in the shipping container. Originally I entertained the idea of buying both sets (we have incredible sloping conditions at numerous foothill / mountain sites) - but settled for the longer 9 meter version.

I was frustrated when I was being forced to purchase Revoc bags for the 9 meter and(!) the 7.5 meter wings. Now I know why. I'll be calling Monday to find out whether I have been blessed or there is an error (I know I didn't wire transfer the extra 1400Euro :^).

Anyways, between Len's version and now mine - I'm now kinda curious how many 1:2 JS-3s there are on this continent.

Although the Remec brothers supplied a beautiful set of composite parts to complete a scale cockpit (including a hand-carved control stick from exotic wood), I'm not into little doll pilots. I'll be applying a very unique chrome coating (3 or 4K system) from ALSA (see pics). The bonus is zero thermal energy concerns :^)

Stay safe everyone...

[Parallax]

Assembled the Rapture early this morning for giggles:

[yyz]

That is one gorgeous plane!

[lenb]

Very nice!!
I'm looking forward to seeing your setup.
We'll be taking the JS1 to an event next week in upstate New York, there will be plenty of thermals there for sure. The canopy is spectacular.

LEN

[Parallax]

That is one gorgeous plane!

Thanks kindly...

[Parallax]

Very nice!!
I'm looking forward to seeing your setup.
We'll be taking the JS1 to an event next week in upstate New York, there will be plenty of thermals there for sure. The canopy is spectacular.

LEN

Thanks Len; I'm at 23 servos to cover the airframe, retract / brake system and UAG system :^)

For years I've built custom plug-and-play electrical systems for models, (contract) UAVs and drones. I plan to document that aspect. There's a lot of misnomers out there about awg (circular MIL area, strand count, low mass / high performance jacketing), series resistance, avg. vs. peak loading and EMI / RFI as it relates to modern (ISM band) radio systems. I think this will be more useful than the ins-and-outs of building large scale air frames :^)

[pete914]

Thanks Len; I'm at 23 servos to cover the airframe, retract / brake system and UAG system :^)

For years I've built custom plug-and-play electrical systems for models, (contract) UAVs and drones. I plan to document that aspect. There's a lot of misnomers out there about awg (circular MIL area, strand count, low mass / high performance jacketing), series resistance, avg. vs. peak loading and EMI / RFI as it relates to modern (ISM band) radio systems. I think this will be more useful than the ins-and-outs of building large scale air frames :^)

This would be great info to hear more about. How much resistance is created in 22 g AWG wire on these big sailplanes, etc? What's best practice and what's overkill?
Beautiful ship. I've yet to see Len's JS-1 and I can't wait.

Tell us more about the Diana and that canopy! I love that glider but I keep seeing kits that are made where the wing has no dihedral and it looks rather funny...

[Parallax]

This would be great info to hear more about. How much resistance is created in 22 g AWG wire on these big sailplanes, etc? What's best practice and what's overkill?
Beautiful ship. I've yet to see Len's JS-1 and I can't wait.

Tell us more about the Diana and that canopy! I love that glider but I keep seeing kits that are made where the wing has no dihedral and it looks rather funny...

Thanks; it'll be a while before I start on the JS-3. What would you like to know? The Easy Chrome system is from ALSA Corp. (note they have other interesting decorative finishes). A few years back, Ike the owner worked with Mercedes McLaren to develop the finish to mimic real chrome.

It’s an exacting process to apply; everything relies on as smooth a substrate as possible. Canopies are nowhere near glass smooth. Block (wet) sanding with 400grit is a must to achieve what you see in the pics below. As you start to sand, the pebbly orange peel becomes immediately apparent. Sanding until there is an even / flat surface is the end-goal.

A hard foam sanding block like Meguiars Backing Pad E-7200 is just pliable enough to conform to the compound curves – yet still rigid enough to knock the tops off the orange peel (these pads are excellent for cutting final 2-3K clear coat).

Again; prep is everything. Because it supposed to look like a mirror, cleanliness is absolutely paramount – more so that when spraying 2 / 3 / 4 K finishes. You must use their 2K base coat and spray it wet so it flows / lays out (this can be tricky). Skipping the their base coat and simply applying the chrome substrate will not work. say, sprayed onto the glass smooth final finish (even when block-sanded with 400) on a quality sailplane. How do I know? Cause I tried; you can see the end result – spider cracking that gets worse and worse the longer it sits.

I got creative on the SZD-56-2 and elected to coat the wing tips / stabilator / fin / rudder. The red chrome trim is a high quality chrome vinyl (will not work on compound curves) after drawing up in CAD, then cut on my Cricut Explore One (along with all the other insignia – picked a few different fonts to make it unique).

The application of the chrome substrate is probably the easiest part. It is water-thin. Starting with very warm parts makes the chrome transition from an initial milky / flat silver-looking mess into an unbelievable mirror – right before your eyes. A very convincing video shows Ike literally brushing the chrome substrate onto a bike tank. Here’s another great video. Note; it was super-hot out where he was doing this (outside no-less) and the tank was also pretty warm :^)

I would not advise brushing; you just can’t avoid brush strokes.

One fly in the ointment for me was the (their) final topcoat. No matter how light a coat I sprayed to seal the chrome substrate, it always(!) took away some of the mirror look. A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Ike; they have released a water-based clear that is the last piece in what has been a very complicated puzzle for ALSA. No loss of reflectivity!!!

I’m waiting for a some to arrive so I can try it on a 104” Laser canopy that has the chrome substrate curing as we speak. As you can see on the Laser canopy below, there is a ton of orange peel. Block sanding the flimsy canopy proved problematic while trying to get that glass smooth finish prior to any substrate application. When pulling vacuum during canopy production, the sides of this canopy are significantly thinner that the upper / center section. It is what it is (20ft rule). If I were to start over, I’d line the interior with saran wrap and fill it with expanding foam to give it a firm backing to allow for proper block-sand without deforming (don;t try and sand using your hands - won't work).

After ALSA’s topcoat had out-gassed / cured, I would lay down a quality 2K clear coat to give even more depth, recover some of the lost mirror finish and give the work the same kind of durability as any car finish. I’ll be experimenting applying 2K top coat – over top(!) of the new water-based ALSA top coat to add richness and durability.

Some people do not apply any sort of top coat. IMO the finish is way too fragile to survive for any length of time without the top coat (if you rub with a soft cloth, the cloth darkens as it removes the chrome substrate).

Anyways, I think the JS-3 canopy will look stunning, like it was dipped in liquid chrome.

[Parallax]

This would be great info to hear more about. How much resistance is created in 22 g AWG wire on these big sailplanes, etc? What's best practice and what's overkill?
Beautiful ship. I've yet to see Len's JS-1 and I can't wait.

Tell us more about the Diana and that canopy! I love that glider but I keep seeing kits that are made where the wing has no dihedral and it looks rather funny...

Regarding dihedral; can't speak to other marques, but the Baudis version you see has the right / proper amount (thermals well). very similar to the full size you see below. Here's a video from late last year at one of my favorite slope sites: SZD 56 2 Cochrane, Alberta.

[Parallax]

These works of art arrived from Landsberg am Lech this morning....

Below you see a 6625 / 6130 version with 5 and 7mm output and 5.5mm control surface insert and a spare 12mm version - all CnC'd from 6061. In the back ground you see packages of HBL-3850s, 599s and 747s to fit out a 3,2 meter S-1 / 100XBL and 7 and 9 meter JS-3 .