SHORT SOLENT MARK IV – 2014 WINTER BUILD

[piker]

Hey!  Don't feel bad.  It took me 8 years to build mine   

[wollins]

Hey!  Don't feel bad.  It took me 8 years to build mine   

I remember ... you just wanted to get it right.

[wollins]

Been awhile since my last update but some stuff got done. Doesn't seem like much but LOTS of behind the scenes, finicky (read time consuming) stuff had to be done ... lots of soldering, custom fitting my motor connector water sealing standoffs etc, etc ETC! 

As you can see in the last pic I decided to do the same waterproofing trick that I did in my water bomber by sealing my motor connector wires from the inside within the firewalls.  This way, once I close these nacelles there is gonna be absolutely no water access (through here anyway lol!) should I have a mishap/dunk in the drink. Doing it this way also allows me to remove any motor for replacement or servicing without disturbing the integrity of my "seal".  (The motor cross mounts form part of the seal by the way.)

The weight of my wiring (14ga) alone is more than half of some models I've had in the past!  Not to worry though there's a LOT of excess (almost half) wiring there as I wanted to be conservative in my cutting to length. This is because I'm still not totally decided if I'll seat my ESCs within the fuse as in the past or on the underside of my wing. (leaning toward the latter though)

Now to close these suckers up and start planking the nacelles. (dreading planking  )

Colin.


P.S. In case you're thinking "those firewalls look a little uneven" ... they're not glued in yet.   

[wollins]

Slooooowly ... sloooooowly. 

[Michael]

Impressive!

[wollins]

Slooooowly ...  Formers made with 3/32 balsa. First former on each nacelle doubled up (with 3/32) since I'm playing with the idea of attaching my cowls with magnets so I'll need something more solid to attach my magnets to.   

[wollins]

Slooooowly ... 

Colin

P.S. Methinks the next big build will have to be a kit.  (not a short kit either ... a FULL kit!)

[sihinch]

Keep going Colin. It's going to be a stunner. I can't wait to see it finished.

[Michael]

That's amazing Colin.

It's much more work than any project I've ever tackled.

[wollins]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! The build is challenging (which I like) but the hardest part for me is to keep up the motivation required to maintain a steady pace for a looooong build.  It's a real pain to cut, measure and shape every part individually day in day out. Having said that I've been able to consistently put in an average of 4 hours a day since October 9th. 

Just taken a couple of weeks off when I felt burnt out but that was about it.   I'm fortunate that my business affords me the time (in between clients) to put in the time cause if I had a 9 to 5 I could not do this period. (I really admire the guys with "regular" jobs who still are able to do these builds ... I dunno how they do it quite frankly.)

Anyway, finally the dreaded (for me) planking is next. I'm gonna try a new technique (for me anyways) that should supposedly make it easier.  As you can imagine, cutting each skinny strip (gonna try to make them as wide as possible though) of planking, shaping them and then gluing them (for four nacelles) is gonna be yet another example of the tedium that can be associated with a scratch build project. It's gonna all be worth it in the end though!   

BTW, just did some final testing of my landing lights.  Boy are these babies bright! These tests were done on just about five volts and I'm gonna be putting 6 volts through them so we're gonna be able to see them no problem in bright sunlight. (which is exactly what I wanted.)

I'm kinda seeing the light at the end of the tunnel cause after the planking of the nacelles I just have one last major part which is the flaps. (trying to do the scale Gouge flaps). The outer wings should be very straightforward and relatively quick. (tip floats will be a little bit of a pain though since that requires a little more planking as well.)

THEN ... we can get to "finishing" (covering, painting etc) which is my favourite part.  Still hoping for a May maiden!   

C

P.S. Gonna cheat a bit with the cowlings and order some scale ones tonight. (as opposed to making them myself cause I'm running out of time with this project)

[wollins]

Well, the planking went as well as I could hope ... glad I'm done with that though!  New technique worked well. Used 1/16 medium hard sheet. (1/4 inch wide plank strips)

First two pics are not sanded ... third pic is the preliminary first sanding ... no filler yet.

Colin. 

[Papa]

It seems impossible but it looks better and better each time you touch.


Lovely work.


Jack.

[piker]

Hey Colin!

I've been quiet lately with travelling and other distractions.

I just wanted to say how fantastic your big build is coming along.  Good work, Man!

Same applies to everyone else who has been building away this winter.  What a great club!

[wollins]

When I grow up I wanna be able to build something as complex as this. 

https://youtu.be/HH0q4OYYHl8

[Papa]

Simple, water tanks and scoops, no biggie EH!


LOL    Jack