Beech 18 build

octagon · January 14, 2022, 06:39:06 PM

Thanks Guys. I spent about 6 hours covering the nacelles with Parklite. Because they had compound curves of fairly tight radius I thought it best to cover using thin strips, much like I did with the balsa that I used to sheet them. This added tremenoustly to the time as it meant cutting and fitting each strip of covering material. I probably took about 6 hours to cover them and the bottom of the port one has still to be done, but.......tomorrow, too tired to do any more tonight. I am using regular Ultracote on the wing outside of the nacelles. The Parklite is very stretchy and I find it goes around curves better. The colours of the two match identically, but I find that Ultracote is better at hiding any blemishes that might not be noticed during final sanding. I am hopful of getting the wing covered over the weekend.

Gregor77 · January 15, 2022, 05:50:54 PM

Looking Great!

octagon · January 16, 2022, 05:22:47 PM

After a marathon session of covering , that part is done. I think I probably had about 15 hours total time to finish it. I'll see if it flies before I order the graphics from Callie, which will be RCAF like the smaller one of these I built a few years ago. Next job is the cowls and the radial engines that Dave Kates printed for me. Have to put on control horns and rods and have to make a tail cone (I'll try and make it removable so as to be able to get the the elevator control rod as it is inside the fuse. I am generally happy with the build, but it is definitely not scale contest material. But, as Frank VB always says, at 50 feet at 50 miles and hour it will look fine.

octagon · January 18, 2022, 06:01:18 PM

Finished! Whew. A few times I had my doubts it would come to fruition, but it did. A bit heavier than I had hoped at 6 pounds 4 ounces with batteries on board, but I think it will be ok. Going to use a Lemon RX with stabilizer as I have been very pleased with them. I am going to try 4s 5000s on it. They make it balance well, and I would rather have heavy batteries than light ones with lead.

msatin · January 18, 2022, 10:02:57 PM

Looks fantastic Rob - congratulatiions on this build!

sihinch · January 19, 2022, 08:19:04 AM

Gorgeous Rob! Congrats.

GuyOReilly · January 19, 2022, 08:23:04 AM

She is a beauty!
Thank you for sharing pictures, looking forward to maiden flight videos.

octagon · January 19, 2022, 10:58:10 AM

Thanks all for the nice comments. Maiden will be a bit of a knee knocker for sure.

bweaver · January 19, 2022, 11:53:24 AM

Looks great Rob!