Phillips Speedtwin ST2 Scratch Build Blog.

Papa · December 04, 2012, 11:51:35 PM

Michael I forgot to re-size the shots. Won't happen again i hope.

Jack.

Ededge2002 · December 05, 2012, 07:42:12 AM

Nice work. It's a lot of cutting to come up with those assembled parts but your producing a beauty. Can't wait to see it come together.

pmackenzie · December 05, 2012, 07:37:12 PM

Quote from: Michael on December 04, 2012, 10:16:59 AM
Nice wing.

Suggestion to everyone: take and post smaller images.

FWIW, here is what Michael means. Same image as one of Jack's but ~50 K instead of 2400K

piker · December 05, 2012, 10:40:14 PM

Michael just doesn't want to wait an extra 3 seconds for the pictures to load. He has building to do!

Papa · December 07, 2012, 03:03:05 PM

Here's another tip from the school of hard knocks. There is one advantage to aliphatic glues that is not generally promoted. That is the ability to undo a joint without damage. Say for instance you were scratch building a twin and despite much measuring and checking you discover that one fire wall is not in line with the other. If you used carpenter's glue and just covered it with a soaking piece of towel for a couple of hours you could just ease the joints apart with an Exacto knife. No damage at all. Much more difficult if it had been CA'ed or epoxied.

I have been trying Gorilla Glue's new white wood glue and it is very good. Extremely tacky and sets up in half the time.

Jack.

Papa · December 09, 2012, 10:24:01 PM

Well it's getting late on Sunday night but I managed squeeze some building in. I was so impressed by the show and tell at the Christmas Party that I was full of enthusiasm and renewed determination to get it done.

I added the top formers and one side of the turtle deck. As usual I don't follow instructions too well. I should have wet the turtle back to help it form but it looked soft and bendy si I didn't and I got one small crack. I will push it down and add some thin CA so I should get away with it.

Here's the fuselage drying until tomorrow.

Jack.

piker · December 10, 2012, 11:13:12 PM

Lookin' good Jack. Keep moving!

I've taken the past couple of night's off from building, but I must get back at it......... tomorrow

But, I did receive my order from BUSA containing the kit for the SE5a Lewis machine gun, a very cool scale prop nut, and the decal set.

Anyway, back to you, Jack.

Robert

Bobmic · December 11, 2012, 07:51:57 PM

Hey Jack - all I can say is WOW...wish I had the guts (and probably the time...) to start a project like this.
The only problem will be that my hands knees and everything in between will shake when I will be flying it.

Waiting to see it fly.

Robert - Who are you planning to shoot with your machine gun?
I think you need an airsoft machine gun synchronize with the prop.

Bobby

Michael · December 11, 2012, 10:55:03 PM

Very nice clean and precise work.

Impressive!

piker · December 12, 2012, 10:21:00 PM

Quote from: Bobmic on December 11, 2012, 07:51:57 PM

Robert - Who are you planning to shoot with your machine gun?

Bobby

Simple. Verner Voss aka Greg Cadez

Papa · December 18, 2012, 12:48:06 AM

Well when I left off the last time I had finished one side of the turtle deck with just a slight crack. I pushed the crack closed and CA'd it and it just disappeared. So for the other side I decided to use some water as suggested but I also used some softer balsa. It conformed nicely but as I watched it all buckled and twisted. I immediately wet the other side to relieve the stress. What I ended up with looked like a potato chip. The front half looked salvageable but the back half I replaced. You can see the bow in the front half in the picture. Anyway despite a couple of attempts with false formers but nothing worked. So I replaced it also. The second photo shows the result. I think with the covering I'll get away with it.

There is progress and I have the nose blocks started. I just placed the stab and fin for proportion and the Instructor and student were handy so they could check out their seats. I have decided to put the rudder and elevator servos in the fuselage just over the wing moving them from the tail. I have also decided to put the ESC's in the nacelles near the motors.

Jack.

Papa · December 19, 2012, 10:30:37 PM

Some more work accomplished in between the annual cookie baking with my grand kids. I glued some scrap blocks on the nose and started to cut it down to shape. I tried to use a hand sander for a coarse finish to get it to size but couldn't hold the sander for long enough. Ended up using a block with some 50grit. Still took about 3 hours on and off to get it close. Will finish sanding when I have a canopy made.

I made a vacuum box some months ago but never used it so this will be the first attempt. I made a plug out of blue foam and have cover it with plaster for final shaping and sanding. I'm planning on coating it with acrylic varnish to give it a smooth finish. That's it in the background of the picture.

I also installed the servos so that will reduce some of the weight in the tail.

Jack.

Ededge2002 · December 20, 2012, 08:36:44 AM

Looks good Jack. When can we expect your arf's to come out? I'll take one.

Michael · December 20, 2012, 09:07:14 AM

Is that Glenn as the front pilot?

piker · December 21, 2012, 12:27:21 PM

Hey Jack,

I was just looking back at the pictures of the plane at the beginning of your thread. Those nacelles/cowls are very curvy. It'll be nice to see them coming along. I assume you'll be building them from balsa. Are construction details shown on the plans or are you on your own when figuring out how to build them?

Robert