Dancing Wings Tiger Moth 980 cm wingspan

GuyOReilly · December 16, 2022, 07:57:45 PM

The Tiger Moth looks great @Michael
Instructions for my DR-1 from th same company were also minimal at best.
Quality of material I found to be quite adequate.

Michael · December 19, 2022, 04:50:40 PM

Sanding, hinges (not glued), and landing gear assembled. Nothing glued together yet.

Michael · December 21, 2022, 08:09:06 PM

The tail wheel is, in my opinion, a poor design. With any bouncy landing, it could damage the rudder. I've bought a better tail wheel which I'll use, or if not, design my own.

Tube guides for the rudder and elevator installed. Aileron servos installed, cowl fitted, pilot area painted black and servos installed.

Wing tabs for the wing struts all had to be sanded and shaped to fit. Lots of work, and since they're all slightly different shapes, I colour-coded them.

There are a few drawings, but no formal instructions. This is definitely a kit for someone with a lot of experience; not for a beginner. That's too bad, because it's a nice model, and really good instructions would help this plane find more builders.

Anyway, I think I'll start covering and painting soon.

Michael · December 22, 2022, 12:01:47 PM

I added hatches on the bottom to help with radio installation once the model is covered.

I assembled the (after-market?) new tail wheel, and it looks right.

Michael · December 22, 2022, 12:02:54 PM

Ready for covering. I'll be aiming for a non-scale, but sort-of-scale-looking Canadian look.

sihinch · December 22, 2022, 12:25:13 PM

Something like this?

Michael · December 23, 2022, 12:54:23 PM

Maybe. I'm still trying to decide.

davidk · December 23, 2022, 03:43:30 PM

Flannel... for sure. The buttons will act as vortex stabilizers... very cool.

GordPayne · December 23, 2022, 08:58:27 PM

Great scheme! To paraphrase Spinal Tap, "There's none more plaid!"

Michael · December 25, 2022, 07:07:45 PM

Covering and painting done.

Michael · December 27, 2022, 03:25:15 PM

Deflect-able surfaces hinged; tail assembled and glued together, and servos and linkages set up. It wasn't difficult, but took some time due to a lack of instructions. I used the supplied servos, and they seem to function well. Instead of the kit supplied servo-arm - wire push-rod connector, I purchased and used mini-EZ-connectors.

Michael · December 27, 2022, 03:31:59 PM

Next up is the bottom wing. After setting everything up, it turns out one of the thin sub-micro servos in the lower left wing was not functioning well.

I chose to replace them both with small (but larger than the kit supplied servos) Hitec HS55 servos. This necessitated cutting the wing open to get to the wiring, mounting the servo hatches on top of (instead of flush with) the wing surface, to allow for the slightly thicker servos. There were other modifications, but I'm not listing them all. Suffice to say I am only recommending this kit to experienced builders. I'm pretty sure this kit will produce a nice and well-flying model, but it's a challenging process.

Michael · December 27, 2022, 05:51:25 PM

The wings are intended to be removable, but I decided to glue them in place. It's not a large model, and the trouble of attaching and detaching rigging each time I want to put on or take off the wing, is not worth it. I will add the rigging, but it will be decorative, and not functional.

The cowl has been painted and attached. The included speed control was programmed (that was easy with the proper instructions), and propeller attached.

Windscreens are not included in the kit; I'll have to make them.

Michael · December 28, 2022, 11:29:41 AM

Upper wing parts glued together, strut-tabs glued in place, and struts being loosely attached to the bottom of the upper wing. The included nuts and bolts were too wide for the holes in the carbon-fiber parts, so each hole had to be drilled a bit.

A well-equipped kit shouldn't need so many modifications and corrections to fit together.

Custom-printed and painted pilot installed on a magnet, for easy removal and access to servos.

GuyOReilly · December 28, 2022, 01:44:52 PM

Quote from: Michael on December 28, 2022, 11:29:41 AM
Upper wing parts glued together, strut-tabs glued in place, and struts being loosely attached to the bottom of the upper wing. The included nuts and bolts were too wide for the holes in the carbon-fiber parts, so each hole had to be drilled a bit.

A well-equipped kit shouldn't need so many modifications and corrections to fit together.

Custom-printed and painted pilot installed on a magnet, for easy removal and access to servos.

Great work putting that kit together. I looks great, should fly fine too.
I was surprised to see the bolts (I suspect supplied in the kit) are not flat, but rather countersunk head.
The bolt is sticking out and would be prone to snag on anything and everything (if that was me of course).
Would you consider reversing the bolt so that it could be countersunk in the tab and not the carbon fibre strut? Just wondering...