Old School Model Works: Raven ducted fan jet

[Michael]

I sailed through steps 90 to 96.

I did a modification to suit my finishing preference. Since I plan to cover the model before it is assembled, I left the second to last rear bottom bay open, and installed some supports from scrap balsa. This is so I'll have access to where I need to glue the stabilizers in the fuselage. I make a hatch and attach it then.

The bottom sheeting was pretty simple. I did add Windex to the outside curve of the first front sheet to help with the curve.

Next I'll sand the edges smooth.

I assume that a hole will be cut later for the nose gear.

[Michael]

Changed my mind. I added a strip on each side to form a frame for a hatch.

Again, this is my preference, to make it easier to cover.

[Michael]

I made a minor deviation from sheeting the upper forward fuselage in step 100.

Added a few scrap strips in front of F1 to allow the upper front sheeting to have something more to be glued onto. I made sure there was clearance for the latch pin.

I used sheet and strips back until the fan-shroud opening (near F4), and then carefully sanded the top to match the air-inlet.

[Michael]

I did step 103, but it took a lot of sanding and cutting, in order to get a reasonably smooth fit. See the photos for where I sanded the most.

I regret not sanding the 'sandwiched' plywood pieces considerably more, prior to gluing the into the fuselage.

Once done, step 104 was done exactly as per the instructions.

Next is overall sanding and then the fan-cover. Components still not glued.

[Michael]

Nose landing gear.

I used a round pointy file through the nylon nose gear mount, to locate and enlarge a hole in the bottom sheeting.

The instructions show that a 5/32" collar be placed on the nose gear wire just under the nylon mounting block. This is to prevent the nose gear from moving up into the fuselage. There wasn't enough room to slide it in, so I cut a small area out from the sheeting below. I then enlarged the plywood plate inside (see photo) and then made an equal size hole in the sheeting. This way, I could install the collar on the nose gear, and install it in position from the bottom.

[Michael]

While moving the fuselage around, I noticed that the balsa sides were not very strong, and could be cracked later if held too strongly. I simply put in some cross-grain doublers (from scratch balsa) and glued them in place.

[Michael]

When installing the ducted-fan unit, the instructions suggest cutting a rectangular hole in the center of the air-duct for the motor wires to pass into the fuselage to plug into the speed control. That will work just fine, but I came up with my own idea. By cutting/drilling small round holes instead for the wires pass through, it looks neater, and I didn't have to cut through the balsa spine which supports the duct sheeting.

[Michael]

Servo installation.

I carefully penciled the location of the servo (with control horn) onto the plywood plate, and glued on supports as per the instructions. I drilled all holes where necessary, and glued in some very thin shims into the fuselage servo locations for a snugger fit.

I will not assemble the nose gear steering servo until all radio programming is done, to make sure I place the servo on the side that will steer in the right direction (I don't want to add any more radio-mixes than the obligatory V-tail set up).

[Michael]

I fashioned my own wing tips for the model (I'm not fond of the shape of the tips that come in the kit).

I used (glued on) some of the left-over tapered aileron balsa on the last wing ribs so my wing tips are angled out slightly.

These will be applied later (glued or screwed on), after covering.

[Michael]

Ready for covering.

[GuyOReilly]

Thank you @Michael for sharing this build. Very informative and some ideas are transferable to other models too.

[Michael]

Covering is done.

Once the assembly is done and the electronics are installed, I may add a few decals.

[davidk]

She's a stunner... nicely done!

[Michael]

The holes on the control horns should be in line with the hinge lines.

My hatch made installing the rudder-vaters and servos much easier.

Any servo connections that will be difficult to reach should be secured well.

Y-connector is needed for the aileron servos.

[Michael]

I used a "black box" gyro-stabilizer. (I did a separate thread on installing black box gyro-stabilizers. Link below.) This made the V-tail mixing super easy! Just leave the transmitter set up for standard 4-channel control, flick the V-tail switch on, and it's done! Of course, you still may have to reverse servo directions on your transmitter.

I used to scrap pieces of tapered balsa, glued together, as a 'table' glued to the diagonal spine under the air-flow scoop. I simply double-taped the black-box to this support table.

The Speed control and the receiver were attached with velcro on the sides.


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