BIG A-5 Vigilante build
06-19-2017, 07:09 PM
#451
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I took the plane outside and rolled a coat of 2K primer on almost everything. Now I can see all the lumps, bumps, and ridges. I drilled the holes for the stab retainer pins. I finished sanding the plug for the nose camera glass.
07-03-2017, 02:44 PM
#453
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Hi TF, The plane will not have the strakes. Just one less thing to build for now........ I started filling and sanding a few things. I also added a few details. There is a hump above the elevons and there is a wing folding mechanism at the fold hinge line. I turned the balsa in a drill to make the shape and then sawed it in half to glue it on the top and bottom of the wing. Everything will get some more sanding filling shaping and glass.
07-12-2017, 07:11 PM
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I worked on securing the main hatch with a few tongues and a home made slider pin. I also flipped the fuse and cut out the engine access hatch. Two recessed screws will hole the bottom hatch. Everything got shimmed and glassed or resined. Now it is off to JOK with the Panther and a Boomerang
10-18-2017, 04:39 PM
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After a bit of a break being busy with summer things, I took the fuse out to start sanding the primer down. After all the sanding Ill spray a coat of primer and then on goes the colors.
11-05-2017, 08:21 PM
#462
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Vladimir and I vacuum formed a few, 3 canopies for the Vigilante. The spray foam under the hatch worked. The plug did not crush. I also made a few of the camera housings for under the nose. One of the shots we let the plastic heat too long and had too much sag. Some areas had a fold of material. I also think the plastic we are using is too thick and we can be using the same amount for much bigger parts. It is a bit of an art and takes practice to get perfect parts. I also hogged out the foam from under the canopy.
11-12-2017, 08:21 PM
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I started cutting some G 10 for the spoilerons And the hinges for them. I smoked a band saw blade cutting the stuff. The solution was a wet tile saw. It cut very fast with no dust. It will also work to grind shapes out of the g 10.
01-24-2018, 09:11 PM
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Just waiting on some bearable weather to go outside and finish sanding the primer. In the meantime both spoilerons got hinged, glued and screwed into place along with some filler to feather them in. Its been a slow go over the winter.
03-18-2018, 08:06 AM
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I got one nice day so I sanded a little more on the fuse. Just waiting for a good day to spray. I glued some wood under the canopy so it wouldn't shift side to side. Some 3/4" neo magnets will hold down the canopy. They got glued and glassed down. I sunk some neo magnets in the nose to hold some covers for the nose bolts . Some blocks got pulled in and glued to screw the turkey feathers into. I started grinding a new foam plug for a different shaped fuel tank.The camera ports got blacked out and the cameras installed. The turkey feathers got glued onto some ply disks. I ll post some pix late.r
03-21-2018, 09:10 PM
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Thanks TF........There is a long pitot tube on the full scale nose. I stretched a piece of a balloon over the nose and laid up some glass cloth to make a pocket. I can build a tube off of the pocket and maybe stick it on the nose for static display. I hope the duct tape holds.
03-22-2018, 07:47 PM
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The tape held. I trimmed the edges and sunk a magnet in the glass and in the nose to make the pitot tube quickly removable. the magnet in the nose makes for a good temp nut and bolt holder. The tube is a piece of CF rod out of an old umbrella. Then everything got lined up and glued.
03-25-2018, 09:26 PM
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There was a bit of a gap around the canopy/ hatch so I started fill it with bondo. Parchment paper is the barrier and electrical tape kept the bondo off the outside of the fuse. I pulled the hatch when it started getting firm and trimmed the blobs down and peeled the excess off to neaten things up.
03-31-2018, 02:22 PM
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OMG becky some colors. I am going to hold off on putting the glass in so I am silvering out the canopy. I taped off where the glass would be and put down some 1/32 tape to simulate a hatch line. I shot some gray to see what the top color looks like.......... Happy Easter everyone.