August's Flying Stinson Reliant

A *leisurely" large scale (1/35 or larger) wingie-thingie (airplanes, sci-fi, real space, whiff) GB for any type kit (styrene, resin, vacform, wood, card) and markings.
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K5083
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August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

My project is the Comet kit of the Stinson SR-7. At 25 inch span, it scales to 1/20.

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There is not much to the kit. It consists of a plan, three pieces of print wood, some strip stock and a grimy piece of acetate. Unlike Guillows and more modern balsa kits, there are no vac formed parts to help with the cowling, wheel pants etc. The kit doesn't really get you much further than just starting with the plan and some wood stock, which indeed many builders do.

I will be converting this to an electric powered radio control model. To that end, I'll be liberal with the use of more modern materials to make it a more practical flyer. There will also be several significant design changes to improve both looks and durability.

August
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iggie
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by iggie »

Really looking forward to this (and the other 'flyers' proposed in this GB); I built a few when I were a lad but it would be nice to see one built properly (properly = flies :shock: :-D ), and especially how the use of electric motors has relegated elastic to the rubbish heap!
Best wishes

Jim
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"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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splash
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by splash »

Great to see good old school kit building, are you going for tissue or more modern coverings?

Regards Splash
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

I only use tissue. And none of this fancy Japanese tissue or whatever, but either what came in the kit or gift wrap tissue. I never have bothered to learn about the iron-on coverings.

August
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splash
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by splash »

The iron on film type coverings are good, they are easy to use and are strong and light, but for your type of kit, good old tissue and dope takes a lot of beating.

What kind of light weight r/c equipment do you plan on using?

Regards Splash
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

I haven't decided on all of the gear yet. It will have a brushless outrunner motor weighing about 5 grams and a small 2-cell LiPo battery. It will have 4-channel control, but I haven't picked a receiver.

August
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Oh, good, I'm glad you are up and going. I have a love-hate with the Comet kits, can't think of how many times I split the parts sheet trying to cut out parts and then had to repair something. And the fuzzy strips were always fun tot try and clean up. I have a few and am thinking of just putting the parts sheet onto a copier and then use that as a pattern on decent balsa.
use of electric motors has relegated elastic to the rubbish heap
Electric has added a new capability, but rubber is still fun - it's not just the building the old kit, but flying the old way.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by splash »

I have owned several Parkzone micro a/c that use the Spectrum combined Receiver Speed control and twin servos like this http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Defa ... =SPMAR6400 and have had great fun recycling the parts on projects like yours.

With the high wing layout of your kit, would it not suit a simpler three channel set up, just using the rudder and elevators'?

Regards Splash
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

Sounds like we have similar interests in micro RC Splash. I too have converted a few balsa kits using surplus bricks from the Parkzone series, and Spektrum is my radio brand of choice. However, lately I have been experimenting with better, cheaper setups using brushless motors.

This Stinson is in fact being built to replace a Hobbyzone micro Champ that was eaten by a tree a few weeks ago with another pilot on the sticks. But as much as I loved the 3-channel Champ, I prefer full house control. Yes though, if one wanted to go 3-channel, this kit would be a good candidate, especially since unlike most high-wingers, the original had dihedral which is necessary to achieve a banked turn with rudder only.

Anyway, this weekend was the first extended working session. First thing I always do is scan and reprint the plans so I can work on them without harming the originals.

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The Comet Stinson, though manufactured into the 1970s, is clearly based on a highly simplified 1930s dime scale plan. It had only 5 ribs per wing. On a model this size I prefer a rib every 1 to 1.5 inches to maintain a scale airfoil and better looks So I am doubling the number of ribs. Because it is a tapered wing, this meant I had to scan the largest rib, scale it appropriately in Photoshop, and use the image to make new printwood for the additional ribs. I laser printed the new ribs and transferred the pattern to 1/16 sheet balsa by laying the printout face down, brushing on xylene solvent, and burnishing with my finger tip.

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This resulted in a clean and permanent transfer of the laser printing marks to the wood.

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Now came some foam work. I decided to replace the built-up empennage with tail surfaces made of 2mm sheet foam. Using hinges made of mylar from old floppy discs, this made very quick work of these parts.

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I also decided to sheet the bottoms of the wings with 1mm foam for stiffness and durability, which was easily accomplished by tracing the relevant details from the plan onto the foam and building the wing structure directly on the foam rather than on the plans. I added spars made of hardwood. Actually they are Starbucks coffee stirring sticks, which I use frequently in my modeling. I think I save enough on not buying strip basswood that the price of the coffee is actually not a bad deal. So here the wings are about half framed. I have not cut out the ailerons or put in the mounting plates for the servos yet.

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Foam is used yet again on the fuselage. The fuselage is built around two slab sides which I again replaced with 2mm foam rather than building them up. I will use balsa formers and stringers to round out the fuselage cross section, per the plans, and also for the nose structure as it transitions to a round cross-section for the cowling.

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Meanwhile I continue to paw through the electronics and motor boxes to decide on the power and RC hardware.
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splash
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by splash »

Cheers for the tip about transferring the plans onto the balsa, I will store that for future use.

I like your cunning plan for using sheet foam for the under wings and body sides.
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Any further progress ? I was watching your use of foam. Now that I've got my DH-9 rolling, I'm looking at a stick-and-tissue to start.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

Work on the Stinson slowed down in August due to work and travel, but has picked up again in the past week.

I finished framing the wing with the extra ribs and built the ailerons, which are balsa frames covered with 1mm foam with styrene control horns.

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Then it was time to install the little linear servos that drive the ailerons. These are buried in the wings except that the actuating horns and wire will poke above the tissue covering. This requires selecting my radio receiver and other electronics so that I could calibrate the ailerons to the neutral position and verify that they operated in the right direction. Quite a bit of soldering was needed to lengthen the leads and join the two ailerons to a single receiver socket.

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I also have made a start on the fuselage. The rear fuselage will be straightforward, using formers and stringers from the kit, but with the built-up slap sides replaced by foam sheets. I haven't decided how to do the forward fuselage, which will have to be re-engineered to allow for the motor and electronics. The two basic options are a built-up wood structure or carve it out of solid blocks of foam. At the moment I'm leaning toward the foam.

Image

August
A good model is any model you can walk away from.
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by K5083 »

Continued slow progress.

I shaped a piece of packing foam into the lower nose, and will do the same for the removable lower nose. Servos to operate the tail surfaces were installed on their own foam block bridging the fuselage sides. This weekend I joined the wings together, mated them with the fuselage, connected and tested all systems. Still a lot of work to go, but she is on track.

Image

Image

August
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iggie
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by iggie »

Really enjoying watching this come together!
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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Re: August's Flying Stinson Reliant

Post by airjim »

Neat.

Jim
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