The great 1/72 Glider build - more Air Cadet flying machines

[Terry1954]

Thanks for your comments @Biggles87, @keefr22 and @Fritag

 

The Grasshopper would be a nice one to start next, quite a bit different I agree, but I was also considering the Grunau Baby II double build (you get two in the box), doing a very early example and converting the second to become the slightly different Slingsby T.30 Prefect. 

 

I do have a question for Steve and the wider audience however including the king of plunge moulding, our Bill @perdu. On the much delayed Viking which awaits having a new canopy moulded (having finally got a buck the size and shape I think I need), and that is what thickness PETG is best for this type of thermoforming? I have some 0.5mm on order but perhaps I should have got some thicker or thinner stock also?

 

Also, any tips on using the thermoformer for the first time?

 

Advice from experience much appreciated.

 

Terry

[perdu]

Terry 0.5 will be fine and the rarer 0.3 even finer.

 

PETg Stiffens once the heat comes off so it is unlikely to get so thin it turns wobbly.

 

Acetate, which I actually like better does risk getting so thin it distorts but PETg works well if you learn it's foibles.

 

Too hot and it gets bubbles inside its structure.

 

Steve, I and the others have written at length in our builds on the topic.

Have a play and come in, the plunging is lovely.

[Biggles87]

OK, a Prefect will do. I have fond memories of the one that used to turn up on our Gliding School from time to time.

 

John

[Navy Bird]

Great stuff Terry! That's a really nice collection of gliders.    👍

 

Cheers,

Bill

[giemme]

3 hours ago, perdu said:

Terry 0.5 will be fine and the rarer 0.3 even finer.

I use 0.3mm, normally.

 

Beautiful model, Terry  I'm off to the RFI

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

5 hours ago, perdu said:

Terry 0.5 will be fine and the rarer 0.3 even finer.

 

PETg Stiffens once the heat comes off so it is unlikely to get so thin it turns wobbly.

 

Acetate, which I actually like better does risk getting so thin it distorts but PETg works well if you learn it's foibles.

 

Too hot and it gets bubbles inside its structure.

 

Steve, I and the others have written at length in our builds on the topic.

Have a play and come in, the plunging is lovely.

 

Thanks Bill. Yes I need to dig out those threads that you and Steve did respectively. I think Steve has even already linked them in earlier in this build so I need to ................... 

 

1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

OK, a Prefect will do. I have fond memories of the one that used to turn up on our Gliding School from time to time.

 

John

 

I have a strong feeling it will be the Prefect John, as its now sitting on my bench next to a grumpy, part built Viking giving me that "finish me first look"!

 

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

Great stuff Terry! That's a really nice collection of gliders.    👍

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Thanks Bill, really appreciate that from one of the masters!

 

1 hour ago, giemme said:

I use 0.3mm, normally.

 

Beautiful model, Terry  I'm off to the RFI

 

Ciao

 

Thanks Giorgio, I'll try both I think.

 

Enjoy the RFI, as I saw you already did!

 

Terry

 

[bigbadbadge]

The model looks absolutely gorgeous Terry,  a great job and glad your son was able to relocate the roundels for the tailplane.   The collection of Gliders looks wonderful .

Chris

[Terry1954]

It's been a frustrating couple of week's, with my yet to be treated leg condition making life a bit challenging. I can walk ok, I can sit ok, and generally at the start of each day, everything is normal. I can also drink beer, which has to be good. However as the day wears on, and depending on how much "legwork" I do, so the condition kicks in and things get more uncomfortable. After a full day walking around Swanage and the Purbeck hills, I can barely walk! The vein specialist knows what is to be done, but the trouble is hospital backlogs are slowing things down very much. I'm booked in next week to decide the fix plan, so not long to go to get a date for an Op. 🤞

 

Net result lately is that I missed Telford being too far and on my feet for too long, and now yesterday Middle Wallop which is much closer but still a challenge to walk around for more than a few hours. But some fun is imminent. My old school friend Malcolm called yesterday and we reckon a quick flight from Bournemouth again is just what I need, achievable as its less than 30 minutes drive(ish) and how bad can sitting in a light aircraft for an hours pleasure flying be? Will report back after my flight which is scheduled for tomorrow morning. It seems we have to take a PA-28 rather than good old G-ROBN the R-1180.  Whatever, should be fun and this time we plan to take some photos of my house from the air!

 

So we need some progress on the Viking......... and we have some........

 

I finally got around to using the new thermoformer for the first time. Having rustled up enough resin bucks all originally based on the kit supplied canopy, with several minor additions to get a better front slope, and give me plenty of options. I need plenty of options as I'm still not great at cutting these things out to fit.

 

First and only attempt so far produced this which I'm well pleased with. I can see a future in vac formed canopies .........

 

 

 

 

Should be enough there to keep me going for a bit.

 

And this is the second attempt using the slightly longer buck that I'd crafted, and I'm very happy with the potential fit, especially the way the nose profile blends into the canopy.

 

 

 

So I just need to do a tiny bit more fettling, and then decide on the best way to fix this one down options being:

 

Cyno

Humbrol canopy glue

Gators grip

Something else

 

All suggestions welcome, but the final choice needs to be very strong, as there will be some blending needed to fair this one in, similar to the Astir.

 

And a quick test fit of the wings, with the good old Astir, now finished, for comparison:

 

 

Meanwhile, I'm considering the next subject, and currently working out the exact differences between the original Granau Baby, and the Slingsby Prefect. Current obvious differences are slightly taller tail, slightly (very) wider wingspan, and a different main wheel/skid arrangement. All easy to fashion, however one major difference I have spotted seems to be in the wing shape, which although similar in plan view appears to have a slight amount of dihedral similar to the wing I had to fashion for the Sedbergh. Research is ongoing, but any advice or observations very welcome.

 

A parting shot of the sprues, from the KP Granau double kit. At least one of these will be used to create the Prefect.

 

 

More soon

 

Terry

 

[bigbadbadge]

Those Canopies look great, the one you have test fitted, fits very well.  Great job.  I don't know if it will help , I use Rocket Clear ( the green bottle) and this does not fog the Canopies and is strong too.

I hope you get your leg sorted soon and hope you enjoy your flight too.

Chris

[Back in the Saddle]

Excellent vacforming! Looking forward to some aerial photos too…😁

 

Hopefully some good news regarding your leg soon🤞

[keefr22]

Fingers crossed you get an early date for the op Terry.

 

Those canopies look great and as Chris said the test fitted one looks great!

 

Enjoy your flight, I still haven't found that jealous emoji.....

 

Keith

[621Andy]

I'll try and dig out some Prefect pics when I get home from France next week😉

I also have a rare copy of Janes Sailplanes with 3 view diagrams and also Martin Simon's Slingsby book has some good stuff too: PM me with an email address and I'll forward a PDF copy...

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by 621Andy

[Terry1954]

12 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Those Canopies look great, the one you have test fitted, fits very well.  Great job.  I don't know if it will help , I use Rocket Clear ( the green bottle) and this does not fog the Canopies and is strong too.

I hope you get your leg sorted soon and hope you enjoy your flight too.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris. I assume when you refer to Roket clear, you mean this one ...... https://deluxematerials.co.uk/products/roket-odourless

 

12 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said:

Excellent vacforming! Looking forward to some aerial photos too…😁

 

Hopefully some good news regarding your leg soon🤞

 

Thanks Matt. The weather is looking good this morning so we should have a good one. Will snap a few aerial pics again today.

 

8 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Fingers crossed you get an early date for the op Terry.

 

Those canopies look great and as Chris said the test fitted one looks great!

 

Enjoy your flight, I still haven't found that jealous emoji.....

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith. There is a green faced emoji but I think that implies vomiting, and I am 99.99% sure I won't be doing that today!

 

1 hour ago, 621Andy said:

I'll try and dig out some Prefect pics when I get home from France next week😉

I also have a rare copy of Janes Sailplanes with 3 view diagrams and also Martin Simon's Slingsby book has some good stuff too: PM me with an email address and I'll forward a PDF copy...

 

 

Thanks! That would be most helpful, see PM!

 

Terry

 

[bigbadbadge]

8 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Thanks Chris. I assume when you refer to Roket clear, you mean this one ...... https://deluxematerials.co.uk/products/roket-odourless

Hi Terry 

Yes that's the one, I use it for all my Canopies. 

Its good stuff.

Chris

[Fritag]

13 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

First and only attempt so far produced this which I'm well pleased with. I can see a future in vac formed canopies .........

 

Now that seems to be proceeding to good result with indecent haste Terry 

 

What about the satisfaction of a difficult journey completed despite false starts, dead ends and temporarily shattered hopes?  You ought at least to have had to experience the disappointment of a good shape marred by heat bubbles; or an otherwise perfect result spoiled by discolouration from the resin buck 

 

Now you’ve proven that my previously documented travails were simply the product of incompetence 

 

Super job.

[keefr22]

37 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

but I think that implies vomiting, and I am 99.99% sure I won't be doing that today!

 

Indeed!!

 

Have fun!

 

Keith

[Biggles87]

Late as usual, sorry to hear about the leg and the canopies look smashing.

 

John

[RidgeRunner]

Hi Terry, 

 

I admire your venturing it to a very different world, that of sailplanes. I've been wathing, as you know, and thought a word of support, given your leg problems etc, wouldn't go amiss :). Kep up the good work

 

Martin

 

[Navy Bird]

10 hours ago, Fritag said:

Now you’ve proven that my previously documented travails were simply the product of incompetence 

 

Ha! You funny guy. We all know your travails were deliberate and intended to educate us, mere mortals that we are.

 

Back to @Terry1954 - that's a great result with the vacuforming thingie. You're making me want to use the one I bought several years ago, which sits on my bench covered in resin dust. Who woulda thunk you could make canopies with it? Man, I learn something every day...well, not every day but at least those days when I log into this forum.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Courageous]

Great work with your vac canopies. You had the right idea of making numerous copies as just making a couple, you end up with so much waste.

How did you make the bucks?

 

Stuart

[Terry1954]

13 hours ago, Fritag said:

 

Now that seems to be proceeding to good result with indecent haste Terry 

 

What about the satisfaction of a difficult journey completed despite false starts, dead ends and temporarily shattered hopes?  You ought at least to have had to experience the disappointment of a good shape marred by heat bubbles; or an otherwise perfect result spoiled by discolouration from the resin buck 

 

Now you’ve proven that my previously documented travails were simply the product of incompetence 

 

Super job.

 

Well no one was more surprised than me Steve.

 

I'm slightly frustrated that I didn't approach the whole process more methodically. I heated the PETG for "a bit" until it drooped "quite a bit", then when I "felt the moment was right", I switched on the suction, pulled the lever and kept it sucking for about 15 secs remembering to swing the heating element clear.

No telemetry whatsoever, so I have no idea how to precisely repeat it ......... but it worked!

And no damage to any of the bucks!

Beginners luck I reckon..........

 

And as Bill suggests, what you call your incompetence........

 

3 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Ha! You funny guy. We all know your travails were deliberate and intended to educate us, mere mortals that we are.

 

 

I'm inclined to think he has a point!

 

3 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Back to @Terry1954 - that's a great result with the vacuforming thingie. You're making me want to use the one I bought several years ago, which sits on my bench covered in resin dust. Who woulda thunk you could make canopies with it?

 

Yes indeed, it seems you can make canopies that way, you should try it Bill!

 

2 hours ago, Courageous said:

Great work with your vac canopies. You had the right idea of making numerous copies as just making a couple, you end up with so much waste.

How did you make the bucks?

 

Stuart

 

Thanks Stuart.

 

The bucks started life as one from the original failed cut out from the kit (I made it too small), pushed into modelling clay, and resin poured in, with the second being a resin cast from the remaining good canopy in the kit, which then actually got ruined as I pulled the buck out.

So then I had two bucks, which were then both copied using silicone moulds, to double the bucks. Then, given that I was unhappy with the curvature of the originals, I enhanced the copied bucks with milliput, and re cast those, etc etc, until I had "a good few"!

The aim was to get as many bucks as I could, to vac form a few in one go, so I did a mixture of originals, and extended ones. In the end, the extended ones came out better, as they matched the fuselage profile. 

 

Does any of that make sense...........?

 

In other news, no modelling today cos I went flying again, this time, in this old chap...........

 

 

We stayed fairly local and a dodgy transponder meant we were a bit restricted, so we stayed low and flew largely to the east of Bournemouth, then on return did lots of holding and orbiting whilst trying to get back into the circuit due to some training occurring with an A340 coming and going. That meant some good practice was had at flying accurate (of course) race tracks when over Hengistbury head, then Sandbanks, then back to Hengistbury head etc etc! So an hour and twenty minutes airbourne, included almost 30 minutes holding over some place or other!

 

The A340 training made me think of you Matt @Back in the Saddle, hope the Dreamliner course is going ok!

 

So not many pics today, first POW in Pompey.....

 

 

And a sad looking Type 23 (Monmouth I think) sitting all alone on the west side, perhaps mothballed?

 

 

A great day was had by both!

 

More modelling soon.

 

Terry

[RidgeRunner]

25 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

The A340 training made me think of you Matt @Back in the Saddle, hope the Dreamliner course is going ok!

A European Airbus, Terry? One of mates is Commercial Manager for them. They are so busy! 

[Back in the Saddle]

32 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

The A340 training made me think of you Matt @Back in the Saddle, hope the Dreamliner course is going ok!

Thanks Terry. The course was going well, with the ground school/tech exam completed last week and my first session in the sim on Sunday. Then yesterday I had a positive COVID test, so everything has stopped for at least 10 days… I’m now self-isolating, which means I might get to do some modelling again! Every cloud…

[Courageous]

14 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Does any of that make sense...........?

Yes but I have to ask, do you have builds for all those spare canopies?

 

Stuart

[giemme]

Glad to hear you joined the vacforming club, Terry  And very successfully too, I might add!  

 

Great views from your flight - hope your leg get sorted soon  🤞

 

Ciao