Mountain Models EVA Bipe Kit

[akphill]

I am not a tape hinge fan had to many of them come apart in flight but the hinge
That 19000rpm showed is what i use in my builds
Looking good so far

[Doozer]

Hi all,
I'll be putting up more pictures soon. I just haven't had the time. The fuse, V/H Stabs, rudder and elevators are complete and covered... and... I installed the smallest Robart hinges I could find. This took some modifying and the black Solite really shows my lack of experience. You can order new wood for each, and I think I'm going to try again if the paint doesn't hide "scars." Also, I completely effed up a lower wing by trying to build both wings at once. I ended up with two left wings. The top wing looks nice (uncovered still) but I had to order a whole new wing kit. So I've started building the "3D" wing set while I wait for the Bipe set to arrive.

Solite sucks to work with, but it's a LOT lighter than the other alternatives. It has a sticky side that makes it hard to work with. Anyway, just a brief update, and I'll post pics when I can.

[Doozer]

All done with kit. It's in sections for painting, and I need to add the electronics.

I've been meaning to fix my threads, but every time I sit down to do it, it just seems so daunting, then weeks go by before I think about it again.  I will though. Thanks Dave for keeping them up.  

[akphill]

Just simply wicked looking plane
great job

[Doozer]

Thanks Phil!

This thread is fixed. Luckily, I didn't change the names of the photos and they were easy to find on my computer. I had to make new directories on the server to match the one's I had, but once I figured that out. It was simple. ..... now.... gazillion to more to work on. 

BTW ordered a new tail. That's the cool thing, you can pretty much order the parts you need by the sheet from Mountain Models since he cuts the kits to order. So I rebuilt it and went with tape hinges instead of the Robarts. That was a mess. Tested the packing tape with a scrap piece of balsa and a scrap piece of Solite. Hit the test piece of tape with the heat gun (low heat), then paint (including a clear coat), then the heat gun again (higher heat). I tried to pull the tape off and it stayed until I pulled so hard that the Solite came off the balsa. The tape was still stuck to the covering.  So I used a packing tape "weave" and I'm going to paint over the tape to disguise it.  It doesn't look horrible now... but I won't know if I shouldn't do it until I do it.  

I'll take some pictures of the old tail so I can show off what a mess I created. Oh, I'm not sure if this is a well known trick, because it was logical, but on the new tail I used a light coat of baby powder on the inside of covering that wasn't glued to wood. The wood in the tail was so small that when I touched the tail in the hollow areas, the covering would stick together. It looked like a black golf ball... or EPCOT.  

[akphill]

Good info on the baby powder.
Yep show us the mess you made so we know what not to do.

Most of the kit makers will have spare parts for your plane you just have to figure out where to order them from
I have bought new wings and fuselages tails and it is good to know your model can have new parts readily available also

[Doozer]

installing the tape hinges, then I'm going to paint and clear. Then it's ready to put together.  I wish I could get the tape on w/o the fingerprints. Won't be able to see it anyway when they're painted. 



Close


Little more distance... you can barely see the tape from any kind of distance, but I want to hide it anyway. I've really taken my time up until this point. No need to start rushing now. 

[r/c basher]

Nice looking plane!

On another note I think cats are taking over RChelitalk.. Meow.

[akphill]

thats a good looking plane for sure
interesting way of putting tape hinges on
Never seen it done like that before
Be interesting to see how it holds up

[Doozer]

I've never used tape hinges before, but the "weaving" method seems to have good reviews. He's the video I watched:



There is one person on RC groups that says he use them on 1/4 scale gas birds

www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=26276434&postcount=5

That is actually the post that made me decide to try it right meow.  

[Doozer]

Here's the pictures of the old tail with the Robart hinges. Pretty sloppy looking. You can see how the covering stuck together. I'll probably burn the old covering off and recover it with the baby power, but it will be a pain because the hinges are glued in. There's a reason the kit calls for tape hinges. :/

[akphill]

eeewww yeah does that look familiar
I think any of us that have built balsowood models have had that experience a time or two
All I can say about that is more times you do it the better it gets
the other hinge I like to use is the ca hinge they work good easy to put in

But I am waiting to see how long your tape hinges work it is a very interesting design

[Doozer]

I thought about CA hinges, but there wasn't enough wood to cut the slots... at least not for me to do it. There wasn't enough wood for the tiny robarts either. I ended up carving out a "ditch" in the wood, then epoxied the hinge in, holding it down with tape. I was sure I changed the strength of the wood and I worried how structurally sound it would be. So took some CA hinge stock and cut "straps" and laid them down along the length covering the area where I installed the hinges. It was a frankenstein nightmare, and that covering looks like I felt about the tail after I finished. 

So I just said eff it, "I'll follow the kit instructions," and ordered a new tail. With that weave method for the hinges, I weaved tape along the entire leading edge of each control surface, so there are no gaps. It should hold. I used a heat gun to melt the glue to the covering. Once I paint over them, the covering will come off before the tape does... in theory... as tested on a scrap piece of covered balsa. If not, I guess I'll be making toothpicks, but I feel confident (famous last words). 

[Doozer]

Touched up the paint with a little Molly Orange and Chrome Yellow. I did my best to disguise the hinges and they didn't turn out too bad:


Wow! they really look red here. They don't look this red on my computer or when they're sitting in front of you. The color did change but not that drastic. Anyway, this is the horizontal stab next to a lower wing half. You can barely see the tape. You can see the light hit the edge, but in normal light you really have to hard. The tape is sturdy and flexible. 



That looks better! Another shot of the hinges on the two lower wing halves. Barely visible. After the paint. 

[akphill]

Yep looking really good cant hardly see the hinges