Zephyrus from down under

[VinceC]

Moving slowly on.....

I have added the cockpit re-enforcement metal tubes. These are mostly to stabilise the cabin area once the side door is cut out

[VinceC]

Now to remove the door and build the door and fuselage frames

[VinceC]

When designing this model, I had a problem with the position of the lower strut fixing, as the position was right on a lower longeron. I got over this by making two brackets which straddle the longeron and attach to a 12mm dia. Alluminium tube left over from the wing joiner. This tube is then glued and screwed to the former. The result is that the stresses are passed around the longeron.

[VinceC]

Work is going slow due to other matters which need attention, but I am pleased with the plan so far.

After strengthening the axle area of the wheel housing with DuraI, I have added the wheel (sorry, I forgot the photo) into its housing .
The Multiplex nose release fits nicely into a 12mm Ally tube (B&Q) and eventually this front area will be filled with lead and body filler as per the CW method.
A large skid has been created using 4 x 1.5mm Ply pieces glued together in situ on the fuselage to create the shape. It is presently held in place with a 3mm screw through a replica bracket at the nose and a penny washer on the inside to spread the load. Unfortunately I cannot complete it until I get the rubber suspension from the postman.

After my last post, it was suggested to me that the Brass fixings to hold the wing struts may prove to be unreliable because Brass may be subject to metal fatigue on the bends, so these have been re-manufactured in 18swg m.s. plate.This assembly has now been glued and screwed into position permanently.

[VinceC]

Underside of front fuselage is sheeted with 1.5mm ply

[VinceC]

The Zephyurs has finally grown a tail. The span of the tailplane is 1 meter, so that gives you an idea of the size of the model

[Jus Gordon]

Lovely work.

[ARUP]

Agreed! It's a shame the structure will get covered.

[marchecquet]

Nice to see you involved in a new building. That 's a really nice ship !

[VinceC]

Don't do as I do.......

What a mess I got myself into. I needed to create a fibre glass fairing to replicate the one on the underside around the wheel, I decided to fill in between the formers with foam, shape and then cover with fibre glass matting, but I didn't think it through properly. All went well until I needed to remove the foam.

I had used a liquid fibre glass paste to stick the foam into position as pvc glue would not have set. The trouble was that it left a real mess behind, having run and dripped all over the place out of site. That took a lot of cleaning up and lesson learned. I should have constructed the housing by planking the sides and glassing over the top of that.