Changes, changes !

I've finally got around to adding a Gallery and the photos will be changed from time to time to keep you up to date. It's a bit rough to start with but in the next week or so I'll sort it out, add some more captions and some new photos. I've also added some up date photos on the Phoenix, Senior Telemaster and Float Plane pages. My hand has now almost totally healed so I'm attacking the building boards and getting some very overdue models finished. Look for updates on the Lancaster, the Aero Commander and the Fournier pages as well as a couple of new builds I've started to look at.  As usual I've been driving myself into a frenzy over plans I JUST HAVE TO HAVE and that has landed me with some really interesting challenges. I'm determined not to start anything else until I've cleared the back log but that sounds ominously like "famous last words". Plans I've recently purchased include a 110" F.W. 152H, A 101" B25 Mitchell, a 94" DH103 Hornet and a 84" Mk10 Wellington!! Yeah I know - I'm stark raving mad. Ha, ha, ha

Week 15th to 21st July

To every cloud there is a silver lining - or so they say. This week might not have had a silver lining but at least it wasn't paved with stone. The hand has begun to heal quite well and I can now at least type with both hands. On Thursday I even picked up a balsa knife - without dropping it I might add. The balsa plane is still banished to the back wall of the hanger - which is - I think  - where I threw the bloody thing!


I've been a dedicated nitro man and a devotee of scratch building but I must admit to recently having a look at ARF's and even electric - when no one else is looking of course. A bloke I know from the Model Chat Forum - see the link at the top of this page - has just got a JetLegend ARF SU27 Flanker from China and it is a very impressive piece of kit. I'm an ex full size helicopter pilot (Iroquois) and so for my first tentative step to exploring the  field of ARF I picked up a couple of small electric Heli's from a bloke I know. Second hand - and supposedly 3D but they'll do to muck around with. It will give me a chance to try both ARF and electric without blowing the budget. The standard model only has a can motor, plastic blades and a NiMh battery pack but the second model has an upgraded rotor head, carbon fibre rotor blades, a brush less motor with decent heat sinks and a LiPo battery. Should be interesting to see if there is a difference and how much performance gain, if any, over the standard model.


I haven't got back into building much yet but I've managed to do a bit more on the Senior Telemaster and some small jobs on the Lancaster. I've also been busy getting out my first newsletter for my club. Any locals who might want a look at it, just message me with your email address and I'll send you a copy which can be opened in MS Word or a similar reader. Oh - while I think of it -  the club is holding a working bee at Taylor Field on Sunday 29th July and I'll post some picks of all those hard working volunteers. If any one who is visiting or living in Tasmania wants to turn up and help - you'd be most welcome. Once again - message me for the location. It's on Elderslie Road at Brighton.


I've taken some more photos of progress on the Telemaster, the Lancaster and the Phoenix as well as a final photo of the finished Float Plane - just taken them so  check back in a day or so and with a bit of luck they should be on here. I'm also going to add a Gallery Page to the blog so you can have a quick look around at my past and present models. 
Cheers.

I.C. engines and scratch building for ever!

Some times you should just stay home in bed!

 Week - 8th to 14th of July 2012


My wish, as expressed last week, was for all the supplies to turn up and then to catch up with some building. Yeah well my wish came true! the balsa turned up, the glue appeared on the shelves and so did the Oracote. Oh joy!! So of course a huge flurry of building and soon balsa dust and shavings were hurtling in all directions.
 Then - while busily using a balsa plane to shape some cowling bits I noticed the blade was a bit on the dull side. No worries - I have spares - SO - firmly grasping the plane in one hand and inserting new blade with the other what happened? I slipped of course and instinct when you are about to drop something is to grasp at it. I did - result - balsa plane hit the floor and I was left firmly holding onto a new, razor sharp, double sided blade in the other hand.
 Yes dear reader - there was a bit of blood and a trip to the after hours surgery was called for. Not to bad - lacerated thumb and index finger and a cut to the palm which required 3 stitches. Fine - OK - back to the building board. Then two days later the bloody hand swelled up like a balloon - back to the Doctor - Ummm - yes Mick - it's infected - this little jab won't hurt but we will have to stick a drain in there and you shouldn't use the hand for about a week.

Have you ever found yourself with only one hand and discovered the number of things you CAN'T do????? You CAN'T hold a sheet of balsa and use a balsa stripper, you CAN'T use a bloody Transmitter, you CAN'T use a knife and fork, you CAN'T even tie your own bloody shoe laces!!! Even typing this post is slower than my usual peck, peck, peck rate. Oh well I've caught up with some reading, a few TV programs and how to eat lots of soup. The bandage comes off on Monday so hopefully next week I'll be able to report some progress.

Another week 1st to 7th of July

What was it I said last week about famous last words?  This week has been a week of hurry up and wait. I'm waiting for a balsa order to arrive, I'm waiting for the right glue to be unpacked at the local hobby shop, the fuel tanks I've ordered STILL haven't bloody turned up and I can't get the colour Oracote I need to finish off two projects! - It's on back order. Grrrr!!!!


On Tuesday night I went to my Club's AGM and walked in as my usual shy, quiet, retiring and timid self (well I'm SORT OF like that) - shut up in the back row!!! By the time the meeting had finished I found out I'd been elected Vice President. Ummm - it also appears I am now the Editor of the Club's Newsletter and have been charged with preparing a report on why  the club should have it's own website and what is involved. Railroaded?? Well the term does come to mind.


Highlight of the week - well the Postman did bring some joy in the form of a set of plans for a B25 Mitchell and a FW TA152H - Thanks Grant.


The other delivery was this ripper little Cox .049 R/C engine which I bought from a bloke on RC Groups. Came with a spare standard  head, a glow plug adapter head and a heap of props and other gear. Thank you Glenn.

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Lovely little gadget.

Hopefully this week will be better - the balsa will arrive, the glue will be on the shelves, the fuel tanks will turn up, the Oracote will be available, the pink pigs will be fully fueled up and ready to take off and I'll be able to get my head down and do some building. Hang in there gentle readers sooner or later we WILL get some more progress. To my mate the super balsa basher - Yes Mate - I know I can't build as fast as you can but unlike you I'm not youthful, virile and ambidextrous, - nor can I use a balsa knife between my toes while gluing two bulkheads together with one hand and recharging a Lipo with the other. Ha, ha , ha. - Sorry Tony. :)

This weeks Progress 24th to 30 June

As you will have noticed in the last post I got sidetracked with the plans for a Big Lazy Bee - The plan shows a lot of laminated bits - the elevator trailing edge - the complete outline of the fin and rudder and two massive wing tips - remember that this model has a 21" cord and a 72" span.  So I've spent the last few days stripping 3 sheets of 3/32 balsa into 3/16" wide strips - thank god for Dubro's little balsa stripper. I've laid up the laminations on their  formers and as soon as they are fully dry - each strip has to be soaked in water and bent around the formers - I'll start building the tail feathers. Once that is done it's time for me to start building the fuselage. The fuselage is a fairly convention structure even though it's an unusual shape. I'm, taking photos as I go so as soon as I have a reasonable number of interesting ones I'll start the build thread on it's own page.


The Lancaster, the Lanzo bomber and the Hustler Delta have pretty much come to a halt this week while I wait for more balsa supplies to arrive but I'm now in the process of covering the Senior Telemaster. I'm using Oracoat and Solartex to cover it with and the colour scheme is a loose interpretation of a Military Forward Observation aircraft. I thought something a bit different from the usual two colour scheme this type of model gets would be interesting. I have a fairly quiet week ahead and plenty of build time so next week's post should be a bit longer than usual - hmmm - that sounds like famous last words??

Am I an Idiot - or just a glutton for punishment??

Damn it - I've done it again - ANOTHER model I just have to build. I have a simulator and one of the models I've always had fun with is the Clancy Aviation Lazy Bee. Soooo - when a plan turned up on eBay of course I just had to have it! The Plan is for the BIG Lazy Bee - 40 power, 72 inch wing span with a 21 inch cord and - unlike the smaller model, this one has ailerons - 3 large sheets of plans! Hmmm - thought I - interesting!  So onto the internet to see what information I could find - and - of course - heaps of it. I found a  website -


http://lazybee.welcomes-you.com/


- and of course I'm immediately in contact with a whole world of Lazy Bee enthusiasts. The biggest Lazy Bee is absolutely HUGE - the biggest I've found so far is 18 foot wingspan!!!! I think I'm going to be content with the 72 inch version but who knows what madness will overtake me. Check out the website - there are Lazy Bee's of all shapes, sizes and colours - some with floats - some used as camera platforms and if there is a use for the model some one has tried it!! Now - all I have to do - once again - is re-arrange my building schedule DAMN IT! I just have to fit it into this winters building schedule.


And yes - there will be a building thread on this blog - stay tuned!

This Week's Progress - June 17th to June 23rd.

Well I did promise to update this blog on a weekly basis during our winter  - So here is what progress I've made this week - and yeah - I know this will be a day late in some time zones so the smart arse at the back of the room can go sit down!!!


I've cut out and assembled the Telemaster mainplane up to the point where I ran out of balsa of the right size. So the leading and trailing edges will have to wait till I get to the local hobby shop. The structure uses all balsa ribs and spars with multiple stringers ( 3 ) on the top of each wing panel. Some builders prefer to dispense with these stringers and D Box the wing. I'm building my example strictly off the plan with the exception that I am fitting flaps & ailerons instead of just the full span ailerons. For those who might be interested there are progress photos on the Telemaster page.


The rest of the week has been spent building a small trainer model for a friend and repairing some gravel rash on a couple of my own models. Other than that I'm sorting out the 3 building projects that I've started on and I'm trying to work out how to get the builds to compliment each other rather than get in the way.

NEXT WEEK :- 

I'll start posting photos of my "tri build" and hopefully, I'll also have the next lot of Telemaster photo's as well.