Mr. Mulligan ! (photo heavy)

[SteamWake]

Okay I know its not 'naval' but...

There was a discussion in General about paper airplanes. I posted about having built stick and tissue models for a loooong time.

Here is my latest start ! Enjoy ! :yeah:

Almost forgot the box shot !
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1562.jpg

Credit where credit is due
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1560.jpg


A sense of its scale
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1558.jpg

T pins !
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1557.jpg

The stringers are of 3/32" balsa. The wood is of very poor quality. I may have to throw the lot out and get some 'good' wood from the hobby shop. In the meantime

They sure are thin ! (Thats the edge of a quarter behind)
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1559.jpg

My 'workspace'
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1552.jpg


Ill add more as she comes along or I end up burning it :rotfl: I really have my doubts of the fuse holding together with the thin stringers. Still they get doubled up in some spots and Ill be adding gussetts so we will see.

[SteamWake]

Well Mr. Experienced modeler the jokes on me :wah:

Seems that those stringers that are so thin is because there the wrong ones :rotfl:

I looked for another part in the box and found these
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1563.jpg

Another edge of the quarter shot
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1565.jpg

Well Im off to start pulling pins :damn: oh and to buy some 1/16 balsa :haha:

Tip to the modelers out there... check the box twice !

[SteamWake]

Now this is more like it. What I like to see nice tight jointwork.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1585.jpg

Close up of tail section
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1582.jpg

Both 'sides' done now
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1579.jpg

Now for the hard part :rock:

[Syxx_Killer]

What an interesting project! I didn't know kits like this were available. I'll be following this thread closely. Keep it up! :up:

[SteamWake]

What an interesting project! I didn't know kits like this were available. I'll be following this thread closely. Keep it up! :up:

Thanks for the eoncouragement. Oh these types of kits have been around for a loooong time (the kits). Ive been building them since I was like 12.

This kit from Dumas is one of the better ones. Designed to fly and not just look purdy. Some of the kits offered by other (Guillows) manufacturers while they will fly are just too heavy. Remember a rock will fly too if you throw it hard enough. But they can still be nice display pieces. Another quality manufacturer is peck polymers and SIG (if sig still does stick and tissue).

The actual construction will probably go in fits and starts with little to nothing getting done weekday/nights.

The next phase is what I call 'boxing up' the fusealage. When the two halfs are joined together to form... well a fusealage. This is one of the most cruical and difficult steps. The hardest part is to get it straight and plumb and not racked or twisted. Get a bad enough warp in the fuse and you will never get the thing to fly right.
Now whered I put those triangles :rock:

[FIREWALL]

I'll be following this too. This plane is kool. :yep:

BTW get a manacure. :haha:

[SteamWake]

BTW get a manacure. :haha:

Yea knew that was comming.. here lemme macrofocus your fingers :haha:

The sides pinned down ready for boxing
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1591.jpg

Theres always a supprise... the stern doesent match up over the plan. No biggy Ive seen this before. Will deal with it in due course.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1590.jpg

A little dab of extra glue here, this is where the landing gear will enter the fuse.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1592.jpg

Lower horizontal struts in place. Cant see it in this picture but the tail remains un-connected. I'll wait till the horizontals are dried in then using 'triangles' Ill make sure the fuse is squared before I pin the tail.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1594.jpg

[Syxx_Killer]

Have you made any progress with the model? I checked out the Dumas website and was shocked at the prices for the boats. The planes don't seem to bad with the pricing but the boats were just astronomical. They have some nice models, though!

[SteamWake]

Well like I said it will go in fits and starts.

I did finish (more or less) the boxing out

Top Down View
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1600.jpg

Looks pretty square
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1598.jpg

These large gussets (the triangles) lend strength and help keep the fuse from 'racking' or twisting when you wind er up.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1599.jpg

View from the stern. There are two pieces I need to place that hold the rudder in place, however I have to wait till all this dries in, pull the pins and flip her over. Note how the stern dident pin together over the plan.. no one will ever notice.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1597.jpg

ps; you catch a glimpse of my trainset in the last pic. ;)

[SteamWake]

Some progress has been made

The fuselage is more or less complete, the next step is to bend and place the wire for the landing gear but I'm putting that off till later.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1620.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1622.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1623.jpg

Starting on the wing now. You saw the tips in the previous photo.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1621.jpg

The tips get doubled up not only for strength but for shaping. They will be rounded off later.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1624.jpg

Some sections are just layed out over the plan. Diheadral or angles will be added later at some point. You have to be careful what you glue and what you dont. You really have to think ahead at this point. (I apologize for my lame photoshop skills).

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1625-1.jpg

[mcarlsonus]

I wish I had the your patience!
I'm with Syxx (as usual): keep us posted! This is fascinating!

[SteamWake]

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Some small progress made on the wing. Center section takes shape and lower ribs on the starbord wing section. I had to stop here because I ran out of pins :yep:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1744.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1745.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1746.jpg

[SteamWake]

The wing is really starting to take shape now with the constant chord ribs in place.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1761.jpg

I like the engineering of this model. Notice the lightning holes in the main spar and the 'hollow' ribs. Although I did find a mistake in the instructions, the main spar is part A6 not A7. and the center spar is A7 not A6. It was pretty easy to figure out.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1763.jpg

[AVGWarhawk]

Been a long time since I made a balsa wood plane. I could never get the covering on the wings and fuselage right. Good luck!

[SteamWake]

Been a long time since I made a balsa wood plane. I could never get the covering on the wings and fuselage right. Good luck!

My big stumbling block is the plastic parts.. cowl, windscreen, etc.

As to applying the tissue it's a real artform. Ill try to post some of my tips and tricks when I get there.
The main thing is lots of little pieces on the curved parts, a soft pencil, and an xacto blade... a NEW one.

But thats down the road a bit.

Im going to try to get the wing finished, set the diheadral and get it off the board this weekend.

The stabilizers go together fast. So its starting to come together.

[SteamWake]

I dident get as much done as I wished. I started to work on it one night and perhaps had a little too much to drink and ended up doing more damage than progress :doh: So I spent alot of time repairing the damage.

I did get the damage repaired and the dihedral set on the starbord tip. The port tip will be done the same (sans damage) and add the stringers to the top of the wing and the wing will be structurally done. Lots of sanding and trimming to do on it though.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1766.jpg

[SteamWake]

An example of my annibriated incompitance.

Did this while trying to seperate the port wing panel from the wax paper to set the dihedral on the port side.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1769.jpg

[Siara]

Ooooops!:stare:

[SteamWake]

Its been a while but some small progress has been made.

The wing is structurally complete I placed it temporarly atop the fusealage for these shots.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1810.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1812.jpg

The horizontal stabilizer is beginning to take shape.

The curved trailing edges are laminated 1/16" balsa for strength and rigidity.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1809.jpg

The general outline of the horiz. stab. The inner ribs are 1/8" x 1/16" there a little funky to get them to stand up right and 'vertical'. But this part wont take long, if I can get time to work on it. That piece that looks crooked is just laying there to show the rectangular balsa.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1808.jpg

[Siara]

I just had the idea.
Regarding the broken wing.
I think the way you pin the wood to the workbench may be to blame.
The T shaped pins allow for the pinning without making holes in the wood.
Balsa wood is such fragile medium, any hole made by the pin would make the weak spot. I read a lot of articles about shaping the wood. Modellers always pin the wood on the edges.

Just the observation.:yeah:

[Task Force]

Good work on this plane.:up:

I remember in technology class last year. we had to make bridges out of balsa. Then test it with weight. (ares was the best or one of the best that was made.):yep:

[Buddahaid]

This one caught my eye because I'm also building Mr Mulligan from the Sig kit. The Dumas kit looks larger than the Sig kits 18" span, but quite similar otherwise. I love the stick and tissue models.

Check out the Dare kits at http://www.darehobby.com/index.html . I'll be building the Fokker DVII as my first electric RC as soon as I finish some other projects. I'm going the rubber and electric route for flying models, due to the complete lack of anywhere to fly gas, or control line models in this county I live in.

Going to fly yours?

Buddahaid

[SteamWake]

I just had the idea.
Regarding the broken wing.
I think the way you pin the wood to the workbench may be to blame.
The T shaped pins allow for the pinning without making holes in the wood.
Balsa wood is such fragile medium, any hole made by the pin would make the weak spot. I read a lot of articles about shaping the wood. Modellers always pin the wood on the edges.

Just the observation.:yeah:

Well the real problem (other than my anibriation) is that dad gummed super glue. Yea it cures fast and is strong but it also bonds to the wax paper :dead: But really anibriation was the biggest issue :rotfl:

This one caught my eye because I'm also building Mr Mulligan from the Sig kit. The Dumas kit looks larger than the Sig kits 18" span, but quite similar otherwise. I love the stick and tissue models.

The dumas version is 30" wingspan. Ive built alot of sig kits in the past and they do a good job on RC planes, dont think Ive done any of their stick and tissue versions.

Oh and hell yes it will fly... eventually, probably right into a tree :stare:

[Siara]

But really anibriation was the biggest issue :rotfl:

I dont drink while im in my man cave, and work on the model. In fact i dont drink at all. I have done few times when i was out fishing with my friends- and it didnt do me, and my fishing any good.:88)

[Akula4745]

Holy cow, SteamWake... I haven't seen a balsa wood model in ages! I used to build these when I was a wee little whippersnapper... in fact that glue made me the man I am today (LOL - joking!). Takes time and patience to build one of these... keep up the obvious good work, sir!

Jim

[NealT]

You got a whole lot more patience...and time on your hands than I do...

Good Luck!

Hope you show off the finished product.....

[Jimbuna]

Any update? :hmmm:

[Buddahaid]

I dont drink while im in my man cave, and work on the model. In fact i dont drink at all. I have done few times when i was out fishing with my friends- and it didnt do me, and my fishing any good.:88)

Not enough practice!:woot: Start with maybe a beer on Friday night, and before you know it, you'll be right up there with the best.:D And, about the man cave. Stack the empties near the door to warn of intruders.:shucks:

Anyway, mine is nearly built as I keep trying to shrink the big number decal atop the starboard wing. Thick old decal is almost impervious to 'Micro-sol'. Haven't bothered with picture uploads on this forum yet, but I may get inspired. Maybe I should open a beer.....

Buddahaid

[Siara]

Haven't bothered with picture uploads on this forum yet, but I may get inspired.


Go for it.:yeah:

[Buddahaid]

Here you go.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Mulligan1.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Mulligan2.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Mulligan3.jpg

And another little mess.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Fw190-2.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/sirwinpb/Fw190-1.jpg

Buddahaid

[swmicros]

Great work SteamWake and Buddahaid!

Ah the days of balsa, T-pins, 5 minute epoxy and Money-Kote (monokote - so named because we could never afford he stuff:haha:)

Built more than a few RC gliders in my day! Once built a high performance glider with a 9 foot, 3 piece wing, and a plywood and fiberglass fuselage. Man that was a good flyer, get that thing in a thermal and you'd need binoculars to bring her back down.

Makes me want to get a wood kit again.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see your pics SteamWake.

[AVGWarhawk]

Nice work guys. Will attempts to fly the buggers be made? I made a piper cub years ago and well, first flight ended in disaster. Then again, I attempted to fly it in a long hallway...:oops: Walls 1, piper cub 0

[SteamWake]

Nice jobs there Buddah now I feel like a slacker :rotfl:

I have done some work on mine, finished the horizontal stab but dident get any pictures yet. Have to over come a small problem with the horizontal stab not being parallel to the wing. Probably will shim the wing.

I'll try to get moving on it again soon and post some more. :salute:

[Buddahaid]

Don't feel that way, I started that one about three months ago and I feel like I'm steeling your thunder when I posted the photos, but someone asked. I'm sure I won't be done for another month with all the other stuff life throws at you.

Buddahaid

[SteamWake]

Don't feel that way, I started that one about three months ago and I feel like I'm steeling your thunder when I posted the photos, but someone asked. I'm sure I won't be done for another month with all the other stuff life throws at you.

Buddahaid

LOL as they say "Its always better to post in an exisiting thread than to start a new one" :rock:

By the way whos kit was your Mr. Mulli? Looks to nice to be a guillows. Bet getting all that sheet balsa to bend on the round nose was a chore.

[Buddahaid]

SIG http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/MainMenuFV4.html?E+Sig The sheeting is thin 1/32" and not too hard. The real chore was the whole engine cowling assy. Something around 60 parts, most of which are scratch building balsa. Those teardrop rocker covers were a pain but add a lot to the looks. The kit I built was an old one from the seventies I bought on ebay before I found out it was still made today. Ever work with old decals? I thought I would have to make new ones and I'm not very experienced there.

And yes, I plan to fly it which is why I bought it in the first place, even though I rarely fly freeflight models. I'm amazed by what people can do with tissue covering on these kits. I can barely cover them without wrinkles and others can give them paint schemes by using different colored and patternned paper!

Good luck
Buddahaid

[apathyps]

wow.. very cool to see this all put together. your patience amazes me.

nice work dude.

[mako88sb]

Hi Steamwake.

I found this thread a couple weeks ago and reminded me about my Dumas Stinson Voyager that I got stored up in my attic. I had no problem with the wood structure but once I got to the tissue part, I got cold feet. Then I started developing my basement so up in the attic it went. I dug it out and finished off the sanding and doping. Just need to get up enough nerve to tackle the tissue. I know you where going to showcase your technique once you got to that point but if you could give me some links or advice, I would sure appreciate it. I've got a few things telling me how to do it but I'd like to find some video of how it's done. I did search around a bit but no luck. Thanks!

Rob

[SteamWake]

Hi Steamwake.

I found this thread a couple weeks ago and reminded me about my Dumas Stinson Voyager that I got stored up in my attic. I had no problem with the wood structure but once I got to the tissue part, I got cold feet. Then I started developing my basement so up in the attic it went. I dug it out and finished off the sanding and doping. Just need to get up enough nerve to tackle the tissue. I know you where going to showcase your technique once you got to that point but if you could give me some links or advice, I would sure appreciate it. I've got a few things telling me how to do it but I'd like to find some video of how it's done. I did search around a bit but no luck. Thanks!

Rob

Im really hoping to get some work done this weekend. Since the fuselage is mostly finished and it is the most difficult part to cover Ill try to get some pics up this weekend.

Tools you will need is scissors, a very sharp blade, and a soft pencil, a spray bottle (fine mist as possible) filled with water [some use a mix of water and alchohal], some paint brushes, and clear dope... yes dope thats what I use :|\\ and some dope thinner aka acetone. Oh and a well ventilated room :rotfl:

[Buddahaid]

It takes some practice and mistakes to hone a technique. I'm OK at it and have covered many, but I'm amazed at what the rubber-power crowd can do with coloured and patterned paper. Click on the zeppelin image on this page http://www.darehobby.com/airplanes/airplane-electric-rbr-03.htm#555el-zeppelin to see what I mean. Here are some references.

http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/tips.htm

http://www.modelaircraft.org/insider/09_05/covering.htm

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/construction_materials_for_model_building/finishing_materials.htm

http://www.instructables.com/id/Covering-a-model-airplane-in-Tissue/

[mako88sb]

Thanks Steamwake and Buddahaid. Pretty amazing Lozenge Pattern on that Zeppelin plane. I think I got everything required but will double check. Here's a video of one I found while searching using 32 rubber strands!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHDHNXowzjU&feature=related

Almost forgot, but have either of you built the Dumas Gee BEE or Helldiver kits? I have both and was wondering how well they fly. Thanks

Rob

[Buddahaid]

Not me. Sheesh, 32 bands! It would kill him if it got loose.:haha: Another thought, look for a rubber free-flight club in your area. Plenty of people too willing to help, with decades of experience.

Buddahaid

[SteamWake]

Cool video reminds me of wakefields they climb out straight up :o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npVmNzNZlwk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosear ch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dwakefield%2520model%2520aircraf t%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwv&feature=player_embedded

Also Part 1 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk4cO0OICgU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosear ch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dwakefield%2520model%2520aircraf t%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwv&feature=player_embedded

The dumas kits are probably of good quality although I dont think the Gee Bee will make much of a flyer. Even the full scale one was a handfull and inheriantly unstable :cool:

[SteamWake]

I promise to get some work done on this this weekend.

I bought a new sanding block which came with some kind of 80 grit sandpaper on it.

Of course I tried doing some sanding with it and did more damage than good. I had to put it down for a while and get some finer sandpaper :rotfl:

[thefretmaster]

wait... Mr. Mulligan??
THATS ME!!!! :yeah:

thats right, I am Mr Will Mulligan haha

sorry long time with no posting here but this just caught my eye lol

also seeing "follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan" is quite disturbing in a sort of truman show way. :haha:

[nikimcbee]

Been a long time since I made a balsa wood plane. I could never get the covering on the wings and fuselage right. Good luck!

You stole my quote!
Last one I built was in high school, a loooooooooooooooooooooong time ago.:o
A Me-109.

[SteamWake]

Just a quick update since this thread got bumped.

I am at the stage of sanding / shaping the parts now. Not much to show photographically really and its my least favorite part of construction. But I have worked on it some. I have a razor plane to help things along but it still is slow and tedious. Everything has to be in 'finished' condition before applying tissue because the flaws really jump out once its covered.

The fuse is mostly done however one of the first things you learn is to cover the wing first ;) It takes the largest pieces of tissue and the scraps can be used for small secions of the fuse. Usually for a flat bottomed wing you can cover the entire bottom with one piece. The top not so much. So you start with the bottom. Largest pieces first :yeah:

So maybe in a week or so I can get to the actual covering of the thing. Ill post lots of pics for that.

[3Dfr34k2009]

I would like to see SHIII+GWX Gold game interface in the SHV game engine WITHOUT the draconian DRM. And when this will be is available, I am going buy SHV. Meanwhile for me Steamed SHIII plus GWX is enough .

Keep going modders, SHV is all yours.

Gute jagd!:ping:

[rsslcs]

A certain something is in order:

http://ghostisland.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/lolwut.jpg

And BTW, nice plane! I hope that it turned out alright. :)

[nikimcbee]

Any new pix?

[SteamWake]

Any new pix?

No I'm sorry I need to change my sig to check the lack of progress :haha:

Have been busy with SH5 and my ham radio stuff (getting the antenna back up after winter storms)

[Truckerich]

I havn't seen that type of glue for years, smeels good to. The name of that glue starts with a A doesn't it? It's beyond excellent work. 10 being best. +++++++++10 That's as high as I can go with 10 pluses. wow
AND SilkSpan!!

The wing is really starting to take shape now with the constant chord ribs in place.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1761.jpg

I like the engineering of this model. Notice the lightning holes in the main spar and the 'hollow' ribs. Although I did find a mistake in the instructions, the main spar is part A6 not A7. and the center spar is A7 not A6. It was pretty easy to figure out.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/DSCN1763.jpg