Another Ozzie Extreme Composites 40% Extra 260 Build

[harrys]

what cover scheme will go on this plane....

HarryS

[b0Bro's dad]

Harry,

I'm working up to the 'painting' post but I've got the model booked in for a professional 2 pack polyurethane this week. The scheme will be based on the attached photos of a full scale Extra 200 with some minor adjustments needed because of the higher wing position and shorter canopy. The underside of the wings will be yellow with black invasion stripes for maximum contrast/visibility.

Cheers,
Ian

[notorious_benny]

I will chime in here and agree with Matt that adding the extra cloth is worthwhile. I glassed the whole gear plate on my super extra with 200gm (i think??) carbon fibre cloth. I also glassed the joints where the gear plate structure butts against the fuselage sides.

Doing this saved my model from puching its spats through the wing. I had an 'out landing' in long grass as a result of a dead stick on the maiden flight, 44 pounds coming to a dead stop would normally rip the gear plate straight outta the fuse with the result of the wheel spats punching holes in the bottom of the wings.

Instead the landing legs delaminated and took the brunt of the force, but didnt give in completely causing havoc on my wings.

Heres a few pictures of mine, on this model the legs bolt in from the bottom making it easy to reinforce the gear plate.....

link o build thread... might be something there that is useful.....Comp-ARF Super Extra Futaba Scheme.


Good luck with your build, I hope to see her flying in the comps soon.

[b0Bro's dad]

Thanks Ben, your experience matches my fears. More resin/cloth is clearly required.

[notorious_benny]

No need to go nuts with it, just some strategic placement of fibreglass will help.
The planned plate between the two legs from the top sounds like a good idea.

In the end these big models arent designed to be crash landed in anyway. Side loads are also something to be avoided..........

[3dubya]

Heres me lugs ian..

[b0Bro's dad]

Thanks Tony. A very neat fitting. Do you have any problem with the carbon 'cutting' the fuselage? I suppose the load is taken by the fuselage plate when the bolts are tightened. I decided that I didn't want the blind nuts in the tags because I thought they would come loose in time. A lot more fiddly with the bayonet/scabbard method but it puts the blind nut permanently in the fuselage and seems to work well.
Cheers,
Ian

[3dubya]

Nar there going alright, u use carbon plated ply i made for I had lug failures last 2 models i built (all a lerning experience). These ones are going great. I put thin cyno under blind nuts to stop comming loose.

[b0Bro']

Hey Dad, its looking really good so far! I cant wait to come home back to it.. Even better that now you have started this thread i can keep my eye on what your up to.

Today I guy came into the pub wearing a Futaba shirt. Unfortunantly for him, i slammed him with a whole heap of questions before he could even order his beer. Turns out there is a few clubs in the area and he is President of one just around the corner from where im living. He has invited me up to come see the POMS in action so hopefully i can get out there while im here.

Talk to you soon.
Byron

[b0Bro's dad]

A small but important last job before sending the plane off for painting was cutting some cooling vents into the fuselage to let the cooling air for the cans escape. First, I sanded the entire fuselage with 150 grit carbonium using an orbital sander to smooth the moulding join lines and provide a key for the paint/glue. I used a very small amount of polyester 'body putty' to fill the odd pin hole before sanding it all smooth by hand using 120 grit carbonium paper. I then measured where the back of the cans would be by dry assembling the engine, cone and headers while laying the cans along the outside of the fuselage being sure to make due allowance for the (not yet constructed) engine plate and header joiners. I marked a line across the fuselage to show the back of the cans and the rear face of the cooling vents. I purchased 2 x aluminium venturi vents from Precision aerobatics which just needed the corners rounded and the edge burrs removed with a flat file before fitting. I then turned the fuselage over to measure the width of the carbon reinfircing tape along the fuselage to make sure I didn't cut into it. Turning the fuselage over again, I measured the distance from the centreline and used the aluminium vent as a template to mark the outlines. I then measured 75mm inside these lines for the actual cut-outs. I used masking tape to mark the centres for a 6mm drill that I used to 'round' the corners (although 6mm diameter would normally be on the small side here for preventing stress cracking at the corners, I could get away with it here because I permantly fitted the aluminium vents with epoxy). I used a dremal to cut 1-2mm inside the cut lines and finished the vents with a selection of flat and small round files. I used epoxy to seal the edges of the cut-offs before marking and drilling the vents each for a small metal srew at each corner. After the sealing epoxy was dry, I sanded the fuselage to remove the small 'rounds' and trial fitted the vents with 4 x screws each. All OK then off, epoxy the edges and back on with screws to hold it all in place while the glue dried. Job well done.

[b0Bro's dad]

Mostly, the preparation came in the form of research. First, although IMAC is a semi-scale event, it seems that most people have lost that thought in their attempts to outdo each other with ever more elaborate paint schemes. All well and good but, as I watched a procession of 'look alike' models strut their stuff at Bendigo, I was struck with two thoughts. First, the fine detail that looked so good on the ground just 'disappeared' in the air and, second, that a lot of the schemes didn't give good contrast between top and bottom when looking from the ground. Colours that stood out were primary red, white, black and yellow. Colours that blended with the sky were blue and green and a lot of the 'shades'. What I wanted was a semi-scale pattern that was BOLD enough to be distinctive on the ground and in the air, and one that provided excellent shape definition and contrast where it mattered most, in the sky. I was also looking for something different, something that would be intantly recognisable as Byron's plane (just like the yellow Brietling scheme on his Extra 330). I must have looked at 300 photos of Extra 300/200 series aircraft and in the end it came down to two (see photos). I decided to go with the white/red/black/yellow scheme as it best met all of my criteria and provided the greatest visual 'impact'.
The second part of the research revolved around the type of paint, and how/who to get it done. I spoke to Glenn at the Hobbyman in Dandenong who seems to be the acknowledged expert on these things (thanks Glenn, your advice was solid gold) and decided, with some not so subtle prodding from Byron, that two pack polurethane was the way to go and that stuff requires a professional spray booth. Ah well, it's only money, and Byron does have his birthday tomorrow, and he is my baby ) Unfortunately Glenn is in Melbourne and the model is in Sydney, so after a LOT more research I contacted Collide-A-Scope in Hornsby who are specialist motor cycle painters who apart from having the technical competence to do the job, were even more importantly INTERESTED in this project and asked all of the right questions. They obviously take pride in their work, they are familiar with painting detail stuff on fibreglass and have their own stencil making kit for the lettering etc. The price was right at about $500 and they would pick up and drop off which was important as the model is too big for my car. I downloaded and printed the photos of the real aeroplane and the 'assembled' white model on A4 sheets that I annotated with the changes required to change a low wing dual seat Extra 230 paint scheme to fit a mid wing single seat Extra 260. I also free hand drew some of the detail changes and discussed these with Peter when he picked the model up last night. In the end, I told him that this is a semi-scale paint scheme and to feel free to make any minor adjustments needed to achieve the overall effect I was after.
After that, the easy bit was filling a small dent on one wing with body putty and sanding the whole thing down with 150 and 120 grit carbonium. Easy but my basement and everything in it is now absolutely covered in white gelcoat dust!

[excelpoint]

Looks good so far. Cant wait to see the paint job on it.