Restoring a Krill 33% Katana

[CSpaced]

After losing my primary airplane I picked up a used 33% Krill Models Katana. The plane has been flown hard and is holding up great, but there are a number of things I want to do to fix it up and I figured ya'all may be interested to see what is going on.

Here's what she looked like the day I brought her home.





So here's what I want to do. There are a number of small cracks and holes on the plane, some on the fuse and stabs but mostly the wheels pants. The first thing I did was take one of the wheel pants to a local automotive paint store and have them match up some paint for me. I've used acrylic enamel in the past on composites but found it to be really soft, and me not knowing much about paint didn't realize there was a hardener! So this time I have the same type of paint but will be using a hardener with it.

Once I had the paint I set about repairing the wheel pants. So far I have all the glass work done on the inside, now I need to fill and sand the outside smooth before hitting it with some primer. Then it will be more filling, sanding and priming before hitting it with the paint. For the larger areas that will need to be filled I will use epoxy mixed with micro balloons.



The main cowl has a crack on either side of it, so I will be reinforcing them on the inside and will somehow try to spot paint it on the outside, depends on how well the color match is (will cross that bridge when I get to it).





I took out the old rudder servo tray and toyed around with lightening it before deciding to just build a new one. This, along with the pipe tunnel will be painted. I'm only using a single 8711 servo for the rudder, but I put the second servo slot in the tray in case I change my mind down the line. I'll also be adding a smoke system, so I have to figure out how I want to mount all that gear.

Old Tray.


New Tray.






The stabs have the screws that hold them onto the two stab tubes going in through the top of the stab. They weren't exactly installed straight, in fact one hole looks like it was missed completely and then redrilled. One of the stab tubes is actually glued into the stab, so I'll be tidying up the damage on the top and will just do the best I can to make it look good.





As far as the hatch goes, it needs a little reinforcing on the front lip but nothing major. I've ordered new hardware to replace all the nuts and bolts as everything was rusted, and I'm still debating what to do about the canopy as I want to fly this plane in IMAC. I'll be running a DA 100 on pefa cans, hitec 5955's 2 per aileron and on the elevators with 1 8711 on rudder. I'm also using a Smartfly power expander, Fromeco lithium Ions and regs, Smartfly ignition kill, and a couple of matchboxes.





I'll post pics as I progress, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask!
Chris.

[CSpaced]

I forgot to mention, it took me the better part of a day to remove most of the decals. I'll figure out what I'm going to put on there once its finished.

Also, if you are looking for repair info for composites, here is a thread on some repair work I had done to my composite edge.

Repairing Crushed Composites?

[cap 232g]

I just received my krill katana 33% and I love it. I have a question, what headers are you using and what are the dimentions? Also, where did you buy the pefa cans.

Thanks alot, and I will be watching this thread.

[CSpaced]

Congrats on your new plane! The headers are 70mm flex headers that are available from Desert Aircraft. As for the cannisters, I'm not entirely sure where you get them from as the ones I have came with the plane.

[Benji]

Awesome plane dude, where can you get it in new condition??

[CSpaced]

You can get it from Phillip Barnnett at skylineaviation.com - email him at: Pbarnnett@skylineaviationonline.com

[VooDoo Child]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Benji
	Awesome plane dude, where can you get it in new condition??

www.skyline aviation online.com

[VooDoo Child]

wow posted at the same time...spooky

[flying skunks]

after reading the title of this thread I thought that VooDoo was doing a thread... Once you finish the restoration you will find the plane amazing to fly..

[xtra330]

the big ones aint no joke either...

[CSpaced]

I'm looking forward to getting it airborne

I made up a tray to hold the SmartFly Power Expander, this will also be painted along with the rudder tray and pipe tunnel.

[Wild Thang]

How do you guys like the Krill katanas? Do they fly heavy? How about persision?

I see them being wrang out, not a whole lot of IMAC though.