1/7th F-14D Scratch build thread

[jonathanmanopla]

hello my friend its an awesome work , that what are you making its to make a mold to make the plane in fiber o that its the finish plane??

[Thomas_W]

Guys i appreciate the enthusiasm everyone is exibiting towards the project, but if you read the VERY FIRST post, it explains what i'm doing...
So please before asking the question "is this the finished plane?" or likewise. please read the first post!

" I'm planning on doing this "harold huff" style w/ plugs that are lithoplated, then molds and an all composite airframe."

[Vic3D]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Thomas_W
	So please before asking the question "is this the finished plane?" or likewise. please read the first post!

Yeah it's getting pretty annoying.

[Thomas_W]

Alright,
here's a shot of the wing so far.. I got tired of drawing on balsa, so figured i'd throw some masking tape on the wings to make it easier to erase any mistakes..

Everything you see in blue is either a spoiler, or a trailing edge flap gap seal.. the spoilers are mostly the center 70% of the blue portions. Everything aft of that, is the flaps. now that i have this figured out, i have to transfer it to the other wing panel.. ohh the joy!

[Flyjunkie]

Looking good Thomas! Sorry if you've already said this somewhere, but is this going to have twin turbines? Or just one?

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Flyjunkie
	Looking good Thomas! Sorry if you've already said this somewhere, but is this going to have twin turbines? Or just one?

It'll be twins

[Thomas_W]

here's a photo with both wing panels and the spoilers on them. I've got to transfer the outlines of the blue tape onto the balsa, and then remove the balsa wood, fill in the gap below the wing sheeting. All of that will be done after i remove the flap and cap its leading edge with a balsa stick. The wing trailing edge will also get a 1/4" thick cap to stiffen it up as well. I'll probably build the leading edge slats before i go any further with the flaps and spoilers, that way i can get the wingtips shaped and the inner balsa leading edge block (the one that will be going into the fuselage) shaped, then i can finish the wing panels and the fuselage glove sheeting.

[Thomas_W]

After 2 1/2 hours of screwing around with leading edge slat construction (none of which came out worth a damn) i had a DUHHHHH moment. I realized about 2 seconds after ripping # 3 LE slat apart, that i do not have to build the slat to actually fit the wing plugs.. Soo now I get to do it the easy way... copy the wing-tip and root rib templates to ply, cut and sand them to shape, then carve 2 giant "slats" from solid balsa (of which, my 2"x2"x48" balsa blocks are now gone ) and then i'll have the plugs for the slats and they will be ready for glassing and detail. Should take all of an hour for each slat to do!

So no more pictures today. Since i'm out of big chunks of balsa, i'll probly laminate some 1/2" sheets together to the required size and thickness.. I may do this tomorrow.. Dont know, might just go fly instead

[Thomas_W]

Getting a bit more work done today.. The slat plugs are ready to be glassed and detailed. The right wing panel is getting some finishing touches, like the wingtips, leading edge projections (on either side of the slat) and working on getting the inner wing leading edge pivot fairing in place as well (the circular thing at the inboard wing leading edge). Here's some pictures of everything so far. I'm hoping to have one wing panel done except for the flap and spoiler completion. Then if the weather is supposed to be as bad as forecasted tomorrow, i'll be able to finish the other wing and finish sheeting the fuselage gloves.

[3Dguy]

Looks like a lot more sanding.

[Thomas_W]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 3Dguy
	Looks like a lot more sanding.

you have no idea.. i've already filled two 25 gallon trash bags full of nothing but balsa wood shavings.. and thats just from the wing and tail panels!

I am sooo not looking forward to sanding this thing..

[Thomas_W]

Little bit more..

I got the left wing root leading edge fairing shaped and installed.. had to do a bit of filling to fill a few voids between the fairing block and the wing leading edge, so theirs still a little bit of finish work to do before calling it done. But I think it turned out exceptionally well.