gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 12:17:52 GMT -4
Next step was to add the navigation lights. We got the Scale LED lighting system and the Dual High Intensity Xenon Strobe Light Kit for helicopters from RCA. The tricky part was getting the LED lights in the proper location on the missile pylons. First i drilled the proper diameter hole in the tips of the pylons and then another hole in the fuselage where the pylons mount for the wiring to get into. A word of caution: be careful when drilling the holes in the pylon for the LED’s as I ended up going through both sides on one pylon accidental and I wasn’t applying that much pressure when drilling. Ended up having to patch the hole on the opposite side where the LED got mounted. The hard part was getting the LED in position and glued. What I ended up doing was using a coat hanger and bending it to the shape of the pylon profile and taping the wiring at the LED end and then fishing this into the pylon and CA’ed it from the outside. The tail strobe was easy to install. I cut some small pieces of styrene tubing (big enough to the wire connector to pass through) and glued these about every 6” – 10” to keep the wiring in place and out of the mechanics. First pic is with the lights in and turned on Here's the location of the nav lights on the Tigers pylon. Here's a picture of the nav light on the Tiger's tail (No pun intended) Here's the LED light mounted on the pylon Here's where i drilled the hole to get the pylon wiring into the fuselage Here's a picture of the styrene tubing i used to route my wiring Note the location of the beacon under the nose is not accurate. We didn't realize this till it was already in so we're thinking of taking it out.
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 19:07:38 GMT -4
Next was adding the Torque Tube tail, braces, angled gear box and vertical torque tube. (Don’t add the tail rotor gear box quite yet) Tail boom: OK so here's where the problems started. Also this was one of the first fuselages out so some of these issues may already be fixed as I was communicating frequently with Cliff (RCA) on the problems. So here’s what I was seeing: When the mechanics are bolted onto the mounting platform in the fuselage (using all 4 mounting holes) and the fiberglass tail section installed, the vertical boom does not align with the hole in the rubber boom mount in the vertical section. The result was the mounting holes did not align and the mechanics did not sit flush on the wooden mounting platform. Here's a exaggerated drawing To get everything aligned the main mechanics had to be scooted forward about 3/8”. A contributing factor was the angle of the vertical torque tube rubber mount. This mount was not perpendicular to the torque tube resulting in torque tube needing to sit further back than what it should have been and also resulted in the mechanics mounting tabs not all sitting on the wooden mounting platform in the fuselage. To fix this I removed the rubber mount, repositioned it and epoxied it back in. The red lines are the original position and the black is with the rubber mount aligned perpendicular to the torque tube. Here's what it looked like with everything aligned
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Post by Dr. Evil on Feb 23, 2012 19:12:15 GMT -4
Good stuff Gugie, are you should enter this into the contest.
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 19:48:16 GMT -4
So with the torque tubes in place and the mounting tabs on the mechanics now sitting flush with the wooden platform the holes still did not line up. The original mounting tabs have side to side adjustments but not front to back which is what i needed. So i ended up making some new mounting tabs. I would like to hear from others who have built this helicopter to see if they had similar problems or if was just unique to this model. Here's the original mounting tabs: I had some 1/8" plywood and since the mount was ~1/4 thick i cut two pieces for each tab: Then epoxied these together. Here they are mounted on the mechanics Here they are installed in the fuselage
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 20:04:32 GMT -4
Dr Evil thanks but i don't think this qualifies as I'm building this for Cliff (RCA) We've been friends for a long time (Even before he got into helicopters) Back then we were building RC boats together almost every weekend. Both of us got busy with our jobs and we stopped getting together to work on the fun stuff. Last year i called him up and said we needed to start getting together and start doing some building to get our minds off the stresses of work. Lucky for me Cliff has a toy store so all i had to say was let's work on something challenging, so i got to build the Tiger and he started working on the Huey. I've really enjoyed building this thing and since it's for RCA i can ask for all the bells and whistles. I'm calling it a win-win for me. I get to do something i really enjoy doing and it gets my mind off of the stresses of work. It's slow going as this work thing keeps getting in the way.
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 20:40:30 GMT -4
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 23, 2012 21:01:40 GMT -4
Next i added the 4 blade scale head and 3 blade tail rotor. Just followed the instructions and had no problems. So this is what the initial assembly looked like. Attachments:
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 0:15:05 GMT -4
OK so now the real fun begins! The detailing... One thing on this kit that really stands out from being scale is the landing gear. So this is what i decided to tackled first. So let me say anyone with a milling/lath metal tools how lucky you are!!!! Since i have neither i had to rely on some simple power tools (drill press, table sander etc) Here's what the models landing gear looks like and what i started with: So here's what the real tiger's landing gear looks like: Here's where i ended up after all my modifications: Here it is painted. Probably should have painted it flat black but saw a picture of a real one with gloss black and liked it better sooo..... So let's get into the details of how i did it.
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 1:50:04 GMT -4
First it's pretty obvious that the models landing gear is way too long. So i took some measurements of the real one (from some photo's) and then measured out the models and taped it to see what it looked like and to see how much I needed to removed If anyone wants the exact measurements let me know. I have them stored somewhere. First thing that i noticed when compressing the upper strut was that the setscrew that keeps the plunger aligned and also acts as a stop was gouging the walls of the upper strut housing. To resolve this I made my own from a bolt. Note the length of the setscrew versus the one I made. The original setscrew did not thread deep enough to get a good grip so even if you don't do this I would recommend you find some longer setscrews and use those. This allowed the plunger to travel without binding. I also notched the top so i can use a small screwdriver to tighten. First was to shorten the upper strut plunger. This cut was made just below the setscrew hole. After the cut i had to turn the ends down to form a seat for the strut spring. Here's a pic comparing the length after the plunger was cut. Note this was with the upper strut compressed Next i cut the upper strut housing. To make sure i had straight cuts i made a lot of jigs. Here's the one for cutting the main strut but I made a similar one for cutting the upper strut also Here's a pic of the upper strut cut Here's a pic of the upper strut joined and placed to see how it fits Next challenge was the angle of the landing gear as the original just went straight back. (Also note the angle of the wheels) The real Tiger's gear is angled outward giving it a wider stance. To be continued....
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 3:03:22 GMT -4
Here's a pic of the upper and lower strut cut and slotted. The slotting was done to make sure that when i soldered these together the mounting holes were in alignment at both ends. Here's the struts cut, joined and temporarily placed: Here's some of the jigs i made to do the job right One of the challenges was soldering/welding with aluminum. It took me a few practice runs before i could do it to the real thing To make sure they would hold up I soldered the throw-away sections and took a hammer afterwords and the joint was stronger than the strut itself! impressive! Not perfect but definitely solid! The original aluminum upper to lower mounting bracket was too loose of a fit for me and it was only secure on one side. So i made a new one out of brass. Here's a pic of the lower strut and both sleeves. Note that I've also soldered aluminum blocks to the top of the lower strut. (These are what i used to angle the struts outward) Here's the sleeve with the hinge points soldered. If i had to do this over again i would have made the supports shorter Note the angle of the supports as the upper strut is angled more that the lower. Here they are mounted on the right side Here's the way i made sure everything was aligned when soldering the upper and lower strut supports
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 4:02:40 GMT -4
Detailing the landing gear. One thing that stands out on the landing gear is the cutter blades. I started making this by cutting some brass sheet the shape of the cutter blades Here they are CA'ed to the strut Next i wanted to replicate the cutter mounting bands and attachment bolts Here's how i duplicated this. I soldered the brass cutter blade to a brass tube (one size bigger that the strut tube) and then notched the tube to make it look like bands. I made a wood jig to cut the tubing so that I still have a solid portion of the tube in the back (unseen) for strength while looking like bands in the front Here's what it looks like when notched with the blade soldered to it: Here it is mounted on the lower strut Next how to make the mounting bolts and brackets....
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Post by Dr. Evil on Feb 24, 2012 9:29:41 GMT -4
Holy cow, that is some detailed work gugie! Very nice build. I must of missed it in the begining...didn't know this was for RCA but never the less, it looks awesome. Glad you found something to do and keep your stress at check..LOL. Looking forward to more and would love to see a video with it spooling up.
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 20:58:09 GMT -4
OK So how to add the band brackets and cinching bolts. This is what the real ones look: Here’s what I made: Here’s how I did it The detailing is somewhat limited to what you can use. So for me I went searching for the smallest nuts and bolts that I could use. I found some at a hardware store that were pretty small that seemed to be about the correct size. Next was making the brackets that hold the bolts. I went to the local hobby stores looking for some U shaped brass and no one had any so I had to make one from square stock as the brackets are nothing more than U-channel shaped shelves that the bolts sit in. So I found some square brass stock, drilled a series of holes (this was a hit and miss as my drill press chuck would not take a drill bit as small as what I was using meaning that I couldn’t use my mill vice to make sure the holes were centered. So I drilled a lot of holes with my hand drill and picked the best ones. Next I grinded one side of the square tubing off to come up with a U shaped channel with a hole in the bottom. If I could have gotten my hands on some u shaped brass stock it would have been so much easier! I had to modify this post as this part was out of sequence. The outside ends were then tapered to look like the real mounting brackets Next I made a jig for shaping and soldering the band brackets. This I made from some aluminum stock as I wanted something that would dissipate the heat and keep the adjacent brackets from becoming unsoldered. The location of the holes on this jig was based on where the center of the bands were. These brackets were then bolted to the aluminum and using a Dremel drum sander I sanded the brass to a contour that matched the diameter of the brass bands. This was then placed on top of the bands and soldered in place. Here's a picture of the brackets soldered to the bands Here’s a picture of the brackets soldered, tapered with bolts and nuts and mounted on the lower strut. Next adding the cutter blade brace
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 24, 2012 21:34:25 GMT -4
Adding the cutter blade bracing was pretty straight forward using some styrene. I copied the shape of the portion that was covered by this brace and then trimmed a little less where the cutting edge was at: Adding the bracing mounting bolts had to be done in a similar way that rivets are added on a model. Take a small syringe add a small tube at the end and use it to add small dots of glue Here's what it looks like with the glue dots in place Here's the completed landing gear
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gugie
FUN FLYER
Posts: 154
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Post by gugie on Feb 25, 2012 2:06:53 GMT -4
Next feature that stands out as not being scale is the inlet scoops First was to make templates Then I cut out the models fiberglass screen frame. This is still getting trimmed back some more but for this initial fit i just wanted these frames removed Next i cut out the outside brass trim frames (The outside frame will get trimmed back further which you'll see later in this post Using the templates above i cut out a wood plug that i used to create the screen supports as well as a plug to do the initial screen shaping. Next i notched the wooden plug where the screen supports go Next i cut and shaped the brass screen rod frames. Here I've placed and taped the horizontal brass rods in the wooden jig. Note that the brass rods are notched. This allows the joints to be flush where they overlap. Here's a pic of the brass rods soldered Here's a pic of the solder joints cleaned up and the frame positioned over the inlet Next I soldered the outer brass frames and then trimmed the inlet opening so that the rods sit flush with the frame for soldering. This took some time in tweaking the brass rods so that everything fitted properly Next i soldered the rods to the frame. Here you can see that the inlet has been trimmed back quite a bit. You can also see that i drilled several mounting holes in the corners and have used small screws to secure these. The brass rods in the forward part of the inlet actually extend inside the fuselage which this along with the screws in the back really hold this securely in the inlet. Next was the screen. Here's the secret... Go out and buy a splatter screen The kind that you place over beacon to keep it from splattering.. Here you can see that I've cut the screen out of the frame I then cut the screen into a smaller piece so it's more manageable and starting with one corner clamped the screen on the backside of the frame. Where the rods are attached to the frames i slotted the screen and wrapped the screen around and under the rod. If you look at the lower portion of the picture you can see the screen slotted where the rod is at.The screen molds pretty easily to the contour of the brass frame. I used a thin line of CA glue to attach the screen to the brass frame and sprayed it with accelerant to keep the glue from running up into the exposed portion of the screen. Here's what the final results looked like Next smaller detailing....
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