Painting the cowl and canopy

I love painting but unfortunately the prep work is 90% of painting and I hate the prep work.

I first sanded the cowl with 180 grit then 220 and used tack clothe and wax and grease remover before priming. After the first coat dries I will sand it with 220 and fill any pin holes with a spot putty and shoot another coat of primer before a final sand and paint with the colors.

While the primer was drying I mounted the rudder servos (Hitec 7954) and the receiver tray.



Covering the Slick 540

I the base colors are on the wings and stabs. I used Balasarite on the sharp curves and around the engine box to help the covering stick good. And yes I am using my usual colors.

The first thing I do after sanding is use tack clothe on everything and get all the dust out of the shop.

I start the covering on the end points and then overlap 1/8" onto the ends (see pics). I am using Ultracote which uses much lower heat than Monokote. It does not stretch as good as Monokote either. Curves are a little more cumbersome. It's taking some getting used too.

I have ordered some custom designed graphics from B and E Graphics that should arrive next week. Hopefully they will make up for my lack of creativity in covering. Lol.

Applied Balsarite

 Covering the end points and sharp curves first

 



Ready to cover

Wings prepped for sheeting and block sanding the stabs

Today I continued on the stabs. I cut 1" balsa on the table saw for the leading and trailing edges of the control surfaces. I used polyurethane glue to attach them. Poly glue takes some getting used too. It expands which is good with foam but if it oozes out it can be difficult to sand if it dries for more than a couple hours. So I always time it so I can sand any excess within an hour of drying.

 

I cut out an area for hard wood on the rudder to mount the control horns too. This was epoxied it. Especially on the rudder. I tend to do to many rudder touches in hovers.

 

The wings are prepped and ready to sheet. The 4-40 blind nuts have been installed. I glued and extra 1/4" ply on the root rib and then used the dermal router to cut the foam so it could be recessed. The phenolic for the wing tube is glued into place and I used ploy glue on this also so it could expand and fill any gaps. The end of the phenolic is plugged with 1/4" balsa and then 1/8" ply to support it centered in place.

 

I use 4 different grit papers on straight edges for the block sanding and sometimes a small planner to knock down the big stuff.

Hard wood for control horns.

I had to trim each elevator about 1 1/2" on the inside to get more rudder throw.

Stabs are set in place

Before mounting the lower belly pan I cut out some dead space to save some weight.

After 24 hours in the vacuum bag I removed the stabs and set the incidence by mounting the anti-rotation pin. It was a huge relief that it was at zero degrees because the incidence was actually set in the first few steps of the fuselage build a month ago.

Lastly I cut the elevators out to get ready to hinge them. 



 

Cowl is mounted

I Finally was able to get back to work on things. The rudder is hinged and complete. The stabs are in the vacuum bag sheeted and drying. I am going to make some modifications to them that I will display on the next update.

The cowl took a little time to set up. I mounted the cowl ring to the fuse after installing the blind nuts and 1/4" round plywood supports for the blind nuts. Then with the engine temporarily mounted I made sure the cowl lined up with the spinner. Next after the engine was removed I used Loctite Hysol glue to mount the cowl. This glue is extremely strong and easy to work with but very expensive. I think I will use it to mount the canopy as well.

To cut the rudder I marked it out on both sides and then used the dremal router to cut 1/8" down, just enough to cut the wood. I put the hot knife threw the rudder and slowly cut the foam moving along the cut wood sheeting.

Part 4 Slick 540

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been getting a couple hours a day on it with slow progress. I have also been delayed due to change of plans and ordered some more wood. I will cover why later but it has to do with getting more throw out of my control surfaces. I also picked up the ne engine this weekend and will start trial fitting it.

Tail wheel installed.

Fine sanding to prep the rear deck

Cut out template for the sheeting

Cutting the sheeting to be vacuum glued onto the foam

Rear deck in the vacuum bag

Trimming the rear deck for the rudder area I used a hot knife.

Here is the rear deck installed.

I used cross threaded carbon fiber to re-enforce the rudder before sheeting. The sheeting will glue right over it.

Prepping the sheeting for the vertical stab

While the rudder dry's in the bag I started prepping the stabs. Here I used the dermal router to cut 1/8th inch deep into the foam for the plywood servo mount.

I also used the router to cut the balsa on the rudder and then pushed the hot knife through and cut the foam.

Gluing in the vertical stab using the laser level

Glued in.

Tomorrow I will sheet the stabs and prep the wings for sheeting.