- Undercarriage Parts.jpg (150.72 KiB) Viewed 3586 times
Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
OK - so now on to the undercarriage. Here are the parts...
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
Right - undercarriage built and attached But as I found out to my cost do not attach to the fuselage until all the electronics are fitted. Trying to fit with the undercarriage on is a nightmare as it severely restricts access
- Undercarriage Attached.jpg (265.28 KiB) Viewed 3573 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
Now on to covering the wings. Exactly the same method as before, pinning down to avoid warps. So here is everything covered and ready for painting and finishing.
- Ready for painting.jpg (237.47 KiB) Viewed 3573 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
Now onto the motor and radio gear. These both fit into a module - here are the parts...
and made up...
- Motor frame.jpg (266.22 KiB) Viewed 3573 times
- Completed assembly.jpg (254.6 KiB) Viewed 3573 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
The motor assembly needs to be made up from the parts...
- Motor parts.jpg (265.74 KiB) Viewed 3572 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
You may have noticed a long gap between this post and the last, and this is due to a strange motor control problem.
The next stage in the build is to fit the motor and RC gear. For this I had a small Crossover Ma-RX42-D which I intended to use with my RadioMaster Tx but although the servos worked fine there was no response from the onboard ESC.
Various tests seemed to indicate a problem with the Rx and Steve Webb Models were happy to send a replacement.
Prior to sending back the faulty Rx I suddenly had a thought of testing the Rx with the cheap'n'cheerful Tx that ParkZone supplies with their indoor models - and it worked.
These little Rx's have a safety feature whereby the ESC does not switch on until it sees a low signal - but dropping the low to -25% made no difference, and plugging a servo into the socket that parallels the ESC channel showed the response to be the same whichever Tx is used so I am beaten.
But bottom line is that I can work the Rx with the cheap Tx so the build can continue, (and I need to send SW money for the extra Rx!).
The next stage in the build is to fit the motor and RC gear. For this I had a small Crossover Ma-RX42-D which I intended to use with my RadioMaster Tx but although the servos worked fine there was no response from the onboard ESC.
Various tests seemed to indicate a problem with the Rx and Steve Webb Models were happy to send a replacement.
Prior to sending back the faulty Rx I suddenly had a thought of testing the Rx with the cheap'n'cheerful Tx that ParkZone supplies with their indoor models - and it worked.
These little Rx's have a safety feature whereby the ESC does not switch on until it sees a low signal - but dropping the low to -25% made no difference, and plugging a servo into the socket that parallels the ESC channel showed the response to be the same whichever Tx is used so I am beaten.
But bottom line is that I can work the Rx with the cheap Tx so the build can continue, (and I need to send SW money for the extra Rx!).
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
So on with the build - fitting the motor and RC gear - and this was a real challenge with lots of expletives!!!
So here are all the bits connected up prior to going into the model...
Challenge 1 - the motor power leads need to go through a former at the back of the motor, so cannot be connected to the Rx in advance. The problem is that the motor connections are inaccessible when the Rx is in place owing to the top decking being above it. Solution: Add an extra flylead from the Rx and add a plug socket. (You can see this in the image). As an extra challenge the Rx was already glued in the frame so it required careful use of a very fine tipped bit to unsolder the current socket and add the new wires.
Challenge 2 - when everything is fitted the servos were too big to pass through the firewall so have to be fitted after mounting the frame. Problem is the servo connectors are not accessible once the frame is mounted. Solution - connect the servos but do not mount them in the frame. Then pass both servos through the firewall first and then out of the lower hatch area, then fix the frame to the fuselage. After this, then fit the servos into the frame. Again limited space made this very tricky, especially as the front mounting screw holes were not accessible via the hatch. Fortunately, by using the screwdriver at an angle you can just access the screws enough from through the firewall.
Challenge 3 - servos needed reversing. Easy with a computer radio, but as we have seen I cannot use my usual Tx. However the ParkZone Tx channels can be reversed by holding down the appropriate trim button when you switch on. Wait for the tone and hopefully you will find the servo reversed. (If it doesn't work, try it with the other button)
So here is the frame and gear installed. Although it looks like the arms will clash, one is actually higher than the other. (The pushrods are not shown for clarity)
So here are all the bits connected up prior to going into the model...
- Motor frame populated.jpg (104.99 KiB) Viewed 3427 times
Challenge 2 - when everything is fitted the servos were too big to pass through the firewall so have to be fitted after mounting the frame. Problem is the servo connectors are not accessible once the frame is mounted. Solution - connect the servos but do not mount them in the frame. Then pass both servos through the firewall first and then out of the lower hatch area, then fix the frame to the fuselage. After this, then fit the servos into the frame. Again limited space made this very tricky, especially as the front mounting screw holes were not accessible via the hatch. Fortunately, by using the screwdriver at an angle you can just access the screws enough from through the firewall.
Challenge 3 - servos needed reversing. Easy with a computer radio, but as we have seen I cannot use my usual Tx. However the ParkZone Tx channels can be reversed by holding down the appropriate trim button when you switch on. Wait for the tone and hopefully you will find the servo reversed. (If it doesn't work, try it with the other button)
So here is the frame and gear installed. Although it looks like the arms will clash, one is actually higher than the other. (The pushrods are not shown for clarity)
- In situ.jpg (139.46 KiB) Viewed 3427 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
So now to fit the push rods.
If you have not made pushrods for these micro models before, it's quite simple.
Firstly you make a couple of fittings by bending a short length of wire double. Then bend about 3mm of one end at 90 deg. This then results in a fitting that will fit into the control horn with the unbent end acting as a keeper...
The fittings are then attached to a length of 1mm carbon rod using a length of heat shrink. Shrink this lightly with a touch of an iron so that the fitting and rod are held together but can still be moved. Then once the pushrod is installed and adjusted the heatshrink can be fully shrink and a drop of CA added for security.
If you have not made pushrods for these micro models before, it's quite simple.
Firstly you make a couple of fittings by bending a short length of wire double. Then bend about 3mm of one end at 90 deg. This then results in a fitting that will fit into the control horn with the unbent end acting as a keeper...
- Fitting.jpg (53.46 KiB) Viewed 3311 times
- pushrod parts.jpg (51.1 KiB) Viewed 3311 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
OK, so after a real battle owing to the undercarriage being in the way, the R/C gear is now in so its onto the final decorating - adding decals and rigging.
There are thin paper decals supplied, but looking at pictures of the Eindecker, the crosses are applied on a white background rather than the bare canvas but on the decal sheet the crosses are too close together to allow a white background to be cut out...
So I scanned these and then rearranged them individually so I could print them onto decal paper...
The white is maybe too white, but looks better than just cut out crosses from the kit. Final result...
There are thin paper decals supplied, but looking at pictures of the Eindecker, the crosses are applied on a white background rather than the bare canvas but on the decal sheet the crosses are too close together to allow a white background to be cut out...
- Kit Decals.jpg (26.74 KiB) Viewed 3142 times
- Decals.jpg (77.79 KiB) Viewed 3142 times
- Wings.jpg (287.93 KiB) Viewed 3142 times
Re: Tony Ray Fokker EIII Eindecker
OK - so onto the final stage, attaching the wings and add the rigging.
Before attaching the wings the rigging points need to be added and you can see these on the previous post.
Now to add the rigging and a tip here. You need to pull the thread taut as you glue it so you need to use CA. However while pulling I lost my grip before the CA had a chance to grab so the thread was too slack so I had to remove it and do a new one. My solution for the rest was to coat the thread with kicker prior to gluing so as soon as the CA was applied the thread was fixed.
Anyway - here is the final result...
Before attaching the wings the rigging points need to be added and you can see these on the previous post.
Now to add the rigging and a tip here. You need to pull the thread taut as you glue it so you need to use CA. However while pulling I lost my grip before the CA had a chance to grab so the thread was too slack so I had to remove it and do a new one. My solution for the rest was to coat the thread with kicker prior to gluing so as soon as the CA was applied the thread was fixed.
Anyway - here is the final result...
- 1.jpg (237.3 KiB) Viewed 3139 times
- 2.jpg (180.59 KiB) Viewed 3139 times