My First Peanut Scale Build: BD-4 by Bill Hannan

[g_kandylakis]

Hi Markus,

LG exactly per plan. Works fine, light and strong enough but mainly springly enough. No worries

Nice looking pilot! As expected...

George

[MockwingF]

Hi George,

thank you very much for the quick reply. In that case, I will build the landing gear mount exactly as shown on the plan.

Markus

[MockwingF]

Build Update: Box Fuselage & Cowling
�Today's session went really well, and I managed to finish the box fuselage structure smoothly.
�Tomorrow, I'll be moving on to the cowling section (right in front of the cockpit). That's going to be an interesting challenge: I'll be trying to shape the side curves using carefully sanded, ultra-thin 0.4 mm balsa.
Markus

[MockwingF]

Hi everyone,
Just a quick progress update on my current build: the fuselage is essentially finished and is now waiting to be covered!
Before I get started with the actual covering, I need to run a test on a scrap frame. I want to try airbrushing the Japan paper white before applying it, and I want to see how it reacts.
Along the way, a few questions came up. I would really appreciate your advice and tips on these points:
 * Window Film: Should I glue the window film to the sides and front from the outside before covering with paper, or after the paper covering is done?
 * Wing Covering (Bottom): Should I cover the bottom of the wings completely, or should I leave the cabin area open on the underside?
 * Winglets / Solid Balsa Parts: Should I also cover solid balsa parts like the winglets with paper, or is it better to leave the bare balsa and just give it a thin coat of dope/clear finish?
Looking forward to your thoughts and tips! Thanks a lot in advance!
Best,
Markus

[TheLurker]

* Window Film: Should I glue the window film to the sides and front from the outside before covering with paper, or after the paper covering is done?

Whichever suits you best and that you think will let you make the neatest job.  I usually fit glazing after covering because I find it easiest to do that.  If you leave the top of the cabin area uncovered it may, depending upon the size of the opening, be possible to fit the glazing on the inside of the fuselage after you've covered the sides and front of the fuselage and opened out the window frames.

* Wing Covering (Bottom): Should I cover the bottom of the wings completely, or should I leave the cabin area open on the underside?

I'd cover the entire underside.  When the tissue is shrunk it makes a significant contribution to the rigidity & strength of the wing so leaving an area uncovered may impair that.

* Winglets / Solid Balsa Parts: Should I also cover solid balsa parts like the winglets with paper, or is it better to leave the bare balsa and just give it a thin coat of dope/clear finish?

Depends. My preference is to cover sheet / solid parts with the same tissue as the rest of the airframe. I think it gives a more uniform look.  However... if you prefer the appearance of bare wood doped then do that.  Your model, your rules.

[Stunthenk]

I prefer to add the windows first and then the tissue; but this requires some accurate tissue cutting and positioning. However, to me it looks more realistic. In the second picture the tissue is under the paper template and both are cut in the same operation. The tissue is then glued to the plastic sheeting and the sheeting is cut to the size of the tissue.

[Stunthenk]

And here is the second picture...

[g_kandylakis]

Hi Markus,

I see in the picture that you added the window frames made of balsa.
You could / can avoid this by using tissue for frame outline.

Windows material before or after covering?
As Henk said before it is better and more correct. After is easier but does not look good.

Bottom center section covering, yes. For a variety of reasons. Lurk +1

Wingtips. Cover them. Even with double curvature which will make covering difficult, the appearance will be much better than with dope. More uniform. Lurk +1

I like the cowl side openings. Never seen in a peanut before...

George

[MockwingF]

Thanks for the quick and excellent tips!
 I'm now going to try several of your suggestions: applying the window film before covering, covering the balsa parts with Japanese tissue, and covering the lower center section of the wing. That's my next task.

I had already made the window frames from very thin balsa strips, which took quite a bit of effort. My original idea was to glue the clear film to them from the inside, but I couldn't make it work. Since the frames were already installed, I left them in place. Looking back, I probably should have asked about window techniques earlier. I'm learning!

The canopy opening is only on the left side, which is a distinctive feature of the full-size aircraft I'm modeling.

One more question: the real aircraft has a window in the wing that allows a view into the cockpit. It would show off the pilot figure quite nicely. My current plan is to cut the opening in the tissue before covering and glue the clear film directly to the underside of the tissue before attaching it to the wing, and to do the same on the underside of the wing.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and any tips on this approach.

I'm happy to hear that you like it.

Markus

[Stunthenk]

On the FK.43 wing I made a balsa frame, covered it with plastic sheet only on the top and then covered the wing with tissue. The frame is full depth to attach the tissue covering on the bottom of the wing to it. Attaching the plastic sheet directly to the tissue should work, but be aware of wrinkles!

[MockwingF]

Hello Stunthenk,
 your skylight solution seems to be the best option for the BD-4 as well. It only requires a few balsa strips, so the additional weight should be minimal. I'll try to build something along those lines and see how it turns out. Thanks for the idea!

[Stunthenk]

Good luck! I was wondering about how attaching plastic sheet to tissue would work out, but we've avoided that question, haven't we?

[Jmk89]

If you use laminating film or some other Mylar film to cover the centre section, you can keep the covering strength and keep the transparency. Best of both worlds....