D.P.R Rare Bird Sailplane

Course he does ,

Watt Meter
Assorted Props
Spare Wheels
Double Sided Tape
Loads of Balsa Cement, she needs something to stick to her hair :woohoo: :evil:

Garry

Nice post on RCME Sarah, re the build, well done that girl

That took guts !!! I am proud of you

Garry

Lol!! You are all nuts, but you make me laugh and I love you all to pieces xxxxx
Thanks you 'orrible lot

Sarah
Your Rare Bird looks wonderful.
Yes it does seem a pity to cover them in fact some people leave their Guillows scale types uncovered as show case models simply because they look so good.

Being 'old school' I would tissue cover it. When doped the tissue becomes fairly translucent so you still see most of the structure and it looks gorgeous in the air on a sunny day.

Well done for posting on the RCME web site.
You may be a 'newbie' but I think the comments on your posts rather confirm your building prowess!

I am defo a tissue and balsa gal but I think this one with it being prop less and a glider just doesn't lend itself to tissue and dope, cant explain it better than that if it makes sense?
Plus will prolly need something stronger to keep it together hahaha- it is after all my first build, no idea if I have used the correct amount of glue etc to keep everything together but it has been glued within an inch of its life.

Finishing touches a tad delayed due to my mum being here (first few days novelty, then we will get her in the kitchen cooking and washing up so can get back to building :lol: )

ROFL dont think there is much prowess about me haha but thank you. Like I said on there, I had some great friends to help me when I got stuck- that is you guys xxx

Post should come on Sundays :pinch: I want to start the sopwith!!! NOW!!!!! :woohoo:

If you are going the route, with tissue and dope, beware, if the house occupants dont like the smell, you could have problems, :blush: and there is SO much prep work when using this stuff, :woohoo: wait till we meet up, i have some iron on stuff that is lighter than anything, and its not lightspan, :whistle: plus, if are anything like less than carefull, with handling and storage, then holes will apear very quickley,

BUT if you insist, its best to practise, and for this, you need summat to practise on, before you ruin your model, build a frame, sim to your wing, flat, it does not have to be angled, and simply, cover it, i did this many times when i was a kid, and it took a while to get it right, now, i can cover still in tissue, nylon----but choose not too, because there are other alternatives available,

alan cantwell wrote: If you are going the route, with tissue and dope, beware, if the house occupants dont like the smell, you could have problems, :blush: and there is SO much prep work when using this stuff, :woohoo: wait till we meet up, i have some iron on stuff that is lighter than anything, and its not lightspan, :whistle: plus, if are anything like less than carefull, with handling and storage, then holes will apear very quickley,

BUT if you insist, its best to practise, and for this, you need summat to practise on, before you ruin your model, build a frame, sim to your wing, flat, it does not have to be angled, and simply, cover it, i did this many times when i was a kid, and it took a while to get it right, now, i can cover still in tissue, nylon----but choose not too, because there are other alternatives available,

Thats a good idea actually, am gonna do that- build a frame and practice.

The Rare Bird is, to me, not a tissue and dope plane, it just wouldn't look right......so am waiting, oooooiiiiooooiiiiiooooooooo, still waiting ooooiiiiiooooooiiiooooooooo

I'm gonna have to put my two-pennyworth in here. The Rare-Bird IS a tissue and dope aircraft. Tissue and dope impart a rigidity to the structure that film covering does not. The Rare Bird was designed for tissue and dope; you can tell this by the structure. The parts are set square to each other, there is no diagonal or geodetic bracing. If it were designed for film it would be more rigid in it's construction.

Having said that, it is possible to cover such a structure successfully with very thin film, but it would need a tissue covering on top. This creates the lightest/strongest finish. The lightest finish is tissue only, film of adequate thickness is heavier. As I said to Alan some time ago, if film was lighter than tissue , then every free flight scale model would be covered in it. They're not, 99% of them are covered in doped tissue.

In the end S-J, it's up to you as to what you cover it with and I'm sure the model would still fly if covered with film.

Ah..when I said it wasn't a dope and tissue plane I meant it didn't seem right to me to cover it that way. Kinda instinct if you get me, it just doesn't feel right? It comes with lightweight tissue and the instructions say you can use two basic coverings either the tissue supplied or iron on plastic covering but that's for experienced builders. I don't know what to cover it with the box shows the picture of it covered in plastic. It just looks better ..........oh i don't know what to do i know i is designed for tissue just doesn't feel right:(

Andy does have a point, but i was aiming at the smell in the house scenario, i know traditional builders that just cannot stand the smell, and fumes of dope and thinners, but, Who mentioned film :whistle:

[quote="In the end S-J, it's up to you as to what you cover it with and I'm sure the model would still fly if covered with film.[/quote]

It's your model Sarah, if you wanna cover it in film, cover it in film!

No, will follow expert advice though where do I get dope from?

Any good model shop Sarah.....and you'll need thinners too.

You can put the tissue on with dope or PVA as you have been before. When it's dry, water shrink it, pinning the part to the building board as it dries to prevent warping. Then when dry, give it a coat of 50:50 thinned dope and when touch dry, pin it down again. Another coat of 50:50 should be enough to fill the grain and make te model waterproof. The fuselage won't need pinning down, only the flying surfaces. As before, hold them in position with pieces of wood piined t the board, not the model.

wouldn't say on Xmas Day ... but,,,,, M..r...r you know, a reflecting surface :evil:

Most any of the model suppl;y shops Problem is time and cost.

Sarah
Was your favourite 'Helena' covered with film?

As Andy pointed out doped/tissue is still the lightest. We seem to have got used to the super shiny plastic films but their biggest advantage is they are fundamentally proof. Not a problem for gliders or rubber power. Fuel proofing a dope finish adds quite a bit of weight and as IC planes a usually built stronger to start with the flexibility of a film is not a penalty.