150 Scale VMC (Veron) rubber-powered Hurricane

You might try gluing with Titebond or Aliphatic.

When tissue covering, don't use cellulose, it'll melt the Depron. Tissue paste may work, or wallpaper paste. I have to say that I've tried neither on Depron, so I can't say for sure.

For construction, I have successfully used foam safe cyano, aliphatic and superphatic, all of which work well.

I don't know if it will work but you could try securing it using lightweight filler .If this proves too brittle add a LITTLE, DILUTE pva. As I always say EXPERIMENT. Try it on some scrap first. Very nice work so far btw [badass]

Covering is now complete. I used a pritt stick to glue the tissue and found it easy to control and clean. This was the first time I have used Esaki tissue and it was a revelation. I covered most of the model dry, until it came to that curvy nose, I wetted the tissue and was amazed how much it could be stretched. That's the first time I've covered 'wet'.



I've now painted it, too. I used Windsor and Newton watercolours. I paint one colour, let it dry, then paint the second one, overlapping by as little as possible - these watercolours set and won't intermix. It's a technique that makes sense on paper, but perhaps not always on tissue... The idea is that you shrink and paint at the same time, creating an opaque surface, and since the paint is almost just a stain, it doesn't add much weight - 3 grams on the 27" span Hurricane. However, being water-based, it won't penetrate the tissue where there's a hint of glue, which leaves an ugly patchy finish.



This isn't always a bad thing, it adds a random patina to the model which worked really well on my Me109 - dark grey paint on light grey tissue. Results on the Hurricane are mixed. The dark green paint on green tissue generally worked well; the dark reddy/brown paint on green tissue turned out black! I suspect that there are tissue, paint colour and light and dark combinations that will work well with this technique, and others that will be a disaster. The scheme looks a mess on the Hurricane at the moment, especially around the nose, where the glue smeared onto the planking, but I think the whole thing will improve a bit when I seal it.

Now that it's ready to dope, it's time for my next question... Can I add, say 10% shrinking dope to 90% non-shrinking dope, then thin the whole thing down 50%? The idea being to get a hint of tightening on the non-shrinking dope to prevent any sags creeping in. I will try a sample first, but just thought I'd put the question out there to garner any thoughts on this.

Many thanks,

Crashrr

You've just discovered a fundamental rule of painting there Crashrr! i.e. if you mix together two complimentary colours (red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple), you'll get black!

Very nice Crasharr . I've been advocating the use of watercolours on tissue for years.Shrinking and colouring together.

The Hurricane nears completion...

I did a very short trial test glide to establish roughly how much weight I needed to add to the nose. To my horror, it needs around 24g. Darn, the whole plane only weighs 54g! To keep this weight to an absolute minimum, I decided to cast a lead noseblock, which sits right behind the spinner - as far forward as its possible to put the weight. Although it took me three attempts to get it right, the process was much easier than I imagined.









I deliberately cast it too heavy, as it will be easier to drill out some lead, than add it afterwards. Which brings me to the next problem... Rubber!

Following Andy's advice, I shortened the peg length to keep aft weight down, so the new peg to hook length is 9". I have cut a 100' strip of 3/16th rubber and intend to run two 25" loops. However, I now need to figure out how to braid it so that it hangs correctly in the fuselage and doesn't cause errant CoG problems when it unwinds. I have searched online and tried the following: tied the two ends together to make a 50" loop; put 150 forward turns on it; unhooked the winder and brought the ends together to make two 25" loops; reattached the winder and allowed the rubber to braid itself. the resultant motor was 23" long. I have tried everything from 75 forward turns to 300, but cannot get that 23" motor to shorten to 9" (which I am reliably told it will do...!) I have also been told to wind the motor a few times (outside the plane), attach the prop and let it unwind holding the noseblock 9" away from the peg. This should allow it to settle into it's proper position. No change.

So, my next question is: how do I braid the motor to get it to rest at say 10" long?

As always, many thanks, in advance.

Getting there...

Crashrr.

Well, I did some research on the braiding and asked a few people online and, although, it didn't quite work the way I expected, I have finally managed to braid the motor to 9". That's a major milestone for me in my quest for duration. My, somewhat measly, record is a mere 26 seconds. Not much, but probably more than all my childhood flights added together!

More rubber is going to smash that record!

I think I can safely declare that the Hawker Hurricane is finished - (bar the tail wheel which is drying as I type, and a pilot and observer).


Here is the real one upon which it was based.





I ditched the retractable undercarriage: it was just too fiddly to get right, and it hinged right on a critical join in the wing which would have required more bracing. In its place, I opted for built in depron wheels, of which I'm very pleased. The light grey colouring of the undersides didn't take at all, but has added a sort of mottling.



It's been an interesting project, not least for all the 'firsts' I've managed to build into it: balsa spinner, solid nose-block with adjustable thrust bearing, Depron, Esaki tissue, non-shrinking dope, colour testing, magnetic wings and, of course, my first machine-gun!



If I'm disappointed in it, it's more because it's semi-scale and, therefore, missing some of those classic Hurricane features, most notably, the thick wing, and that I got a few bits wrong - exhausts too big, etc. Also, it's heavier than I had hoped. It weighs 87g without a motor. Most of the balsa is 3/32, but I think much of that could have been replaced with 1/16. Fortunately, I ignored the kit's huge solid sheet rudder and made my own built-up version, I also cut out some ends of stringers towards the rear; all of which would have helped to reduce the 25g cast lead nose-weight necessary to get the CoG right.

Negatives aside, this plane was always supposed to be a learning mule, and for that it has been a huge success. The magnetic knock-off wings are a triumph and will, I'm sure, save me much grief in the future.

I've no idea when that future - of long grass and clement weather - will arrive, but I will report back with the results of the first test glides.

Many thanks to everyone who has chipped in and helped me on this project.

Chocks away, Biggles, I mean, Boris!

Crashrr

Well done!!
Mike

Tally ho, old bean, well done. :woohoo:

Nice work Crashrr, it looks great

Three days of dry, sunny weather and I cracked... I took the Hurricane out for a few test-glides to establish its CoG. Here is one of them.

At the end of the flight you can see the knock-off wings popping off - they work a treat. The crate is a tad nose-heavy, which I expected, but before I do any more, I'm going to build a small magnet into the nose-plug to hold it it. Being solid lead, any movement will have a huge effect on the crate's flight.

I think that's it, till the grass grows and I can start winding on some power...

Not much wrong with that glide!

that was a fantastic glide.
i would leave well alone.

Tony B