Grumpy Tigercat

Starting to get on with the other engine pod.



It's a bit blurred but you get the idea. Starting to get a bit concerned about the engine angles, might have to do a bit of tweaking once she gets bolted together. By sorting the blocking first before fitting to the wing, I'm not 100% convinced about alignment as it is difficult to judge. As the motors are so close and being a small model, I doubt it will be super critical, but if I built it again I would change how the pods are fitted.

Simon

I think I've messed this up. Finding it really hard to get a decent datum to check the motor alignment. Should have got everything jigged up with the wing on the model before glueing the engine pods on. With the other motor blocked in I've got no decent face. I'm just not convinced things are correct. Just walked out of my building room as I came close to just folding the wing in half and scrapping it.

Think I will leave it till the weekend, get the wing fitted to the model (which I should have done in the first place) and the see if I can jig the fuselage level and see where things lie. Not sure I can be fussed to build another wing, so this may be the end of my Grumpy Tigercat.

Simon

put the wing on and then jig it up.
please dont scrap it.

Got the wing jigged on the bench with the incidence meter. Looks like I've got a couple of issues. I can get the pods aligned to each other, but they will be off by 2 degrees relative to the wing datum. This is my mistake for relying on the wing shape to fit the first pod rather than jigging it.

The other issue is the motor is 2 degrees off to the firewall so I must have a distorted plastic engine mount. Tried a few before I found one which fits the little 30 four strokes but the quality of the moulded mounts is not as good as I remember. Don't think I can start retro fitting different mounts so it looks like I will have to shim the motors once the wing is on to get everything pointing in the right direction. According to the plan there are no thrust angles built in, so hopefully not too much messing around.

Going to glue on the other pod to match the first and then block around the motor. Spinners may be a bit off eventually, but no worse than my Dual Ace.

Will post some pictures over the weekend if a I get any building time.

Simon

Wont matter a jot, trust me, gerrit done,

Little bit more. Just need to make it look like the other one.



Been using those flat permagrit sanding blocks. Quite thin but strong enough to hold their shape. Not cheap but I've found them really good compared to my hand made sanding blocks. The rough one literally wipes the balsa away at a rate of knots.

Need to sort out how I'm going to mount the servo. Needs to be between the ribs as I'm not fitting removable covers. Can't decide between a couple of rails or a lite ply plate.

Simon

Thats better Simon, you were beginning to sound like me and thats not good for you. everything can be worked out
Its looking good

Bit of progress. Got the other cowl roughed out and started on the bottom covers. Will leave the final sanding till after the wing is on so I can check the engine thrust lines. Will have to do a bit of tweaking me thinks, but should end up okay (just made the whole job harder than it needed to be).

Also decided how I'm going to mount the servos. Will post some images tomorrow.

Simon

Covers are made for the bottom. Plan showed 1/32 ply, but I've capped them with 1/8 balsa so I can knock the edges off a bit.







Not much more to show, now got to sit down and spend the rest of my Sunday marking and planning for Mondays lessons.....roll on the Christmas break !!

Simon

Just taken out the engine mount which is causing me trouble. Once I got a file on it to give a bit more clearance, the mounting holes I've drilled are a mile off.....the motor is so obviously out of alignment, I can not work out how I didn't spot it. Ordered a new mount, will take a bit more time on my drilling this time.

Once that is back in, both the motors should be close enough so I can tweak the incorrect cowl and crack on.

Will post more pictures at the weekend if I get any time.

Simon

Been rough for the last few days, but feeling a bit better this evening so decided to finally pull the mis drilled mount out and replace with a new one. Put the motor back in and obviously it did not match the original nose ring, so that has been hacked off and replaced with a new one. Need to build up the top edge where I now have a bit of an overlap. Thinking about just using some light weight filler to blend it back in, but with the little four strokes I'm wondering if it might break up over time under the covering?
Would be a bit of a pain building back up with balsa as the cowl is now curved?

One good thing is it now points in the same direction as the other engine...........which can't be a bad thing. Still can't work out how I missed the engine being so far off but now it is sorted I can get on and finish the wing.

Simon

Little bit more.



Got a bit more sanding to do, but it's time to get the wing mounted and the top deck finished off. Might even try to get hold of a bit of blue foam to carve a canopy out of as I'm not going with a clear one. All gets packed away tomorrow as I need to make my den back into a bedroom ready for a big family visit over Christmas.

Simon

Well, after 2 weeks off it doesn't look much different.



But, the wing bolts are in and the wing is fitted. Need to build the top of the fairing to blend in and a canopy, then I can fuel proof everything, get the engines, tanks and servos in and cover the wing. Just can't seem to get the enthusiasm to finish this off.

Simon

You have to finish each one as you do it Simon
Or you will have a shed full of unfinished models the same as the rest of us