[RGN]

As there was so much useful information on the old Tiggie build thread, I'm seriously considering trying to recreate it - but I don't have any backups.

I don't suppose anyone that was following the thread copied the content to their local machines by any chance? Or, perhaps better still, used the print option then saved it to their local disk?

I have all 300-odd photos I uploaded but not much else 

Thanks.

Richard

p.s. Is there enough interest to try to restore it, or even to continue the thread?

[half throttle]

Please do Richard

It's such a popular kit I'm sure there's a lot of interest, especially with all your extra detail

It happened to me once and I always swore I'd always keep back-ups in future. But, guess what? 

I know it's soul-destroying, but it's a lot quicker the second time. 

Bon courage  .@. 

Paul

[sedbergh]

Richard

I am gutted! I had just found this super thread and had only read about half of it but knew that I would use it extensively in my own build.

Please do what you can to rebuild it.

This morning I followed the instructions on attempting to recover threads cached by Google and have found the first page containing 29 posts. I have saved it and can e-mail it if you wish.

Peter

[sedbergh]

Richard

Picking up from your last posts about moulding and casting components I have been doing some research over the weekend. As you suggested I found a wealth of info on the web including some really useful videos. Some of them had very little to do with modelling and I am still wondering why people might want to copy parts of their anatomy!

However, my research led me to a company called Tiranti about 25 miles away and yesterday I visited their showrooms and got some really helpful advice on making moulds from silicon rubber and then how to make copies. One of the most useful tips was to use Lego bricks to make the container for holding the casting. We have masses of it in the loft from when the kids were small and it seems a very flexible system. Also they recommended making 'skin mouldings' by adding a thixotropic agent in the silicon rubber and when it has set supporting it with an outer shell of plaster bandage and casting plaster which is a more economic way of using the expensive silicon rubber.

I plan to start by replacing all the ABS components with glass fibre copies. I recall the difficulties of using the ABS in my Flair Stearman and it seems a logical first step.

I assume you did the same.

Peter

[thescaleman]

peter,

when i did my tigger about 4 years ago now...i made resin parts of the wheels/leading edge slat covers/compass/instruments bezels/nuts and bolts also the night flying hood fixings which i still have the moulds for...doing some spit exhausts later this week for someone else and my D8 parts.......could cast some bits if you are interested?

dave

[RGN]

Dave,

I'd be very interested in some instrument bezels and nuts and bolts if you wouldn't mind making. What size are the bezels, please, and what nuts and bolts do you have?

Also, when you say wheels - are these hub replacements?

Please email or PM me if you are able to make some to order - I can pay by PayPal if that is OK with you and you don't mind posting to SA.

Richard

[RGN]

Peter,

I'm glad you got sorted with the silicone moulding process. It is one of those things that when you start doing it you look around for things to mould!

Richard

[malpas]

Richard

I am gutted! I had just found this fantastic thread and was using it for my own build.

I have a new laser 180 engine going in, i have nearly finished the fuss.

Keep up the good work. I would be very grateful for the pictures

Malpas

[RGN]

Well I'll certainly try to recreate the thread but I'm rather short of time at the moment so it may take a while.

In the mean time, I thought I'd post some photos of the handholds I've been working on.

As a refresher, the 1:1 scale version looks like this:


Mine look like this:


I still have to drill and screw them on but you can get the general idea.

After trying various methods I eventually made them from thin tin sheet soldered to shape. The vac-formed ones were very thin (or else they did not fill the void) - so thin the spray paint melted them

Anyway, I hope these will be OK.

Richard

[BrianB]

Fortunately, I had saved a few of Richard's pics as I quite admired the way he'd tackled various parts of the build.

Keep up the good work Richard! Hopefully, the thread will spawn a few other Flair Tiggies, as the kit now seems to be back in production again.

[Charlie C]

Yay,

Good man Richard, glad you aint giving up. 

Charlie C

Hows the work front coming on BTW.

[RGN]

Yay,

Good man Richard, glad you aint giving up. 

Charlie C

Hows the work front coming on BTW.

Thanks, Charlie! The work front is very slow over here - my fears that my skills are too niche for this market in SA seems to be accurate. I've got one or two more leads to follow but it is looking increasingly likely my family and I will be moving back to the UK 

Time will tell, I guess

I'll miss the weather here but it'll be great to have the opportunity to meet some of you!

Richard

p.s. I've managed to find 4 pages of posts from the old thread complete with pictures. I'm working on a way to make them available.........

[Pup Cam]

Richard,

If you have all the photographs you can probably recover the text using this method suggested by alex.    It's a little long winded but any port in a storm ......

It worked for my Triplane thread.   Having recovered the text I thought I would leave it a while 'till everything settles down and then I will re-constitute the thread with just the useful bits (shouldn't be that much then in my case ).

Alan

[RGN]

Thanks, Alan. I have followed that and found many links - the 4 I noted are all 'proper' threads with normal RCMF formatting etc. The others are WAP formatted so very bland, unfortunately, with a lot of stitching together needed. I'll do that when I get some time.

Richard

[RGN]

Right, got the photos sorted All 307 uploaded.

I sure hope this works! Please PM me if you have any problems!

I'll make a start on the text tomorrow.......

Richard

[RGN]

Also done a rush job on the pages. I'll try to improve it as an ongoing exercise.

Richard

[sedbergh]

peter,

when i did my tigger about 4 years ago now...i made resin parts of the wheels/leading edge slat covers/compass/instruments bezels/nuts and bolts also the night flying hood fixings which i still have the moulds for...doing some spit exhausts later this week for someone else and my D8 parts.......could cast some bits if you are interested?

dave

Dave

Thanks for the offer. However I have become so intrigued by the silicone moulding process that I am really looking forward to trying the technique. My previous attempts at making items such as cowls using the lost foam technique have been a total failure and if I can sort this method it could save much hassle in the future.

Peter

[thescaleman]

hi peter,

any help i can offer....just let me know...i also use stuff from tarranti's......

dave

[RGN]

Peter,

For cowls etc. I wouldn't use silicone - I'd make plugs from balsa/chemiwood or similar, vac-form a mould from that then lay up glass inside that. This works very well for me.

to and

You can see some detail of the process I use here.

HTH

Richard

[sedbergh]

Peter,

For cowls etc. I wouldn't use silicone - I'd make plugs from balsa/chemiwood or similar, vac-form a mould from that then lay up glass inside that. This works very well for me.

to and

You can see some detail of the process I use here.

HTH

Richard

Richard

I was talking to a club member at the flying field yesterday, who has experience of moulding / casting

 see    'Fly Electric' - Fibreglass Moulding 3

and he made the same point.

Now up until then I had no immediate need for a f/g cowl but now I am thinking of making a copy of the balsa one on the Aeronca Champ I am finishing. I inherited the part built kit and intended to use it as a glider tug / toffee bomber. The heavy balsa cowl has needed a lot of modification to enclose the OS 160 I have installed and it looks a bit of a mess, so I may have a go at making a f/g version.

I plan to purchase the resins etc for the Tiggie parts this afternoon .

Peter

PS I did not intend to hog your Tiggie thread with moulding / casting posts. Would it be better to start another thread?

[RGN]

Peter,

No problem hogging the thread - it is all good stuff! Perhaps, though, it may be better to start a new one to keep the moulding/casting ideas together.

Richard

[RGN]

Completed the backrest of the front cockpit but still have to add the screws in the corners of the hand holds. You can also see the door opening knobs on the door.



On the second photo with the door open you can see one of the rare earth magnets used to keep the doors closed. I have one in each end of each door and one at each end in the frame. The end gap is about 1mm so they don't touch but the hold the doors securely closed without the complexity of clips, bolts or other hardware.



I still have to add the harness and the control stick assembly as well. Once complete this entire assembly will be removable to allow the lower wing bolts to be inserted.



The entire assembly is held in place by rare-earth magnets - two pairs each side on the seat, and three pairs on the backrest. Removing it takes only a second or so but it is secure when in place. To test how secure I stood a 440g can of baked beans on the seat and it didn't move! As there won't be a front seat pilot I'm sure it is secure enough.

Richard

[sedbergh]

They say each journey starts with the first step and I have just taken mine on the Tiggie build.

I bought all the components for moulding and casting last week and stsrted by making a fibreglass replica of the ABS oil tank.

This is the result.


It is probably not visible in the photo but the surface had many tiny pimples obvioiusly caused by fine bubbles in the silicone rubber. They were easily removed with wet and dry but I will have to work on the technique. Any suggestions?

Peter

[RGN]

Peter,

I made my tank by covering the inside of the vac-form tank with mould release then laying it up directly inside the vac-formed component. It worked fine.

When using the silicone, you have to get the bubbles out. I've used vibration to partial effect but have found the best approach is a 'long-drop' approach where you dribble the rubber out of a hole in a cup 1 to 2 metres above the mould box and item you are moulding. It seems to remove most of the bubbles.

HTH

Richard

[Erez]

Some questions, going back to the engine and tank subject (and probably they were answered in the lost thread...)  :(

According to this site, the Saito 180 is 45 mm between bearers.
I measured 38.5 in my kit.
Did you simply file away the material and if so, does this not introduce a weak point in the bearers?
 
The tank provided in the kit is 12 oz. 
Useful, but on another model...the above site suggests 20-24 oz for this thirsty engine.
How large a tank did you manage to fit and did it involve lots of material removal?

Finally, what are the opinions on the suitability of this engine for this model? it's at the top of the recommended range, do people who have actually flown it feel it is more than really necessary?

[RGN]

Hi Erez,

As far as I can recall I cut away the inside of the bearers up to the firewall. I guess it does decrease the strength but they are still very strong and I'd not considered them a weak point at all. The wood supplied was good and they look like they could still safely support an engine twice the size of the 180 Having said that I will add some aluminium or steel (depending on the need for nose weight) strips on the opposite side of the brackets to the engine to spread the load and, if necessary, provide a mount for the nose weight.

I recall cutting new tank mounts that I glued to the lower parts of cut down frames (can't remember which ones). These were for a Radio Active 16oz tank but today I went out and bought a 20oz Radio Active tank and it should fit the same mounts I made as it is only slightly larger. I'm sure that the 180 will be running at low throttle most of the time so hope the fuel burn won't be too bad and that 20oz will be adequate.



Actually, looking at those photos it appears to be frames 11 & 12

I know that the 180 is bigger than recommended but:

• when I started the build I expected to fly at 6000ft. ASL at 25+ degrees C so wanted plenty of power
• the 180 should pull an 18 inch prop that is very close to scale size
• The Tiggie will probably need nose weight - at least the 180 makes it useful!
• I have a throttle and can, and probably will, not need all the power - but it is nice to have when needed!

Don't forget that you may need to modify the foremost frame/firewall to accommodate the Saito 180 shape. I added a box behind the firewall then cut the firewall away.



HTH

Richard

[Erez]

Thanks! very useful pics.

Did you see any reason not to move the bearers outboard a few mm.s each side?
Would they interfere with anything?
Checking the manual I could not see a reason but maybe you came across one?

Flying at 6000 ft ASL? now that does require a more powerful engine...
I once flew at the lowest place on earth (on dry land that is), the model really did fly at a ridiculous low speed...
BTW this exact same venue (check site here) will host the Jet World Masters in June this year.

[RGN]

Erez,

I don't recall any reason why you could not move the bearers outboard - actually I've just checked the model and even now can't see any reason not to. I can't see the front cabane strut mount and that may be a problem but I can't be sure.

I also recall that the spacing in the other frames fitted the battery for the onboard glow etc. so it was convenient to keep it standard. The box I added behind the firewall gave it tremendous strength and I added triangle balsa all around the bearers behind the firewall as well.

The reduced size of the bearers is still 23x18mm and very secure - I still don't think it is going to cause a problem.

Some more photos of the bearers, firewall and my modifications (in no particular order):







Between the bearers is a battery box for a 4300mAh NiMH cell for the onboard glow. The sloped bottom of the extra box I added is a battery box for a 5-cell AA NiMH pack. It has a removable cover that is inside the cowl so invisible once the cowl is on.

Hope this all helps.

Richard

p.s. this is actually helping recreate the old thread - if you ask enough questions I won't have to do it (a task I just don't have time for right now).

[RGN]

I glued two small pieces of 3mm lite ply behind the thin ply where the venturis will go between the cabane struts then screwed the venturis home.





On the port side I screwed the operational oil tank below the venturi. This tank will hold smoke oil.





Richard

[thescaleman]

looking nice richard

[RGN]

Thanks, Dave

You mentioned in a post a little while back that you had a mould for instrument bezels. What size are they, please, and would you consider making some to order?

Richard

[thescaleman]

hi richard,

they are all 1/4 scale.....correct for this model...i'm at home at the moment, i'll photo what i have and post it soon......be back soon

dave

[RGN]

Thanks, Dave

I've just checked and the instruments I have are 15, 20 and 28mm (outside diameter of gauge measured) and I'd like bezels for all these if you have (2x28mm, 8x20mm, 2x15mm).



Thanks again.

Richard

[thescaleman]

hi richard,

just checked what i have.......don't tally with your requirements...the dia are different....sorry.....can't help i'm afraid

[Norfolk'n'Good]

Those instruments are fantastic.  they make my printed on paper stuck on a dash and a curtain ring ca'd on look cr@p 

[RGN]

No worries, Dave, I can make them but was just trying to save myself some time. Thanks for checking!

NNG, thanks Most are photos of the real ones inserted into Inzspan housings. For some strange reason Inzspan don't supply bezels for all the instrument sizes

Richard

[Norfolk'n'Good]

Now those pictures would be good posted on the forum and put as a sticky for future ref 

I'm sticking to my curtain ring though  it will pass the 20' test

[RGN]

Now those pictures would be good posted on the forum and put as a sticky for future ref 

I'm sticking to my curtain ring though  it will pass the 20' test

  I don't know how to create a sticky, but perhaps this may help others:



Richard

[RGN]

The kit supplied fairing over the fin, tailplane & fuse joint is the wrong shape now that I've corrected the shape of the fin so I had to make a replacement.



I started by covering the fin, tailplane and fuse with self-adhesive plastic sheet, then assembled it before spraying with a mould release. I then laid up a number of layers of fibreglass cloth. I wasn't happy with the curve at the front end so added a bit of micro-balloons.

Once cured I'll cut and sand it to shape.



Richard

[Norfolk'n'Good]

Thanks for the dials Richard, not right for my Sopwith Pup but any dials look better than no dials as far as I'm concerned 

I'm glad I'm not building a tiggie, you are a hard act to follow