Topic: Another Popsie Build

Looking fantastic! Is most of what you've done so far using just an iron, or do you use the hot air dryer much? I'm just very impressed with  your covering, as I can never seem to get mine to go round corners without wrinkles.
Wilko

Wilko

Thanks for the kind words 

I would love to use my hot air gun but I can't find it! I  will have to look for it - it makes life so much easier.

To get the film round corner the technique is to pull the film round  as hard as you can (or dare) while applying heat with the iron.

I will have a think about how to post some photos showing the technique.

Bert

Some more of the same

Bottom of the tailplane covered ready for the top to go on, making sure it all still fits



I put the covering on the tailplane without the elevators, pulling it round the tip



Cut the excess away



work it round the tip pulling out the wrinkles



My dinner is on the table, more later if I get time

Very nice build Bert, I'm tempted to ring Belair, but I have too many projects on the go at the minute. It has to be one for the future though.

Very nice build Bert, I'm tempted to ring Belair, but I have too many projects on the go at the minute. It has to be one for the future though.

He didnt get his kit from Belair.. He got it from John and I, commonly known as Light-work as we produce them.

He didnt get his kit from Belair.. He got it from John and I, commonly known as Light-work as we produce them.

I certainly did get it from John and Maz, and jolly good it is too 

Bert

Very nice build Bert, I'm tempted to ring Belair, but I have too many projects on the go at the minute. It has to be one for the future though.

I think you will find it is not a Belair , but a Lightworks (JohnB and Maz) kit that Bert is building.

  Tom
Looks like I type too slow

Just when you though it was safe, there is yet more Popsie

When using the film as hinging there is always the problem (for me) of not  having enough slack in the hinge to get full down movement. I cut some strips of very thin card (paper would probably do) and Sellotaped them to the front faces of the elevators.





Then I taped the elevators in place (lousey photo)



As soon as I tacked the film onto the elevators I removed the tape and shrunk it all down



then for the 'Rhubarb









et voila!

Lovely job Bert, I might have a crack at one of these when my Finch is finished!!

Take care,

Greg.

Well that's the build done, all thats left is to go round all the seams and remove any odd wrinkles.
Then the wheels, radio and power train.











This has been a lot of fun, thank you John and Maz 

They're British you know 

Bert..she looks awesome, and may i say you have done our kit proud..

Going to put any writing on the sides?

Shes lovely and im sat here with the biggest grin on my face.   

I'll second that!! she looks great Bert.

Maz could I ask how much the kit is please. (I'm sure it's been mentioned before but I can't be a**ed looking back through!!)

Cheers,

Greg.

Lovely job Bert, I might have a crack at one of these when my Finch is finished!!

Take care,

Greg.

Thanks Greg 

After the Finch, Popsie will be a doddle!

Bert

Bert..she looks awesome, and may i say you have done our kit proud..

Going to put any writing on the sides?

Shes lovely and im sat here with the biggest grin on my face.   

Well, the looks are down to Mr Smeed and you and John 

There is a bit left to do yet to finish off, I just wanted to get most of it done this weekend.

Just a thought - Anyone for Popsie Racing? 

Bert

I've just started to build my Popsie kit,  I need to make some more pins too. 

Just a thought - Anyone for Popsie Racing? 

Note to self - must buy a bigger engine!!

Just a thought - Anyone for Popsie Racing? 

Note to self - must buy a bigger engine!!

General note        oh Yes

For information the weights of my Popsie are:

Fuse with servos and wheels 9.81oz
Wing 2.59oz
Tailplane 0.68oz
Motor and ESC 3.08oz

I wanted to put some lettering on the wing, so first I printed it out.



I cut out the 'curvy' letters and Sellotaped them to the Solartrim then cut the shape out with scissors.



The 'straight' letters were cut out with a ruler and a new blade





I used masking tape to give a straight line. I marked the positions of the letters on the masking tape



I wet the Solartrim letters with soapy water and slid them into place



When they were in position I dabbed the water off with a piece of kitchen roll and pulled off the tape



That's all for now

I have been following this thread all the way through and have just gone over the last two pages again. It's a bit of a masterclass in building and the demo of covering has been brilliant.  If mine looks even half so good I'll be delighted.

I vowed never to use solarfilm after the last time. It didn't look that good on day one, after a few months it became positively tatty.  Yours looks brilliant.

Well done mate, and thanks for posting it all, I've learned a lot.
stu k

Very nice job Bert, will have to get one started, Just found a plan for Vic Smeeds Debutante which is another timeless classic.

Cheers,

Chris.

Thanks for the kind words chaps 
 I'm glad it's of use.

I could have used an extension for the elevator servo but I decided to solder an extra piece into the lead



I stripped off the ends, twisted the strands together and, using my 'helping hands' thingy I tinned the ends



Not forgetting to put the heatshrink on first    I simply lapped the ends together and soldered the joint. The 'helping hands' crocodile clip acts as a heat sink and helps to prevent the heatshrink from shrinking prematurely



I still haven't found my hot air gun, so I used the heat from the body of the soldering iron to shrink the sleeving



The servo was mounted in place. To secure the servo screws into the balsa I coated the threads with PVA adhesive before screwing them in. I have used this method before when mounting servos onto balsa and it works well, allowing the screw to be removed later if required. Great strength isn't needed with this sort of 'plane.
The screw doesn't need to be tightened too much, just nipped up. The PVA takes care of it.



More to come

Now for the wheels.

The wheels I chose were intended to fit a much larger diameter axle. To overcome this I found two sizes of brass tube, one to fit over the undercarriage wire and the other to go over the first. I cut the tube a bit over length. There are many ways to cut tubing.  I used a Stanley knife, rolling it backwards and forwards while pressing down firmly.



It isn't necessary to cut right through the tube. It just needs scoring, then putting the end on the wire and bending it a little until it breaks at the score mark.



I found some washers that fitted on the undercarriage wire, but were larger than the brass tubing.

A washer is needed on the inside of the wheel. I made a small hole in a piece of cardboard and pushed it onto the under carriage wire to hold the washer while I soldered it. I forgot to take a photo of that, but here it is with the washer in place



I use solder paste from Wickes with ordinary electrical solder for soldering steel.



The iron I use for nearly all soldering jobs is this one. I'm sure there are cheaper alternatives but 50W is what's needed for reliable joints.

http://uk.farnell.com/weller/tcp-s/soldering-iron-50w-24v/dp/1712856

I threaded the two brass tubes onto the undercarriage wire. The washers will keep both the tubes and the wheels in place



Then I put the wheels on, and soldered another washer to retain them



More to come

Nice one Bert.

How did the op go by the way?

Nice one Bert.

How did the op go by the way?

It went ok. 

It has slowed me down a bit this week, more than I expected. I had hoped to be finished by now.

Not much left to do, just hook up the controls and fit the motor.

I might get to fly the Pops soon 

Bert

Just a bit more

There are many options for the 'pull-pull' or 'closed loop' system for the rudder. Kevlar fishing line would probably be ideal for this model. I have some of that and some Flair wire and proper ends that would be OK,  but they're in the loft (where my workshop used to be) and I can't get up there at the moment.  I settled on some lightweight control-line wire and some odd threaded brass fittings. Not as easy but all I had.

First I connected the wire to the servo arm by looping it through, holding one end in the croc clip on the helping hands thingy



Then I twisted it up, clipped the servo arm in the other clip and soldered it




I  fitted  the arm on the servo leaving the wires hanging out of the top



 I cut two slits in the covering using a straight edge



To make the job of threading the wire through the slits easy I used a 1mm carbon rod pushed through from the rear. I crossed the wires over so that the 'slack' would be at the ends of the travel and not at the neutral position



A piece of Sellotape secures the wire to the rod to pull it through



I soldered the wires to the threaded ends and covered them with some heat shrink tubing - et voila!



More to come

It was my intention to build an aileron wing for the Popsie so I'm getting on with that now.

Firstly I thought I would take a look at the centre section fairing. The original block fairing is OK, I don't have any issues with it, but I wondered about a different approach to it.

 I got a piece of 1/4 balsa sheet, planed a bit of a chamfer on the front, then wrapped a piece of sandpaper round the leading edge of the centre section and rubbed the balsa away until I had this:





Then I offered the centre section up to the cabin top



and drew round the front of the cabin





I put the top sheeting on



and glued the fairing piece on the front



I didn't round off the front of the centre section, it made it easier not to do so. The 1/4 sheet wasn't quite enough so I cut another piece of 1/8 and after chanfering the front stuck it on top.





More to come

I got another piece of 1/4 sheet and planed a chamfer on one edge



Then I Sellotaped a bit of sandpaper on the front of the centre section



and rubbed it backwards and forwards to make it fit



Then I marked it out and glued it on





a bit of shaping and sanding





checking back every now and then



et viola!