Christmas Curare EP

This may be a delaying tactic designed for me. The two metal elevator push rods apparently require ME to solder on the screw end for the clevises. No-one mentioned this, neither in RCMF's review or Jon's so this may be a mod, I don't know. Need a welder!

Retracts turned up from Austria beating Servo Shop in the UK for my servos which are still not here.

Ran the iron over the wings and fuselage. Not to bad at all, just a few bubbles. Nicely covered anyway

I am following Jon's advice here by installing hardware into the wings first before joining. Easier to handle. Ailerons hinged so far. Aileron servos are HS-5495HVs, 7.5kg - 7.4volts. A bit overkill.

Found slight damage to a flap edge in transit but can be sorted later. Flap rods - exit holes in wing not big enough to allow the rod to move freely downwards. Opened them up with a sharp knife was needed. Now have up to 60 degrees of down.

Tomorrow glue wings together and fit flaps. One wing has been slotted to mount flaps servo directly into wing, maybe a deviation from the earlier kits?

PhilF51 wrote: The two metal elevator push rods apparently require ME to solder on the screw end for the clevises. No-one mentioned this, neither in RCMF's review or Jon's so this may be a mod, I don't know. Need a welder!

You can solder these with a 25W iron, but 40W or more will make it a little easier. Make sure the rod is clean and tin it first. Roughing it up a little with a dremel seems to make the solder stick a little better. Then heat the solder adapter until you can melt solder inside, and when it's melted push the rod inside and hold it there for 20 seconds or so to make sure its solidified.

Mike - are you saying I can use standard electrical solder? I thought it would've needed braising with oxy/gas torch.

40 watt irons I've got.

Yes...normal 60/40 rosin cored solder

Phil

Soldering a clevis adaptor to the wire is no more difficult than a 4mm connector to a lipo wire. Clean well, tin both parts and apply enough heat to make sure the solder flows fully, simple!

Looking back, I probably didn't mention it in the review as it seems like a simple task to me, soldering is a skill that everyone should have, even if they only assemble ARTF's!!

Here is a photo of my flap install, ply parts were supplied to make the mounting plate you can see in the photo.

Phil

When you join the wings, make sure you use enough glue especially to the hardwood brace, same on the tail. My horizontal stabiliser has come loose from the brace, I suspect this is from not using sufficient glue, although it is possible the ply brace has cracked. If I was doing it again I think I would add a bit of additional reinforcement or heavier duty brace as this is easier than having to repair it afterwards as I will have to do

Thanks Guys. Not wanting to appear "stupid" :whistle: I was trained to "solder steel" (aka braising) using a rod and high temperature flame. This would be where the steel is glowing bright red but not flowing and the rod dipped in flux pot would be placed into the red hot spot and would weld the two steel items together

Maybe I have mis-interpreted the word "solder". I have always used solder for electrical work, not in construction work. I didn't think that lead solder would take the possible vibration from models. Well, after all these years you learn something new every day. :lol:

Yes, definitely need clean surfaces or the solder will run off.

Regarding the flap I was going to do your idea as well Jon. Mush tidier, similar to the B25s flap system and the Spifire

I'm a fair bit away from this point. Jon - How did you verify the stabiliser incidence before gluing? I would imagine this is fairly critical.

Just install as designed Phil, the carbon peg in the pre drilled holes for the tail mounting will set the incidence for you, I checked mine as I assembled it and everything was as it should be.

Just make sure everything is triangulated and square as you mount it as described in the review.

Hi Phil

Just a point when soldering steel wire - I always supplement the cored solder with Plumbing flux. This cleans the metal parts during the soldering process. The downside is it is quite corrosive so make sure the residue is removed after soldering.

Also the tinning process should apply only a very thin layer of solder on the metal parts. Any thickness to the tinning will hold the components apart when positioning. This will cause the wirewrapping to become loose when the solder melts.