3D Printing

‘Whistle’ while you work Brian? I’ll pop over at the weekend to collect

I have three Phoenix gliders but only one wing joiner/securing plate. The originals were ABS plastic but have since cracked and broken up. That left just one joiner, from the last purchase, the pate has now been made of a nylon sort of a stuff and i think not really up to the job long term. So, scratching my head as how to solve this problem I went on thingys to make and found a 3D printer file for a Phoenix with top flat surface for accessories. But I don't own a printer.

Contacted Brian who immediately downloaded the file and who "said no problem". By the time I had had two dinners he got back to me and said "all done". Went over with the wing set and they fitted very well. 10 times more sturdy than HK's flimsy effort. The Guy who created the file needed the plate to carry a GoPro hence the flat surface with a slight downward tilt.

My thanks to Brian. Forgot to ask on Thursday. WhaddoIoweyou.

Something I should have checked before starting the P-47 project has now put a stop to it. I should've checked the availability of the servoless retracts. Apparently they come from Hobby King, apparently they haven't been available for several months, and Hobby King won't commit to an availability date either.
Perhaps all the previous print failures were trying to tell me something?

HobbyKing are virtually out of everything or anything useful. I blame Trump and his trade war or Hong Kong playing up.

3DLabPrint sent me an offer yesterday...20% off the price of their new model called Joker. Its a 1.7M sort of hotliner/electric glider. It uses Corona thin wing servos and a 9 X 6 folding prop/spinner assembly, both items from the well known warehouse! I checked with HobbyKing, both items are on back order. The video of the model being built is interesting,( the parts take 84hrs to print) at last they've got the joints easier to assemble and probably a lot stronger than plain butt joints as used on the P_47. The attention that they've paid to aiding construction is quite encouraging, the new method eliminates all the slight misalignments between sections. There are a couple of videos of the model, and if you look around, there is a video of the prototype, which looks all "pale and frail" as its made from translucent PLA. It was indeed "frail" as during the second test flight, the rear fuselage broke off during a fairly tight turn. The "production" model has a 6mm diameter carbon tube from the wing root to the end of the fuselage. Definitely worth thinking about, must be a source other than HobbyKing, pretty grim if an alternative isn't available. The P_47 project is on hold until I can source suitable retracts, thats the snag with a printed model, there's no chance at all of modifying the printed parts to accept an alternative unit.
I thought the Joker would be a good model to carry on with, perhaps there are suitable alternatives to the recommended prop and servos, we'll see!

I was looking at the P_47 wing parts yesterday, bit fed up with the whole thing, then I realised that I could tape over the U/C mount slots and wheel wells, and with luck, the model might survive until the proper retracts are delivered.
Filled with new but misplaced enthusiasm, I downloaded the program for the ailerons and elevators, loaded the printer and pressed "GO". I didn't do any pre-processing of the files, according to the designers, their files are meant to be used straight into the printer, I have an e-mail that confirms it too! According to the program, the parts would take about 23 hours to complete. Fortunately I checked the progress after a couple of hours. The picture says it all. From the state of things, it looked as though the program had overridden the crash detection built in to the printer. I must be missing something vital somewhere, it would seem that I can manage to print almost anything apart from model aeroplane parts.