3D Printing

Hi Dave, I'll bring the thingys to the meeting on Friday. See you then.
Regards
B.

Today I found the perfect excuse to not fly the Joker. A new piece to be left behind. The absence of the piece only being discovered after assembling the model on the field and wondering "What the ***!!!***" did I do with the darned thing?
The attached photos will give you some idea of what the missing part is, and does.
The ultimate safety device for an electric model, a cheap 'n cheerful Deans plug in a 3D printed holder.
The plug isn't shown 'cos HK haven't delivered the connectors I ordered............yet. I'm hoping I don't get a "On back order" message.

Shortly after I posted the last article, the delivery from HK arrived! The new Deans connector bodies are very different from the original design. Happily the terminal sizes and pitch are compatible with the old design. At least the new connectors come with a snazzy terminal cover, this also eases the old problem of getting the connectors apart without breaking a finger nail.

Brian wrote: Hi Dave, I'll bring the thingys to the meeting on Friday. See you then.
Regards
B.

Hi Brian, afraid I cannot make tonight

The Joker is almost complete! Bit frustrating this week, I ordered some small but vital parts last week expecting them to arrive by at least Wednesday. Had a 'phone call yesterday, the usually efficient people seem to have caught "HobbyKingitis" and at this late time have told me there's no stock of one item, so they are holding the order until they have everything.. I'm going to have to take up a hobby that doesn't involve trying to get bits that are advertised but are unobtainable.
Today I made up the pushrods for ailerons and flaps by rummaging through boxes of "useful stuff" that hadn't seen daylight since I don't know when. Finally managed to assemble four clevises, four bits of threaded rod and amazingly, four M2 hex nuts. The design really needed two clevises per pushrod, but I had to make do with one clevis and a "Z" bend at the servo end of the rod. I held the ailerons and flaps with masking tape while fitting the pushrods, I don't think I'll need to dismantle anything when I finally get to fit the elusive cyano type hinges.
The wings slid into place with no fuss, but a snag arose with the canopy. This fits the fuselage when the wing isn't in position, there isn't any mention of adjusting the wing centre section where it butts on to the fuselage, but sanding off a couple of millimetres was the only way to get the canopy to sit neatly. Finally, sanding off about 3mm from the rear face of the wing centre section made enough room for the canopy to settle with its front edge level with the seating in the fuselage, and the moulded detent at the front to give a gentle "pop" as it located.
With everything apart from the receiver and prop blades on board, the weight came out at 1230 grams, I was surprised as the model feels quite heavy. With mistakes and re-makes, the printing time was a few minutes over 90 hours, I didn't keep a record of the time to assemble the "bits".
The next episodes of the Joker story will be on a different Forum, it might be a mention of a remarkable first flight at Cashmoor, but it is more likely to be in "Tales of Stupidity".

Nice work Brian. Looking forward to the maiden sometime this year. I nearly always use suppliers who actually hold stock rather than show items to fill their web shop catalogue. On the other hand you could have saved 90 hours and bought a HK Phoenix 1600 PNP :lol: