900 Series Mustang Build

[jpuke]

Here's the 900 Series Mustang that I finished recently. Not too impressive on the covering but I learned a lot and even tried some scale details. I used the kit tissue, Elmer's Glue for all construction and two coats of airbrushed aerogloss dope. The weight came in at 24 grams with the prop but I added a little bit of nose weight to balance after the rubber made it off balance again. I got it out to fly today, should be a good flyer as long as I have some down/right thrust.

How do you guys keep the wood around the nose plug from getting soaked in lube, making the cutout larger over time? I had the same problem with the Chipmunk that I built and now the noseplug will actually fall out when it gets to the end of its winds.

[Squishyp38]

well......... dethermalizer?

[jpuke]

Isn't a dethermalizer meant to stop the plane from going too far? Not sure what good it would do for this model.

My noseplug problem is that the fit gets loose over time and I'm wondering if others have the same problem and how they fix it.

[jpuke]

Wait, I think I get it now.

Squishy - are you saying the prop falling off acts as a dethermalizer? I guess that could be true.

[Squishyp38]

yes, IN MY THEORY, the drag should pull it to the ground.

[ADW 123]

i would stifen it up with some CA or even a little dope to seal it up. that (in my estimation) should take care of buisness.

i noticed your decals. did they not go on very nicely? i have had the same problem. i think someone needs to think of a more effective decal for the kits. the water stick ones dont do anything for me. most of the time they end up falling off. they hardly stick.

[Arlo DiPasquale]

Just an interesting side note on the decals, but I just realized that with the decals given, the planes correct designation should be F-51 because when the Air Force became its own Service Branch (and since this plane has USAF decals, as opposed to AAF), the old, antiquated P (pursuit) was done away with in favor of the more modern F. I hope some day Guillows will include the authentic WW II decals instead of the post-1947 ones since that was when the Mustang earned its fame and is the time period most people are trying to model the plane in. On another note, great job on the model, the inked control surfaces look great, and the covering is really not to shabby, hope to see more of your planes soon.

[jpuke]

My brother said the same thing about the decals, that they're wrong for the aircraft. My wife calls him an "airplane nerd" but hasn't given me the same title yet.

I also agree that I did a lousy job with the decals. They go on fine on the fuselage or places that are very flat and tight but I have problems on wings and thin tail structures.

[supercruiser]

How do you guys keep the wood around the nose plug from getting soaked in lube, making the cutout larger over time? I had the same problem with the Chipmunk that I built and now the noseplug will actually fall out when it gets to the end of its winds.

A coat of brushed on clear dope may help with preventing the balsa from getting soaked with lube. Also, you may try using less lube or a different kind. To keep the thrust button in: try imbedding a rare earth magnet in the thrust button and a piece of metal in the front former. Kittyfritters made that suggestion somewhere else on this forum.

[jpuke]

Thanks for the help. I'll have to think ahead next time about the magnet. I'm somewhat pleased with this model, it came in at 27.15g without the rubber so it's considerably lighter than other models I've built.

I'm not as please with the covering. I pre-shrunk the tissue for the tail surfaces and the wings but they continued to shrink on the wings after adding the dope and that's why there's so many stress wrinkles. I am going to follow scigs30's advice and cover everything I build in hopes of getting better at it.

[Phugoid]

Nice model!

I would definitely seal the balsa nose block with dope or sanding sealer.

I agree with squishy that unless you are competing the nose falling out at the end of the motor run can be quite a good way of keeping hold of your model! especially given how light you've built her.

What dope did you use? I'm trying not to state the obvious here but is it shrinking dope?

[jpuke]

The dope was Aerogloss, I didn't think it would shrink things that much though. Oh well, live and learn.

[Phugoid]

Try Banana oil if you can get it. It is very light and does not shrink at all, I just brush it on. I think you can get it in the States as I think Alex (ADW) uses it.

PS the decals will never stick that well to doped tissue. There are a couple of obvious options - paint the model, or print the decals onto tissue using an inkjet printer.

Also In the UK we have something called "Decalfix" which help, but I've never tried it on doped tissue only - something similar might be worth a go?

Cheers

Andrew

[ADW 123]

there are some fancy sealers (i dont know what to call them) where you paint a coat or two under the decal, and then put the decal on, then paint over the decal. its clear but i havent used it. i think that the decals in the kit should work without this much trouble. they need to re think the decals (at least i think so)

also, i get my bannana oil online. try a google search. im pretty sure that i got mine from france, as i recognized the postage info to be in french. however, it was definatly from europe. i didnt pay that much for shipping, and bought a total of 100 ml of bannana oil. when thinned 50/50 with regular dope thinners (i used nitrate dope thinner) thats 200 ml of dope there. its good to have an empty metal container with a sealable lid to put thinned dope into, so then you dont have to mix it everytime you use it. i still have a whole 40 ml left of the stuff, and another can of thinned. i use it on my smaller models, and you dont use very much of it with two coats over such a small surface.