Finished sheeting the fuselage tonight. It looks really nice so far. I'll have to sand down the uneven edges and fill the gaps. I've built a test sheet, glued to a frame of pieces similar to the stringers in the fuse, to test the staining and/or clear coats for color, finish, and to see if they will warp the sheeting. I'll also have to test wood-fillers for color after the stain/clear coats.
Below is the top view of the sheeted fuselage:
And the bottom view with the battery hatch off (it's sitting upside down on the table below the fuse)
Here's a view from inside the fuse, looking astern from the battery hatch. The elevator and rudder servos can be seen (the ship was upside down when I took this), as well as the battery lines to the ESC.
And another view inside. This is looking astern as well, but from the front of the plane, looking through the motor shaft hole in the firewall. The three esc-to-motor wires can be seen, as well as the Castle Creations 75amp ESC. The battery trays sits below (above in this picure) the ESC tray.
Next up is figuring how to do the stain/clear coats. I plan to test the following:
- minwax stain + polycrylic clear coat
- polycrylic clear coat alone
- "coffee" stain + polycrylic (I read about staining balsa w/ instant coffee mixed with water...thought I'd try it)
- fiberglass + polycrylic (I'm interested to see how "visible" the fiberglass after it's put down with the clear coat, may be useful to reinforce some parts of the sheeting if necessary.
- test all of the above with & without sanding sealer.
I may also try premixing the polycrylic with stain or coloring of some sort to give the right look.
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