Upscale Quinstar build(s)

[Flyfalcons]

Just edge-glue two 3" sheets together. Done all the time in the RC world. Easy.

 

[neil_w]

Just edge-glue two 3" sheets together. Done all the time in the RC world. Easy.

Didn't even think of that. Any special technique, or just push them together with son Titebond?

 

[TangoJuliet]

Didn't even think of that. Any special technique, or just push them together with son Titebond?

You may end up with slightly under 6" wide sheets, but the technique for best results is to use a long straight edge to trim one side on each sheet to get a good square edge. Then butt the two squared sides to each other and run blue painters tape along its length (I use a magnetic building board, so I use magnets to push the two sheets together nice and tight). Then flip it over, open the gap, run a thin bead of TBII, or I like to use Super'Phatic, close the gap, wipe away the excess glue, and lay flat, glue side up on a layer of wax paper. I then also lay a sheet of wax paper on top of it and lay modeling magazines on it to keep it flat. When it's all dry, a sanding block with 220 grit and a few swipes across the glue seam and you've got a nice wide balsa sheet.

 

[neil_w]

Excellent, I will give that a try!

 

[rharshberger]

A woodworkers trick for joining is to stack the two pieces and plane or trim one edge then open like a book with the two trimmed edges together, by doing it that way both edges are perfect matches.

 

[neil_w]

A woodworkers trick for joining is to stack the two pieces and plane or trim one edge then open like a book with the two trimmed edges together, by doing it that way both edges are perfect matches.

That's a good one, thanks.

I printed out templates for one of the main pieces at 1.677:1, for a BT60 center tube. It's pretty hefty, although not unmanageable.

It looks like I can *just* fit two of them on an 8x18 sheet, so each of the 5 pieces will cost me a single 4x36 sheet of 1/16" balsa, which I will then but in half, glue together to make an 8x18 sheet, and then cut two copies of each part and laminate them together. I'll try one to get started and see how it goes. If it's successful, I'll continue.

Looking at these pieces, it seems kind of insane to do this by hand, but I won't be in any hurry so maybe it'll be fun. We'll see how experiment #1 goes.

 

[TangoJuliet]

If you can arrange the parts to do it, I would laminate the 1/16" sheets first, and then only cut 1 of each part.

 

[neil_w]

I'm a bit torn, because although cutting two of each piece could be tedious, cutting 1/16" balsa is so easy. Cutting the pre-laminated pieces will be somewhat harder, particularly with all the weird nooks and crannies. Would it be better to do something easy twice, or hard(er) once?

I'll probably try one each way and compare the effort and results.

 

[TangoJuliet]

If it were me, I'd rather cut all those nooks and crannies once. Plus, I wouldn't have to be concerned with whether or not mirrored pieces match in all those nooks and crannies. 1/8" balsa isn't very difficult to cut, even with a lamination of glue in the middle. Just keep new, sharp #11 blades in your knife handle. :wink:

 

[neil_w]

OK, maybe I'll try that way first.

 

[neil_w]

Well, today I became "that guy" with a little scale at the balsa rack. I found a couple of nice mid-weight pieces (about 10 lb/ft^3) and am in the process of edge-gluing and laminating. I used TangoJuliet's method of taping the joint on one side, and then gluing on the other. Seemed to work really well, right now it's drying under wax paper and a couple of old textbooks.

I did not recut a new clean edge on the pieces because after close inspection with the two pieces pushed together the seam seemed pretty much perfect.

For now I am edge-gluing first, and then will laminate the pieces later. I got a good arrangement of the wood that will minimize waste.

Fun!

 

[neil_w]

My edge-glued pieces are now laminating. The layer of Titebond II really set the pieces a-curling, so I have them pressed pretty well with a stack of books. The desire to peek in is so strong, but I'll leave it be until tomorrow.

In the meantime, just cutting out the paper templates was a project. Here are parts one and two, which will be cut from the currently-laminating piece, if all goes well:

 

[Cabernut]

Already getting started, nice!

op:

 

[Charles_McG]

And here I was hoping to beat you to parts pictures. Fingers crossed for this afternoon.

 

[neil_w]

Already getting started, nice!

Just a few days since APRO is ready for paint and I'm already getting incredibly itchy about not having anything to build. This should keep that feeling at bay for a while, at least until I give up in defeat.

And here I was hoping to beat you to parts pictures. Fingers crossed for this afternoon.

Well technically I don't have any actual parts to show yet. Anyway, you'll have yours ready to fly while I'm still laminating balsa.

 

[neil_w]

It occurred to me that I won't be here tomorrow to check on my balsa, so I took a look and I'm glad I did. The part had picked up a bit of warp, so I wet it down and stuck it into the press again (this time with more weight). I wet the side that needed to "expand" more heavily, so it just about flattened out perfectly before I stuck it under the books. We'll see if it comes out flat on Monday.

I will say it felt extremely strong. Particularly in the direction of the grain it is like a rock. Happily that confirmed my expectations. Opposite the grain it's flexible, but for these pieces strength with the grain is really all that matters. So far so good.

Here's what my layout looks like. Arranged this way, I minimized waste and ended up with a spare 9" piece on each of the 4x36" sheets, so I'll have plenty of leftovers for the other parts, and whatever else I may want to use it for in the future.

 

[neil_w]

The laminate seems to be holding its warp rather steadfastly, and I now see where I might have made a mistake that didn't even occur to me: I laminated a B-grain sheet with a C-grain sheet; perhaps the two had a different expansion in reaction to the water in the glue, and I'm fighting a losing battle. Oh well, I played my last card just before I left work, which was to wet it down again and adjust my pressing arrangment so that it pushed the wood in slightly opposite the direction of the warp. Now I won't see it again until Monday.

Either way, I think these pieces will still be usable, but not as good as they could be. From now on I will be sure to always arrange my wood so that I am laminating the wood from the same sheet, so that expansion should always be symmetrical.

At home tonight I was checking out a piece of 1/8" balsa, and I couldn't really tell if was any different from my laminate in the strong direction, but in the weak direction it was definitely *much* more flexy than my laminate. For what it's worth.

 

[Charles_McG]

Parts are in hand


Link, because the iOS upload isn't working right now.

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[Charles_McG]

I hope you kept your instructions- otherwise it's a tough puzzle.

 

[neil_w]

Nice!

Yes, I do have my instructions, and I will be extra sure to put in piece 5 the correct way.

By the way, had you been planning to do this before I started this thread? I don't care either way, just curious.

 

[Charles_McG]

It was a back burner project idea. I've made 18mm and 29mm Blenders and love them. It's a great way to burn a G80.

I like the Quinstar design, but my original has proven fragile. I put an AT D in it and flew great, but had multiple fractures on landing. I'm hoping the 3mm ply is tougher.

So -partly-, I made it to show you up

 

[neil_w]

So -partly-, I made it to show you up

Ha ha, please be my guest. Mine will be lighter but yours will be sturdier. I look forward to watching yours come together.

 

[Charles_McG]

Yeah, the parts are 243 grams. Before glue, paint, motor mount, motor retainer, etc.

 

[dhbarr]

Man, a 38 would be -perfect- with those Loki G's. Just a whole lotta "bwah!?" at the field.

 

[Charles_McG]

Mine is 165% OS. The red tube is a Wildman 38mm dual deploy upgrade tube, just to test the fit.

This scale is about 4.5" tall. With a nice overhang at the bottom it just fits the AT 29mm DMS (I used an Estes G80 to test), and it should accept a CTI 38mm 1 grain nicely.

So that's the next dilemma - do I leave it at that, or do I leave off the top pentagon so I can stick longer motors in it?

 

[Charles_McG]

I'm glad I went ahead and made the wide slots wider for the thicker than scale ply. The narrow slots are okay. I made the horizontal slots a little wider, too - but not quite enough. They still needed touching up with a file. I blew the sizing for a launch lug. I had to carve a file it out to 1/4" lug size.

 

[Charles_McG]

G saucers are great for 'sturm und drang'.

 

[Charles_McG]

I beveled the base of the little triangles for a tigger fit. And I beveled the top edge of the 'thick' side of the wings for more glue surface for the big triangles.

 

[neil_w]

I beveled the base of the little triangles for a tigger fit. And I beveled the top edge of the 'thick' side of the wings for more glue surface for the big triangles.

Great minds think alike, I was planning to do the exact same thing. It's looking great, I like your clamping arrangement for the big triangle.

Do you have a strategy for the decals yet?

 

[Charles_McG]

Sadly, I forgot to scan mine. But they are pretty simple, I'll probably recreate them in Illustrator and print them on the Papillio decal stock I have here. I think I'll even try doing a foil transfer on top of that. I'm thinking of doing a red/gold theme. I already have green/silver as a Quinstar and yellow/black and blue/bronze as Blenders.