Now and Then,,,(21)

Coming to the end,,,

I was still waiting for the mail order items from Sig and Dively Models. I had a lot I could do in the meantime. I went ahead and made the carb heater box for the cowl. This was just a box made from styrene plastic, the fine mesh screen and a frame over the screen. I used a fine tip on a soldering iron to make what looked like welds on the frame and added some of the resin screws. I had painted the box and mesh black beforehand and used some silver paint for the frame. I painted the cowl Cub Yellow (Coverite Black Baron) and added some tabs to the heater box so I could glue it to the inside of the cowl.  I then waited a couple of weeks before adding a clear top coat to fuel proof it. 

 A full size Cub has two cutouts in the wing center section. One is in leading edge back to the spar. The other is a skylight behind the spar going back several feet. The windscreen covers the front cutout. The skylight is a separate piece of plexiglass. These are so the pilot can see what is above him. The skylight is necessary because if your flying the Cub solo you sit in the back seat for proper center of gravity. The Sig kit had the front cutout but not the skylight so out came the X-Acto knife and I cut into the wing to make a skylight. I simulated the tube structure that goes from the instrument panel up to the wing and ties into the rest of the tubing. This area also got a coat of Cub yellow paint. Many Cubs had a radio installed in the space between the skylight and the bottom of the wing. I looked at some pictures of radios and with a little bit of plastic sheet and rod, I had after painting and dry brushing, what looked like a radio. I used some very fine wire coiled up to simulate the cord that goes into headphone

 The items from Sig and Bob Dively Models finally arrived. The pictures from Sig were very high quality and showed the proper locations for the decals and some other details that I was unaware of. The Dively interior kit looked to be blow molded plastic. The detailing was good for the side pieces but the seat bottoms and backs were in two pieces each. To join the pieces together you had to glue a strip of plastic to the underside of one of the pieces. This was problematic as the strip had to make a soft 90° turn so that you could glue both pieces firmly together. Once you had the two seat bottoms and two seat backs in one piece (easier said than done) you were left with a seam front to back. That seam was really difficult to fill especially where it curved 90°. After much filling, sanding, primer and painting (Black Baron-black) I had decent looking seats. I should have just covered them with cloth to simulate upholstery. That would have been much easier. The left side piece had the throttle quadrants and the stabilizer adjuster-fuel on/off location molded in. You had to make the ball levers for the throttles, the handle for the stab adjuster and fuel supply switch. These molded areas were all painted black and the panel itself was more Cub Yellow. These side pieces did a good job of hiding the wood framework of the cabin area. Moving on to right side I decided not to make a working door. The was some structure there that I didn't feel comfortable cutting into. That could weaken the cabin area and in turn weaken the whole front of the aircraft. Looking back I could have done it by adding some plywood to the area under the door and that may have returned the structural integrity to that area. I did make an operating sliding window on the left and a push out and up window on the right. I used a Du-Bro push-pull radio switch and mounted it in the right hand side of the dash panel so the working window was needed to get to it. The instrument panel I made from sheet plastic with holes cut out for the instruments. The Tatone instrument kit comes with assorted instruments and clear one piece plastic bezels/"glass" faces. Painting the raised inside ring without getting paint on the face is tough. I used liquid masking on the faces. It peels off when your done painting. The bezels were pushed through the instrument panel and the dials were glued to a second panel. These were then glued together and after adding some resin bolts I had a very respectable instrument panel. The radio gear (receiver and servos) was located in the cabin area and the seats fit right over them and were at the proper height so I could use a full figured 1/4 scale pilot in the rear seat. 

 The Pilot was from a DGA kit. It was not a ready made pilot. In the kit was a pilot head, a blue baseball style cap, some brown gloves and boots all made from latex. There were instructions on how to sew up a body and patterns for clothing and sunglasses. That was all you got! Not ever having sewn anything in my life I devised a different way to make the body and clothing. Since this was a 1/4 scale figure I measured my own torso from the shoulders to the waist and thickness front to back. Then I divided by four. I made a torso using a rolled up tube sock that I flattened and stretched until I had the right dimensions. I used this as a mold. I put some tissue paper over the sock and applied some thinned white glue to the tissue paper. Like paper mache I continued to add tissue paper and glue until I had a thickness of about 1/16 of an inch. Growing impatient I then used some thin super glue and drizzled it all over the paper. Bam, the superglue set off and I had a tissue paper torso as hard as fiberglass. I added some more superglue and let it sit overnight. The next day I peeled the sock out and had a lightweight torso. I cut a hole in the top the size of the neck on the latex head and a vee shape from the neck down to about mid chest level. The head had extra latex down from the neck and the vee would allow that to show. Making the clothing wasn't too difficult either. I took the measurements from a pair of old jeans I had and then cut one leg off. I turned it inside out. Again I divided the pants measurements by four and from the bottom I measured in from the outside edge 1 inch on each side. I then sewed at an angle until I reached where I measured the crotch would be. I cut away the material in between. To finish the waist I just turned down some of the material and using superglue I hemmed the waist! I turned my handiwork right side out and had a pair of pants! I decided this pilot would be wearing a T-shirt and aleather jacket. The T-shirt was easy. I bought some doll clothing and cut out the neckline from the shirt. This was a stretch material and after installing the head I pulled it over and glued it to the neck and torso . I had some tan lamb skin driving gloves that were looking pretty bad on the palm side but the backs and fingers were ok. Two of the fingers made the sleeves of the jacket and the backs I used for the body of the jacket. I cut out the shape of the jacket, glued the sleeves on and glued it directly onto the torso. The hardest part was making the collar stand up like a proper leather jackets collar would. I stuffed the head, pants and sleeves with some of the insides of a torn bed comforter to give some shape and then pushed the head up through the hole in the torso and glued it down. To avoid painting eyes (the head was in a flesh tone) I made some sunglasses from the pattern provided. I also added a beard by using my own stubble and thinned white glue. I did multiple applications of glue and stubble. It was a nice thick beard. That went so well I did the same for eyebrows. I put on the baseball cap and from the front he looked good but the back needed hair also. I cut some of my own hair and gave him a ponytail then glued down the hat. After glueing on the gloves and boots I now had a 17 inch tall pilot which fit perfectly in the rear seat. He still needed one more item. Headphones! I quickly carved out of balsa the shape I wanted and heated up some sheet plastic and pulled it down over the balsa. I did this a second time. Now I had two earpieces. To connect them a short piece of flat aluminum cut to length and bent to shape was inserted into slots cut in the earpieces and glued in place. I also made a hole so I could plug in the coiled wire I made for the radio. 

I used a bunch of those resin bolts on the interior window frames and other locations where those Sig pictures showed them located. One of the last things I did to the interior was make the control stick in the rear seat move with the elevator. The servo for the elevator was right beneath the stick position so I made up a wire that fit into the stick and attached to the servo. The Dively kit had a boot for the stick. I drilled a hole through the stick and the boot so I could insert I pin. This let the stick go forward and back. I glued his hand to the stick and when you moved the elevator his arm moved and it looked like he was controlling the elevator from the stick. These are the little things that only are visible when your plane is in the pit area but spectators and other flyers seem to enjoy. 

 I waited until I had the interior done before covering the fuselage. I covered the fuselage with Coverite. They make a covering that is a woven cloth material that comes in Cub yellow. I found it easy to use and when applied correctly the seams just disappear. Since the original builder had used pinking tape on both the wings and fuselage I would need to add it where appropriate. To do this I would need to make my own tapes. I found at a craft store several different sizes of pinking shears and was able to match up to the size used on the wings. This was a slow process as I needed to cut long pieces to the same width. I cut a lot of pieces but many were discarded. After covering the fuselage I added the tapes and I was pleased how the covering came out. It looked real good over the simulated tubing with just the right amount of bow in to the covering and I even got the covering to lay down in the proper way between the tailfin and the fuse. The color match between the painted wings and the Coverite fuselage was indistinguishable. 

 One of the hardest parts of this build was the fitting of the windscreen. Get the shape correct was difficult as there are many curves that you have to get just right to avoid any gaps. I would get one side perfect and be way off on the other side. Eventually I got a piece cut that was real close to matching on both sides. I used a product from Foremost for installing canopies the was flat on one side and had a slot that you inserted the canopy material into. This would cover up any small gaps and since a similar product was used on the full size plane it worked out well. I added the Cub decals I had ordered and lastly made up those big black lightning bolts from black trim material and placed them on both sides. I finally was able to assemble the plane and stood back to admire my work. With those Sig pictures in hand I was comparing the finished product to a full scale Cub. I was happy with the results. This was a fine replica of a Piper Cub. There was one glaring omission. I didn't add the eyebrow baffles that go above the engine cylinders. I had made them but could not figure out a way to mount them securely to the engine. That was the one that got away. After looking at the plane and the pictures I did notice one other detail I had failed to add. The Cub has its fuel cap right on the top of the fuselage in front of the pilot. It is basically a short tube with a cap and a piece of rod extending vertically out of the cap. That vertical rod is the fuel gauge. There is a float on the other end and the lower the rod the less fuel you have. This I could add easily and did. I also used some very thin (.010) black tape to simulate the gap around the right side door. I used a very fine tip superglue applicator to put a drop of glue on the tape. The glue would run down the tape and by tilting the plane around the glue ran the entire length of the tape. This would fuel proof and adhere that tape permanently to the covering. 

 With a Scale plane you never really finish as there is always more details you can add. Antennas and pitot tubes and other protrusions on the wings or fuse. I keep looking at those pictures and adding little details. 

 I had assembled the plane and ran the engine. Nothing shook off and that was a good thing. Since this was a twin cylinder engine it had two exhaust pipes. The original builder had used some silicon tubing to extend these exhaust pipes and attached them dead center to the engine firewall. A Cubs exhaust actually exits the cowl on the bottom right side. I decided to make a change and made a muffler out of some copper pipe and high temp metal flex tubing. This was all silver soldered together. Short pieces of silicon tubing connected the engines exhaust pipes to the flex tubing. I made a bracket to attach the muffler to the firewall. The muffler had a smaller tube that would exit the cowl at the proper location. A four stroke RC engine has unique sound and a twin sounds even better. The new muffler enhanced that sound and that engine truly purred when running. 

 Even with all the changes made very little weight was needed to balance the plane. Something like 4 oz. was added to the tail. My friend who I spoke of earlier had become quite a good pilot but I wanted one of the club instructors to make the first flight. Still having a car that this plane would not fit into I called up my friend and he came right over. We loaded up the plane and all the necessary flight gear into his truck and off we went to the RC field. 

 It was a Saturday so the field had a lot of people there. As we unloaded some of them came by to have a look. Soon a sizable crowd had gathered. I let them look over my handiwork and since I had the frequency pin I turned on the radio and moved around the elevator. The pilot moved his arm in sync and everyone seemed to think that was pretty cool except for one old guy who said "Why'd you do that" very sarcastically. I said "Cuz I could, could you?" He said " Wouldn't even try" and left. Everyone else really like all the details I had added and I let them look and answered all there questions about how I did certain things. 

 It was now time to get this Cub in the air. I enlisted one of the clubs instructors who flew a lot of Scale planes to do the honors. He did the customary preflight and found no reason to not go ahead and make a flight. I had set the engine up at home and it started after just a few flips of that big propeller. The instructor run up the engine to full throttle while I held on. Lots of power available so he proceeded to taxi it around the runway to get a feel for its ground handling. During this time most of the pilots had landed so he would have clear skies once he took off. Lining up at the end of the runway he gave it some power and started the takeoff run. The tail came up but he continued down the runway until the plane lifted off before giving it just a little elevator. That plane rose up and climbed out in a very Scale like manner. He circled the field and as it flew by it sounded and looked like a full scale Cub. He took it up high and checked out the stall characteristics. He did a loop and other prototypical maneuvers that a Cub would do. He then set up a final approach and proceeded to do a touch and go. Satisfied that all was good he brought in down and did a three point landing, taxied back to the pits and proclaimed "Flies great". I was happy that I got it back in one piece as many maiden flights end in disaster. After landing I gave the plane a once over and saw that the pilot had become dislodged from his seat. I had forgot to attach him firmly. Once I got home I stuck some Velcro to his butt and back and to the seat bottom and back. Problem solved. 

 The hobby shop was having its annual parking lot and swap meet sale so I decided to put some items up for sale, including that big Sig Cub. I sold some of the stuff but had no takers on the Cub. I spoke with the hobby shop about putting the Cub for sale on consignment. After they looked it over and saw the quality and amount of detail I had incorporated they agreed that they would take it on consignment. The split would be 70/30 with me getting the 70%. They then realized that this was the Cub I had purchased from them about a year earlier. They said they hadn't noticed that before as I had made so many changes. As we were completing the paperwork I saw that they were hanging the Cub up in the main portion of the store. It would be one of the first things you saw when you entered the shop! It was not going out in the warehouse with all the other models on consignment and used equipment. I felt good about this. I was proud that they were going to display it in their store in a place of distinction. This meant they thought of it as fitting in with the other top quality planes they had on display. That was the last time I ever saw that airplane.

Life's funny,,,

 The reason I sold the Cub was that I was soon moving to the Pacific Northwest. Once more major changes were taking place in my life. I quit my job at the phone company. After almost 20 years I decided I'd had enough. There was also some personal issues and it was best if I left the state. When several people you hung out with go to prison for capital crimes it is time to re-evaluate your lifestyle. It was definitely time to get the hell out of Dodge!

 I had purchased a VW bus and didn't have a lot or room. I was taking just the bare essentials plus my pet parrots and cages (which were quite large). I put all my hobby stuff, my book collection, personal items and furniture in storage with every intent of coming back and moving everything up north.

 After settling in up north I got a phone call from the hobby shop. They had sold my plane and were sending me a check for $1500.00 which meant that they sold the Cub for about $2100.00! I did make a profit even with all the extras I added. 

 I continued making storage payments for about a year but never got back to reclaim my items. Jobs were low paying and I eventually fell behind on the payments and lost a lifetimes worth of treasures. That is why there are no photos of any of my projects. I haven't built another model since. I still go to RC fields and events but now I make videos and post them on social media. It's a way to stay involved with something that has been a big part of my life!

Bob's Plane, Boats and all RC Action on YouTube (select videos after page opens). 

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ3FRBA62H402p8FbiLGQQ

Bob's planes, boats and all RC on Flipboard  

http://flip.it/B8yxJL

This is Vol. 1 (Hints and how to's) There is also a Vol. 2 (RC videos) and a Vol. 3 (miniature engines)

RC Hobby Videos on Vimeo

https://vimeo.com/channels/rchobbyvideos

Much the same as the YouTube videos but has some others not on YouTube.

Epilogue 

So ends this series of articles titled "Now and Then". My goal was to entertain, educate, amuse and maybe help others remember back to another time. I hope I was able to accomplish some of that.

 I will continue blogging with posts about Aviation and Watercraft, both full scale and RC. 

 Thanks for reading,

     Bob