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1/7 Scale Blackburn Buccaneer All Composite Scratch Build

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1/7 Scale Blackburn Buccaneer All Composite Scratch Build

Old 02-18-2019, 06:39 PM
  #226  
JSF-TC
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Gary,

I used a 9oz satin twill weave cloth. Those are much more drape-able than a plain weave cloth. I'm probably going to transition to satin twill cloth exclusively, but currently using up existing cloth that I have. Vacuum bagging the mold seems to have worked ok. Just need it to warm up again to finish the second side.


Paul
Old 02-19-2019, 12:02 PM
  #227  
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Wow, what a great build. Looks fantastic so far.

A video of the time they wherer around....
Old 02-19-2019, 02:18 PM
  #228  
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Deeyyaaammmm that praying mantis was cool! Great vid you guys are gonna love Paul’s jet.
Old 02-22-2019, 07:52 PM
  #229  
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That is a cool video, SJN! I wonder if the prop plane is a Fairey Gannett??
As Buck pointed out to me, that vid shows a great comparison of the size of the Buccaneer relative to the F-4... Wow...
Buccaneer: Length = 63 ft, Span = 44 ft
Phantom (J): Length = 58 ft, Span = 38 ft.
Old 02-23-2019, 02:52 AM
  #230  
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Yes, that is the Gannet....has to be one of the ugliest planes ever made
These old videos are great. Not a single computer around, just large buttons, lights, and lots of mechanical stuff.....pens and paper.
The bridge is awesome. A captains chair, a pair of binoculars, and some voice tubes so he can shout out orders to the stations to get stuff done :-)

Here is another one....must be earlier, as the generation of planes are older.

Old 02-23-2019, 05:33 AM
  #231  
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WOW - SNJ many thanks for this wakeup call to get up and out to the shop to continue working on my Sea Vixen which I have a build thread here under the same forum but with not the same building talent. Those carrier deck take-off and landing shots of the Buccaneer and the Sea Vixen were just what I needed. You guys pulling plastic out of molds and using CNC and laser cutters are just artists at work. Such talents. I am a faithful watcher of this build. Would be cool to fly his Buccaneer and my Sea Vixen together. Chic
Old 02-23-2019, 06:59 AM
  #232  
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SJN,

Greta video. Love that period of aviation too. My late father served on those carriers in that timeframe, finishing up on HMS Victorious in ~1960 with Sea Vixens and Scimitars, as an armourer. He may even have been in the video!

Chic - yes, formation Sea Vixen and Buccaneer together would be great - maybe we can make a buddy refueling store!

Maybe a composite Sea Vixen could be next.....!

Paul
Old 02-23-2019, 09:06 AM
  #233  
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Hell yea!! Clank clank clank is the sound you hear walking around that flight deck!
Old 02-23-2019, 11:32 AM
  #234  
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Finished the inner flap molds. Happy with the results with good surface detail reproduction. Only a couple of minor chips in the mold surface coat on the outboard end surface of one flap, which should be easily filled.

Old 02-23-2019, 11:40 AM
  #235  
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Unfortunately, had a major failure with my speedbrake molds. Not sure what went wrong, but the surface coat broke away on the inner surfaces and very poor raised rivet detail reproduction, plus the plugs got trapped in the main molds. No way to free them......

I will have to start again and print new plugs and re-finish. I think I will not try to mold the lightening holes, but just mark the outline for later cutting out, plus make the molds in 3 pieces, not 2 so that I have a better chance of removing the plug.

I made the molds in the same batch as I did the rudder and flaps, so not sure what went so wrong. This was my first major molding failure so far, so I guess I can't complain too much.




Paul
Old 02-25-2019, 11:28 AM
  #236  
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I am losing my BUCC-in mind!

Wow, wow, wow!!!

Best thread ever!

Thank you for sharing this with us!!

Great pics, great techniques (that I have no idea what they are, but I can appreciate the beauty!) and great RCU camaraderie!
Old 03-02-2019, 06:59 PM
  #237  
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Just a quick update. Feels like slow progress.

I have re-printed the speedbrake plugs, but took longer than planned as I ran out of filament. 60+hrs of printer time. They are now ready for finishing. I may just do a simple finish and try to get a successful set of molds before adding a lot of the surface detail.

I have also started to add surface detail to the fuselage plug. Mainly just marking out the layout, but I have added some rivets detail to the forward fuselage.







No progress for the next few weeks as I have a business trip followed by a Spring Break road trip, then more work travel after that.



Paul
Old 03-03-2019, 02:04 AM
  #238  
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Thanks for the Videos guys. Here is one of the story of the Buccaneer:
.
I once went to a lecture by a retired Buccaneer pilot who started as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, converted to the S1 Buccaneer and then the S2. When the Navy gave up the Buccaneers and all other fixed wing aircraft they went to the RAF (who didn't want Navy cast offs, but quickly grew to love them). He went with the Buccs to the RAF. He pointed out he was amongst the list of accsesories that came with the aircraft! He had a lot of stories to tell including a hurried deployment to Red Flag. They realised that they were going to the desert in aircraft painted in grey/ green camo and they would stand out a mile. So they despatched the junior pilot with several groundcrew to the local B&Q9Like Home Depot) store to buy all their Magnolia Emulsion paint, which they then used to change the colour to "desert camo". With the paint still wet, they took off on their trip accross the Atlantic. Well you can imagine what the aircraft looked like when they got to America. One wise guy asked " hey buddy, where did you get this heap? did you make itt in your backyard?" However, they scored extremely well in Red Flag and were even awarded a kill against an F15. Great work on the Bucc.
John
Old 03-03-2019, 02:59 AM
  #239  
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after you put the gelcot with a little cotton powder on top so you do not have a glossy surface when you put glass fiber!!! you plane look very very nice!👌👌👌
Originally Posted by JSF-TC
Unfortunately, had a major failure with my speedbrake molds. Not sure what went wrong, but the surface coat broke away on the inner surfaces and very poor raised rivet detail reproduction, plus the plugs got trapped in the main molds. No way to free them......

I will have to start again and print new plugs and re-finish. I think I will not try to mold the lightening holes, but just mark the outline for later cutting out, plus make the molds in 3 pieces, not 2 so that I have a better chance of removing the plug.

I made the molds in the same batch as I did the rudder and flaps, so not sure what went so wrong. This was my first major molding failure so far, so I guess I can't complain too much.




Paul
Old 03-03-2019, 06:22 AM
  #240  
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after you put the gelcot with a little cotton powder on top so you do not have a glossy surface when you put glass fiber!!!
Mugu,

Thanks for the tip - I'll try that next time.

The only thing I did differently on the speedbrake molds was after the surface coat had dried, I put some thickened and colored epoxy to fillet the corners to help the glass lay down. I'm thinking that affected the bond between the surface coat and the glass. Will not do that next time.


Paul

Last edited by JSF-TC; 03-03-2019 at 06:27 AM.
Old 03-18-2019, 08:00 AM
  #241  
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​​​​​​How much is the dimension of the real plane?
Thanks😊
Old 03-18-2019, 09:52 AM
  #242  
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Mugu,

From Wikipedia;

Length: 63ft 5in (19.33m)
Span: 44ft (13.41m)
Height: 16ft 3in (4.97m)


Just got back from vacation, but away again next week on a work trip so probably not much progress anytime soon. Did manage to get some CAD work done during a flight for a work trip, so not all wasted time.

Paul
Old 03-22-2019, 02:35 PM
  #243  
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Worked on building the rudder. I decided to try Airex as a foam sandwich material on the skins.

I laser cut the foam and included a 15mm spacing grid of 1mm diameter holes to serve 2 purposes; 1) to prevent any trapped air bubbles & 2) to provide a mechanical bond of epoxy between both sides.

The Airex was easily formed around the leading edge radius with some gentle application of hot air from a heat gun, and when cool it took the necessary set to hold the shape.Otherwise the skin construction followed my normal method, using Klass Kote Epoxy primer first in the mold, a surfacing layer and then 9oz glass cloth, Airex and another layer of glass. This was then vacuum bagged overnight. Once cured, the excess glass was trimmed. Surface detail looked good. The inner structure was laser cut and assembled. Bonding was achieved with thickened epoxy.


Being impatient, I opened the molds once the epoxy was at the 'green' stage, as I am away the entire weekend. The rudder turned out well. A little heavy, but totally due to the heavy glass cloth that I used. I need to order some lighter cloth and make another one. It was a good first test for the Airex sandwich skins.

I had excellent surface detail reproduction. This was the first part made from a laser engraved plug and it worked really well.




Skins laid up and vacuum bagged.





Trimmed skins back in the molds ready for adding the internal structure





Ready to close up the mold halves.





All clamped up - fingers crossed!





It worked!







Paul

Last edited by JSF-TC; 03-22-2019 at 02:38 PM.
Old 03-22-2019, 06:18 PM
  #244  
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How do you apply the thickened epoxy?
Thanks,
Gary
Old 03-23-2019, 10:47 AM
  #245  
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Gary,

I put the thickened epoxy into a small (approx 2"x2") ziplock bag, and then cut the corner off of it, leaving a hole about 1/8". You can then use that as a small piping bag to layout the epoxy. Easiest method I have found yet. No clean-up required, just throw the entire bag away when done.

Paul
Old 03-23-2019, 06:08 PM
  #246  
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Originally Posted by JSF-TC
Gary,
I put the thickened epoxy into a small (approx 2"x2") ziplock bag, and then cut the corner off of it, leaving a hole about 1/8". You can then use that as a small piping bag to layout the epoxy. Easiest method I have found yet. No clean-up required, just throw the entire bag away when done.
Paul
That's a great idea. I have lots of the small bags. Never thought about it.
Thanks,
Gary
Old 03-25-2019, 05:32 PM
  #247  
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Spent some quality time while on business travel working on the outer wing internal structure.

All the parts interlock and should be self-jigging. I think I have it where I can cut the parts out and consider building a wing.






Paul
Old 03-25-2019, 10:05 PM
  #248  
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How are you going to layup the wing with glass cloth?
Old 03-26-2019, 03:08 AM
  #249  
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Dave,

I plan on doing a glass/ Airex/ glass vacuum bagged sandwich for the skins, just like I did for the rudder. Internal structure will be aircraft grade birch 5-ply.

I plan on building another rudder with lighter glass (3oz vs. 9oz) to confirm the process and check on the weight reduction and stiffness, but after that I should be able to build the inner flaps and then the wings.


Paul
Old 03-26-2019, 10:16 AM
  #250  
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Yes, guessed that’s how the skins would be laid up. But what weight cloth, single thickness on the outer skin? You going to carbon tape over the structure, you can reduce the structure considerably.
i would lay the wing with a thinner total sheet at the surface and a second layer from the root to just outside the flap pocket

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