Where oh where does the Phunky Pfred land next... Primary Force ARF

Not to say what's right or wrong, but i've never been a big fan of trying to cover a profile fuselage. It seems there's just too many nooks, crannies, seams, etc. to deal with, where paint can soak into it the wood a little to help keep the oil out. You might coat the whole front with some thinned epoxy before spraying it, maybe even glass it with some really light weight fiberglass?

I am with Ken , that looks dangerous to me ?!??!  with a .40 size engine ///// i have a 1960s S string that is in need of a lot of the same fun involved in getting it air worthy and well U Know  do the fuse thing if you can if you're going to fly it .. ( i would have built the kit other than go through that though >>

It is not that bad, fuse wise.

So far the two methods of de-oiling the wood are working. Heat gun brought a few drops to the surface to blot up with paper towels. Slurry of baking soda and 91% alcohol is sucking some more out of nooks.

Nixed the Acetone and talc or Baking soda mix, as I am unsure how much the Acetone would attack the unknown glues used

entire wing and fuse joint were dry. PO did a good job of epoxy fillets

Tail had some spent fuel seepage under the covering on the outside stab and elevator

So far I am happy with the clean up. And quite impressed with the wing construction and the factory 4" controls and crimps

My oh my---- what a grand mess a bunch of dried Baking Soda can create

MY brew/ slurry was 1lb of (OUT OF THE FREEZER) used baking soda box and half jug of 91% pharmacy alky

Slathered all over the oil soaked balsa/ply areas. Once dry Hit with heat gun for a bit, then brushed away.... and second slathering to sit over night

Today heat gunned again the sort of caked on slathering and brushed off... grand mess on the floor

No sweat Shop vac time.... HA! fine baking soda clogs a filter so much faster than balsa dust and the shop vac (exhaust) does a grand job of blowing the fine powder all over EVERYTHING!!!!!


NOTE to self....brush the stuff off outside.... hummmm....hint

On the UP side -----I am very happy with the nice oil free dried out balsa and ply areas ---and a drop or two of CA thin readily soaks in and smokes off as I like....nirvana!

some light filling, some prophylactic FG and epoxy on the nose, some meager sanding, Probably will do a coat of Sig Stix it on the perimeters, and should have a newish looking Plane by Sunday

I have found Stix-it to be more of a problem than help. It off gasses under the covering and makes huge bubbles not to mention it makes the covering creep around. If your not familiar with it, I would use it very sparingly. I truly believe it's too thick and thinning it isn't always the easiest thing to do.

Ken I agree and I really bought the crap becaus Brodak shrink film was causing some mucho "don't stick very good" grief

I did use it very sparingly on the sort of squared but real thin edges where there is very little film stuck down....
Eample...the opening for adjustable Lead out on a wing tip...

before sitx it, a quick heat gun to remove a stubborn wrinkle pulled the covering off the wing tip... PITA to fix.... next time, with the glue, I had some success

BUT yes! In general you are correctomundo... slathered all over the wing root sheeting, LE, and TE....just makes a grand mess

I think right now my biggest single concern is my Baking soda oil removal looks like it is going to be a royal pain to clean, clean again, and then again...I know well from experience that plastic film is not any good on a dusty surface and this powder is well infused in the balsa grain.....grrrrr

Funny on me.... some time back I built a beautiful wing and after sanding got out the Main Shop air hose to blow out and off all dust.... did not think...Regulator set to 100 PSI.... Immediately blew off the bottom center sheeting on first trigger pull.....DOH!

Quick update...sorry new phone camera and I are not getting along...storage and retrieve learning curve thing

I can take a nice photo and see it in my gallery... but transferring the the laptop to add in a post is proving to be a challenge.... I am sure it is some setting I can not find... BUT--- I suspect back in the house may be a dongle in the box to connect the phone to USB for file transfers..I vaguely recall reading about it in the quick start guide

On to the Primary Force...

I found some cool mods for adding a doublet/cheek to the nose inside that looks like a Jet intake and NOT like a Pylon racer cowl/cheek. Balsa block buildup glue and shaping today

Extensive prep to Epoxy & FG the Engine side

Still undecided if I want to do a simple layer of CF Veil on the Fuselage behind the TE...I would be doing this for sure IF I had cut the Stab and Elevator out of the slot...

But the tail was assembled well with nice fillets and no fuel soak in that area... Laying CF veil around the installed stab will be a pain...not to lay down, but to later fill and sand.

I really am only considering for the strength and weight add---- as I am sure my NOSE reinforcement will add weight.

As delivered (even well oil soaked) the plane balanced just right with a tank, OS FP 40 and tongue muff installed

From my research, many ARF PFs with this engine need very little added weight to keep the CG at 2" aft of LE

Once it get camera sorted I will update
I am really liking how it is shaping up....Hope I don't botch the wing covering...I JUST barely have enough of the film I want to use

Not that I would be opposed to a FP .40, but the plane was designed for a .25. If your claiming the plane balances correctly, is there hidden tail weight in the fuse? It really should be nose heavy.

I was curious about that also Ken

Dan McEntee has had several of these...kits and ARFs...he told me this ARF had the FP 40 since day one. I can detect no hidden lead so I assumed it was one of the ARFs with a heavy tail set

When Sean and I took it in my shop first thing I did was mount my FP 40 with tongue on the nose. Tank and mounting screws were there . I was surprised that it balanced as the wheel pants were terribly oil soaked

I only fly off soccer field grass so the pants would be ok with them, but I am NOT going to remake new ones...these are a waste of time to de oil