Re: The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway.

Ken Cook Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:39 am

We had a few club Cardinals being shared from time to time with .40 four strokes. I enjoyed them. One of our members was using a Cardinal with a PAW .45 nicknamed "Big Stinkie". When we were able to attend the Palisades Park contest, Windy would usually attend. Many Cardinals built by the New York Stunt guys. Unfortunately, the flying circles were taken away and that contest ended. It was on a parking lot of a swim club. In the concrete jungle, real estate is everything and you used what space you have. There were 3 circles and about 10' between any one of them. The winds were generally poor and one would have to use a lot of caution when moving around as to not enter into another circle. If one moved the opposing direction, it usually resulted in hitting one of the parking lot light standards. That was the last time I saw Windy prior to him taking a hiatus from the hobby and getting back into his motorcycles. He was flying his Novanata that day. While the wheel pants on the Cardinal look real cool they can cause some real issues on grass. Unfortunately, this plane is bad ass with them on and if you could make them removable I would highly advise to do so.

**RknRusty** Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:50 pm

Hi ken,
Your old flying site sounds pretty tricky, I'd need a helmet to hang around out there.

What you say about the wheel pants has occurred to me too. I'll make them removable. This plane will probably be flying long before I even carve them out. Heck, it was 3 years before I finally put the exhaust headers on the Yak. They look pretty awesome too. Howard Rush 3-D printed them for me.

I've heard Windy's grandson wants to fly now, so maybe he'll make an appearance here and there in the near future. I think the reason he quit flying was to be a Grandad.

I've been in the shop this afternoon. There was an inch deep empty gap between the doublers behind the engine, so I epoxied a square of balsa in there to plug it. Then I started fitting and shaping the inboard cheek tripler, but before I get too aggressive I need to look at some other Cardinal pictures. It's not glued on yet but it's time to do that before any more work on it. I started getting clumsy, so it'll have to wait till tomorrow. I guess the best way is to sand it around the nose ring first and then work back from there. I hope to get it epoxied together early enough to allow time for sanding. I tend to move really slowly on Sunday mornings.

It'll be time to buy some paint pretty soon.
Rusty

#Liner Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:10 pm

Hi Rusty! I like what you have got done so far! I joined this forum too! I'm trying to get my cardinal going too!

**RknRusty** Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:18 pm

Back in Mid October, 2-1/2 weeks out of the kit box I was on a pretty good pace when the Cardinal came to a screeching halt. Since then my ambition has outpaced the foul weather, my mouth/keyboard, and my ability to work. Now in the last couple of weeks it's rolling a little faster.

In October, I left it like this with the cheek cowl rough-cut:
The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 1013172113b

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 1013172113b

Today I worked on the cheek cowl.
First I covered the blind nuts to keep epoxy out of the threads:
The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Blind%20nuts

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Blind%20nuts

Then I epoxied the rough cowl and clamped it on. today, 24 hours later I sanded it to shape:
The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Cheek%20Cowl%20%283%29

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Cheek%20Cowl%20%283%29

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Cheek%20Cowl%20%282%29

All this was done with 60 or 80 grit. A little detailing with some 220 and 320 should finish off the nose. This weekend with good weather should be prime time for adding the vertical stab, the already-made tail wheel, and some clear dope and doctor paper(I'd rather have silkspan). It'll be time for DC540, and maybe I'll buy my lacquer colors too. I may have to order the chrome paint online.

No way to beat May, but at least we're moving.
Rusty

getback Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:20 am

You done a good job on the sanding Rusty she is looking good ! Look at it this way its on the bui9ld again and getting some done is better than not > + the therapy is worth a lot ! Easter Bunny

**RknRusty** Sun Apr 22, 2018 12:15 am

Finally finished the fuselage. I promise, no more sanding. I went to the shop intending to do what I've been talking about for a month now, Super Filling all the joints. No dings and it looks pretty nice. The worst looking spot is the glue on the vertical stab seams, but they'll hide easily.

But I realized in my enthusiasm, I'd forgotten to make the 1/2 inch backing for the nose ring. I'd long ago boogerd up the kit piece making something else with it, so I laminated 3 pieces of a square balsa stick. Marked it off and started sawing out the shape when the motor in my 3 year old HF scroll saw popped. It did, it said POP and my saw was dead. Mad

Don't know what I did to deserve that. So tat slowed my work. I finished it with elbow grease and mounted it. I bolted on the engine with the wedges and all the hardware and it fit perfectly with a 16th inch gap all the way around and nothing touching or rubbing. Nice. So all that's required is the oft-mentioned Super Fil, a couple or three coats of dope on the wood, and some doctor paper. I'll weigh it before doping too.

The other day I added a stylish curve to blend the v-stab into the fuse. If I decide I don't like it, I'll chop it off later. So, here's what she looks like now.

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Bare%20wood%20fuselage%20%281%29

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Bare%20wood%20fuselage%20%281%29

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Bare%20wood%20fuselage%20%282%29

The Winter Cardinal crawl... err... build is underway. - Page 2 Bare%20wood%20fuselage%20%283%29

**Cribbs74** Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:46 am

Looking good man!

You will love the way it flys.

getback Sun Apr 22, 2018 10:45 am

That's to bad about the saw , the nose ring looks good with the rest of that smoothness you got from sanding . Very Happy

**RknRusty** Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:44 am

Do you suppose it's just a common standard tool motor?

getback Sun Apr 22, 2018 12:48 pm

Shoot take the motor off and check it out you got nothing to lose and all to gain ?!? Probably is common . Brush or Brushless is the big question ? Wink

**RknRusty** Sun Apr 22, 2018 1:04 pm

Eric, I figured you'd know. It has what look like a brush cap on the top side. I heard a noise when it quit, more of a Pip than a Pop. I'll take a closer look today, thanks.
Rusty

Ken Cook Sun Apr 22, 2018 5:25 pm

Rusty, just prior to your building return some others on here made mention of ongoing and to do projects. I have one myself which was the Vector .40. Well I got around to doing a little at a time over the past week. I had to recover the outboard wing due to hangar rash and redope, sand and fill all the dings from being banged up. I didn't build this plane in it's entirety, it was given to me in pieces. I did a fantastic job of getting it together. I have been using water based polyurethanes now for a while. This will be the first time I did it on a full bodied stunter and the results are truly awesome. I mention this due to your chrome finish your trying to achieve. Auto Air has such a finish in a water based poly. It would more than likely require spraying. I use a 2" foam brush. I would've posted a pic but my camera just broke and my phone sends the pics upside down.

**RknRusty** Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:03 pm

I used WBPU to fill and silkspan the Yak-9, but that's back when I was still using enamel colors. Do you have any problem finding a fuel resistant clear coat for your urethane?

I've never flown a Vector, but I hear good things about them

If you send me an upside-down pic, I can right it.
Rusty

Ken Cook Sun Apr 22, 2018 7:51 pm

All the urethane I used is fuel proof. This isn't Home Depot Polycrilic. I use Systems 3 and Auto Air Color. /www.systemthree.com/products/wr-lpu-polyurethane-topcoat
By itself it will handle 10-15% nitro. With cross linker added, I was using 45% nitro and it didn't harm it.

NEW222 Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:10 pm

That looks like it will be a very nice finished product. The fuselage actually looks ver 'fast' just sitting there in the cradle.

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