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1/4 Scale Pfalz DIIIa

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1/4 Scale Pfalz DIIIa

Old 05-03-2018, 03:23 PM
  #26  
flyboy2610
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That's a nice looking plane!
Old 05-03-2018, 03:47 PM
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You’re moving along, looking great we’re almost there with two 1/3 scales

Old 05-03-2018, 03:49 PM
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The other one

Last edited by vogel605; 05-03-2018 at 03:52 PM.
Old 05-03-2018, 04:23 PM
  #29  
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Mgnostic, there is a free program for resizing pics called Photorazor that works really easy and quick.

Vogel the 1/3's are looking nice.. Its fun watching all this WW1 action come together !
Old 05-03-2018, 09:21 PM
  #30  
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Hi Foodstick, thanks for the heads up on Photorazor. I have one of those vastly overqualified photo editing programs, it's just a mater of kicking it until it behaves the way that I want. I know that the files are smaller since they upload a lot faster but they were supposed to be 5x7 at 300 dpi.
Vogel605's birds are beautiful. I just don't have the budget in terms of cash or space for a 1/3 scale. Frankly, his are designed to a higher standard than mine but this is my first dive into the deep end of the design your own scale airplane pool.
Old 05-12-2018, 07:00 PM
  #31  
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Quite a bit of progress has been made on the fuselage since the last post. One thing I did was to hog out quite a bit of material to lighten the formers. Once the fuselage is partially sheeted it becomes rigid enough to get away with having less material. I have also begun looking to the layout of the cables for the pull-pull controls.


Old 05-13-2018, 08:01 AM
  #32  
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Finally getting the hang of my software and shrinking my photos. This is a picture of my servo plate and the walking beam for the elevator. This is basically the cockpit floor. And the walking beam will be below the pilots seat. I'm still debating on how much cockpit detail to do. The full scale plane didn't have a lot of instruments to start with but the tachometer is large and front and center so I will do at least that. I also want a pilot bust. the Pfalz has a pretty deep fuselage so there is room to perch a pilot's seat over the servo plate which sits down in the bottom of the plane. The seat will have to be removable because the main access to the servos will be through the cockpit opening. I'm not sure how much it will show but it won't be difficult to make an ammo box that attaches to the F4 former. Most of the controls are on either side of the fuselage, fuel on one side, mag switches and aux mag on the other. Like other WWI fighters the Pfalz had some of its controls mounted on the stick, so there are opportunities for detailing here as well. There are some items of scale detail that are inherent to the design or that have to be included as construction progresses but where it is superficial or can be added after the structure is completed I will probably hold off until I know that the airplane flies reasonably well.
Old 05-13-2018, 08:50 AM
  #33  
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Vogel605, is that a Halberstadt I see up in the rafters? (post 28).
Old 05-13-2018, 05:53 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by jtisch
Vogel605, is that a Halberstadt I see up in the rafters? (post 28).
I wondered that myself.
Old 05-13-2018, 06:01 PM
  #35  
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Here are a couple of pictures of the walking beam in place. The second photo shows where I have started working on the control cables. ( the photos were supposed to be in reverse order ) All the same it shows that I've started laying out the cables but they aren't locked in just yet.





Last edited by mgnostic; 05-13-2018 at 06:04 PM.
Old 05-13-2018, 06:12 PM
  #36  
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Here is one of those places where 3-D cad really is a winner. You can avoid issues like the control paths passing through a stringer location. If this were for a production model or commercial plans I would move the former and or stringers for ease of construction.


Old 05-13-2018, 06:21 PM
  #37  
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While planking a fuselage is a pretty satisfying process when you are doing it, I wouldn't think that it is very entertaining to watch too much of it. At this point the fuselage is entirely planked. There is a lot of trimming, filling and sanding ahead. Once I get something that is photo worthy I will throw up some more pictures.


Last edited by mgnostic; 05-13-2018 at 08:44 PM.
Old 05-15-2018, 01:02 PM
  #38  
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Matt, You are doing a great job! Your Pfalz is going to look great. I'm very impressed with what you have accomplished so far. In fact, you have inspired me to consider doing a Pfalz. I ordered a set of plans from Arizona. But, I would never build it the way it is on the plans. I just wanted to see how Tom Polopink approached it. But, alas, that will have to wait. I am currently building a BUSA D.VII. My build thread is on RC Scale Builder https://www.rcscalebuilder.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27736&PN=1&TPN=1. Keep up the good work.

Rob
Old 05-15-2018, 01:24 PM
  #39  
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Mat, What kind of glue did you use for the planking.Dan.
Old 05-15-2018, 03:12 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Jagdfleiger
Matt, You are doing a great job! Your Pfalz is going to look great. I'm very impressed with what you have accomplished so far. In fact, you have inspired me to consider doing a Pfalz. I ordered a set of plans from Arizona. But, I would never build it the way it is on the plans. I just wanted to see how Tom Polopink approached it. But, alas, that will have to wait. I am currently building a BUSA D.VII. My build thread is on RC Scale Builder https://www.rcscalebuilder.com/forum...736&PN=1&TPN=1. Keep up the good work.

Rob
As it happens, I've been following and admiring your build. I considered putting my build on the RCSB forum but I don't think I'm reaching that level of scale fidelity yet. I considered the Polapink (Polopink?) plans but I really kind of wanted to roll my own. I've admired Tom Polapink's airplanes and studied the photos and videos. One challenge I've run into is working up a good set of drawings. The Wylam drawings have known errors and most of the drawings in various books start to have problems when you blow them up to quarter scale size. On the upside those books have a lot of photos and websites like Wingnut Wings and the Aerodrome have lots of useful info.
Old 05-15-2018, 03:18 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by All Day Dan
Mat, What kind of glue did you use for the planking.Dan.
Hi Dan,
I've mostly used Titebond for the planking along with a little CA to tack the planks at the formers. And pins, lots of pins. People often talk about Titebond in terms of being easy to sand but it is also nice in that it has more working time that allows you to position the planks.
Old 05-30-2018, 07:32 PM
  #42  
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With a nod to the guys at Bad Obsession Motorsports I've been engaging in CAD (cardboard aided design). I also wish to say that Mr French Curve is my friend. Although I am still engaged in the process of fill and sand ad infinitum, I have also started working on the wing roots and fairings. 1/64 ply will work for the basic shapes of the fairing bottoms but the upper half of the fairing will be more of a challenge due to some fairly tight radius curves. I've also noticed that the favorite poses of many German pilots seem to block the best views of the wing root.
Old 05-30-2018, 07:37 PM
  #43  
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I'm pretty pleased with this part of the root fairing process. They will still need a little filler but by the time that is done and the fuselage is covered it should have a pretty good scale appearance.


Old 05-30-2018, 07:45 PM
  #44  
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I may have neglected to say much about it but the lower wing will mount on a wing tube. the yellow cardboard tubes are there to help with passing the aluminum tube from side to side. There will of course also be an anti-rotation pin. If you notice the bits of 1/4 square basswood at the junction of the spar carry through and the wing root that is where the attachment points for some of the wing rigging will be located. Although the airplane should be strong enough to fly without the flying wires i am putting in mounting point for functional flying wires.
Old 05-30-2018, 08:08 PM
  #45  
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I actually bolted the engine in for the first time since the planking was finished. As can be seen, it is a bit of a tight fit in places. If one were building a D3a as an all out scale effort I think you could effectively hide a rear intake, rear exhaust engine. For those into electric power,i think a D3a would make a great candidate. One could make the dummy engine and upper cowl removable as a piece to allow easy access to a battery compartment and the cheek scoops would help with airflow around the motor and batteries.
My main problem is going to be the carburetor mount. As can be seen the carb spacer is right up against the upper longeron. I was pleasantly surprised that it is possible to shoehorn the engine in with the engine mount bolted on and without having to pull the flywheel. I will have to cut a fairly enormous notch in the side of the fuselage to clear the carburetor. You can see in the bottom picture that the engine doesn't appear to be centered. That is because even with the carb off, there isn't quite enough room for the engine to square up. When all is said and done the engine will end up with a degree or two of right thrust. One upside is that the carburetor will at least be partly covered by the scale exhaust.

Old 05-30-2018, 08:31 PM
  #46  
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At least there seems to be plenty of room for mounting a muffler. I got the G-38 and its twin as part of a package deal. They came with three sets of mufflers. I guess the bottom , small muffler must be the stock muffler that comes with a G-38. The top muffler is a Bisson and while a lovely bit of kit is too big for this airplane. I think the middle muffler came from an ME-110 project that was for sale at the same swapmeet table. Hiding the muffler is not so much a problem as plumbing its exit. A scale, functional exhaust wouldn't be that hard to build. The problem would be that unlike the exhaust on a Fokker or Albatros, the exhaust pipe doesn't sweep aft. A scale functional exhaust is looking like it will dump right on top of the carburetor. Other options are to exit the exhaust straight out the side so that the exhaust at least looks like it is coming from a generally correct area or turn the exhaust pipe down and exit as unobtrusively as possible out the bottom of the fuselage. This decision will be driven at least in part by how well the cowl panels and dummy engine turn out.

Old 05-31-2018, 12:42 PM
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Mat,
Its looking good. You got to love the streamline lines of the Pfalz! Relative to your motor, is it possible to rotate it several degrees counter clockwise so the carb opening clears the side of the fuse? I am sure you have already thought of that, but I thought I would mention it. Keep up the good work. I'm really excited for you. Its going to be a great plane.
Rob
Old 05-31-2018, 12:51 PM
  #48  
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Mat - where on this view do you think the carb will exit the cowl?
Old 05-31-2018, 01:25 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by Jagdfleiger


Mat - where on this view do you think the carb will exit the cowl?
Just aft of the front cowl and just under the side cowl. Cool photo by the way. I did give thought to tilting the motor but I don't think I would gain much. One could build a 90 degree intake manifold and relocate the carb behind the engine and use a header to push the muffler back to a location over the fuel tank. More practically I could probably go with a shorter carb isolator and shorten the velocity stack to regain as much as a half inch from the width of the engine. If I were going for a full on competition plane I would have just used a different engine. As it is, I am (relative to this being a 1/4 scale airplane) on a fairly tight budget and I got a screaming good bargain on the engine at a swap meet. I am going for as much scale appearance as I reasonably can but if I end up with an airplane that is recognizably a D3a and which can be flown without a lot more set up required than my BUSA N17 then I will have met my design goals.
Old 06-03-2018, 03:42 PM
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Mat,
That makes sense. Sometimes you have to work with what you have. Besides, it likely won't be that obvious - as you pointed out with the type of exhaust manifold on the D.IIIa. By the way, I found this build thread on the Aerodrome for a full scale Pfalz D.III. The fellow has not yet built anything, but he is working on CAD drawings for his plane. Nothing on the fuse yet, but alot on the wings. You might find it of interest. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63418 Also, here is another thread on the Aerodrome about the construction of the non-flyable D.IIIa. Pretty cool pics. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20288.

Rob

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