Monday we took off to just have a relaxing restful holiday. We rarely do this and it was nice. We went to the studio for a while to work on personal projects.
I worked on making some of the modifications to my Fokker DVIII. First thing I tackled was the wheels and tires.
The original kit build wheels were solid balsa and they didn’t work that well on the tarmac. As soft as I landed they still cracked at the hubs.
I found some nylon wheel bearings and they hit the landing gear wire perfectly. I made new balsa wheels on my lathe and drilled out the centers on the drill press and mounted the bearings with CA. In Fact I hardened the balsa with thin CA. I lightly sanded and painted the wheels.
I used rubber round 1/4 inch insulation foam to make the tires and glued them to the wheels with CA.
The wheel covers were made using paper.
The plane rolls better and the tires offer a little more impact resistance. Plus the wheels role very smoothly.
I also added the cockpit padding I had neglected when I originally built the plane.
Next up is to add some down thrust to the motor and that should do it. She flies again Sunday. This time the nose weight is secured well.
The Cardinal is nearly ready for test flights. I need a little dulling spray on those decals and a few more details and she’s finished. The dope over the last few days tightened up nicely and there are few wrinkles now in the covering.
Today I’m shipping Balok and the Spock ears. Then it’s back to the Talosian. I plan to finish it today and the mold starts on Wednesday.
The Art of Steve Neill 