Proud Bird EF1 - Build and Review

[DonStegall]

I have created an album to document the making of the molds and parts on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/EF1PylonRac ... 0445059715 in the https://www.facebook.com/EF1PylonRacing/ page.

If you guys don't want me posting here I will just do it on Facebook.

If you do want to see it here, somebody let me know you are interested.

Mold making begins today and should be done by Saturday.

[DonStegall]

The surface coat is white. I brushed the surface coat on the Proud Bird parts and also a Sky Raider Mach II male mold and an LA Racer 40 males mold. There will be video of the process.

[DonStegall]

Since I'm in extreme mold making mode. I'm getting another set of molds in progress.

I have molds in progress for the Proud Bird EF1 belly pan, wing fillets, and cockpit pieces. They have the surface coat on them and some layers of fiberglass.

I filled the motor shaft opening in the cowl (nose ring) on Saturday night while setting up some guitar amps for my Queen "Brighton Rock" project.

The video taping work table had open space and was not gooey. I was able to start the prep on the cowl mold without making a mess.

Today it is getting sanded and primed. Hopefully I can get paint on it by dark. I will make the parting plate on Monday night. Prime the parting plate on Tuesday morning before work, paint it Tuesday night, and get PVA on by Thursday. Make the first half of the mold next weekend. Then finish it up week after next.

I should still have time to get my Proud Bird EF1 planes together for the May 4th and 5th race at Old Julian Airport ... http://OJA.today .. That site does not currently have a flier on it for the Spring Race.


The front top of the PB EF1 cowl with the nose ring filled.

The bottom of the PB EF1 cowl with the nose ring filled.

Originally I got a Line 6 Spider V 30 watt amp. Loved it but wanted built-in wireless. So I took it back to Guitar Center and got the Line 6 Spider V 240HC that has stereo speakers with stereo tweeters in the head. That did me ok until I wanted more sound. So I got the Line 6 Spider V 412 320W 4x12 Guitar Speaker Cabinet. Love it. Then I got the Line 6 FBV 3 Advanced Guitar Footswitch. Love it too. Then at Thanksgiving, GC had the amps at reduced prices and I got the Line 6 Spider V 60 60W 1x10 Guitar Combo Amp. In the meantime, I had figured out how to do the Queen / Brian May "Brighton Rock" multiple delay on a single Spider V amp but without stereo separation. I got a Line 6 Spider V 30 30W 1x8 Guitar Combo Amp (deja voodoo all over again) so I would have it to demo for http://MakeSomeMusicTV.com. But now I'm wiring everything up so I can do Brighton Rock in stereo. The Line 6 Spider V amps are amazing once you learn what you can do with a computer or mobile device and the Spider Remote software. They may not be valve amps, but you would spend tons of money to do what I'm doing on a reasonable budget.

I had problems with a couple of guitar Y cables, so Saturday night I wired up a parallel rig with four 1/4" jacks. I have the parts to make a custom switch box, but the jacks did not have nuts on them. Had to order more jacks from Amazon for Tuesday delivery.

[DonStegall]

The next step is preparing the surface. On some fiberglass parts, one needs to add some structure or reinforcement. I was able to sand the cowl with 3M Wet or Dry 220 sanding paper and take the gloss off without hurting the part. It flexed a little but no breakage.

This cowl was laid up by the Great Planes people and then painted. The paint was not perfect, so sanding before priming will help the primer stick, and the surface is already better than it was out of the box.

I will be documenting my progress today and until the parts are laid up in the new molds.

Instead of cross posting here constantly, I will be updating the photo album on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/EF1PylonRac ... 7995079958 and will only post here on major milestones. So please Like the photo album if you want to see as things progress through the day and week.

[DonStegall]

The WEST SYSTEM resin can says that WEST is celebrating 50 years. I'm 60 and I started using it sometime in 1969 to 1971. I made the molds for this 1/2A Proto Speed plane in that time range. I still use the WEST epoxy, especially for molds. I will be trying MGS and other stuff for plane layups as I move back into composite construction. I batch the WEST 105/206 that has a pot life of 20 minutes. By batching it, I get well over 2 hours to work with it in most cases. I have done joined in the mold fuselage layups that took 3-4 hours.

I had stripped the pan on this 1/2A Proto Speed plane and added the gold pinstripe. I was repainting the pan to turn this into a display model. I think it's time to get some matching Klass Kote and finish it up.

I made almost everything on this plane. The engine, the prop, the wheels are all of the assembled or pre-made parts used on it. I modified the prop and I modified the engine. This was a national AMA record setting plane.

I got the primer on the cowl mold but it was not hard enough to sand and get paint on it Sunday. I will try to sand it on today and get it painted after work.

The bottom looks good, but I will have to be careful sanding the primer around the intake scoop.