# Balsa USA Eindecker 90 build.



## Gary

My bud Photo, (Ken) just got his and mine should be here any minute. Maybe he will post up his build as well.

This plane is a big one! 80" wingspan. Itll look something like this.


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## Photo

*Eindecker 90*

Well I'm not sure if mine is going to look this good!


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## Gary

Photo said:


> Well I'm not sure if mine is going to look this good!


Mine either bro. At least not the first one. I'm reading the manual now trying to think ahead and the landing gear is the first thing that worrys me. They just gave us the plain ole landing gear. I may come up with some sort of jig for bending the scaled looking wire which is much bigger than I thought it would be. You see that freeking cowl? lol It looks like the bottom of a bleach bottle it's so big.

Heres a few pics. Firts the box it came in. To give some scale, its about 80% as big as my bed, and I aint short!

The second was an attempt to show how much wood came with this kit. I started to take it all out of the box and lay it all out for a shot but all I have is a point and shoot camera. I would need a wide angle lens to get it all in the pic.

The 3rd pic is the powerplant Ill be using and this should cath the attention of the car guys. Yall that run 8th scale are running .26 cubic inch engines right?

This is a Saito 1.1 cubic inch 4 stroke. It's as big as a beer can. lol


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## Photo

*This what it looks like now*

Here are some color schemes. Gary is thinking white wheels. If he paints the plane purple it will look good in Harlem.


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## Photo

*Color Scheme*

Gary,

We gotta do something about that landing gear. I am thinking this color scheme.


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## Photo

*Cool Eindecker pics*

I like all of these


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## Gary

I don't like the tail skid and am thinking of a streerable tail wheel like the Sullivan and I am serouisly considering the Williams brothers white wheels over the black. Pic coming.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWAB1&P=0

I started the build and found that the fit and finish of the die cut parts is as good as I have ever seen. Now, this aint no Sig laser cut kit but much better than any Great Planes kit I ever seen!


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## Gary

I'm digging the Forrest Green. With the white wheels.


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## Photo

*White Wheels*

Would you paint the hubs green?


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## Gary

Most likely.


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## speckle-catcher

if you're going for authenticity, the tailskid looks like the way to go from the photo you posted.


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## Gary

The problem Shawn is no steering on the ground. If I were to land too close to those noodle pipes, I may run into them. lol


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## speckle-catcher

chicken.


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## Photo

Gary,

It really needs to be landed on grass like they really did. We just might have to buy our own land and build our own airport...like Bomber Field did.


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## Photo

*Color Scheme*

Gary,

So far I am still going with this scheme. What do you think? Start out with antique cloth and then sponge oil covered paint on it or actually make some kind of device to put behind the prop to spray back oil colored paint as it is running. You would have to shoot the paint from a big airbrush that could actually splatter it.


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## Photo

I got this back from Dave at Balsa USA about making more authentic landing gear.

Bend the scale gear out of 1/8 brass wire (brazing rod) available at most any hardware store


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## Gary

speckle-catcher said:


> chicken.


Yup! :wink:


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## Gary

Photo said:


> I got this back from Dave at Balsa USA about making more authentic landing gear.
> 
> Bend the scale gear out of 1/8 brass wire (brazing rod) available at most any hardware store


That would look good with my brass cowling idea. :dance:

Well, I'm off work for the rest of the year. Think Ill build an airplane. :doowapsta


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## Gary

Got the fuselage sides done. Nothing to write home about here, very easy and only took about 3 hours.


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## Photo

Good pictures....post more a you go. I will be starting mine when I am done with this Camel.


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## Gary

So far this plane is easy to build Ken.

Post up some pics of the Camel for the viewing audiance.


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## Gary

Ok, this is where I ran into my first issue. The instructions call for pinning down the right fuse side on edge while trying to tack glue in F-8 and F-5. I couldn't get that to work for me without growing a third arm/hand. Since the fuse sides are curved and not much of the edge makes contact with the building board, I decided to roll the dice and add F-8/F5 the old fashioned way. Flat on the board using a square.

Hope this doesn't bite me in the heiny later.


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## Gary

The next step was to glue the F-1 Firewall in and in the instructions they show a bottle of CA in this step, but again, I broke the rules. I used 30 minute expoxy and a square to make sure everything is true, I hope!









The last pic is what a true kit builder does all the time. It's of my finger full of CA smoothing things out and then sanding it to get the paper towel off that I used to whipe it with. lol


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## Photo

By your photo's the wood looks like good quality.


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## Gary

Photo said:


> By your photo's the wood looks like good quality.


Very good quality and the best die cuts I have ever seen. The quality of this kit is far better than anything I have seen from Great Planes and is as good as any Sig laser cut kit Ive built.


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## Gary

I'm thinking of this next Ken.

http://www.balsausa.com/store/product.php?id_product=34


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## Gary

Trudging forward with the fuselage build and a couple of issues popped up which is my fault for not follwing the instructions to the letter. When joining the two fuse halves together I noticed that the right side was allmost flat and the left side had alot of curve to it. I anticipated that and had a plan, and thank the balsa Gods it worked out.
With a little braceing, twisting and cussing I was able to get the fuse sides pretty close to eachother curvature wise and the only thing I'm worried about now is I have a slight left thrust in the firewall. I think I can take that out while sheeting the rear of the fusealge though.


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## Gary

The tweak in the firewall. If it was to the right I would leave it alone as most planes are built with right thrust into the firewall because of the engines thrust.

Its not much though. But I'm anal. :cheers:


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## Photo

Gary...You need to go rent the movie Flyboys. You will have that Nieuport on order the day after watching it.


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## Photo

That means I would have to build this to air battle you.

http://www.balsausa.com/store/product.php?id_product=30


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## Bobby

Gary get you some nitrile gloves. The CA don't stick to it as bad.


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## Gary

Photo said:


> That means I would have to build this to air battle you.
> 
> http://www.balsausa.com/store/product.php?id_product=30


Oh yea!


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## Gary

Bobby said:


> Gary get you some nitrile gloves. The CA don't stick to it as bad.


But gluing myself to wood is half the fun bro!:tongue:


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## Gary

Pictures here are of some diagonal cross tweaking to help make the firewall straight and some added weight to form the top sheeting before I glue it in place.


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## Gary

A little more done. Gluing the langing gear in and am about to move onto the wing after a little sheeting on the forward underside of the fuse.


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## Gary

I have the fuselage built as far as I can go untill I build the wings. I ended up with a slight twist in the fuse but nothing I can't tweak out. I have only done the rough sanding and will clean her up more after I mate up the wings and the other appendages.

Too much sanding can be bad!


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## Gary

Oh BTW. I need to give some credit to Balsa USA on the quality of this kit, the wood and the instructions. I could recommend this kit even for a first time builder if they take their time with it, read the instructions and study drawings well. Allthough I made a couple of mistakes, it's my fault and an easy fix for anyone with experiance.
To be honest, I spent more time taking pictures and talking about this build than I have actually working on it! I have about 2 1/2 days on it and really only about 10 hours of bench time on it.


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## Photo

Gary...looks like a great build job!


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## Photo

Photo said:


> Gary...looks like a great build job!


Looks very clean.


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## Gary

I had to take a little break. Been swapping e mails with my Daughter and Grandson.


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## justinspeed79

Looking very good, Gary. The fuse looks smooth as butter.

Did you ever finish the Cloud Ranger?

Where does your daughter live? Looks like too much snow for Texas.


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> Looking very good, Gary. The fuse looks smooth as butter.
> 
> Did you ever finish the Cloud Ranger?
> 
> Where does your daughter live? Looks like too much snow for Texas.


I have the Cloud Ranger allmost done. I dropped it like a rock when this kit came in. lol

My Daughter lives about two blocks from Mikes in Porter.


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## HSP506

Gary - I'm enjoying this post. I started in R/C back in '89 and had fun building kits as there weren't many ARF's out yet. I've owned and flown glow, gas, and turbines models. Even with all the RTF's available now days it is always more fun to build a kit and turn a box of sticks into something that takes flight under your control.

However, since getting my pilot's license in '08 I've haven't done any R/C flying in about 3 years now. Keep the pictures coming!

JR


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## Gary

HSP506 said:


> Gary - I'm enjoying this post. I started in R/C back in '89 and had fun building kits as there weren't many ARF's out yet. I've owned and flown glow, gas, and turbines models. Even with all the RTF's available now days it is always more fun to build a kit and turn a box of sticks into something that takes flight under your control.
> 
> However, since getting my pilot's license in '08 I've haven't done any R/C flying in about 3 years now. Keep the pictures coming!
> 
> JR


Thanks JR. I think its hard for many to understand why we spend all that time building a kit rather than assembling an ARF.

I enjoy it alot!


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## Gary

Got most of the right wing done today and I just may take the rest of the day off. Unlike the fuselage, the wings may not be for noobs as a first kit or for someone like me who has concentration issues.  :brew: :spineyes:

I have spent about 5 hours on the right wing so far and have about another 4 hours left not counting all the sanding. The left wing will go twice as fast since I have allready built one side not counting the aileron.


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## Gary

More pics


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## Gary

The wing is straight, I guarantee.


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## Photo

Gary it looks great.


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## Photo

Gary..I finally started al little. I will have to go slow because of time at work. You are right it is a great kit.


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## Gary

Looking good!


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## Gary

A quick mock up of my cowl and cowl check idea. (Not the actual cowl)


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## Photo

Very, Very Cool! I Love it!


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## Photo

The more I look at this the more I really like it.


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## Gary

Ill have to play around with it over the next few weeks, but I hope to pull it off.


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## justinspeed79

I seem to remember someone saying "this plane isn't THAT scale". Scale enough for a brass cowl!:biggrin:

Very cool dude!:cheers:


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## fishermanX

Is the blue stuff solder?


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## Gary

fishermanX said:


> Is the blue stuff solder?


Yea. The reason it looks blue is because of the lighting here at work and this camera doesnt have a white balance adjustment.

Right Ken?


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> I seem to remember someone saying "this plane isn't THAT scale". Scale enough for a brass cowl!:biggrin:
> 
> Very cool dude!:cheers:


I like it! :work:


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## Gary

Learned a trick about coloring fabric today Ken.

The Koverall is applyed first.........mix the instant coffee to a thick paste like consistency and dip a rag into the paste and rub on to the Koverall in a steaking fashion to achieve that old linen look and finish with a clearcote of your choice....I use and automotive type with dulling agent in it

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7524690/tm.htm


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## Gary

I just ran into my first problem. The instructions are not clear on building the ailerons. They call for installing five W-6 ribs and there is a total of ten W-6 ribs, the problem is that two of them are much thicker than the others, so I assume one per side, but they don't fit anywhere. Not without a slot in the die cut trailing edge and 1/16th" away from the last main rib. So I tossed the dice and hand cut a slot in the inboard TE thinking that the thicker rib belongs inboard. (Or possibly outboard, 50/50 chance on that guess) The manual does not say either way and I hope I guessed correctly.
A couple of the W-6 ribs came up a tad short on the LE and with everything looking straight, I decided to leave them be and fill the gap with Elmers wood glue. Ill be spending the next hour scaping the glue upwards due to gravity. lol


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## Photo

Gary...I wonder if the two thick ribs are suppose to be together close to the fuselage for strength. The thinner ones can then spread out over the wing.


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## Gary

Photo said:


> Gary...I wonder if the two thick ribs are suppose to be together close to the fuselage for strength. The thinner ones can then spread out over the wing.


Theres only two thick ribs so I assume one for each aileron. I put it one the inboard side.


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## Gary

I belive I got it right. Ken when you get to this part look at these pics. The instructions are exteemly vague here.


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## Gary

It makes no mention of it in the instructions but shows it on the drawing, don't leave out these 1/4" stiffeners at the inboard end of the aileron and against the last outboard main rib.


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## Gary

If your squeamish about carving, planing, sanding and making a mess, this kit isn't for you. :rotfl:

I am done with the right wing and will do the final finish and shaping of it after I build the left wing so I don't remove too much material and make sure both sides match.


It's allways easier to remove material than add it!


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## Gary

Ken, forget what I said about there being two thick ribs, turns out there are 4 thick ribs and I have no idea where they go. To make it more confusing, there is an extra thin rib. LOL

My guess is that is that's just the way the layout turned out on the die cutting jigs.


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## Gary

Got the left wing half framed up and the rough shaping done today.


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## Gary

I took a vacation day off work and got a little more done. Just finished joining the wing halves and am very happy on how good the wing came out. I still have alot of work to do on the wing but I couldn't resist sitting it on the fuselage just for grins.

This thing is big! It's hard to judge just how big it is by my photos but the wingspan is 80", or 6'8" and will weight about 9 pounds when finished.


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## Photo

Man that wing got me excited!


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## Photo

Darn..That's a good lookin build Gary. I will re-start mine when the weather warms up. I have no heat in my sheds.


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## justinspeed79

Very nice!!!:cheers:


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## justinspeed79

Made any progress lately Gary?


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## Gary

Just a little Justin. I got to the point of having to do alot of sanding on the wing. Too much to do indoors at home so Ill have to take it to work and clear off a really big bench. lol

I jumped forward a little and am building up the tail feathers right now.

Sometime next week Ill take the whole mess to work for sanding and a trial fit of the wing to the fuse and the tail feathers. This plane is too big for my little place. lol


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## Gary

Been awhile since I posted any updates. Pretty much have the tail feathers built.


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## Gary

I got the wing mounted today and I went astray from the intructions. They say in order to mount the mount perpendicular to the fuse, use a tape measure. I opted for 12 lb. Trilene XL.


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## Gary

I just ordered the Solartex covering at $120. Itll take 15 feet worth. Pics coming next week.


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## Gary

I'm finally back at it and for yall builders who have never tried Solartex, do so! This stuff is awesome. 

The 80" wing.


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## Gary

Most guys build this plane using either an aluminum pot for a cowl, use a thin aluminum film or just paint the cowling and front end like this.


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## Gary

For me, using an aluminum colored metal on a WW1 plane isn't very "scale like". Of course, this kit is not true to scale to begin with so what I'm thinking of is building the plane as if a civilian bought it "post war" and restored it just for Sunday Dawn Patrols in the 1920s and 30s.

I'm going to try using brass instead and allow it to weather and tarnish for an old look.

This piece is just for reference and not the actual piece I plan on using.


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## justinspeed79

Very, very, nice bro! Looks absolutely beautiful!!!:cheers:


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## KeithLDick

Looking real good Gary!!!!


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## Gary

Thanks guys. I worked a little bit today on the brass front end idea and at this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I could squeeze and flatten it down and use contact cement to attach it, but I'm leaning towards leaving it ragged and using contrasting colored machine screws. I'm thinking copper or steel since they would tarnish/rust and give me that old school look I'm looking for.


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## Gary

Ill have to change directions now. The brass won't work. It won't conform around complex curves.


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## justinspeed79

What about some of this?

http://www.enasco.com/product/0401502(B)


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## Gary

That might work. Ill prolly just order the regular stuff.

http://www.srbatteries.com/hrdcovr.htm

http://www.srbatteries.com/mtech/alum/mt_alu.htm


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## Gary

Before I started this build, I already knew this was not a true to scale kit and was not sure where I wanted to go with it. After awhile I thought of building it not as a WWW1 plane, but as a civilian after war restoration. For that I may fore-go the usual Maltese Cross and I have no idea where to go from here. lol

All I really knew was that the usual front end in aluminum wasn't working for me. For 10 months I have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate brass and copper into this build. This is what I have so far and I need to trim some weeds, but have added a little "Weathering" effect.

At first I wasn't going to add the wings flying wires but have since changed my mind. I think the color contrast will compliment the black 4-40 button head screws which I hope looks like rivets.


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## Gary

Well cockpit coping didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to, but it did come out looking "rough" as these planes weren't designed and built to be pretty. I just used balsa and used a combination of a walnut stain and flat black paint.

Next is figuring how to build the wing wire tri-mast and so far I haven't the slightest idea how do that.


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## KeithLDick

You got the Kadet ready to go again Gary????? The flying weather has been really nice at the field lately...


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## Gary

I'm working on it right now Keith. I just installed the tail wheel with the pull-pull system and pretty much all that's left is to install the elevator and rudder push rods. And then the usual balancing, setting the throws etc.

Ill be ready this weekend. Hopefully the wind stays down.


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## KeithLDick

Yeah it's been a bit windy these past few days, tho the weather itself is great...


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## Gary

I'm dying to fly!


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## justinspeed79

It looks great Gary!!!!!


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## Gary

Thanks Justin. I put this build on the back burner for now until I get some more stick time. This is turning out to be a very expensive plane and I don't wanna "Biff" it on the maiden. lol

Keith. I got the Kadet finished and providing the weather holds well, Ill be at the field this weekend.


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## KeithLDick

Cool Gary...

Sunday looks bad for rain....


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## Gary

Think Ill give it a shot anyway. Winds at 5-10.


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## KeithLDick

Saturday afternoon wasn't bad, I'd assume today will be the same...


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