Official Freewing F/A-18C Hornet 90mm EDF Thread

[RichJ53]

Meanwhile in my dungeon, a spark of electrical energy and... It's ALIVE, it's alive!

Nice work, this looks very good. I am assuming you have wired the LEDs in series with a resister to drop the voltage to handle 3.7-4.3V? Maybe you can share the parts used for our DIY guys? Or are you selling these

Rich

[RCjetdude]

Nice work, this look very good. I am assuming you have wired the LEDs in series with a resister to drop the voltage to handle 3.7-4.3V? Maybe you can share the parts used for our DIY guys? Or are you selling these

Rich

For right now the LED's are all wired in parallel and just powered straight from the battery. I am still weighing my options for how to power them all. I have ordered a 3 Volt regulator to try. Not selling them as they are too involved to be worth the time. I got some 1206 SMD green pre-wired LED's off of eBay. There are 8 LED's in the stick spaced 10mm apart CA'd to a .125" wide by .040" strip of styrene. I use Plaststruct 3/16" square tubing (2) cut to about 75 mm long. On one side of one tube I cut about a 3/32" slot the entire length of the tube to open up a side. The other tube I CA to the side of the first tube with the slot. This helps diffuse the light into the top tube through just one side wall instead of two. I route the wires which are very small to the bottom of the strip either through small holes or notches in the side of the strip and then slide the light strip into the bottom slotted square tube. Pretty straight forward but the wires are a real pain in the butt to deal with being so small. I will take pics of the next one I build for clarity.

[fredmdbud]

For my purposes, the comparatively short flight time would make phosphorescent tape more sensible in terms of application and no additional wiring. Next would be electroluminescent tape, but for the added weight and current consumption. Putting the tape and the LEDs on the same receiver channel on/off switch would be a coolness factor, just like what the jet does when it’s ready for launch during nighttime carrier ops.

[Elbee]

For right now the LED's are all wired in parallel and just powered straight from the battery. I am still weighing my options for how to power them all. I have ordered a 3 Volt regulator to try. Not selling them as they are too involved to be worth the time. I got some 1206 SMD green pre-wired LED's off of eBay. There are 8 LED's in the stick spaced 10mm apart CA'd to a .125" wide by .040" strip of styrene. I use Plaststruct 3/16" square tubing (2) cut to about 75 mm long. On one side of one tube I cut about a 3/32" slot the entire length of the tube to open up a side. The other tube I CA to the side of the first tube with the slot. This helps diffuse the light into the top tube through just one side wall instead of two. I route the wires which are very small to the bottom of the strip either through small holes or notches in the side of the strip and then slide the light strip into the bottom slotted square tube. Pretty straight forward but the wires are a real pain in the butt to deal with being so small. I will take pics of the next one I build for clarity.

RCJD, Very Clever, Sir. Well Done. Love your innovations. Best, LB

[crxmanpat]

I received my warranty replacement PNP yesterday. Kudos to MRC for taking care of this. I will be fully inspecting the elevator servo mounting area and ensuring it is fully secure. I also have some FW 17g full-metal gear servos that will be going in to replace the stock metal gear hybrid servos. These replacements came from the first F-22 I crashed as the F-22 uses the full MG servos on the elevator, and they work fine on a 12S setup.

The way to tell the difference between a full MG and hybrid MG servo is the full MG has a silver gear and the hybrid has a gold gear.

[RCjetdude]

For my purposes, the comparatively short flight time would make phosphorescent tape more sensible in terms of application and no additional wiring. Next would be electroluminescent tape, but for the added weight and current consumption. Putting the tape and the LEDs on the same receiver channel on/off switch would be a coolness factor, just like what the jet does when it’s ready for launch during nighttime carrier ops.

I have tried the tape and it just doesn't show up that great. I am going to try putting some of the tape on the face of the light strip and see how that looks. Overall the way this strip looks it very much resembles the real thing and I think will give the desired effect. The wing tip rail formation lights will be the next challenge. I have some ideas but haven't yet had the chance to try any of them out.

[fredmdbud]

I have tried the tape and it just doesn't show up that great. I am going to try putting some of the tape on the face of the light strip and see how that looks. Overall the way this strip looks it very much resembles the real thing and I think will give the desired effect. The wing tip rail formation lights will be the next challenge. I have some ideas but haven't yet had the chance to try any of them out.

Considering that the slimelights are not meant to be seen from a distance, that’s not a concern of mine when it’s in the air.

Maybe during low passes :)

[RichJ53]

For right now the LED's are all wired in parallel and just powered straight from the battery. I am still weighing my options for how to power them all. I have ordered a 3 Volt regulator to try. Not selling them as they are too involved to be worth the time. I got some 1206 SMD green pre-wired LED's off of eBay. There are 8 LED's in the stick spaced 10mm apart CA'd to a .125" wide by .040" strip of styrene. I use Plaststruct 3/16" square tubing (2) cut to about 75 mm long. On one side of one tube I cut about a 3/32" slot the entire length of the tube to open up a side. The other tube I CA to the side of the first tube with the slot. This helps diffuse the light into the top tube through just one side wall instead of two. I route the wires which are very small to the bottom of the strip either through small holes or notches in the side of the strip and then slide the light strip into the bottom slotted square tube. Pretty straight forward but the wires are a real pain in the butt to deal with being so small. I will take pics of the next one I build for clarity.

Thanks for your follow up! It is very clear and this is very small stuff to be soldering etc. I look forward to your photos and other information when you get a chance. I find it very strange that the SMD LEDs are do sensitive to voltage. especially the color RED. Seems like you need to regulate the voltage on most of these because they can burn out if they see over 2.5-3.0v.

Great work as always

Thanks again
Rich

[fredmdbud]

Thanks for your follow up! It is very clear and this is very small stuff to be soldering etc. I look forward to your photos and other information when you get a chance. I find it very strange that the SMD LEDs are do sensitive to voltage. especially the color RED. Seems like you need to regulate the voltage on most of these because they can burn out if they see over 2.5-3.0v.

Great work as always

Thanks again
Rich

A simple current-limiting resistor would fix that. Direct connection to the battery shortens the life.

[vduniec]

I’m calling the repaint “done.” Now, back out to the line it goes for more flight ops.

[e4dragongunner]

WOW!! Well Done

[Elbee]

I’m calling the repaint “done.” Now, back out to the line it goes for more flight ops

V, Wow, is right. Bravo Zulu, Sir. Best, LB

[PhantomNut]

I’m calling the repaint “done.” Now, back out to the line it goes for more flight ops.

Very nice job!

[Aros]

Nicely done! Love it!

[Bobaroo]

I've Posted enough of these pictures to emphasize my thoughts on the thin 'Canopy' rail on this Jet. I must be the only one who has a problem with this. I'll post these again just in case they were overlooked by anyone striving for Scale Accuracy ... If I have offended , I apologize. I'll just have to keep things like this to myself from now on.

I simply cannot understand how someone could bring a Jet in for paint, do such a painstakingly Awesome Job on it and not widen that Rail in the process... we're looking at maybe 5 mins work on that. Great Job on the Paint VD !!

[vduniec]

Ha! There’s a lot more wrong than that. I’ll blame the beer for missing that one. Of course it’ll have to be fixed, because now, I won’t be able to “unsee” it.

Thanks for the kind words.

I've Posted enough of these pictures to emphasize my thoughts on the thin 'Canopy' rail on this Jet. I must be the only one who has a problem with this. I'll post these again just in case they were overlooked by anyone striving for Scale Accuracy ... If I have offended , I apologize. I'll just have to keep things like this to myself from now on.

I simply cannot understand how someone could bring a Jet in for paint, do such a painstakingly Awesome Job on it and not widen that Rail in the process... we're looking at maybe 5 mins work on that. Great Job on the Paint VD !!

[DCORSAIR]

Just took my Blue Angels elevator servos out to check for frayed wires and found the reverse servo has been cut, elevator mounts are good, sure glad I stopped flying it until I had time to check them, got 39 flights out of that frayed servo wire.........

My grey one is grounded until I can get to it and find out if I find another bad servo wire on it.

[fredmdbud]

After some rough landings, the nose retract mount started to separate from the foam to the point where the retract no longer closed the spring-loaded doors. Using the included adhesive and applying a shim remedied that, but didn't seem like it was a lasting solution, so I installed a brace plate.

• Removed the retract from the housing and drilled a hole to fit a flathead #6 machine bolt.
• Took a piece of thick plastic with the same width as the mount, sanded the joint surface, then applied a thin layer of cyanoacrylate glue and clamped them together, applied additional glue at the seam to seep in by capillary action, then let it set. Then I continued drilling the hole through the additional plastic piece, then carved with an hobby blade so that the flathead sank flush to where the retract sits. The plastic block now provides additional strength and spreads out forces applied over a wide area.
• Because the foam "ledges" are uneven, I placed a wooden shim to make them even.
• Measured and cut a birch plate and epoxied cross-beams to stiffen it. Positioning it so that the screw would be centered between cross-beams, I drilled a hole to line up with the hole in the mount. I then slid the flathead bolt up through plastic and wood, installed a washer and bolt, and tightened.
• I then finished it with some blue threadlocker to resist gradual unscrewing from repeated shocks and vibrations.
• Test the retract to confirm the doors close, and did some final rod & clevis adjustments to completely close the door gap.

[Hoomi]

I simply cannot understand how someone could bring a Jet in for paint, do such a painstakingly Awesome Job on it and not widen that Rail in the process... we're looking at maybe 5 mins work on that. Great Job on the Paint VD !!

I thought something very similar about the horrendous pilot figure included with the 64mm A-10. Such a nice job on so many other details, and a pilot that is not only the wrong style, but the wrong scale.

[Bobaroo]

Ha! There’s a lot more wrong than that. I’ll blame the beer for missing that one. Of course it’ll have to be fixed, because now, I won’t be able to “unsee” it.

Thanks for the kind words.

Awesomeness !!! "Unsee" ... NiceOne, I'm gonna use that one !!!