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

[Dustman]

Finally got my pieces from RCGEEK. Dry fitted I'm now painting up the parts. For the gauges and displays I copied an instrument panel on photo paper and cut out some of the pieces. The shroud I had to round off to the shape of the canopy to get it to fit; no biggy.

[Elbee]

Dustman, You are doing some beautiful work on that cockpit. Big Time Well Done, Sir. Best, LB

[Hardway]

Hugh Wiedman and all the other painters out there.... https://www.megahobby.com/products/s...g-jimenez.html

These beat a toothpick all day long!!!

[Hardway]

Elbee Those sniper brushes paint the cockpit details for you!!! Hope you guys are all well!!! Jerry

[Elbee]

But then what will I do with my "Shrink Ray" and all those little guys in the hamster cage?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh Wiedman and all the other painters out there.... https://www.megahobby.com/products/s...g-jimenez.html

These beat a toothpick all day long!!!

Now you tell me. I spent 3 weeks, almost lost my eyesight and fried 1/2 my brain cells (fortunately I didn't have many to start with) painting those little switches and other stuff, and now you nonchalantly say hey, shoulda tried this. Any other secrets you're hiding, only to release when it's too late, like maybe that the corona virus actually can be spread human to human?

Oh, and LB, got a mission for all your "little guys". Either have them infiltrate the WHO and get our $450 million back or send them over to the Freewing factory to secretly find out what they're up to. Have Tamms bake them into a Fruit Cake and send it to Alpha as a gift.

[Hardway]

I didn’t know you were using toothpicks. Or even painting all those tiny buttons... stay well Bro!!! Happy Easter.

[Elbee]

Hey Guys & Gals, A little more progress on the NG Door mod. I really like the way it looks now. Best, LB

[Aros]

Beautiful job LB!!

[GarrisonR]

That looks great! I assume you'll leave the landing light off or change to another style?

Hey Guys & Gals, A little more progress on the NG Door mod. I really like the way it looks now. Best, LB

[Elbee]

GarrisonR, Thanks. There isn't space between the retract motor housing and the strut to put the Landing Light in it's correct location. I've been thinking about smaller LEDs if these are bright enough and breaking out the Dremel...but that might be getting a bit out in the weeds. We'll see as I would like a landing light. Best, LB

[Door Guns]

[QUOTE=Carlbrainiac;n200774]Just out of interest to those of you who have flown the model. What sort of flight times are you getting and what batteries are you using? I have some 4500 mah and some cheap turnigy 5000 mah ones that dont actually give me any longer flight time than the better 4500s I have. In my Avanti they give me 3 min flights. I dont have any batteries as big as a 6000 and struggling to find any that dont then add an enormous amount of weight. I guess what I'm really asking is the 9 blade 90mm set up in this more efficient than the 12 blade 80mm set up in the original yellow Avanti?[/QUOTE

I know this is an old post but....

I have my timer set for 3 minutes, counting down above 25% throttle. My true flight time is 5:40, using 6000 Admiral pro.

[Jets and Wings]

[QUOTE=Door Guns;n248603]

Just out of interest to those of you who have flown the model. What sort of flight times are you getting and what batteries are you using? I have some 4500 mah and some cheap turnigy 5000 mah ones that dont actually give me any longer flight time than the better 4500s I have. In my Avanti they give me 3 min flights. I dont have any batteries as big as a 6000 and struggling to find any that dont then add an enormous amount of weight. I guess what I'm really asking is the 9 blade 90mm set up in this more efficient than the 12 blade 80mm set up in the original yellow Avanti?[/QUOTE

I know this is an old post but....

I have my timer set for 3 minutes, counting down above 25% throttle. My true flight time is 5:40, using 6000 Admiral pro.

Hi Door Guns, as always when talking about flighttimes, a lot of different batteries, C-Rates, flying style makes it difficult to say what is best. I fly in my F-18 with the Admiral 6S 5000mAh and have my timer set to 4:30min and have around 30% rest.

[Door Guns]

[QUOTE=Jets and Wings;n248609]

Hi Door Guns, as always when talking about flighttimes, a lot of different batteries, C-Rates, flying style makes it difficult to say what is best. I fly in my F-18 with the Admiral 6S 5000mAh and have my timer set to 4:30min and have around 30% rest.

Agreed.

I might try a 5000 mAh. The 110 gram weight difference might be worth it. I'm flying it hard as I am, I only have <20% left at 4:30. May have something to do with pushing the extra mass around.

[BomberPearce]

anyone have setup details on this bird. Just added the updated inrunner BA to my hanger. Good time to dial in the DX9 for it while we are shelter in placed.

Did anyone come back on this query in Setup’s on the DX9? I’m sure there are many out there who would appreciate some experts tips in this area. Thanks in advance FA18 community.

[BomberPearce]

Finally got my pieces from RCGEEK. Dry fitted I'm now painting up the parts. For the gauges and displays I copied an instrument panel on photo paper and cut out some of the pieces. The shroud I had to round off to the shape of the canopy to get it to fit; no biggy.

Hi Dustman, did you say you got these 3D printed parts from the RCGeek? I have not seen these (FA18) on his website. Can you provide a link?

[BomberPearce]

Hey Guys & Gals, A little more progress on the NG Door mod. I really like the way it looks now. Best, LB

Amazing work!

[Elbee]

BP, Thanks, I still have the linkages to finish and I'm trying to use OEM parts so anyone can do the mod with only the strut and drag brace doors as 3DP parts from STL files. We'll see how that goes. Best, LB

[Dustman]

The door mod is one I would not mind doing.

[Brinka]

Added foil tape to my Hornet exhaust nozzles all the way up to the EDF, and wow what a difference that made for my Afterburner kit. I wasn't happy with my AB even with dual lights, it just didn't glow bright enough. It's because inside the fuse there's blue painted area's that decrease the light from AB. Now my Blue Angel #7 will look much better during the day.

[Elbee]

Added foil tape to my Hornet exhaust nozzles all the way up to the EDF, and wow what a difference that made for my Afterburner kit. I wasn't happy with my AB even with dual lights, it just didn't glow bright enough. It's because inside the fuse there's blue painted area's that decrease the light from AB. Now my Blue Angel #7 will look much better during the day.

BK, now that's bright. Looks great. Best, LB

[Elbee]

The door mod is one I would not mind doing.

DM, I have not yet installed any of the parts for the NG Door modification as I am still changing things. As a result, I won't post the STL until those are correct in my way of thinking. I started this mod by purchasing the F-18C Nose Gear and Main Gear "Plastic Parts" from MotionRC. About $12 USD plus shipping. My original idea was to only use those parts so the mod could be done by anyone willing to cut up their model and modify the extra parts.

This mod can be done this way and frankly other than the "Steering Arm" would have been easier. Also, what I figured out was if you're careful, one could use only the OEM kit parts w/o buying the extra parts by buying styrene sheet to make mounts and for the extra doors, but the 'peace of mind' of being able to return to square one if need be helps when hacking into your model. LOL I used Plastruct Plastic Weld to glue all ABS parts together. In this case the 2 NG doors that cover the NG wheels.

Additionally, cutting the L/R NG Door mounts that are glued to the foam of the model was required, but I think cutting the foam away carefully and reusing those worked out well. Gotta use Foam Tac here to join all the parts in their new order. What great product, BTW!

The only challenge really was the OEM Steering Arm shape. The pivot point needed to remain OEM, but needed to be lowered to fit inside the Fuselage skin, so I designed a 'curved' steering, but again stacking say .063"- .125" styrene sheet to get the height and length, then carving, drilling, tapping, and sanding would accomplish what I designed and printed and would create a stronger part, I think. LOL.

My point is 'old school' methodology and a bit of ingenuity can be used for this mod and accomplish what I am doing with CAD and a 3DP printer and require less trial and error. In any event, once I am satisfied with the results, I will post STL files of the mods. Best, LB