Official Freewing Twin 80mm/90mm A-10 Thunderbolt II Thread

[xviper]

Just received my first A-10... wow she's big!!! Couple questions for the pros in here. First off, has anyone "not" glued the tail section and just used the motor pods to hold it together?

The elevator and rudder section gets screwed on. It's not supposed to be glued, so I suppose nobody has glued them on. As for the engine nacelles, they really don't have anything to do with holding the "tail section" in place anyway.

[themudduck]

So I bought a whole new nose gear strut and retract set because this one is cracked and broke all around the mounting area so I was like um yeah a new one is needed. I also bought a whole new nose gear door set and the landing gear mounts. I was curious as how hard it was going to be to swap out the nose mount...its broken on both sides. So no one has successfully performed surgery on the nose to swap that out? If I had to adapt with a little plywood thats no problem but I was hoping I could just swap it. I got a week before the new parts get here so I'll keep researching lol.

Hey Splat, yes it is absolutely possible to replace the nose gear mounting plate (the large plastic piece) - I figured out how to do it, but it was a gigantic PITA. I think you're doing the best thing by repairing it with wood and epoxy.
The plastic front landing gear mount plate is available from Motion. For everyone's future reference, to replace it you need to remove the nose cone and split the front of the fuselage by cutting through the vertical joint. Its really not hard with a sharp knife. Then, the entire front can be spread apart, so you can get that &$%! plate out (I removed it by ripping it out in pieces with a pair of pliers). Then epoxy the replacement mount in, and close the fuselage back up. I don't recommend doing it unless you have catastrophic damage. Here's my "before and after" pics...

This was my friend's plane that I was fixing for him, he had piled it in so hard that the entire landing gear was completely ripped out along with a lot of the structure. I had to remove the mount because most of it was gone.

[RC30Flyer]

The elevator and rudder section gets screwed on. It's not supposed to be glued, so I suppose nobody has glued them on. As for the engine nacelles, they really don't have anything to do with holding the "tail section" in place anyway.

Xviper, I'm referring to the tail of the fuselage that has the 3 pieces of carbon that inserts into the forward fuselage...

[crxmanpat]

Xviper, I'm referring to the tail of the fuselage that has the 3 pieces of carbon that inserts into the forward fuselage...

Yes, that part needs to be glued. Use the tube of white glue included in the kit. Before gluing, take a sharp hobby knife and lightly score the foam joints. Apply a thin layer of glue and press together hard. Pull apart and press back together a few times to spread out the glue, then pull apart and let set about a minute. Then press back together and you're done.

[xviper]

Xviper, I'm referring to the tail of the fuselage that has the 3 pieces of carbon that inserts into the forward fuselage...

Now I understand. Yeah, you need to glue it. The motor pods won't help to hold that on, especially if you have an odd landing or take off and you snag the tail onto something tall. Not only will the tail get yanked off but it could pull all the wiring out, too.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just received my first A-10... wow she's big!!! Couple questions for the pros in here. First off, has anyone "not" glued the tail section and just used the motor pods to hold it together? The tail section goes in so tight, I was just wondering... also, I'm a little bummed, I inspected the whole aircraft before removing some items from the box to start assembly, and I noticed that the motor pods have some packing/shipping damage. Please look at photos and give me your opinion about opening a ticket with Motion to try and get this resolved. Thanks guys!!!

Agree with evensen007 have Motion send you replacements as I'm sure it's still under warranty. Send them a picture of it and I'm sure they'll help you out, their customer service, IMO, has always been outstanding.

[Splat]

Thanks for that visual and the info Duck, yes a much bigger PITA than I anticipated so I think I'll stick with my current plan lol. I guess I'll have the spare parts on hand just in case, and knock on wood, I ever have to do a bigger rebuild...did I just jinx myself, I just jinxed myself.

[RC30Flyer]

Cant say that I'm a little more than dissatisfied, Motions response to my ticket regarding the shipping damage to the engine nacelles. While the damage isn't really that bad, I do understand that things happen with the amount of people that handle these things, however, this is a $600 aircraft... and the twin engines are pretty much the focal point of this aircraft. I guess I'll have to spend another $60 plus ship for a new engine nacelle assembly because I have slight OCD when it comes to how my jets look. I sure hope my MiG-29 that is preordered doesnt have any damage...😕

[Waconut]

RC30Flyer I had the same condition on my A-10 when I received it. I was giving it a complete repaint so I didn’t worry about it.
If it is any consolation the plane is a great flyer. I have 7 flights on mine now and it is a blast. I have flown it with and without the ordinance and with the ordinance it is definitely slower and less responsive.

[crxmanpat]

Frankly I'm a little surprised they did not agree to replace your nacelles. You did send them the pics, correct? I can understand some slight crush or wrinkling in the foam in certain places (I've had a few like this that were not a detraction from the look), but that is an eye-catching amount of damage on a highly exposed part of the aircraft.

[evensen007]

Cant say that I'm a little more than dissatisfied, Motions response to my ticket regarding the shipping damage to the engine nacelles. While the damage isn't really that bad, I do understand that things happen with the amount of people that handle these things, however, this is a $600 aircraft... and the twin engines are pretty much the focal point of this aircraft. I guess I'll have to spend another $60 plus ship for a new engine nacelle assembly because I have slight OCD when it comes to how my jets look. I sure hope my MiG-29 that is preordered doesnt have any damage...😕

That is completely unacceptable IMO. If it was just a little bit rough, I could MAYYYYYBE see their point on this one. Your damage is actually pretty bad and extensive; honestly it looks like garbage. I would never accept the plane in that shape so I suggest you give them a call and demand to go to the next level. Like you said, this is a highly visible and focal part of the jet which show large swathes of damage. No way...

[RC30Flyer]

Frankly I'm a little surprised they did not agree to replace your nacelles. You did send them the pics, correct? I can understand some slight crush or wrinkling in the foam in certain places (I've had a few like this that were not a detraction from the look), but that is an eye-catching amount of damage on a highly exposed part of the aircraft.

I sent them the 2 exact pics that I posted and asked opinions before opening a ticket. Yeah, just disappointed that I have to spend another $60 plus shipping in order for my jet to be in correct order.

[Gringotuerto]

Cant say that I'm a little more than dissatisfied, Motions response to my ticket regarding the shipping damage to the engine nacelles. While the damage isn't really that bad, I do understand that things happen with the amount of people that handle these things, however, this is a $600 aircraft... and the twin engines are pretty much the focal point of this aircraft. I guess I'll have to spend another $60 plus ship for a new engine nacelle assembly because I have slight OCD when it comes to how my jets look. I sure hope my MiG-29 that is preordered doesnt have any damage...😕

Hmm...I have seen people freak out about minor flaws (which are inevitable with foam), but this seems like this one was hit pretty hard. That is not normal handling. I'd probably ignore it, but I'm a bit sloppy. Another option is to get some lightweight spackling and run around that area. If you put it on with a wet finger, it is totally smooth. Then you need matched paint, but you probably can benefit from finding matching paint anyway. I used Model Masters Acrylic "Dark Ghost Grey", but it isn't a perfect match. You can get an optically matched pint from Home Depot for not much money, and then it is really undetectable.

[Warthog]

You would think that with the amount of $$$ they make off of us, they would replace it,no problem! I have worked with Martin and he has been helpful on things. Maybe give him a call. I have two of these. One that is modded a lot and the other is new in the box.

[Splat]

Yeah that sucks about your nacelles man...I would have hoped they would have done the right thing and replaced them free.

Here is the current rebuild of my nose mount. I put a parting agent on the metal mounting bracket then screwed it in so I could get the right fit for the wood then added a little gorilla glue to get it up. Removed the plate so the glue didn't set on it and once that is hardened up and cured tomorrow I'm going to trim the expansion and fill in the rest of the space with some epoxy from work...yes we use it on real airplanes so...lol.

[Splat]

I killed the thread lol, have the repairs all done...just waiting for the new nose gear to show up tomorrow and I can put her back together and charge her batteries for the weekend.

[crxmanpat]

Well done on the repair Splat!

[Gringotuerto]

have the repairs all done...just waiting for the new nose gear to show up tomorrow

Good luck. Did you manage to keep it light? Every time I fix landing gear I end up adding too much weight....too ham-fisted with the epoxy.

[Warthog]

Has anyone seen the inside of the MrRCSound Smoke System? I was wondering how the heat coils are set up. Photos??

[Splat]

Thanks Pat it was all your inspiration lol.

And yes kept it light as possible, lucky for me I work for an actual aerospace company where we have lightweight epoxy...I just borrowed a little of that. 😁