I recently completed assembling the Seagull Models Red Baron Biplane. This is a build summary and observations.
I would say the covering of the model was at best poor. The covering on the turtle deck behind the cockpit was so loose that it would not even tighten when heated. I removed this section and redid it. There were lots of areas where the covering was loose and needed to be reheated.
The rear cockpit was held on by two small recessed nylon screws that were very hard to get to. I put my3D printer to use and changed that to a magnetic latch for ease of removal.
The building of the wings was pretty straight forward. I painted the control horns white to match the color of the bottom of the wing. I am not a fan of CA hinges and prefer hinge points. There wasn't any support beyond the trailing edge of the wing for hinge points so I used the CA hinges.
Assembling the fuselage was also pretty straight forward. Several things to note are 1) do not use the photo in the manual for placement of the nylon straps for the landing gear as they will interfere with the strut covers. 2) Even though the quality of the fiberglass strut covers is good the fitment to the fuselage is not. The base is not formed well nor does it bend to conform to the shape of the fuselage to it looks terrible. Also having supplied some edging for the struct covers would have been a cleaner look. 3) Several of the holes for the set screws on the struts were not fully tapped and needed to be re-tapped in order to tighten the setscrews. The windscreens were a terrible fit, so much so that I opted to leave them off. I may design a pair and print them on my 3D printer for a much better fit.
Attaching the wings and aligning was the biggest issue in assembling this model It was very hard to get the wing struts secured on both sides without a lot of "persuassion" on the top wing. The angle for the screws on the bottom wing was such that in trying to get the second strut secured I poked a hole and subsequently tore the covering on one of the lower wing panels. Simply changing the design on the lower wing so that the screw head was on towards the fuselage instead of away would have made this a log easier. I have never done flying wires before so I had a couple of "do overs" before I got the hang of it.
The biggest concern that I have is the CG. The manual shows that the CG is 100mm behind the leading edge of the top wing. I am using a Stinger 30 twin for the power plant and in order to balance at the 100mm mark I needed to add 3 pounds of weight to the firewall. With this weight added the flying weight of the model is 18 pounds, almost 30% heavier than the weight listed on the manual. I found on a Google search on how to calculate the CG of a biplane and according to that the CG should be at 140mm behind the leading edge. I wrote to Seagull Models about this but I have not hear back from them.
Observations:
Quality of fiberglass cowl and wheel pants is excellent. Quality or hardware is excellent.
Missing screws for flying wire on wings and stabilizer and one clevis had no pin. I contacted the place I bought the model from and had a typical no response from them.
Wing transport frame is too small. I need to use 1" thick foam in order to get the transport frame to fit when the wings are assembled. Also they supplied regular rubber bands to hold the frame to the wing. I quickly discovered that these left a mark on the leading edge of the wings.
Hard to align wing struts. Poked hole in wing covering when trying to fasten screw on second strut after first had been screwed.
Canopy held on by small nylon bolts that are recessed into the fuselage.
Three pounds of weight added to cowl in order to balance the plane at the cg location.
Windshields do not form to fuselage shape.
Dummy rotary engine cracked and very cheaply made.
Added tray above servos for receiver, switch, and kill switch,
Many decals crinkled and poorly cut.
I would say the covering of the model was at best poor. The covering on the turtle deck behind the cockpit was so loose that it would not even tighten when heated. I removed this section and redid it. There were lots of areas where the covering was loose and needed to be reheated.
The rear cockpit was held on by two small recessed nylon screws that were very hard to get to. I put my3D printer to use and changed that to a magnetic latch for ease of removal.
The building of the wings was pretty straight forward. I painted the control horns white to match the color of the bottom of the wing. I am not a fan of CA hinges and prefer hinge points. There wasn't any support beyond the trailing edge of the wing for hinge points so I used the CA hinges.
Assembling the fuselage was also pretty straight forward. Several things to note are 1) do not use the photo in the manual for placement of the nylon straps for the landing gear as they will interfere with the strut covers. 2) Even though the quality of the fiberglass strut covers is good the fitment to the fuselage is not. The base is not formed well nor does it bend to conform to the shape of the fuselage to it looks terrible. Also having supplied some edging for the struct covers would have been a cleaner look. 3) Several of the holes for the set screws on the struts were not fully tapped and needed to be re-tapped in order to tighten the setscrews. The windscreens were a terrible fit, so much so that I opted to leave them off. I may design a pair and print them on my 3D printer for a much better fit.
Attaching the wings and aligning was the biggest issue in assembling this model It was very hard to get the wing struts secured on both sides without a lot of "persuassion" on the top wing. The angle for the screws on the bottom wing was such that in trying to get the second strut secured I poked a hole and subsequently tore the covering on one of the lower wing panels. Simply changing the design on the lower wing so that the screw head was on towards the fuselage instead of away would have made this a log easier. I have never done flying wires before so I had a couple of "do overs" before I got the hang of it.
The biggest concern that I have is the CG. The manual shows that the CG is 100mm behind the leading edge of the top wing. I am using a Stinger 30 twin for the power plant and in order to balance at the 100mm mark I needed to add 3 pounds of weight to the firewall. With this weight added the flying weight of the model is 18 pounds, almost 30% heavier than the weight listed on the manual. I found on a Google search on how to calculate the CG of a biplane and according to that the CG should be at 140mm behind the leading edge. I wrote to Seagull Models about this but I have not hear back from them.
Observations:
Quality of fiberglass cowl and wheel pants is excellent. Quality or hardware is excellent.
Missing screws for flying wire on wings and stabilizer and one clevis had no pin. I contacted the place I bought the model from and had a typical no response from them.
Wing transport frame is too small. I need to use 1" thick foam in order to get the transport frame to fit when the wings are assembled. Also they supplied regular rubber bands to hold the frame to the wing. I quickly discovered that these left a mark on the leading edge of the wings.
Hard to align wing struts. Poked hole in wing covering when trying to fasten screw on second strut after first had been screwed.
Canopy held on by small nylon bolts that are recessed into the fuselage.
Three pounds of weight added to cowl in order to balance the plane at the cg location.
Windshields do not form to fuselage shape.
Dummy rotary engine cracked and very cheaply made.
Added tray above servos for receiver, switch, and kill switch,
Many decals crinkled and poorly cut.