rcwarbirds.com

Merlyn Graves’ Kawasaki KI-100 Project

Painting is in the final stages. Here I am spraying the tail feathers insignia.

All the color coats are complete on the wing. Only need to spray on the flat clear coat.

Here’s a shot of the finished color coats on the tail. Time to clear coat it and then hinge all the control services. After that I only need to install the radio, etc.

DISASTER!!! I always apply a coat of silicon to the wing saddle to prevent chafing. I normally lay Glad Wrap on the wing, apply silicon to the saddle and then tighten the wing onto the fuse. It always works well except that there are always crease marks in the finished silicon. SOOOO, this time I decided to use Vaseline. I didn’t think about it but apparently the acetic acid in the uncured Silicon eats through the Vaseline and adheres to the paint. Result!! My wing is now glued to the fuse. The assembly is setting inverted on my Byron Cuddler, and the plane is too large to be turned over in the shop, so I had to lay on my back and work a thin metal sheet between the wing and the fuse to break everything loose. It took about an hour and a lot of $^&%$*#&^ing but I finally was able to get the wing off.

Here’s the top of the wing. It is a mess. I will have to sand it down and repaint it because it is beyond just touching it up.

Now it has been sanded out and masked off. The masking coincides with a panel line so it shouldn’t be very noticeable

Two coats of paint and it is ready for clear coat.

Everything is complete. I have dragged it out side for a couple of photos and to run the RCS215 Radial for the first time. Weight came out at 67 lbs. including the 3 lbs of lead I had to add to the nose. With 2904 sq. in. of wing that equates to a 55 oz/sq.ft. wing loading so it should be a good steady flyer.

The engine runs great! Started on the third flip after priming. It idles at 1200 rpm and turns the Fuchs 30” 12-pitch 3-bladed prop at 4600 rpm. Tremendous pull! The baffling seems to work well. After a 4 minute high rpm run on the ground the cylinder head temperatures run about 190 to 210 degrees. It should run even cooler in the air. I can hardly wait for the weather to break so I can get it in the air.

BACK to PROJECTS

Become an RCWarbrids site supporter by making a donation.
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00


The Web RCWarbirds.com