Ziroli P-51 glass fuse

Anyone build a Ziroli P-51 using the fiberglass fuse Nick sells ?

Curious about the tradeoffs between shortened building time and the detail level obtainable, versus the longer build time and high detail level from a built-up fuse.

Also curious about how the fuse internals are mounted/attached.

'bout finished with the current model and it's time to fish or cut bait on bashing the Ziroli P-51/Aeroworks kit into an Apache. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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Reply to
Fred McClellan
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Fred,

How can you expect a built up fuselage to have higher detail than a good fiberglas one? I would suspect that the Ziroli glass fuse will have all the panel lines as well as rivets and access panels molded in. Since Nick regularly wins scale events, I would guess that his products are very accurate.

The internals are epoxied in.

If your intent is to make an A-36 Apache, you are better off building as the P-51D model is a lot different and a fiberglass fuselage would be very difficult to modify.

Reply to
Paul McIntosh

I'm new at this so bare with me. I just got the plans yesterday for the Ziroli P-51, very impressive, 98" WS. Going to be my next project but I will glass it myself. Using a glassed fuselage most non-removable internals are epoxied in. Theirs are made from a mold with semi-ruff inner surfaces, mine will be over sheet balsa covering. A plus is the majority of the sanding is done for you. Time building wise it's longer building yourself but experience and satisfaction in the knowledge that it is scatch built and yours. It's entirely up to what you want. My biggest project, being a history buff, will be who to model is after and honoring the pilots that flew her. thanx, ken

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Reply to
KenKnapp

I expect a built-up fuselage to have any and all the details a builder might choose to implement, not the least of which would be removable hatches and access panels.

With respect to "winning" Ziroli P-51 implementations, I don't know what level of detail was implemented in the mold and what level of detail was implemented by the builder during construction, which is why I would like to hear from folks who have had their hands on the Ziroli P-51 glass fuse.

Doesn't make sense to me to part with another $319 plus shipping only to discover that I have to implement a fair number of details which I would have to implement in the Aeroplane Works kit and glass parts I already have.

The glass fuse wasn't available when I bought the kit and glass bits, and I've not seen one.

Probably a foregone conclusion that the internals are bonded. My concern there is whether the fuse was laid up with epoxy or polyester resin because that makes a difference in how those internals are bonded to the structure. I don't like and won't use polyester resins for anything.

All I know is that the web site says the fuse is "fiberglass", not which flavor.

An assumption with which I tend to agree.

Bashing the Aeroplane Works "D" kit into an A-36 will be fun enough because the dive brakes have to be invented from scratch and there's no readily amenable structure in the wing.

Since I have to re-invent that wheel, I thought I might save a good bit of frame-up time by using the glass fuse if it lends itself to reasonable bashing.

The basic planform is essentially the same. Grafting on a turtle deck, re-configuring the cowl, and scratching up a framed canopy are known quantities.

Methinks the dive brakes will entail the most work.

Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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Reply to
Fred McClellan

You couldn't add any detail that wasn't already there? A fiberglass fuselage can be made just as detailed as you wish with a LOT less work than trying to build up one.

Why don't you drop Nick a line and ask for the details?

Reply to
Paul McIntosh

Probably right.

Planned to call Nick on Monday anyway.

I just thought maybe someone in the group had used the glass fuse and might be able to answer a couple questions.

Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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Reply to
Fred McClellan

Fred,

I had one of the Ziroli fuses a few years back. It had no scale detail on it at that time. Perhaps Ziroli and company have modified the molds but I think I'd pick up the phone and give Nick Jr. a call and see what he has to say concerning the detailing already on the molded fuse.

Chris

Fred McClellan wrote:

Reply to
Chris Spierings

Don't know about the Mustang, but I have a Ziroli Corsair. Absolutely NO scale details. The plane comes in at 25lbs, with a Walker Sachs 3.2 and four pounds of lead in the nose. Bill

Reply to
Bill

Thanks guys.

I'll spend the $300+ on a planer instead.

Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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Reply to
Fred McClellan

Fred, None of Nick's fiberglass fuselages have surface detail incorporated. They are excellent for providing a true, waveless surface on which to start your surface detailing. It takes a lot of work to get to this starting point with a built-up wood structure you build yourself. Rich Uravitch

Reply to
AEROSCALE

Hi guy -

Thanks for the heads-up. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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Reply to
Fred McClellan

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