Tractor 120

I was planning to work on the Tractor this morning but when I checked the forum before I started working on it Pilotk1c ask me if I was going to release Red Bird Mk II today and I said "OPPs" I had completely forgot about that. So I had to finish adding the changes I made to the first version just before I released it so that took quite a while and wore me out so I didn't get to work on the Tractor today. Hopefully I'll feel good enough to work on it tomorrow morning. I guess my age is catching up on me most days I feel just so-so most of the time.
 
I have a question for you guys. Skipping ahead a little I'm wondering what wood I should use for the planes structure when I create the color scheme. I have a PDF version of the plan and it has lots of pictures which shows the internal structure made mostly of lite plywood which doesn't have much grain so it wouldn't show much through the transparent covering. So should I used it or just use balsa for everything so you can see the wood grain better.
 
Some thoughts I had on how to do the internal structure. When I learned how to make a wing with the ribs showing (if I remember right) I asked how to do it and the answer was to duplicate the wing and then reduce it so it's below the surface of the wing. Then you cut up that part to create a rib cage that's just a bit below the surface of the wing. That would make a wing (or fuselage) where the sheen across the surface would be the same all the way across so the balsa part and the open area between the ribs would have the same sheen. But I'm thinking in real life that's not what it would look like where you iron the covering to the balsa sheeting and ribs the covering would look different showing the attachment to the wood so the sheen of that area of the covering would be different (less).

I've always created a separate part for the rib cage (fuselage) that was just below the surface so the sheen across the wing would be consistent. But I'm thinking if I just cut the balsa structure into the part instead of making a separate part I could overlay that area in the color scheme with a balsa grain with a transparent color applied over the top of it. Then play with the values in the spec map to make the balsa area and the transparent area between them balance as much as possible. Hopefully that would work and be a little more realistic looking. Anyway I think I'll try that on this plane and see how it works. I'll do the hstab first and if it looks bad I only have to redo one part.
 
I cutout the horizontal stabilizer ribcage so I could test the new method I'm trying and then assembled the plane. I haven't cutout the control surfaces for the ailerons, flaps, and rudder yet but I'm going to see if I can import it in RealFlight the way it is but it might not let me. I'll probably need to add an engine before importing it too. But once I'm able to import it I'm going to map the horizontal stabilizer to see how it looks using the new method so I can decide if I want to use it. Here's a picture of what it looks like together.

I guessed how thick the hstab and vstab should be so how do they look?

Tractor 120 04.jpg
 
I went back and looked at the pictures of the build in the PDF I got from their website and I think the wing, hstab, and vstab are a little too thick so I'll be reducing them before I do anything else. I'll post another picture after I reduce them but right now it's time for a break and some coffee.
 
I went back and reduced the wing, hstab, and vstab. For the wing I reduced the overall thickness a little but I also reduced the height of the airfoil too so the bulge in the airfoil on the top is a little less than before. I think the wing looks pretty now good but Pedro let me know what you think.

I also reduced the thickness of the hstab and vstab and they seem about right but Pedro let me know if you think they should be reduced a little more.

Here's a Before and After picture. (The first picture is After the Changes the Second is Before the Changes)

Tractor 120 05.jpgTractor 120 04.jpg
 
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Actually I'm thinking the hstab and vstab could be reduced just a "tiny" bit more after looking at the pictures in the PDF build file again they look pretty thin in it.
 
Pedro check this out I reduced the hstab and vstab a tiny bit I think it matches the pictures in the PDF file you can download from their website a little better now. There's not much difference so you have to look close.

Here's two pictures. The First picture is After the Change the second picture is Before the Change.

Tractor 120 06.jpgTractor 120 05.jpg
 
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