Topic: What would you rather bee or a wasp? (Read 20707 times)

Andy M · « **Reply #100 on:** March 13, 2020, 11:50:18 am »

Matt black does make a noticeable difference. The 3rd photo shows white led poking out of its neck, which I can switch off from the transmitter but it comes back on flashing when the battery gets low.

Andy M · « **Reply #101 on:** March 13, 2020, 12:00:35 pm »

Looking at my own photos, I noticed on top of its head, how prominent part of the seam looks. Now its matt, I am going to have a go at filling this. Theres a few bits on it that I would like to improve on. I painted it with a fairly large brush and intended to go round neatening the edges. Some black bits dont even cover my pencilled pattern lines as I stopped short to allow for painting later. Thecthing is, usually stuff like that is obviois but because the colour scheme is so striking, I dont even notice any bits till you get really close.
Anyway, there was a huge wasp at my bins today

Andy M · « **Reply #102 on:** March 13, 2020, 12:14:55 pm »

Had a flight with the wasp in the living room as it was quite breezy by the time I got to flying. It handles fine, probably most stable out of the 3, its pretty well balanced, glad I put the battery as far forward as it would go. I do get some things right. A full power climb at one point shows its not got a huge amount of power left
Wasp flight video here
https://youtu.be/lKvbR6HSZtE

Andy M · « **Reply #103 on:** March 13, 2020, 12:18:28 pm »

In my last photos, resizing the photos has made all the moss around look technicolour? The original photos show it all normal colours? Strange, wondered if the wasps colouring affected the process?

Capt Podge · « **Reply #104 on:** March 13, 2020, 12:21:55 pm »

That looks flippin' brilliant!
Great effect having it sitting on the bin... I like the idea of calling it a Quasp by the way

Regards,
Ray.

Edit: just watched the video - looks nicely balanced

Andy M · « **Reply #105 on:** March 13, 2020, 05:07:31 pm »

Thanks Ray, much appreciated, wife regards it as just another one of my 'things'. Lol. She has seen a few.......
I also thought Wasp-copter could work too😁
I was hoping to fly it outside but its a bit windy and I just crashed jetranger half hour ago. Lol. These photos show that the dog was not too keen, but the cat was showing an interest.
And a couple of bright sunlight pics. It sure stands out. It joins the other animal rc projects I have built, rc duck decoy(only one I dont have a photo of), shark fin (2 versions), full size eagle and jackdaw, pteranodon( it was piggy back on the quad, it wasnt built in, it was built with intention of going on it, though. DH108 swallow? Lol.
I have been meaning to mention that these quads have a feature that I do not want to use, its ok to use on my dogcopter, but for the seaknight, jetranger and wasp, I want to stay well away from the 'flip' button, I am pretty sure this wouldnt end good, seaknight would probably lose the two rotor masts during the maneuver, through the props probably, small bits of magnets hold the masts on. The jetranger tailboom would slow the flip, losing loads of height in the process. Wasp leg drag? Dunno, it might do it better than the other 2. I may work up to trying it one day but for now, I am happy to just fly about trying to look realistic.
Well happy with all 3 of them, the jetranger was still suffering from tailslide, resulting in a reverse into the ground from 4 feet up, broke off the skid tip again. Thats the only damage. Popped the hatch off, its only held by paint fit! Need to fix it properly soon. The fin also knocked off, it is held by a magnet and two locating pegs, works perfectly. It was breezy and I was turning downwind of myself, definitely doesn't help.
The quadcopters for these 3 projects cost me 36 quid, ( I bought 5 for £60) and I can properly exercise my dog while having fun as well (and one for spares) ! Amazing value.

Andy M · « **Reply #106 on:** March 13, 2020, 10:17:41 pm »

Had to do it, them, even if it cant fly with them on..... Wings, I need to make wings, I did find a piece of clear plastic, plenty big enough for 4 wings, 2 main, 2 smaller, but they will be slightly bigger all round than the paper wings underneath (from the papercraft hornet) I have holes in my thorax ready for these. I need to make wing joint nodules or whatever you would call them, these can hold the rear edge of the clear wing level, as I will only have a 1mm carbon rod into the thorax. Pretty sure the wings will put me over the weight limit, probably by a good bit, we will see. Wish I had decent scales.!

Andy M · « **Reply #107 on:** March 14, 2020, 05:10:03 pm »

More work on wings, a bit more visible with the 'veins'? Carbon rods for rear wings from a dead, cheap helicopter from brother in law. (15 years ago, lol, knew it would come in handy! Still 2 left on it as well) The wings have a kind of reddish brown on them (same colour as my 'trodden in summat nasty' attempt on the legs). I did the black bits first to see, then once they were dry, I went over the brown areas with thinned paint. Looks not bad, I could have done them all a bit neater but the general effect seems to finish off its look nicely. The wings were flopping about in the wind, only front pair fitted at this pointo. I have now made up my wing nodule/anchor points. They have to be painted yellow first then black areas. After that I can decide final angles for the wings, bore holes and that will be the wings pretty much done. I have made slots at each wing plug in hole, to allow the clear plastic to slot in and prevent rotation. I have cut an upwards and a downwards angled slot on each. I dont know if this will make any difference or not, but I have provision for changing the angles anyway.

Andy M · « **Reply #108 on:** March 14, 2020, 06:19:15 pm »

The nodules I have made could be a bit more lifelike, mine are a bit oversized and shaped to hold my wings. Think they will blend in better once they are painted. I am glad I made the wings, really finishes it off, even just sitting in my shed. Outside they stand out better. Will definitely be trying a test flight when they are properly fitted and if the wind stops.

Andy M · « **Reply #109 on:** March 15, 2020, 12:34:16 pm »

Wings are 11 odd grams per side, so 22 and 2 approx for wing mount nodules is 24g, pretty heavy, dont know if she can lift it captain. I may have a way out though...... the head weighs 32g ! Note the bare balsa bulkhead, I intend to build a sleeve for the battery box, attached to this bulkhead, which in turn will be glued, or taped, to the back of its head, suitably hollowed with my hole cutters/ foam nibblers and measured with my seaknight foam thickness gauge. It depends how much the box and bulkhead weigh, it might be more than the foam I can take out?.... Dont think so tho, I reckon I can get 10 off it? Maybe a bit more. The outside is the biggest bit and I have to leave that quite thick. Any weight out of the head means more chance of getting airborne with the wings on.

Andy M · « **Reply #110 on:** March 15, 2020, 12:47:24 pm »

Nodules painted and wings fitted. They blend in a bit better now, dont know whether to glue the nodules on or not. Anyway, outside for a couple of photos, very windy, one set of wings blew off. Back indoors.
Had a couple of friends round for a visit last night. They persuaded me to try the wasp with the wings on.... in my shed, very restricted flying space, my assistant cradled it till it actually lifted off, with the wings on, I was a bit surprised but landed real quick. So it does lift them, and didnt look as if it was struggling, wont know for sure till I get a better test, but looked promising.

Andy M · « **Reply #111 on:** March 15, 2020, 05:36:12 pm »

I superglued the nodules in place, the whole setup was just too wobbly. I had the wings on the nodules so the carbon stubs would guide the nodules to the right place. I held them firmly in place and quickly pulled the wings out so they didnt get glued in as I want them removable. My only worry is that if it ever (lol.) rolls over in a crash, will it tear off the sheeting its glued to, or just snap the rods? The rods are most likely to go, the balsa bits of the wasp are pretty tough. There is a 3/16 hardish balsa brace between the quad arms, the wing stubs fit into these hardpoints. I am thinking of carving the nodules some more, theres only one coat of yellow and one black on them so I will be better doing it now. They need refining, as its all glued on, with better support, I can afford to downsize them a little. And make them a bit more 'ball and socket-y looking, I tried to give this effect with just paint but I think carving will really help the look. Where its legs join the body, I carved the ends to look same kind of way, hard to notice them with so much yellow to catch your eye everywhere.
Another reason for carving is that due to the rear wings only having short rods in them, they flop down at the ends, close to the props. So angling the front wing up allows the rear wing to rest on top of it, this means the downward sloping slots are unused and the balsa forming part of them can be pared away during my ball and socketing. They blend in ok, I just want to refine them a bit now, wish I hadnt glued them on, carving is going to be slightly awkward now. Lol. Luckily I am taking off small amounts, so bit easier.

Andy M · « **Reply #112 on:** March 15, 2020, 07:52:36 pm »

This was my string on its legs carrying idea. Lol...

Capt Podge · « **Reply #113 on:** March 15, 2020, 08:05:32 pm »

That would certainly turn a few heads

Regards,
Ray.

Andy M · « **Reply #114 on:** March 15, 2020, 09:59:44 pm »

I would still put money on nobody shouting a warning.... Hey mate, there's a giant wasp on you! Hopefully get a flight tomorrow, maybe try out a video with the phone on my transmitter. It is hard to do tho, I tried videoing jetranger yesterday, crashed, then discovered I hadnt recorded any of it.
I did have a new idea regarding the wasp and its flying indoor-ability, it is pretty big, more so now with the wings.... I would like a smaller one for indoors.............

Andy M · « **Reply #115 on:** March 15, 2020, 10:07:08 pm »

I was looking my bareframe Syma X7, I had just been flying it in my sed, without the standard bodyshell on, it is really quiet and flies for longer, it is sharp on the controls but really nice once you get used to it.
It also has the ability to fit inside and lift a 25g bodyshell, without doing anything to quadcopter. Not bad, but hard to get projects light enough to fly on this setup. I wondered how much bigger the wasp rotor spacing is compared to the little X7, its exactly twice, at 9 inch spacing, so a scaled down indoor flyable wasp would be 11 inches. Mmmmm, I need to get a drawing happening.
Truth is, I am a bit scared to fly the wasp outside, in case I stack it, I am sure the head wouldnt look too good with a tree trunk impression up the middle, the legs are candidates for getting smashed as well. The segments are quite strong by themselves. If the wind stops I will definately feel more confident about having a decent flight. With or without wings, I have only tried it indoors so far. There is the embarrassment factor of going to the open bit I fly in, people do walk past quite often. I personally have never seen anyone walking around with a 2 ft wasp, I would probably think they were a bit strange.... but still wonder what they were doing with it. Lol.
I am hoping to be confident enough with it to be able to buzz the roofing guys working on a house up the back. Lol.

Capt Podge · « **Reply #116 on:** March 15, 2020, 10:11:22 pm »

Quote from: Andy M on March 15, 2020, 09:59:44 pm

Hopefully get a flight tomorrow, maybe try out a video

Looking forward to seeing that one Andy

Andy M · « **Reply #117 on:** March 15, 2020, 10:24:31 pm »

First job is to get my wasp plans, what there is of them, mostly scraps of tracing paper with half cut out sections. I dont know if I have a chance of hitting under 25g, but I will give it a go. I need to half all my dimensions so that simplifies it a bit. My only complicating feature is that I want the quadcopter to detach easily as I still like to fly it in my stubby skycrane. I have a 4 inch square of my 2x 1/32 balsa superlight ply. This will do most of the abdomen formers.
Another one will be made up for the large front former of abdomen. I am looking forward to this smaller project, I have done one already, this one is going to be more fiddly tho.

Andy M · « **Reply #118 on:** March 15, 2020, 10:27:23 pm »

My medical pod in photos above is made from a fast food tray, I used its rounded formed edges to get my shape, interesting project and turned out pretty light.

Andy M · « **Reply #119 on:** March 16, 2020, 11:54:21 am »

It flies fine with the wings on, I was trying to move it up and down at one point to flap the wings, it worked a bit. About as heavy as I would like to load it. Its pretty much finished now anyway
Video here. https://youtu.be/ZaXHFI3IGfs

Andy M · « **Reply #120 on:** March 16, 2020, 12:08:36 pm »

I am building a mini wasp for indoor flying. First job is to get my wasp plans, what there is of them, mostly scraps of tracing paper with half cut out sections. I dont know if I have a chance of hitting under 25g, but I will give it a go. I need to half all my dimensions so that simplifies it a bit. My only complicating feature is that I want the quadcopter to detach easily as I still like to fly it in my stubby skycrane. I have a 4 inch square of my 2x 1/32 balsa superlight ply. This will do most of the abdomen formers.
Another one will be made up for the large front former of abdomen. I am looking forward to this smaller project, I have done one already, this one is going to be more fiddly tho. After I started writing this, I got stuck in and got the mini wasp abdomen done...... I have since sheeted the front of it. I have broken the formers a few times trying to hold sheeting on firmly while the glue sets. It is a bit more solid now.

Andy M · « **Reply #121 on:** March 16, 2020, 09:19:29 pm »

The mini wasp abdomen is quite heavy already. The big wasp weighs about 250 without the quad bits and battery. I have to get the mini wasp at 25g to fly. This means it is a tenth of the weight. The reason I mention this is that the mini wasp abdomen is close to 10g already, the big wasp abdomen was 40g at this stage, mini wasp abdomen should be about 4g if I am to be on target for 25g all up. Its not looking good, there wasnt much weight I could have removed, it is pretty fragile already. I will keep going. It may have to be a 2 legged, wingless, balsa coloured mini wasp.

Andy M · « **Reply #122 on:** March 16, 2020, 11:57:30 pm »

Started on the thorax, this is it at exactly half the size of the big one, jeezo, not much spare room in there. But it does fit. No idea how the weight is going to go, Just need to keep building and see. Worst case is it just hangs from the ceiling and I keep flying my stubby skycrane. I am hoping it flies tho, I am just a bit shocked the abdomen weighed so much. I didnt half the material sizes, 1/32 sheeting would be 1/64 on my small one, also I used 1/16 sq stringers on both. All adds up. I dont think I could work with 1/32 sq!

Andy M · « **Reply #123 on:** March 17, 2020, 12:39:01 pm »

The mini wasp abdomen is quite heavy already. The big wasp weighs about 250 without the quad bits and battery. I have to get the mini wasp at 25g to fly. This means it is a tenth of the weight. The reason I mention this is that the mini wasp abdomen is close to 10g already, the big wasp abdomen was 40g at this stage, mini wasp abdomen should be about 4g if I am to be on target for 25g all up. Its not looking good, there wasnt much weight I could have removed, it is pretty fragile already. I will keep going. It may have to be a 2 legged, wingless, balsa coloured mini wasp.
The thorax is at 6g, not much to add, sheeting either side and a hatch of some sort on top. This will probably leave me about 7g, for the head, legs and paint..........dont know if I can manage that. I could probably open the abdomen carefully and remove some material inside but it wouldnt be very much.

JimG · « **Reply #124 on:** March 17, 2020, 12:44:41 pm »

Have you tried to get what is known as "contest" balsa from some of the specialist free flight suppliers. This is a very light balsa, much lighter than normal.
Jim

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Author Topic: What would you rather bee or a wasp? (Read 20707 times)