My Southridge CNC Hyper Viper build

Looks really good there Rusty. I like you want to try airbrushing. I have one here myself that I had wanted to use again after not using it for many years. Maybe one day this year. I have my Lil Jumpin Bean I could use it on...

The Viper has been sitting and waiting for my most recent gimp attack to clear up. I had taped and CA tacked it together for Hangouts calendar pictures, and that created the illusion that it was a splash of paint and a swatch of silk shy of flying. But that was far from the truth. It still needed shape sanding, plus silk-spanning(with doctor paper) the fuselage, stab, and wing. It also needs aluminum engine bearers and fuelproofing the power plant compartment.

Earlier this week I put the new glass(old shower door) on my table, and raised and leveled it with 1-1/4" angle aluminum. Let the building begin!

The sanding snowballed, as I'm a meticulous nut. I rounded a lot of the squarish corners off and finally smoothed it with 320 grit paper. I'll just have to quit sanding and call it done sometime soon, or I'll never finish. I also installed an exhaust pipe that I opened up with a drill and several files. I was happy that I was able to make a pretty wide passage for the exhaust, which will be piped out the side of the cowl.

Here is the Tee Dee with its exhaust pipe


I started cutting 1/8" bearers. If they are too thick, I also have some 1/16" and 1/32" aluminum.


Once I mount the engine and see how it al fits up, I'll silkspan the airframe and wing and paint it all before assembling.Some oy you guys could have thius plane flying in 5 days, but any of you that remembers my building habits knows, it'll still be a while. But it should look good and fly just fine when I finally finish.

Rusty

If I mount that engine on top of the 1/8" aluminum bearers, the exhaust ports may very well have adequate clearance.Another alternative is to bend a piece of 1/32" aluminum as a wall to block the exhaust behind the engine and let it blow through cutouts on both sides. I can even make it blow through my headers that Howard Rush made for me. How cool would that be!

I was afraid of having the exact problems you describe with the engine run too, so I'm not committed to using that smokestack.

I saw that pinhole and thought I must've made it by accident with the drill bit or needle file. I figured if I use that thing, I'd plug the pinhole with JB Weld.Thanks for the tips. I'll bring it to the show tomorrow night for S&T and we can explore options then.
Rusty