While waiting for the battery etc., to arrive for the Vampire Jet build, I have started building a Cessna 182. The Cessna is built on a plan created by Dave Blum and available on RCGroups. The plan is for a full balsa construction. I plan to build it using biofoam and balsa will be used for strengthening the build wherever required.

Further, I have resized the plan by 125%.

I am not sure whether I will be able to complete the build by the end of the Sweepstake period because of medical emergency in the family, but keeping my fingers crossed, I have started the construction.

The opening screenshots with the mandatory newspaper clip are attached

I started by building the fuselage. The support pieces were prepared using balsa while the outer covering is biofoam. The basic structure was completed today. The next step will be to apply 3 to 4 layers of biofoam on the areas which need to have a curved profile, which, hopefully, would be done tomorrow.

Added layers on the tail section of the fuselage and after drying, sanded it to match the profile defined by the balsa bulkheads. Before adding the next layer, lightning holes were cut in the previous layer. Photo of the layering process in the aft section attached to make the lamination process clear.

ashok bhai awesome build.. your sanding skills are nice.. will love to see more from you.. waiting for the final product and maiden.

Thanks buddy. Still lot of work remains before maiden.

Nice 

The underside of the fuselage was completed.

Started work on the tail feathers. Pieces were cut for the vertical stabiliser, rudder, horizontal stabiliser and elevator. The edges were lined with balsa strips to strengthen the tail feathers and prevent any flutter.

Cutting balsa strips has always been difficult as the blade would wander along with the balsa fibres. The steps I use to cut straight balsa strips is as under
-- Mark the width of the balsa to be cut
-- Place a metal ruler along the cut and clamp it with as many clamps you have. I use a vegetable cutting board for my hobby. (I bought a new one for the kitchen and transferred the old one to my hobby world  ). I sandwitch the balsa between the cutting board and the scale.
-- Remove only one clamp at a time. Score the cut with a sharp blade using light strokes. Once the balsa strip in this section is free, re-clamp the strip and after removing the next clip, cut another length. Soon the whole strip would be cut straight.

This is Awesome   .

Today I have learnt a new technique. Great.
Earlier I used to never throw out a single scrap of Balsa. Now I am not going to throw a single scrap of Depron.  

What is the glue used between layers of depron?

@Sundaram
I am using Fevicol Speedx. I am looking for "Fevicol 1K PUR" which I think would be the best. If you happen to find it please let me know.

Yes Sir I am also on the lookout for Fevicol 1K PUR. Will surely share if I come across.

Balsa edging and ruler clamping both great ideas.
Will adopt.
Pic of my 30 year old homemade balsa stripper and additional spacer.
Try this fabric glue too. Looks just like fevicol, but smells totally different.

I had once written to Pidilite explaining the problem hobbyists had on availability of their products, urging them to have an online store

Unfortunately they never replied back

They do have an online store called Hobby Ideas, mostly for school Craft items

@Iyer
I have an Xacto balsa stripper. Never succeeded in cutting straight strips. I have finally settled with the above method which works for all widths with tools available on any modellers desk.

Your stripper is nice   but blades have to be changed in a stripper ever so often  

@sanjayrai55
Unfortunately the hobby shops in India do not stock all items required for the hobby. They only keep limited imported stuff. Looks like none of the owners are in the hobby themselves. This was not the case with the old India Hobby Centre chain of stores where they were selling, and wherever required, manufacturing items not available otherwise themselves. Unfortunately, Mr Rishi, did not carry forward his father's business model. But for India Hobby Centre aero modelling would not have been there in India.

Hey friend from where did u get the plan please tell me

Plans are available on RCGroups at http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316445&page=43

With the edging glued up on the tail feathers, I glued the hinges to the elevator and rudder. I find hinges work more smoothly than the tape which people use now on their foam models. I glue the hinges into slots that I cut in the two surfaces with araldite. I dab the hinge section with Vasline (petroleum jelly) before applying the araldite to prevent the hinges from getting jammed as the epoxy tends to freeze the joint. . A bottle of Vasline is a must in a modellers workshop - maybe us old types. 

After leaving the hinges to set overnight (Araldite takes 12 hours to set), I cut zigzag slots in the vertical stabiliser with matching slots in the top layer of the fuselage so that the two can mate together. Since the horizontal stabiliser gets sandwiched between the two, a slot was also made there. The tail feathers then are slid into place and are now ready to be glued. I have still not glued them as I want to place the control rods before doing so. A job slated for tomorrow. 

Next is building the wing. The wing has a dihedral with a flat section in the centre. I have been toying with different methods for building the wing. But I ran into roadblocks. First, the plan that I had printed was defective as the ribs had not been printed. So I have sent for a fresh printout which I will get tomorrow. The two printers I have use the parallel port whereas my laptop has only usb ports. So now I have to buy a new one just because the parallel port is no longer supported 

I have decided to build the wing as one piece with folds in the centre to take care of the required dihedral. The next roadblock was that the biofoam that I had was not 42.5 inches wide. So I cut the wing base in two pieces and joined them together to get the required width of 42.5". Instead of using a straight joint, I cut an interlocking zigzag pattern so as to make the joint slightly stronger (learnt from my woodworking hobby)

Still waiting for the plan prints. Expected by today evening. Building the wing held up.

Decided to make the landing gear with cycle rickshaw spokes (they are thicker than bicycle spokes). Each spoke is 12" in length. I first drew the shape and lengths on a scrap sheet of paper. Since two spokes are required to make the two pieces of the main landing gear, the first step was to bind the two spokes together using masking tape (a required must in a modellers workshop) so that the two pieces are bent at the same length and at the same angle. Next I marked the points where I was required to bend the wires. Using a bench vice to hold the wires at their bending points, I bent the landing gear to the planned shape. On removing the tape, I had two matching sections of the landing gear.

Next was making the landing gear for the front wheel. The first step was to make two turns at the centre. I used a spring bender for doing the same. The spring turns were compressed and wire bent at appropriate places in a vice. And voila! the landing gear was ready.  

Now to place an order today for the wheels.  

Could you please give details of the spring bender? Thanks

The wire bender/spring maker is a simple device with a post around which the spring is wound and a handle. I am attaching photos of the device. I had purchased it in a hobby store in Singapore about 5-6 years back. The cardbox box has been thrown away as it had got crumpled in this period. As such I am unable to tell you the brand name/manufacturer. The device is made of solid steel and heavy for its size.

The post has to held in a vice. Since I don't have a large vice I had held it between pieces of wood in the photo in the above post. I need to make a suitable wooden block to hold the post firmly as the entire stress is on the post when bending the wire.

Like this one: https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__13278__Wire_Bending_Tool.html

Ashok sir, can these support the weight of the plane.

I too am using the same spokes for this plane,
http://www.rcindia.org/electric-planes/articulating-wing-tip-as-ailerons-new-model-for-sweepstakes/
it cannot even bear the weight of just 600gms.

Ashok.P