How to Assemble Eclipson Model A RC Airplane - LW-PLA

[@LaLaObeRoT]

Printed, assembled and maidened the free version last week, with PLA fuselage and LW-PLA wings. Flies absolutely great. Slow and fast, little acro, no problem. Dropped an Arduino Nano and a few WS2812 LEDs into the wing. Looks great due to the opaqueness of the LW-PLA and the internal structures. Somewhat like a dragonfly wing.

[@TroyMcMillan]

Nice job building a hybrid model of PLA and LW-PLA. I am glad it flew well. This is definitely one of the best flying 3D printed planes I have done. Putting lights in the wing sounds like a fun idea. Cheers

[@Johnellenberger1]

Finally had a maiden with my Model A and let me just say that this airplane flies beautiful! When I built it I wasn't sure what was going to happen but when I tossed it in the air she climbed out at a 30 degree angle and stayed in the air for 10 minutes! Can't wait to fly my other two Eclipson planes!

[@LaLaObeRoT]

One more thing: a folding prop is very helpful on the free, belly landing version of the Model A. It eliminates propeller related landing accidents, makes motorless gliding a lot better. And allows for a larger prop. I currently have a 9x5 Graupner CAM folding prop on a 2212 1000kv racerstar motor and 3cell batt. VERY good climb rate.. ;)

[@DhruvGN8]

Could you please give me the link to this folding prop?

[@LaLaObeRoT]

@@DhruvGN8 Aeronaut 9x5 Propeller Blades: aero-naut.de/produkt/cam-carb-bl-90x-50/?radius=25 Center piece for 3.17 mm motor shaft: aero-naut.de/produkt/cn-spinner-55-317mm/?radius=25

[@GamingItbyGameRickster]

was thinking the same

[@markod1977]

This is cool! Inspired me to start experimenting with 3D

[@LaLaObeRoT]

I printed an additional wing and this time put a customized strip of adressable WS2812 RGB LEDs into the wing and elevator. Spaced out in a way, that two LEDs shine into one internal "support cell" of the wing. They are, again, controlled by a standard Arduino Nano and I can switch patterns via a free RC channel. Nothing fancy. LEDs in the elevator are a must for orientation. Nearly crashed my original Model A in the Dark which only had lights in the wings. The LEDs look awesome, as the white PLA diffuses the light, and makes the internal structure of the wing visible. Looks like a dragonfly wing. Plane looks like something from outer space in the dark. I think I'll print a white Black Wing specific for night entertainment purposes. With a flight controller and GPS it could loiter and leave the pilot free to play with fun LED patterns. Make UFO sightings increase in our area. ;-)

[@-5FPS]

Hello, I am currently printing the Free version of the model A and I had a few questions. A: After it is Printed with LW-PLA is it supposed to be able to be squished? It is very bendy yet holds its shape. B: where are the guides for the Carbon fiber rods for teh fusagle?

[@jamesjusick1462]

Great job. Keep up the good work!

[@janesmith56]

I have printed fuselage section 4 on my FLSUN QQS PRO with LW-PLA and also printed the same thing on my ENDER 3 using a good quality standard PLA. In both instances the part looked great, but also in both instances I am not able to fit the 1 mm carbon fiber rod in the channels printed for it. Any ideas?

[@mvc8472]

My neither. After a while of twisting and turning the back end of the fuselage simply broke. Can anyone help?

[@lordholdemort]

Merry Christmas everyone. From what I can see a bunch of probs listed in the comments are that there are no tubes for the carbon/steel rods, no landing gear mounts, etc. It seems that the difference is in whether you are using the free version, or the paid version. The paid version gets the cleaner parts (carbon tube holes, recess cockpit, etc). The free version seems to have cross hatching throughout the fuselage whereas Troy's version doesnt have that. Both aircraft print well and give you a good first experience with a 3D printed plane so thanks to Eclipson and Troy for the demo. Good luck with your prints and builds.

[@akeemhosten4860]

I can't seem to find the STL. file for the fuselage with Landing gears

[@phillipmartin325]

Hi what size rubber band do you use to hold the wing on

[@Chris-vc1dh]

Hi Can you tell me please what I am doing wrong? I got files from thingerverse of a wing part and put it to cura and scaled it as it was a bit too big and put preview and it was not printing the outside skin only the inside when I reset scale it was printing everything.

[@narpat007]

Excellent !

[@nosecones3]

What size bullet connectors did you use?

[@ramytaleb4500]

Where can I find the landing gear thing that you put in the fuselage?

[@pbshooter100]

Regarding the use of 3m duct tape, what kind did you use? 3m makes a variety of types, nuclear, rubberized, etc. Also why are you CA gluing the duct tape? Isn't it already sticky enough to stay put?

[@TroyMcMillan]

I used 3M multi purpose white Duck Tape. Yes I agree it is very sticky anyway you don't really need to use CA glue initially.I am hopping using the CA glue will make sure it will not come off in the future. It will last longer but still not necessary. You could just replace it if it starts pealing.

[@pbshooter100]

@@TroyMcMillan Thanks, I watched another YT build video and the person doing that one used the same tape (he showed that he got it at lowes) and also did the CA glue thing. I'm guessing that both of you are just following the build instructions at this point unless he watched your video first and just copied your technique, Who knows and it's a nit anyway. Thanks for responding and keep up the good work

[@bqychan]

Hi! Cool work you did there with the model A! May I know if this can possibly be fitted with stronger landing gear struts (e.g. printed or flat-bar struts) instead of wires to give it more structural stability on touchdown?

[@thomassmoots142]

How do you print the decals for your airplanes? Do you have a decal file for each plane? What paper/film do you print on? What printer do you use? Thanks for your great videos!

[@paulradford4100]

So, this model uses flaperons.. I am aware that we need to mix channels to get the aileron function and mix the 3 way switch for flaps off, part flaps and full flaps. Have you any recommendation as to how much angle for the flaps? 0°/10°/20° or 0°/15°/30° Obviously you won't want to go past 40° unless you want a flying brick..

[@KiwiandPixel]

Did you get an answer to this? I'm curious as well.

[@paulradford4100]

@KiwiandPixel I just used 10/20.. The only feedback I have had around the net and from groups is hate of flaperons. Due to licencing in the location I was in, I personally couldn't fly. It had to be in a club. They were religious of balsa or foamie and was very negative of 3d printed. They changed the wiring for no flaperons and was over forceful, pressing a curved wing to the table and then broke the wing, saying it was too delicate to fly - really I think it was deliberate. The plane never flew. Yeah I can print a new wing for them to fly, but they will only break it again. Yeah, I could get a licence and join the club, but they will be haters, I will get no help and it just won't be fun being there.. it became a model and eventually left behind when I moved.. shame really..

[@KiwiandPixel]

@@paulradford4100 Sorry to hear, sounds like a bad place to be an RC enthusiast.

[@paulradford4100]

@KiwiandPixel I'll gat back to it some time.. Regulations are different where I am now, mainly safety related

[@TheNightShiftt]

I just wanted to let you know the props you listed in the description are the wrong hub size they are way too small to fit that motor that you listed

[@ArrowRaider]

Did you figure out what to buy instead or did you drill out the hole in the props? I also found this the hard way.

[@I2AT]

Pretty cool!

[@ludviglindh4398]

I've printed and flown the model T, model Y and the model Z airplanes by eclipson. I've printed the Model T 3 times actually. They fly really very well unlike other 3d printed airplanes I've encountered with normal Pla. Do you know when this model is going to be released?

[@eclipsonairplanes]

Next friday hopefully

[@ScottSmithPhotos]

Did the lightweight pla come out that smooth orndid you do a bunch of sanding?

[@packer34]

The servo mounts for the ailerons seem awfully flimsy did you do anything different to strengthen them?

[@TroyMcMillan]

No I don't do anything to make them stronger. I have used them for many of Eclipson's builds and I have not had any problems with them.

[@benoitg999]

Thank you for this tuto, I am printing the body with PETG for mor resistance and the wings in LW-PLA. A question regarding the decalcs : which paper are you using ? I have a inkjet printer.

[@frankachee]

Anyone know how to print the control surfaces with the servo horns? the website says no infill but then the servo horn wouldn't work

[@TroyMcMillan]

Use bottom layers that will make it print

[@gordondmckee]

What expo setting does everyone use for the model A? For maiden, am I best to limit aleron throws a bit from 6mm? Do I need more expo as they are flaperons?

[@dronedadfpv4541]

Hey Troy! I printed all the parts and got excellent quality printing them separately! I noticed the servo holders printed wafer thin and very flimsy. Have I done something wrong or are they intended to be that way? Thanks!

[@TroyMcMillan]

That is correct they are supposed to be thin they work good I have not had any problems with them. All of the planes I have built for eclipson have used the same design. Just make sure your bed is adjusted correctly if the extruder is too close to the bed then it will print it even thinner. Good luck with your build

[@dronedadfpv4541]

@@TroyMcMillan Thanks for the reply man I’ll check that and go with it!

[@dronedadfpv4541]

Hey man I love your channel and decided to try printing the free version. I thought I saw you printing multiple parts at once but I can’t seem to do it without stringing that causes the outer walls in those areas to be thin or open. Are these Eclipson parts meant to be printed one by one? I love their cura profiles and parts breakdown. It’s very intuitive. As a 3D printing newb I was able to upload their cura profiles tweak temperatures and get great test prints on my Ender3 pro. I’ll definitely be purchasing another design. LW pla is on order. Thanks for any insight!

[@TroyMcMillan]

Thank you for the comment, When I am printing fuselage and wing parts I always try to print them one at a time. It gets the best outer skin result and keeps the extruder inside the part. For small parts like spinner motor mount wing attachments I print them all out at the same time. It is definitely more time consuming this way having to change the parts out every 2 hours rather than leaving it all day and having all your parts done. But the end result is better. Good luck with your builds.

[@dronedadfpv4541]

@@TroyMcMillan exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much for your quick and helpful reply! Have an awesome night!

[@Inserico]

Saw your video on the panthera and so keen to give it a go! I've always wanted to get my hands into 3D printing but had no motivation. This would be it! Do you have any good beginner 3D printing tutorial series you could recommend to get a good foundation on the basics of 3D printing stuff?

[@celenacollotzi1059]

good video man! just one question could you up the size/power of the motor kv such as going from a 980 to a 950kv motor? would that be possible or would you have to up the size of the plane?

[@Dagosaatana]

Any experience with this model printed in regular PLA? I am not a really experienced flyer and would like to avoid purchasing LW-PLA at least for my first plane since I'll most likely crash it :) I'll definitely get the LW-PLA once I have some more confidence with flying... Just wondering if regular PLA will make the plane harder to fly or considerably faster or something. I really like how this plane seems to fly, really slow and nice.

[@TroyMcMillan]

I don't have any experience with this plane in PLA. The advantage of this plane is how well it flies. The reason it flies so well is because it is so light. LW-PLA is about half the weight of regular PLA. This is definitely my best flying 3d printed airplane it flies very nice and slow and controlled great plane for a beginner. This plane took around a quarter of a roll to print so if you did purchase LW-PLA you could get 2 maybe 3 planes out of one 750gram roll. If you print it in PLA this plane will not fly as good or as slow as I show in the video.

[@pbshooter100]

@@TroyMcMillan As a project you should do one in regular PLA just to report on how well or not well it flies. I'm betting that a lot of us are looking to get their toes wet in 3d printed airplanes and would prefer to do our first projects using materials that we are familiar with i.e. normal PLA and not add a bunch of new variables e.g. LWPLA to an already untried process by those of us who have never printed, built and flown a 3d printed airplane. To that end information on building this plane with "normal" PLA and other readily available materials would be very helpful for those of us who are just getting started. On another note I really like how you have sourced most of the supplies needed to build this plane on amazon. This is perfect for those of us who are doing this for the first time plus not everyone has the same local resource to source materials but just about everyone has access to amazon

[@TroyMcMillan]

@@pbshooter100 Thank you for the comment I will be doing a video on the next plane comparing LW-PLA and PLA. LW-PLA is very easy to work with. I agree trying to make a list of parts that people can order from everywhere is important I am trying to find parts that can be ordered easily.

[@pbshooter100]

@@TroyMcMillan Yes I saw that one today and it was very helpful

[@TroyMcMillan]

@@pbshooter100 I will actually be doing another one with the full plane. With my next Eclipson plane.

[@milandoersam]

What kind of screws did you use for assembly?

[@timelord-zj8qd]

carbon rods is required for lw-pla only or for regula pla too?

[@baumwolle5284]

Can I also use a 2200mah battery, that weights 149 grams ?

[@TroyMcMillan]

It may work but it is very heavy battery I would not recommend using that large of battery 800mah would be perfect.

[@baumwolle5284]

@@TroyMcMillan Ok, thanks for answering !

[@grupomexcomer]

Hi, what glue do you use?

[@TroyMcMillan]

zap a gap medium ca glue

[@everythingrc5652]

Does it fly well with normal pla

[@TroyMcMillan]

I have not tested this plane out with PLA

[@dfuiopghidfg]

Hi i'm new to rc airplane and I just wanna know how batteries work ? like when you do your 10 or 5 min fly the battery is dead? or it's rechargeable ?

[@antoniorausa9695]

Nice plane, how much time does it take to print?

[@andrewdoyle3328]

On my adv3 which has a small bed about 25 hours of printing so a modern printer like a p1 probably 12 hours or less

[@bachynski2000]

Thanks very much for sharing how to assemble the plane. Have inspired me to do the same but I did so with regular PLA. I know its a bit heavier but thought I could at least use the practice printing and assembling the plane. Just need to properly find the C of G. Can you please be a bit more specific on how to locate the C of G on the bottom of the wing? Thanks again for doing a super job with your video.

[@TroyMcMillan]

It should be fine to fly with PLA! And it flies great, so that will be awesome to practice with. Have fun! :)

[@M0rdH0rst]

Funny, I just got my spool of LW PLA today and am printing the heat&foam tower to get the settings right, than this popped up 🙃 I didn't even think it was possible, to use it for a complete model. I'm going to use it for the fuselage formers of a WW1 plane which will be planked with balsa.

[@TroyMcMillan]

Ya I have built a lot of fully 3D printed airplanes. Check out my Channel to see all the builds I have done. I am starting on a new model from Eclipson this week using LW-PLA. Have fun using it the first time I printed a part in LW-PLA I was amazed by the quality and the wight. Thank you for the comment Cheers

[@M0rdH0rst]

@@TroyMcMillan These new materials surely open a lot of possibilities you don't get with 2D jigsaw parts, but in the critical parts, I still will be using birch plywood 😉 I'm old fashioned. You got a new subscriber 🙃

[@TroyMcMillan]

@@M0rdH0rst Thank you

[@dlabrie]

What are the lengths of the carbon fiber rods in the rear of the fuselage? In the video you measure them to 8.5" and 9.25", is that correct? Does Eclipson include build instructions?

[@ShahriarFarkhan]

They don't - I have the same question. I will reach out and ask as I'm printing the model right now.

[@franferro7468]

Buen dia . Que motor usaste?

[@michawronecki176]

Hi Troy, greetings from Poland. Could you tell me what kind of tape you used to attach the rudders to the wings? Thanks!

[@fpvtrucker129]

Hey Troy love all your videos learned so much I just had a question have you ever used the PoliAir 1.0 if so is it any better or about the same as the other LW PLA.

[@fuze1938]

What percent infill should I build with

[@fuze1938]

@@djsolstice8964 I was doing the fuselage at 20 should I reprint it

[@stevencarter7999]

What 3d printer, what size, are you using.

[@TroyMcMillan]

For all the planes on my channel you will need a printer with at least a 200x200x200mm build plate. I use the artillery sidewinder X1 currently as my main printer.

[@homeaccount6794]

what happens if i dont use the carbon fiber rods?

[@pbshooter100]

Once again it would be great if you could source your wire, yes I know one can use music wire but for now I have no experience with what sizes are available and even where to get it locally (have not seen it at local HW stores). You list 3 different sizes of wire in your build, does music wire come in those same sizes? It would be great if you could provide a online source for wire in your builds for those of us who might not be able to find it locally. Thanks!!

[@TroyMcMillan]

I am sorry to hear you are having difficulty finding these wires. This Is one of the most common questions I get asked about daily. I have had a hard time finding these wires online also. These planes require long wires preferably in 36in length. I do order carbon rods from ReadyMadeRC they have 36in length and ship fast. Most of the time when I tell them use music wire that works for everyone so I have not looked more into finding this online. I will look some more for it and let you know. Cheers

[@pbshooter100]

@@TroyMcMillan Thanks, I'm starting to find links on other YT channels that are reviewing Eclipson builds that provide links to some of the wire stock, Eclipson themselves have various links for wire in their build instructions. Not all the links are useful as they are out of date or with suppliers that not everyone would want to do business with however I think there is enough info published out there where one could source everything they need if they spend the time to watch 5-8 build videos plus look over Eclipson's build notes

[@TroyMcMillan]

@@pbshooter100 I am glad you found the materials.

[@mickydee6550]

Hi Troy. What kind, brand of spray paint do you recommend for your PLA builds?

[@TroyMcMillan]

I use Krylon Paint and Primer All in one. It works good for PLA or LW-PLA

[@cyclingstunts9887]

How much lw pla does this take to print?

[@IconicSpitters]

Hi - I have been inspired to build this by you and have successfully printed and built the fuselage already.. LW-PLA is amazing ....BUT the wing sections seem to be warping away from the bed at the ends .. I've reduced the bed temp a bit to 50 degrees .. using an Ender 3 Pro and 3D LAC plus for adhesion ... Any Ideas??

[@IconicSpitters]

Fixed it myself

[@RPGWoodworking]

@@IconicSpitters having the same problem...what did you do?

[@IconicSpitters]

@@RPGWoodworking i realised the wing sections are much narrower than the fuselage so thinking about it I decided to add more layers of brim .. I went up to 10 from 4 and went back up to 60 bed temp and it worked a treat 👍😉 Can’t recommend 3D-LAC enough either .. a cracking adhesion aid .. used to use hairspray and this is much better 😎

[@RPGWoodworking]

@@IconicSpitters thanks for the tip! i'll give it a go...i'm working with the Ender 5 Pro and i love the magnetic plate and have been just using glue stick. for the most part, everything sticks great but these wing bits have been giving me fits. it's my first 3D printed plane too so that may have something to do with it. i'll let you know tomorrow how it goes since i'm printing my last fuselage piece now and am going to print the wing bits tomorrow. again, thank you!

[@grupomexcomer]

Nice video. Thanks a lot. I have a question, because the frame is very fragil I was thinking in filling it out with expandable foam. Does anyone had any good experience with it?. The idea is to give it strengh while keeping it light.

[@TroyMcMillan]

No!!! Don't do that. It isn't necessary. If you want it to be really strong, just print it out of regular pla, it will be much heavier though.

[@richardcjoy]

Building this first in PLA before trying LW-PLA. What type and size are the small screws as I did not see them listed on your BOM?

[@richarddoberstein8308]

-SCREW - M2X8mm (aprox) 26units , listed under other parts, they did not work for the servo mounts in the wings, 2.3mm dia works a lot better.

[@navillus5]

I just completed a build using PLA. The resulting plane was very tail heavy. To get it to balance slightly nose down I had to switch out an 80g 3S battery for a 180g 4S batter. All parts where printed to spec. Has anyone else had this issue? BTW - the video doesn't mention it but the suggested power pack (FliteTest B) requires the use of an 8mm standoff between the motor and part 29 - Motor Holder.

[@sandborne7968]

i know this was a long time ago but did you need long screws because of the standoff you had to print?

[@matthieumorin5134]

Hi, thanks for your video, very helpfull. I started to print the free version of this plane (to test before buying the Panthera) and will soon start the assembly. Why is the glue you use for this ?

[@dronedadfpv4541]

I believe he said he used CA glue for the plane. That’s also what is recommended on the Eclipson instructions. HTH!

[@matthieumorin5134]

@@dronedadfpv4541 thank's for your support. you're right, I understood he mentionned CA glue, as specified in the Eclipson instruction. I was more interested by the brand/type of CA glue that he uses in his video. I tried some CA glues but without complete succes. I ordered some Loctite 454 as recommended by french printers, but it is difficult to be supplied for specific equipments here nowadays (not before 2 weeks ...)

[@dronedadfpv4541]

@@matthieumorin5134 I understand now, I hadnt tried to glue any of them together yet. I wasnt expecting to have trouble with the glue. I have medium ca that I was going to try.

[@bozidarskobalj3166]

why not leaving wire inside back and front wings, and have stucture inside wings a glued box elements to fit size any size is model material aynway is slight more wieght but you get stiffness and material structure it should fly the same excpet in downflow slight more responsible, I still dont see this ribets squered so fast glude hwo they glue so fast and still stay tight to me it looks to fas tglued to keep it ligth for cuple time watch assembly it looks like 3d printer could also help for aditional desire or improvements

[@antibyto4579]

6:19 he got possessed by Satan!!!

[@daviddavids2884]

fyi - at 5:58, there is NO Rational/logical reason to locate the mass of two servos AFT of the cg/c-m.!!! at 6:37, it is not clear whether the hinge gap was sufficient to allow the rudder to move to the Left. at 7:51, and, lets use a stoopid SF prop!!! cheers

[@daviddavids2884]

at 13:50, vert-stab is taller, and Heavier, than necessary.

[@LaLaObeRoT]

xD 12 comments from this guy. Better leave your keyboard alone when you're medicated, buddy. Hahahaha! Cheers!

[@daviddavids2884]

@@LaLaObeRoT har-har-har you are just another idiotCHILD. in such a case, it is recommended that YOU keep your lips TOGETHER...at all times. !!!!!

[@daviddavids2884]

at 9:30, it can be seen that someone has (stoopidly) designed the wing with a thin, less-lift-making, Profile !!!! cf. the clark-y consequently, the model/wing will have a higher stall speed and Other not-quite normal traits.

[@daviddavids2884]

at 13:50, the MASS in the main lg is NOT correctly located.!!! when the model is flying, THAT mass Should be located Below the main wing leading edge !

[@daviddavids2884]

at 11:30, wing design should allow the location of aileron servos FORWARD of Thirty %.

[@AORaiMechWork]

SHEEttt..... My horizon is reverse.....

[@daviddavids2884]

fyi - the small number of rib-like features in the main wing results in a wing that is less-resistant to wracking. cheers

[@Florecs1]

Hello, Mr. Troy! Please send me Fus2 with landing gear, LG root front, LG root rear and LG connector STL. I would be deeply grateful. Thanks....

[@TroyMcMillan]

Sorry I don't share STL files for these builds they can be purchased from www.eclipson-airplanes.com.

[@daviddavids2884]

at 11:30, that is a SHORT pushrod !!!

[@daviddavids2884]

'flaperons' most people do not Understand where/when the use of flaps is recommended. this model might want spoilers; and i doubt the utility of the flap-aspect of flaperons. cheers

[@troybatterham8036]

you clearly have issues and too much time on your hands.

[@daviddavids2884]

the prop is too far from the wing.

[@daviddavids2884]

the main lg of a taildragger.

[@daviddavids2884]

effectively, this model (stoopidly) has a Polyhedral wing. when that is combined with too-long ailerons, unpredictable behavior in turns Should expected..