rc3Dprint SkiGull User manual

J
PRINTING AND
ASSEMBLY
MANUAL

THANK YOU
Thank you for purchasing the Micro SkiGull. These models take many hours of work to
make available to you so please don’t share the STL files with others. Send them to
www.rc3print.com so they can purchase them at a reasonable price. This enables us to keep
making improvements and bring you new aircraft.
This document aims to help you print and assemble your aircraft. Our designs are made to
be simple “print and glue builds” however some modelling skills are required. 3D printers
often have many differences so you may need to tweak settings to get the best results.
Included in the document you will find Cura profiles and layouts for each part and assembly
instructions. The components in the design are solid bodies, this has some advantages over
hollow bodies in that you can adjust some settings such as wall thickness, infill percentage,
etc. As such you need to use Cura to slice the files and achieve the correct internal part
structure. The walls of these solid bodies are single line 0.4mm thickness to reduce weight
with some parts double walled for strength.
As you are printing and assembling the model yourself we take no liability for damage or
loss resulting from your use of these files. Please fly responsibly and follow all local laws.
Share your results on instagram and tag @rc3dprint for discount codes on future orders

PARTS LIST
REQUIRED
I recommend UMX electrics, specifically from the UMX Cessna 182, for
this model however you can use any lightweight rx/esc and servos you like.
The fit in the fuselage is very tight!
RX ESC - EFLA5864
SPMA3065 Programming cable
LIPO 2S 7.4v - EFLB2802S30
Prop adapter (long) - EFLU1168
120mm x 70mm 3 blade propeller EFLUP120703B
Motor BL180 3000Kv - EFLUM180BLB
4 x Micro linear throw 2.3g servos (SPMSA2030L)
LW-PLA from Colorfabb
0.5mm piano wire
2mm Outside diameter carbon tube - 2 x 380mm 1 x 340mm

INCLUDED STL. FILES
FUSELAGE
WING
TAIL
CARBON SPARS AND TPU HINGES

SPECIFICATIONS
Wing Span
720 mm
Flying Weight
(280mAh 2S): 113g
Wing Loading
28.6 g/dm2 9.4oz/
sq.ft
Wing Cube Loading
14.5
Channels
4 Channel
Centre of Gravity
Located at the wing strut

PRINTING PROFILE
Load a generic PLA profile into Cura for your printer, then change or check the following
from the default options. With LW-PLA it is definitely worth doing the calibration as
suggested by ColorFabb, my settings for temp and flow should be used only as a guide.
LW-PLA PROFILE
Save this profile as LWPLA PROFILE - All parts use this
profile, with the cowling having the only exception.
Use the Cura Placement guide later in this manual to
ensure the parts are orientated correctly with the print
bed. It is best practice to use the lay flat tool.
Wall Thickness
0.4mm
Wall line count
1
Top/Bottom Pattern
Lines
Infill Density
2-3%
Infill Pattern
Cubic
Printing Temperature
235 -240C
Flow
53%
Build Plate Temperature
60C (optional)
Fan Speed
20% Maximum
Generate Support
No
Build PLate Adhesion
Brim

ASSEMBLY
1. After printing all of the parts they should be carefully cleaned up with a craft knife and or
some sanding paper. Make sure to carefully remove all of the brims.
2. Fuselage 1 and Fuselage 2 can be glued together,
GENERAL NOTES ON GLUING PARTS:
I prefer not to use tabs and other guide for gluing parts together. I recommend using a CA glue that uses
and activator. I apply the glue to one of the sides being glued together and position the parts, Once in
position I spray some activator on to the join.
3. The wings should be assembled around the carbon wing spar, this helps with the lining
up of parts. You should build the Left and Right wings independently. Once each wing is
built you should feed the servo wires through the wings to exit at the centre. Once you
have the wires out you can then glue the L & R wing pieces together. The Ailerons can be
glued together and attached to the wings with their TPU hinges. Make sure the wings are
not too close the aileron and that they are free to move. You can measure up your aileron
control rods and attach the servos top the wing, I use a small amount of hot glue for this.
4. Attach the motor to the PLA motor mount. Glue the Motor mount to the Nacelle with the
flat spot on top to allow the wires to run through the Nacelle.
5. Feed the motor wires through the hole in the wing and glue the nacelle to the centre of
the wing. You can now also glue the Pylon to the wing. Make sure that you have added
suitable extensions to the standard length wire that come with servos so that they will
reach the front of the fuselage.

6. Glue the vertical stab onto Fuselage 3. It is wise at this stage to run the control wires for
the elevator and rudder through the vertical stab Fuselage 3. It may be the case that the
holes are not visible on the build plate end of the piece. I use a drill attached to the wire
running at a slow speed to gently poke out the hole.
7. Construct the Horizontal Stab and the elevators using the TPU hinges. Make sure the
elevator isn’t too close to the Horizontal stab that it cannot move. You may have to clean
out the hinge holes for a nice fit, additionally if required you can scale the TPU hinges in
Cura down a percentage if you can’t make them fit (everyone experiences different
expansion of filament…).
8. Construct the 2 rudder parts together and TPU hinges and glue in place on the Vertical
Stab. The upper hinge has a cutout for the elevator control rod, because of this use only a
very small amount of glue on the side of the hinge. It is a good idea to do this with the
elevator control rod in place, keep it moving and make sure it doesn’t get stuck down
with glue.
9. The elevator and rudder should be attached to the control rod ends. It is a good idea to
attach the elevator rod before gluing the horizontal stab to the vertical stab. Once glued in
place, check the control rods for movement there should be as little drag as possible.
10. It gets a bit tricky now…
You need to screw down your servos on the fuselage 2 floor
as per the picture. Position the tail section with the
control wires running into the fuselage. With the elevator
and rudder centralised, mark up on the wire the point
where it meets the servo connection.
Now unscrew the servos. Cut and z bend the wires and
connect them to the servo. Some modelling skill is
required here to avoid the ends getting caught on the
servo body when in motion. Dry fit the tail section to
make sure you have done this ok. With the control wires

and servos connected, re position the tail section for gluing to
the fuselage. Once glued you can screw down the servo’s
once again. I also add some hot glue to hold it all in place
(caution needed!).
11. The Pylon connects the wing to the fuselage along with
the wing struts. It is a good idea to check all of your servos
and wiring work before gluing the Pylong and wing in
place. When the time comes to glue, make sure that no
wires are stuck under the Pylon and that the wing struts
are in place. I used some hot glue for the Pylon as I figured it would be easier to remove if
I had too but I recommend CA glue as the hot glue can warp LW-PLA.
12.The Canopy is pressure fit, you will need to use a clipper of a
knife to cut away some material as shown. You will also need
to sand it.
13.The aft hatch is designed to be glued down, once you are
happy with your servos. If you only use a very small amount
of glue it could be removable if needed. The hatch will
probably need some sanding for fit, due to the expansion of
the filament.
The build is now finished. The CG point is balanced exactly where the struts meet the wing.
This was achieved with the battery stuffed right down in the nose ( I used a little velcro tape
to prevent movement and the control board stuck down with some foam tap just in front of
the pylon - there isn’t a lot of room to work with!
You may need to set up the UMX board using the listed.programming cable to assign
channels for the controls.

A NOTE ON WATER USE
Although designed with water use in mind when scaled up I DO NOT recommend using
your micro model on water. UMX kit is expensive and unlikely to survive a drenching. IF
you really want to try it on water you MUST waterproof your model using a fixative spray.

CURA COMPONENT PLACEMENT
FUSELAGE 1
FUSELAGE 2

FUSELAGE 3
AFT HATCH
CANOPY

COWLING
Tick the spiralize outer contour box
NACELLE
PYLON

L&R AILERON 1
L&R AILERON 2
ELEVATOR L&R

L&R HORIZIONTAL
STAB
L&R WING 1
L&R WING 2

L&R WING 3
L&R WING 4
RUDDER BOTTOM

RUDDER TOP
VERTICAL STAB
TPU HINGES
Use manufacturers TPU
recommended profile for the hinges.
Be sure to use the lay flat function as
the hinges will import to Cura at a
slight angle.

PLA MOTOR
MOUNT
Print in a standard PLA
profile.