When the Durafly Goblin was first released a few years back it was placed to be the perfect little brother for the EFX Racers. I say this as it is a little smaller at 800mm span, and not as developed as its bigger brothers, in terms of assembly. Recently we released a Flight Demo of the Goblin, we put it through its paces and showed just how well this little guy zips around the sky and handles. What we didn't get into in the video in great detail were some of the hints and tips for the assembly of the model, so we'll right that wrong now and cover some quick and easy tips that will help in the assembly, and improve the overall longevity of the model, so here goes.

The first thing you'll want to do out of the box is to flex the control surfaces of the model to loosen the 'live' foam hinges, and in the case of the Goblin (being a simple 3ch model), this will be the ailerons and the elevator. This step is already outlined in the manual but now for the first tip, you'll want to go a step further, after flexing the hinge lines reinforce them with contact glue. This may sound like an involved process but it's actually very quick and easy. Simply run a thin bead of foam glue along the hinge line (this can be on the top or bottom side, that's up to you) and smooth out with a coffee stirrer stick or similar. And that's it, the longest part of this process is now setting those parts aside and allowing the glue to fully cure overnight. In doing this the glue acts as a flexible bond, both allowing for the control surface to still move freely, whilst at the same time holding the foam of the hinge secure for years to come.

The next tip also relates to gluing, but in the more traditional sense now. It was mentioned early on that the Goblin can be seen as a less developed brother to the EFX, what is meant by this in terms of assembly is that the Goblin favors a more simplistic approach to the assembly. Rather than click together surfaces and screw on wings (as per the EFX/EXTRA) the Goblin simply uses a glue joint to mount the tail surface and the wings directly to the fuselage. This is a good approach as it saves weight and the production complications of fixtures and fittings (being that the Goblin is such a small model) and generally, it's a tried and tested method if a little more time-consuming when assembling. So onto the tip, well it's a tip that will ensure those critical glue joints mentioned are as strong as possible and only requires a small amount of time to do. Starting with the horizontal, tail surface slide it into position on the rear of the fuselage and mark with a pencil where it sits on the fuselage, you'll need to do this for the next step, removing the paint from the foam. To ensure the strongest possible glue joint, we need a foam-to-foam join, not foam-to-paint, so you'll need to remove the paint from the area that has contact with the fuselage (the area you just marked). There are two ways this can be done, either with a light sanding or using tape with a strong adhesive. If sanding, simply sand away the paint layer in the area marked, if using tape, apply the tape to the area marked and then pull up abruptly. If using tape, you may need to repeat this process a few times, but ultimate the aim is the same, to remove as much paint as possible from the contact area. Once done simply glue the parts in place using foam glue. You can now repeat the same process for the wings, and hey presto, (once cured) you now have a far stronger glue joint than you would have had if assembling exactly as it originally came out of the box.

So those are the tips for the Goblin, it's very basic stuff but will ensure you build a Goblin that will stand up more to the riggers of time and use, and as for how it flies, well just check out the video below!"

Get the Durafly (PNF) Goblin Racer 820mm EPO Yellow/Black/Silver

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