Depron Nanoshark User Manual

Please review this entire manual before beginning assembly.
By doing so it will help you better understand each step as you progress in the
actual building of your kit, and you will do a better job in assembly.

INCLUDED IN THIS KIT:

• All laser cut Depron parts

• Balsa ailerons and 2 pieces of balsa elevator

• Plywood motor mount

• 3 Pushrods + 1 Pushrod tube

• 3 Dubro Micro control horns

• 2 Dubro Ez-connectors

• 1 Carbon ber tube and 3 at spars

SPECIFICATION:

• Wing Span: 30 inch

• Length: 19.5 inch

• Dry weight: 8.5 oz

• Ready to Fly Weight: 12~13 oz with 3S 11.1v 1550mAh

NEEDED BUILDING TOOLS:

• Foam Safe / Odorless CA glue + Foam Safe Accelerator

(User Friendly Odorless “UFO” highly recommended)

• Blenderm Hinge Tape or Transparent Scotch Tape

• Sandpaper and Sanding Bar

• Hobby Knife, Pliers, and Z-bending tool

• Ruler (preferably metal)

• Wax Paper and Hot Glue

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT:

• 4 Channel Transmitter + Receiver

(AR6000, AR6100E, AR6110E, AR6200, AR500, AR7000, or similar)

• 3 Micro Servos (5~8 gram)

(HXT500, SG-50 or Hitec HS-55 or similar)

• Small & Light High KV Outrunner (2208, 2826, etc.)

(Grayson Hobby Micro Jet V3 2200kv motor)

• ESC: 20Amp up to 40Amp, depending on motor used

• APC Prop: 5x5 or 6x4

• Prop Adapter: 3.17mm (GH V3 includes prop adapter)

• Lipo Battery: Nano-Power 1100mAh 3s 11.1v 35C(use smaller battery for lighter set up)

or Nano-Power 1400mAh 3S 11.1v 35C or Nano-power 1600mAh 3S 11.1v 45C

or Nano-Power 1900mAh 3S 11.1v 45C

• Maximum Battery size: 104x34x24mm

• Maximum Battery weight: 162 grams

The un-cut Depron
parts of the kit as you
will receive them.

Make sure you made a
left and right fuselage
side with the doubler
facing the inside. Then
glue the fuselage cen­ter piece into the slots.
Use enough glue!

Simply cut them out
with a sharp knife at
the tabs.

TIP: build most of the
plane over wax paper
to prevent accidental
gluing to the table.

The wood parts and
hardware.

Update: New kits will

include two balsa
elevator halves
instead of one foam
+ one balsa elevator
halves.

Start with the fuselage
sides and the doublers.

Glue the doublers over
the top half of each
fuselage side. Make
sure the tabs are not
covered and the slots
on the top line up.

Since the fuselage is
curved you will need
to spray accelerator on
the front and rear sec­tions separately while

pressing for proper t.

Attach the motor to the
mount now. Doing it
later will be more

difcult.

Glue in the motor
mount to the fuselage
side.

If you have difculty

then you can use
scraps to line up the
bottom. Be careful not
to glue them in. (You

can also test t the

motor mount to assist
in lining up the front
properly.)

Make sure these slots
line up well so that

the carbon ber tube
and at spars can be

inserted perpendicular
to the fuselage sides
and not be askew.

Glue on the remaining
half. Pay attention that
the slot are pressed
into the tabs equally
on the left and right
sides by repeating the
process as before.
Pressing down while
spraying accelerator.

Make sure you apply
plenty of glue on the
motor mount areas for
extra strength. Use
thick foam safe here to

create a glue llet on all

sides.

Here are all the
fuselage top and bot­tom pieces that will
be doubled up. The
doublers are slightly
smaller (thinner) than
the part being doubled.
Glue them together
centered. See next
steps

Test t one of the
carbon ber at spars

in the rear-most slot on
the fuselage top. Do
NOT GLUE it in, this is
just to line up the other
foam part in the next
step.

Pay special attention to
this part here. Only this
part will need an offset
of 1/16”
Line up the inside dou­bler 1/16” off from the
back edge.

Here you can see that
the inside doubler is
evenly spaced on each
left and right side. This
is how all the parts
should be assembled.
Remember only this
piece will have an addi­tional offset mentioned
previously

All the parts doubled up

Take the front of the
fuselage top piece that

you just cut. Test t

(DO NOT GLUE) it so
that the inside doubler
portion will be right up

to the at spar.

Now that we have that
peice properly lined up
we can now glue in the
very end tail piece of
the fuselage top.
Remember ONLY glue
this rear part in at this
point.

Glue it in position as
shown.

Take the rear top piece
shown here. Measure
7” inches from the rear.

Cut this part in half at
the 7” inch from the
rear mark.

Now you need to re-

move the at spar and

the top piece that we
used as a tool to line
up the rear section.
Put this aside for a
while as we move on to
the elevator assembly.

Find all these parts
for the horizontal
stabilizer+elevator
assembly.

Update: New kits will

include two balsa
elevator halves.

Insert and glue the

carbon at spar into the

horizontal stabilizer and
glue together the balsa
and foam elevator.

Click here to see
RCGroups for a tip

on how to sand the
elevators.

Again use masking
tape and attach the
elevator with the balsa
side up. Then sand a
taper onto the balsa
elevator only. Do a little
at a time and check
your work as you go to
prevent over sanding.

Use a metal ruler and
trim a bevelled edge
on BOTH the horizon­tal stabilizer and the
elevator.
About 30 degrees is
enough. The balsa
side of the elevator is
the top.

You should now have
a nice upside-down V
groove for a pivot point.

Don’t tape it on yet...

Insert the horizontal
stab into the fuselage
and mark where the
leading edge meets the
fuselage

Here you can see the
taper to a sharp trailing
edge.
It doesn’t have to be
perfectly sharp.

Flip over the assembly
and sand the foam el­evator down to a taper
as you just did on the
balsa side.

Now you will see the
elevator trailing edge
coming to a point.
Again it doesn’t have to
be a sharp tip.

You should make
marks as shown.

Cover the foam be­tween the marks to
prevent sanding where
you don’t want to.

Next sand the leading
edge of the horizontal
stabilizer rounded.

Clean off all the dust
well! Then use Blend­erm or transparent
Scotch tape to tape the
elevator to the horizon­tal stabilizer.

Flip it over and tape the
underside

Simply trim it away.

You will nd that the

elevator keeps popping
up. Use your nger/n­gernail to press down
the elevator hinge so
that it doesn’t keep
pointing up.

When taping the hinge
try to use a singe long
piece and then trim

when nished.

Apply glue to the fuse­lage where the horizon­tal stabilizer. Assembly
will be inserted.

Now your elevator can
move down properly.

Flip over your fuselage
assembly so that it is
upside-down. Then
install your elevator
servo.

Use hot glue to secure
the elevator servo.

Insert and glue the
horizontal stabilizer to
the fuselage. The balsa
side of the elevator fac­ing up.

If you look underneath
you will see a protrud­ing little part of the
fuselage that prevents
the elevator to move
down properly

Install and glue the
control horn into the
hole of the elevator on
the bottom side. Then
insert your elevator
push rod on the top
hole.

Cut down your servo
arm down to leave 3
holes on the arm.

Tape the elevator so
that it is in neutral
position and line up the
pushrod with the tub­ing inserted over your
servo arm.

Position it about center
of the push rod length.
Trim a slot or groove
that the pushrod tube
can sit in. But dont glue
it in yet.

Make a zig-zag bend
just behind the servo
so that you can make
minor adjustments after
set up on this linkage is
completed.

With your pliers grab
the wire and position

your ngers as shown.

Then simply twist the
pliers and you will
create a Z-bend. Use
it later for nal adjust­ments after connect­ing the pushrod to the
servo arm.

Line up the pushrod
over the hole in the
servo arm and mark it
with a sharpie. Try to
be exact.

Make a Z-bend using a
Z-bend tool

Use the mark you
made on the pushrod
to line up the Z-bend
tool properly.

The Z-bend should
be as positioned as
shown.

Find some scrap
pieces of foam and
make a stack for to use
as a support for the
push rod tube. (2 pcs of
6mm or 4pcs of 3mm.)
This is important, do
not skip this step.

It should t just right.

But if it doesn’t don’t
worry. Just open or
close the Z-bend that

was made for nal

adjustments until the

pushrod will t right into

the servo arm where
needed.

Now take one more
3mm piece of scrap
foam and glue a cover
over the pushrod tube
so that there is no way
for it to come loose.

Install the pushrod
on the servo arm and
screw it in the servo
now.

To curve it properly,
use a marker and press
down and roll away
from you while lifting
the end. You may need
to repeat this sev­eral times to get a nice
natural curve.

Hook up your servo to
your receiver and test
your elevator linkages.
Make any nal adjust­ments here as this
is the last chance to
change any of it.

Once you are satised

that it is centered and
moving freely then glue
on the bottom piece.
Don’t worry if you
think your elevator is
not moving enough. It
takes very little move­ment to properly control
this plane.

Glued and covered. If
you need to change
your servo in the future
you need to cut this
part open to access it.

Try to match the fuse­lage shape as best as
you can. It is not utterly
critical to be perfect.
In fact you can get by
without much.

Place the battery hatch
in position to line up the
front piece so do not
glue the battery hatch.

Go ahead and glue
only the front piece on
now.

Hold it down on all 4
corners to make it con­form to the curvature of
the fuse while the glue
cures. Or spray accel­erator carefully while
holding all 4 corners
with one hand.

Test t the battery

hatch.

You will nd that it

doesn’t follow the
same curvature of the
fuselage.

Remember we didn’t
glue the battery hatch.

Tape the front part of
the battery hatch. You
will be creating a one
way moving hinge.

Attach the taped part to
the front of the fuselage
bottom as shown.

Tape down the at wing

halves and use the “T”
shaped 6mm parts as
a jig to properly space
the wing halve from
each other.

Then ip up the battery

hatch and apply tape
to the underside of this
hinge.

Wrap the tape into the
fuselage.

Now you will have a
hatch for your battery.
You will only be using
tape to keep it closed

for each ight. It is the

safest solution to se­cure the battery inside

the airplane when ying

fast and high G turns.

Insert the carbon tube
right between the
space of the 2 “T” jigs
then place the center
wing sections over the
tube. Line everything
up properly but don’t
glue yet.

Now once you check
for proper alignment
carefully remove one
side so that you don’t
move the alignment.
Then glue the carbon

tube down rst.

Then apply glue to
the center piece to be
glued over the carbon
spar you just glued.

You can sand the
edges smooth as an
option. Only sand the
bottom of the fuselage
at this point

Now onto the wings.
First locate the curved
wings and put them
aside for now. We will

be working on the at
wing halves rst.

Now that the right side
is completed and se­cured from moving you
can lift the left center
wing panel and glue
the carbon tube.

Now nish off the left

center wing panel to be
glued down.

At this point the 2 wing
halves should be glued
and secured in the
proper position and
spacing.

Carefully remove the
wax paper and quickly

press the carbon at

spar up to the glue.

Remove the “T” jigs.
Then take the longer

of the 2 at spars and

glue one half of it to
either side of the wing
center sections. See
next photo.

Apply glue then use a
piece of wax paper to
press it up against the
back side of the center
wing section. You can
lift the wax paper while
still holding it and spray
accelerator to cure it.

Once the left side is
cured move on to the
right side. Slip the wax

paper between the at

spar and the foam.

Use the wax paper to

press the at spar onto

the wing. This will keep

your ngers clean.

Repeat this process
with the remaining

shorter at spar on the

front side of the center
section. Use more glue
at the ends and hold it
while spraying acceler­ator if you have trouble
with them.

Next take a piece of
scrap foam at least 9
inches long. Then cut
a strip about 3/32” It’s
okay to be a bit more
but not less.

Then pull down the wax
paper and apply glue to
the back of the center
wing section

Then ip the wax paper

back to cover the glue
and spray accelerator

on the at spar.

3/32” is a little more
than 1/16”...

You will be cutting half
of that strip and glu­ing it on each wing
half. Glue it where
it is marked with the
red line. Which is just
below the carbon tube
about 1/16”

Glue and trim to t as

shown. The point here
is to create a chan­nel for the servo wire.
Try to make it as high
as the carbon tube is,
which should be only
about 3/32” raised up.

After completing both
side carefully, you need
to cut out the servo
wire channel out of
the top wing skin. You
should be able to see
where to carbon tube
is... cut directly below it
to the servo hole.

In order to assist locat­ing the centerline when
sanding the leading
and trailing edge of the
completed wing you
should mark with a col­ored sharpie the edges
as shown.

Do not mark as shown
here. These marks are
shown here for you to
know where to apply
glue when covering the
top skin. Don’t forget
to apply glue on the
carbon tube either! Pay
attention here and use
plenty of glue.

After you applied glue
to the read areas
prepare the top curved
wing skin to be joined
to the bottom sheets.
Put a couple small
strips of tape that
will act as hinges to
properly line up the top
sheet in one try.
The reason for doing
this is that you may
want to spray accel­erator on the top sheet
for an instant bond.
But you have only one
chance to line it up
right. If you mess up a
little you may have to
live with a crocked wing
If so it’s ok, just trim it.

If you do spray the
accelerator make ab­solutely sure that you
spray it far away from
the uncured glue on the
bottom sheet. Other­wise you may cure it
before joining the 2
halves.

Cut a strip 1/16” right
below the carbon tube
and you will have cre­ated a channel that will

t your servo wire.

Next prepare the aile­ron wood pieces. Mark
and cut off the ends to
match the wing shape.

The width of the aile­rons from front to back
is more than is needed.
Draw a line to match at
the thickest part of the
aileron. Do not trim the
trailing edge!

Bevel the aileron on
the line you drew. Now
your aileron will be the
right size and it will
have the necessary
bevel to create the
hinge.

Here you can see the
approximate 30 degree
bevel on the aileron.

You should also bevel
the wing where the
aileron will be attached.
This will make a better
aileron hinge move­ment.

If your aileron is thicker

then ip it over and

sand down the un­derside of the aileron.
This will ensure your
top wing has a cleaner

airow.

Here you can see
the approximate 30
degrees bevel on the
wing.

Next sand the leading
edges rounded.
Use the red marker
lines to see where the
center of the 2 sheets
are when sanding the
leading edge round. Try
to be even on both top
and bottom sides of the
leading edge.

Then sand a slight
tapered trailing edge
at the top of the wing
tips. Do not over do it
as you will weaken the
wing tips.

Now you will have a
channel that you can
route your aileron servo
wire into the fuselage.
The wire will be visible
but it will be tucked

down out of the airow.

Clean of the dust well
and apply your choice
of hinge tape on the

aileron rst. Trim the

edges then...

Attach the aileron to
the wing.

Here you can see
the red marking lines
showing you were the
center of the 2 sheets
are. Don’t sand the top
trailing edge all the way
down.

Line up the aileron and
feel if it is the same
height as the wing and
that it is smooth.

Flip up the aileron and
tape the underside of
the aileron hinge. Trim
the tape at the edge.

As did the elevator this
aileron will keep pop­ping up. not

Using your nger,
ngernail, or a pen or

something hard, press
down the tape hard
along the hinge line to
neutralize that effect of
popping up.

Use a ruler to line up
the position for the
control horn to be glued
into the aileron.

Before installing your
wing servos make
sure they are centered
by hooking up your
receiver and powering
them up. Make sure
your radio is trimmed in
neutral too!

Trim the tabs off and
ream the servo arm
hole to t the Ez-con­nectors. Use the hole
furthest out on the
servo arm.

Here you can see that
the HXT500 servos are
a bit too small. HS-55

t perfectly.

Measure 3/8” inch from
the wing and drill a
small hole for the micro
control horn.

Glue in the micro con­trol horn and ream the

top hole to t the .039”

pushrod wire. (The
holes are designed to
t .032” pushrod wire­perfectly)

Install the Ez-connec­tor and pushrod to
complete the aileron
linkage set up. Do both
sides.

You will need to cut the
scrap piece of wood
supplied into 2 peices
and wrap a piece with
some masking tape to

make the servo t tight

into the cut out on the
wing.

Install the servo so the
arm is facing down into
the bottom of the wing.
Glue the servo in with
CA or hot glue. If using
CA be carefull not to
get glue into the servo.

Now test t the wing

on the fuselage. You

will nd that the fuse is

too thin. This is okay,
you need to spread the
walls of the fuselage

to t the wing. But rst

press down evenly to
seat the wing properly
in the wing saddle.

After you are sure the
wing is seated com­pletely down into the
fuselage glue it on
while spreading the
walls of the fuselage

with your ngers and

spraying accelerator as
you go.

You will nd that the

servo wire needs to sit

ush for the top cover
to t properly.

You can glue the rud­der now or wait until
you are all done after
taping up the fuselage
body. Gluing it later will
make it much easier to
decorate and cover the
plane with tape.

Trim a slot as shown
here by cutting out a
small part of the fuse­lage wall.

Now it will sit ush and
the top cover will t

perfectly.

You plane should be
looking like this at this
point.

Install your ESC and
route the battery con­nection into the hole
in front of the elevator
servo.

Plenty of room to install
your receiver as well.

Your battery connector
should be visible as
shown.

You can now test t the

remaining top covers.
Do not ever glue these
in, they will be taped
down to keep access to
the gear.
Now sand the top
edges if you want.

Prepare the Rudder
by sanding the lead­ing and trailing edges
rounded.

The Center of Gravity
is marked here. The
range is 1 3/4” to 2”

You don’t want the bat­tery to slide all the way
forward into the nose
of the plane as you see
happening here with
the 1550 mah battery.

Use the “T” jigs as
scrap for the next steps

Now to cover the entire
fuselage with pack­ing tape. This will add
tremendous strength,
durability, and longevity
to your plane.

Here are the bat­tery ranges that work
well with this plane.
1050mah for light and
1550mah for standard.
1250mah works well
also

Using the scraps make
a wall that will prevent
the battery from sliding
forward.

Make the wall so that
the plane will balance
with your battery. For
the smaller battery it
may be perfect right up
to the hatch line.

Apply a strip of tape the
length of the fuselage.
Extend the tape over
the front and the back.

At the back side you
can only tape up to the
horizontal stabilizer

Trim the tape to t

around the horizontal
stabilizer. Or for sim­plicity you can just cut it
off short at this point.

But the bigger battery
needs to be just a little
further rearward. You
can just tape to foam
to the battery to get
proper placement using
either battery

You will need to bend

the wires to make it t.

And you can see it is
further rearward than
the smaller battery.

Trim the tape around
the fuselage shape in
the front.

Trim it off but leave
the part on the bottom

and....

Trim into sections with
some scissors so that
it will wrap around the
curve without wrinkling.
Then wrap each sec­tion at a time. You will
nd this process ex­tremely helpful to cre­ate wrinkle free taping
jobs around curves.

Trim it in sections to get
a clean wrap over the
curve.
Now repeat the last few
steps for the remain­ing fuselage side then
move on to the next
part.

If your tape goes over
the sides of the bat­tery hatch then trim it
and fold what little part
there is down into the
hatch.

It may be small but
wrap it down into the
fuselage. We will add
more tape to keep it
wrapped down later.

Trim the section where
you see the fuselage
taper changes. This
way you can wrap the
tape around the edge
without creating any
wrinkles.

Now you will cover the
rear bottom part. Lay
out a strip of tape that
extends over into the
battery hatch about an
inch. Make a cut at the
part where the taper of
the fuselage changes.

Trim the tape so that
it will wrap under and
into the fuselage at the
back side of the battery
hatch.

Tuck in the tab of tape
under the fuselage
inside.

After trimming the
tape at the needed
places you can neatly
wrap the tape over the
edges.

Cut another strip of
tape just long enough
to cover the walls of
the battery hatch. Tape
it so the one piece will
wrap over to the inside
of the fuselage walls.

Now lay out a strip
of tape that extends
over the front bottom
fuselage including the
battery hatch.

Trim the end of the
battery hatch sides so
that there will be no
wrinkles.Just trim about
1/8” inch.

Trim off the 1/8” strip
so that the tape will not
cover the inside edges
of the battery hatch.

One more piece will
complete the job. Now
you will have a secure
tape job that you can
apply tape over and
over again to secure
the hatch down without
damaging the foam
when you peel it off.

Tuck over the remain­ing piece of tape to the
underside of the battery
hatch.

Make cuts to small sec­tion of the reaming tape
over the sides of the
front so that it will tape
over the edges again
without wrinkling.

Trim the overhanging
tape in the front.

You entire fuselage
should be covered in
tape now.

Just for you to see
here we are using blue
tape but you should
use transparent scotch
tape.
Tape down the front
hatch and trim into sec­tions to cover the sides
without wrinkles.

Here you can see
where to apply the
stoch tape to attach the
top hatches. Don’t glue
them to keep acces­sibility.

Now tape the battery
hatch again, this time
with strip that are ar­range sideways. Then
wrap the tape around
to the inside of the
hatch cover.

Move down and con­tinue taping and wrap­ing the tape around the
battery hatch cover.

You are now basically

done now.... But you

can continue if you
wish to see how to do
the taping for decora­tions.
First choose your
colors.

Apply your desired
colors as shown.

Continue with your
desired selection of
colors.

For the rudder tape the
edge and trim about a
1/4” overhang. Then
cut little sections to
wrap over the edge
without wrinkles.

Flip over and tape
down the edges. Keep
it tight. Use NEW knife
(for best results) and
trim the tape along the
edges.

Apply tape to make
strips or bars.

Flip back over and trim
the stripes or bars

Nicely wrapped over.

The other side will look
like this. Repeat for
this side.

Now your completed
tape decoration. At this
point you can cover
your entire plane with
Water Based Poly­urethane (Minwax
Polycrylic) this will help
additionally to keep the
uncovered foam wings
clean.

Tape the tips of the
horizontal stabilizer.

And trim carefully with
a NEW knife for best
results.

Finally, you can print
out the decal sheet on
clear Avery 5163/8163
mailing label size 2”x4”
or full clear sheet. Also
Staples compatible
sizes work well too.

Congratulations!

You are nished with your new Nanoshark.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PROPERLY SET UP

YOUR CONTROL SETTINGS AND THROWS.

PLEASE READ ALL THE INFORMATION ON

THE PAGE BELOW.

Airplane ight Characteristics:

This speed plane is FAST and easy to y. It is the big brother of the Babyshark and is a bit more tame. This plane has no

bad habits at all and it can handle most aerobatics that an Aileron/Elevator aircraft can perform. It can be own slow and

low while cruising around the eld like a park yer or a crank it up and y Wide Open Throttle high speed full elevator yank

and bank pylon turns and get your heart pumping. Not quite as fast and crazy as the wicked little Babyshark but will still

satisfy your need for speed.

This is NOT a at foamy plane. Expect performance like you never thought possible from a 3mm Depron foam airplane.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDED CONTROL THROW SET UP. VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Center of Gravity: 1 3/4” from the leading edge at the wing root.

R.T.F. Weight: 12.3oz

Aileron Throw: Up and Down = 3/16” ~ 5/16”

Dual Rates for 60% low, 80% high

Expo is at your preference 0% to 40%

Elevator Throw: Up and Down = 1/8” ~ 3/16”

Dual Rates 50% low, 70% high

Expo is highly recommended at 50%

OUR RECOMMENDED SET UP:

Fast 3S:

Motor: Grayson Hobby Micro Jet V3 2200 KV
ESC: ZTW 20 Amp
Battery: Nano-Power 1100mAh 11.1v 35C up to 1900mAh 11.1v 45C
Prop: APC 5x5 ~ 6x4

Faster 3S:

Motor: Black Magic 2208 / 07 - 2600kv
ESC: ZTW 30 Amp
Battery: Nano-Power 1100mAh 11.1v 35C up to 1900mAh 11.1v 45C
Prop: APC 5x5

Fastest 3S:

Motor: Keda 2826 / 07 - 2800kv
ESC: ZTW 40 Amp
Battery: Nano-Power 1100mAh 11.1v 35C up to 1900mAh 11.1v 45C
Prop: APC 5x5

Warning! This aircraft is for experienced pilots only. This is not a PARKFLYER. Although it weighs under 2LBS, its speed

can exceed 60mph. Therefore, it does not qualify as a “Parkyer” as per AMA rules and regulations. It should be own

only in elds specically reserved for RC aircraft which have been approved by the AMA. It is highly recommended that

you join the AMA if you are not already a member. If built or own incorrectly, this plane can cause damage property or

injury to people. User assumes all responsibilty and risk.