Building Instructions
General Tips
We recommend that you follow the order of construction shown in this manual for the fuselage,
as it makes access to everything easier and saves time in the end.
The first thing to do is protect the finished paint on the outside of the model from scratches and
dents during assembly - so cover your work table with a piece of soft carpet, cloth or bubble-
plastic. The best way to stop small spots of glue getting stuck to the outside painted surfaces is
to give the whole model 2 good coats of clear car wax first,
but
of course you must be sure to
remove this 100% completely before applying any paint, decals or trim. Alternatively you can
cover the majority of the fuselage with the bubble-plastic used to pack your model for shipping,
fixed with paper masking tape, which also protects it very well.
When sanding areas inside of the fuselage to prepare the surface for gluing something onto it,
do NOT sand right through the layer of glasscloth on the inside foam sandwich! It is only neces-
sary to rough up the surface, with 60/80 grit, and wipe off any dust with alcohol (or similar) before
gluing to make a perfect joint. It is
very
important to prepare the inside of the fuselage properly,
by roughing up
and
cleaning the surface with alcohol, before gluing
any
parts to it. Epoxy glues
will
not
stick properly to any surface that has not been scuffed up and cleaned.
Before starting construction check inside the fuselage for any loose glass fibres that could cut
your hands, and a quick scuff over any of these with a Scotchbrite pad will remove them.
Cowling
It is easiest to complete the chin cowling first, as
access to glue in the carbon pins and tubes is
more difficult when the landing gear mount is
installed. Please use the hardware supplied.
Note:
Be careful not to deform the fuselage in
this area later when fitting the bulkheads for your
choice of motor/power unit. No bulkheads
should be a tight fit in the fuselage, sand as
needed to make them a gentle sliding fit.
The cowl is secured to the fuselage with 2 car-
bon pins (6mm Ø) that fit into 2 short lengths of
8mm carbon tube at the back edge, and a pair of
plastic M4 bolts that fit into ‘keyhole’ shaped
slots in the fuselage flanges. The cowl is
retained with a single M3 bolt into a blind nut at
the front edge.
The 1 piece cowling is already cut and trimmed
at the factory. Cut out the area in the bottom of
the fuselage for the engine bay, depending on
what type of power unit you have chosen. At the
Composite-ARF IMPACT
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