Construction Manual
www.oldschoolmodels.com
Page 15
Step 98 - Fuselage Assembly (bottom fuse sheeting)
Leave the fuselage on
the building board and
now locate the sheets
of uncut 1/8" x 4" x
36" balsa. These will
be used to sheet the
bottom of the fuselage.
This is done a piece at
a time, starting at the
back of the wing saddle.
Hold the 1/8” sheeting
against the fuselage, making sure the grain is cross-ways. Mark, cut
and glue a portion of the sheeting in position. Make sure that the
fuselage is held flat as you glue this piece in position. Repeating
this technique, work your way backward until you almost reach F8
(5 pieces of sheeting). Stop there.
Step 99 - Fuselage Assembly (front fuse sheeting)
Use more of the 1/8" balsa to sheet
the forward area of the fuselage,
covering F2, back to the beginning of
the wing saddle.
Again, make sure that the fuselage is
held flat as you glue these pieces in
place.
Step 100 - Fuselage Assembly (F1)
Locate F1. It is glued in place to
the front face of F2. To properly
position it vertically, slide it down
so the bottom edge is flush with
the 1/8" sheeting. The front edge
will look like it's sticking out a bit,
but that's to be sanded later on.
Note the etching on the front of
F1. When glued in, this should be
visible, with the lines at bottom as shown here.
Also, epoxy is a MUST for this step.
Step 101 - Fuselage Assembly (pushrod guides)
You can remove the fuselage from the
board and you should have a fairly rigid
piece that's nicely aligned.
Hold it so it's right-side-up and you'll have
access to the inside of the fuselage.
Now is the time to think about what
elevator and rudder pushrods you'll be
using. Although there are other brands
out there, we prefer to use Du-Bro's Laser
Rods. They're flexible and work quite nicely
in this setup. Whichever brand you choose,
if they have an outer sleeve, now its the
best time to install those sleeves, while you have easy access. Push
the sleeves through the pre-cut guide holes in the formers and
then out the fuselage side's exit holes. Trim them as needed and
glue them in position.
but the middle of F2 should line up with the middle of the F2 on
the plans. Basically what we're looking for here is the fuselage to
be lined up on the centerline of the plans, as well as front to back
by matching up the former locations.
Now, holding the front of the fuselage steady with some weight
(by front I mean the area around the inner
plywood box, place some pins along it's
length to help hold it in place. Don't pin
the sides to the board, just place the pins
up-against the sides so it will have a hard
time moving.
Step 95 - Fuselage Assembly (F6, F7 & F8)
Locate F6, F7 and F8 from BP2. These are
symmetrical, side to side and for the purposes
of this step, the pre-cut pushrod guide circles
should be orientated upwards as you install
them.
Starting with F6, insert it's tabs into one side
of the fuselage, then the other. You'll need
to squeeze the fuse sides together as you
do this. When it's in place, align it with the
top view and place a few more pins to keep
it there.
Don't glue this yet.
Now work your way back doing the same with
F7 and F8, again not gluing it yet.
Now you should have something that looks a
lot like what's in the photo.
Double check the alignment to make sure
it's straight - no "banana" warping as the
fuselage goes from front to back.
When satisfied, place some weights to keep
everything flat, then glue these 3 formers to the fuselage sides.
Step 96 - Fuselage Assembly (rear 1/8" basswood)
Locate two of the 1/8" square x
36" basswood sticks. These will
be glued to the inner edge of the
fuselage sides, starting at the back
of the wing saddle, to roughly 1"
from the back edge of the fuselage.
Cut one for each side, and glue
them in place making sure they are
not only glued to the fuselage along their entire length, but also
pressed into the pre-cut gap into each of the formers.
Step 97 - Fuselage Assembly (front 1/8" basswood)
Locate another length of 1/8" square x 36" basswood stick. These
will be glued to the inner
edge of the fuselage sides,
starting at F2 and extending
to the front of the wing
saddle.
Cut one for each side, and
glue them in place making
sure they are not only glued
to the fuselage along their
entire length, but also pressed down onto the plywood fuselage
box which has a bit of a curvature to it.
