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Copyright 2005 Laser Arts
MORE FUSELAGE WORK:
1.
Lightly sand the front of the fuselage to make the fuselage bottom and sides nice and flush in the front.
2.
Glue the 5 ¼” balsa nose block parts together, making sure the rear surfaces are aligned. Lightly sand the back end to make sure it
is flat and glue the completed nose block to F1.
3.
Lightly and sparingly tack glue the 3/16” balsa canopy to the top of the fuselage front.
4.
Use a razor plane and/or sandpaper to shape the fuselage and round off all the corners. If you are NOT using the 2 oz fiberglass
cloth on the fuselage, then only lightly round the corners. If you ARE using the glass cloth on the fuselage, then you can round the
fuselage quite a bit more. Be careful not to remove too much material though, especially around the servo compartment, where
there is no tri-stock in the corners. You can also use scrap balsa to make a fairing on the rear of the fuselage if you want to, but this
is not necessary.
5.
Cut the canopy block at a 45 degree angle (from back to front) about ¾” from the front of the canopy block as shown on the plans.
The 45 degree cut will keep front of the canopy locked down. Remove the canopy (since you did only lightly tack glue it on), and
re-glue the front section back on the fuselage.
6.
We will now apply the 2 oz fiberglass cloth to the fuselage and canopy if you decided to use it.
7.
Cut a small section of the 2 oz cloth and set it aside for the canopy hatch. Mix up a batch of finishing resin if you are using an
epoxy. (You can also use the water base Minwax) Lightly rub some epoxy onto the fuselage and then lay the cloth over it. Use
more resin and rub it into the cloth and fuselage. Make sure you apply enough to wet it out. If you get too much on there, you can
remove some of it using paper towels and blotting it off. You may need to cut small slits in the fiberglass to let it conform to the
nose block.
