.
Building Board - 12" x 50" minimum size
This can be any flat surface that will accept and hold pins - such as insulation board, foam board (cardboard laminated to
both sides of a foam sheet), cork bulletin board, soft plywood, a reject "door core" from the lumber yard, etc. The most
important thing is that the board must be perfectly flat and untwisted! Your wings and tail surfaces will be built on this
board, and if the board is twisted or bowed, the parts you build on it will assume the same shape and your model will not
fly properly.
NOTE: The building board you'll see us using in the photos in these instructions is an 18" x 50" piece of 3/4" thick
plywood (perfectly flat!), with a same sized piece of 1/4" thick foam board stuck down on top of the plywood with double-
sided sticky tape. The plywood provides the rigidity and flatness we need, and the semi-flexible foam board lays flat on
the plywood and gives us a surface to push pins into. All materials were obtained from the local lumber yard. Insulation
board or cork sheet would make a good substitute for the foam board, if that is not available.
80 and 220 Grit Sandpaper
We prefer either garnet or silicone carbide type open-coat sandpaper. Use the 80 grit to rough sand and shape parts.
Use the 220 grit to fine sand the entire model prior to covering. Sand with the grain of the wood whenever possible.
Always use fresh, sharp sandpaper. Sharp sandpaper will cut through glue and hard materials easily, giving an even
surface. Dull sandpaper will require more pressure and may gouge the surface.
Sanding Blocks
The instructions will call for you to sand some parts of the model using a "sanding block", which is simply a piece of
sandpaper backed up by a solid, flat block of wood, plastic, or whatever. A sanding block will give you a much flatter,
truer result than you would get with an unbacked, limp piece of sandpaper held in your fingertips. An assortment of
different size sanding blocks are indispensable tools for all model construction. There are many styles of commercially
made sanding blocks available in hobby shops, or you can make your own.
A good general purpose sanding block can be made by wrapping a full-size
standard 9"x11" sheet of sandpaper around a piece of hardwood or
plywood, as shown below. This is the most commonly used sanding block in
our workshop! Use screws or thumbtacks along one edge to hold the
overlapped ends of the sandpaper in place. Put 80 grit sandpaper on the
block during general construction, and then switch to 220 grit sandpaper for
final sanding just before covering (or make yourself two of these blocks, one
for each grit sandpaper).
There will be other times when a slightly smaller sanding block is easier to
manage. Also, you can make a small sandpaper "file" by simply gluing a
strip of 80 grit sandpaper onto a scrap plywood stick. Sandpaper glued or
taped to different size hardwood dowels are great for sanding inside curves
and holes.
Last but not least, for sanding really large areas, glue 80 grit sandpaper onto a 24" or 36" long piece of aluminum
"channel" or "T-Bar" stock (most hardware stores carry a rack of aluminum extrusions in various sizes and shapes).
How To Use These Instructions
Like a full-size airplane, the HOG-BIPE is built by first constructing several basic structures - the FUSELAGE, WINGS,
STABILIZER, FIN, etc. - which are then assembled into a completed airplane. These instructions will take you step-by-step
through the construction of each basic structure and then the final assembly.
How To Use The Plans
There are two sheets of Plans included in this kit. The plans will be used in several ways. They will help you identify all the parts
and determine the relationship of all the parts to each other. They will also be used as a building pattern for the Wing Panels,
Stabilizer, and Fin - which will be assembled directly on top of the plans. The plans also show how we would install a typical
radio and engine in the HOG-BIPE. By referring to the examples shown on the plan, you should be able to properly install your
radio and engine, even if they are not exactly the same as what is shown on the plan.
Everything on the plans is drawn FULL-SCALE, or ACTUAL SIZE (except for the Wing Front view.) to show the correct size,
shape, and relationship of all the parts to each other.