hfenn

A Select Hobbies SkiniWag rode home with me from SMALL. Thanks Steve A (skaliwag)! It comes in a poly bag. Here are the contents. I broke a few parts in transport. That's one of the reasons they make CA.

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hfenn

Here I've separated the parts by airframe part.

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hfenn

Mark the fuselage sides for the bulkheads. This will also give lines to guide the installation of the side stiffeners. Be sure to make a right and left!

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hfenn

I'm trimming my doubler strips from the edges of the laser cut sheets. Next, install the strips, prepare the fuselage formers and cockpit floor from the 5/8" X 1/16" strips. There were no laser cut wing saddle doublers, so I made those parts from the same strips. Next, install the floor. There are laser etched locating marks for it. Then glue in formers F-1 through F-3, panel and floor, making sure they are 90* to the fuselage sides.

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combatpigg

nice looking kit..!
I hear he cuts them out freehand with a magnifying glass.

skaliwag

CP,.. Only the wing tips,
The wing saddle doublers are from 1/16 X 5/8, wing foil shape cut in place.
Hollis. May be a good idea to put the little wedgie in front of F-2, the landing gear pocket and the front doubler before laying the other side on.

hfenn

Nah, I'll do it the hard way. I have to now.

Pond Skipper

Hey Steve do you have a pic or vid of this one flying.

All I could find was a red bi -plane pic is that it?

skaliwag

If the one you found is from FM April 2004 and named SkaliWAG you are seeing the Skiniwag's Daddy

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hfenn

Formers F-1,2,3 and the panel are the same width, so I began the fuselage join by tack gluing the left side and then checking to be sure everything was in alignment.

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hfenn

I have F-1 offset to build in right thrust as called for in the plan.

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hfenn

I next glued the tail end over the plan view to keep the side straight. Then I glued in F 4, 5 and 6. When sure all was straight and square, I finished gluing the formers to the left side with thin CA.

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hfenn

Prepare the center cabane and 3/8" X 3/32" spruce cabane leading edge re-inforcement. Then glue it in making sure it is on the center line and vertical. I used 5 minute epoxy.

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hfenn

I next glued on the horizontal stab making sure it on the fuselage center line and perpendicular to the cabane.

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hfenn

Glue on the top rear deck sheeting. Trim and sand it to shape.

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hfenn

Prepare to assemble the front upper deck blocks. It is made from the 3/16" X 3/8" balsa stick and the laser cut center piece. Cut the laser cut piece so that you remove the area that is taken up by the center cabane. I glued the front piece to the side of one of the sticks and then glued on the other stick. You now have the center piece sandwiched in and it makes a guide for carving and sanding. After the assembly is glued in, then glue in the rear center piece. Carve, sand and blend according to the views on the plan.

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hfenn

The headrest assembly can be done now. I hope the photos explain the process.

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hfenn

The next thing I need to do is modify the vertical tail parts to match the plan. Some of the first builders felt like the plane needed a little more rudder authority.

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hfenn

After prepping the rudder assembly and fin, I cut slots in the top deck sheeting for the dorsal part of the fin and glued the fin in place.

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hfenn

All that remains for the fuselage is to install the firewall and bottom sheeting. The bottom sheeting goes on after the lower wing, so I'll leave that for later. Get the wing parts organized to begin building them.

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hfenn

Glue the tapered stock to the front of the 1/8" leading edge stock. Pin to the board and then lay down a 3/4" jig stick in the position drawn on the plan. Install the R2 ribs. The top and bottom wings are the same except at the center section. Glue in R1 ribs being careful of spacing.

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hfenn

The rear sheeting can be glued on now. The bottom wings need slots for the wing struts. It's easier to cut them now. Be careful gluing the sheet on so that the slot is next to the rib. Carve and sand the leading edges to shape and then blend the ribs as indicated on the plan.

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hfenn

The dihedral for this airplane is two inches total. I blocked up each panel 1" and sanded the root flush. Then I kept one panel on the board and propped the other up 2" and glued them together.

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hfenn

Before gluing on the firewall, I needed to decide on the engine. At first I was going to use a PAW .03 diesel, but for various reasons I've decided to go with a Cox TD .049 on a tank mount. I can start off simple and then add a throttle sleeve later if I feel the need. Note the offset of the blind nuts to accommodate the right thrust, putting the thrust washer on the aircraft center-line. Don't forget the triangle stock between the fuselage sides and firewall.

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hfenn

The center of the elevator is strengthened with some 1/32" ply on both sides. I had some scrap 1/64" so I also glued a hard pad to the bottom of the rudder.

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