ORIGINAL: thom25
Richard,
Re-consider using the side hatch. After you are done painting it can be covered with a small piece Monokote... no one will see it when it's flying. As far as the stab/elevator, Glue in the stab with the elevator control horn loose. Fit the top blocks and vertical fin then glue them in place. Then glass and paint the fuse, stab and fin all at once. After you glass and paint you can then hinge and attach the elevators which will hold the elevator control horn in place and Bob's your uncle.
Thom
Thom,
Shall work with your idea. Might be a case of cutting the hatch, getting the parts installed and the linkage hooked-up, and then replacing the hatch before glassing.
It sounds as though you used bearings and secured the elevator joiner with control horn to the stab. In my case, the elevator control horn is silver-soldered to the elevator joiner which is firmly glued into the elevator halves. This may have been a mistake, although I couldn't say why it might be (other than possibly making this step more awkward). I'm also using Robart hinges. Therefore, it appears that the elevator will need to be permanently attached to the stab before the stab is glued to the fuse.
Cheers,
Richard