Since I last posted, the lengths of jury strut I ordered arrived.
I'm sure they will be heavier than the built up wooden ones, but they will give me peace of mind. The gap in the middle for attachment point is 1/8". I think I'll use the 1/16 x 1/2 brass strips that came with the kit, and double them with 3/4 x 1/16 aluminum strip stock.
Here's the main gear, cleaned with sandpaper and alcohol, and wrapped in steel safety wire. Ready for flux and silver solder.
Engine fits onto the holes I drilled in the firewall. Sanded a piece of ply to a taper to give me 3 degrees.
You can see the firewall does have a couple degrees of down designed into it.
Landing gear now soldered together, and I put the wheels on so I could set the fuse in the driveway to square up the wing to mark locations for holes in the wing mount plates.
Set the wing on and got it square, and centers marked for the wing mount plate holes. Couldn't help but mock the thing up...
Then I pulled the engine and landing gear off to set the fuse on it's side. Currently working on gluing the cheek pieces on, plus the diagonal braces over the rear float mount plate...