chistech

Here is Gerry's comments on making the center float's main strut sides.

Once the balsa cheek blocks were cut out and sanded on a belt
sander to 90 degree side edges, the top and bottom pylon outlines were
transferred to these pieces before shaping.
A block plane and razor plane were used in succession to get it close to
overall initial sanding w/ 60 grit. At this time, all edges were sanded to
the appropriate edge outlines, albeit at a raised angle and highlighted with
a blue magic marker as a visual aid in knowing when to stop sanding. As the
sanding gets closer to the inner line, sanding blocks of 120 grit and 220
grit are used in succession until the blue line is almost gone.
At that point, a "T-bar" sander was used until all edge outlines were
gone, guaranteeing straight edges along the pylon from top to tapered
bottom. The last photo shows how they fit against the ply crutch that forms
the downstrut core.