DaleCS

Thank you for the kind comment, Chic.

I've got the rear, short 'turtle deck' fitted and glued in place, and have sanded the vertical fin bottom to match the turtle deck. The deck is formed from a single piece of 1/8" sheet, using water with a bit of ammonia added to soften the wood. Did the forming in two steps, increasing the bend in steps, to avoid splitting. This should be stronger and lighter than carving/sanding a balsa block to fit the space above the elevator.

Next, I want to finish installation of the vertical fin and the remainder of the turtle deck. Will again use a single sheet of 1/8" softened and formed to fit. Due to my slow build rate, and wanting to see this fly at our September Giant Scale Fly-in, I may drop the lights I had planned, but still put the mounting blocks in - maybe add the lights next winter. Also, I found another source for 1/6 scale 50 cal wing barrels - IFlyTalies has some DIY to fully finished options in 1/8 through 1/2 scale.(IFlyTailies-scalegunsordnance). I've sent a question, today, asking if one can fit LEDs to these to simulate firing. I won a electronic firing simulator from Electro-Dynamics in a raffle some time ago, and would like to put it to use.



Turtle deck in place. Slicing sandpaper back and forth the remove excess fin sheeting.


Fin sand to fit turtle deck.


Fin ready for mounting to fuse.