I do need to apologize to all of you out there that are following this thread. I spent last weekend finishing up the christmas shopping that I needed to do, so I didn't have much time to spend here. But the good news is that all of my shopping is finished and I don't have to go out tomorrow. Which is good, because I can't even imagine what kind of madhouse it's going to be at the stores tomorrow!! Anyway, let's get back to the build.

If you are following along with the instructions in the manual the next step is actually to put the pushrod tubes in place, but I'm going to build the horizontal and vertical stabilizers next instead.

I'm going to build the horizontal stabilizer first, but before that I want to talk about a couple of things first. The biggest of which is I want to repeat the statement “Measure twice, cut once.” This becomes even more important here because the biggest part of these next two steps are built from plain sticks of balsa, and cutting the lengths needed will be especially important. Up to this point in this build the majority of parts were pre-cut parts and we just had to sand the edges a little bit, but now we are working with balsa sticks to build these next two assemblies. Cutting the proper lengths of the parts is critical in getting these assemblies built well. It wouldn't hurt to practice measuring and cutting a few times before you start to cut “for real”. When you are cutting and building you want the parts to fit with a “wood to wood” joint. Gaps between the parts are very bad. Yes, medium and thick CA advertise that they are “gap filling”. While this may be true and they will fill that gap, the joint will be weakened. For the strongest joint you want a tight wood to wood fit. The next thing to think about when cutting these parts is getting a good straight cut. If you look at picture #2 you can see that I use a miter box for making my cuts. These are invaluable for building kits because they make for very straight cuts. You almost can't go wrong using a miter box. The slots in the miter box ensure that you razor is kept perpendicular when it's cutting the sticks. The last thing that I want to comment on is marking where you make your cuts. This is even more important than making accurate cuts because you can't cut accurately if the part isn't marked properly. I usually use one of two different ways of marking where I will cut. One is to use a pencil to mark the cut, and the other is to use a razor blade to mark my wood. Picture #3 shows using a pencil. Place the wood in the proper position on the plans, and then mark with a pencil where to cut. Make sure you mark both sides of the stick so that you get the correct angle to cut the wood at. Picture #4 shows using a razor blade. Once again, lay the wood in place over the plans, and then use the razor blade to lightly score the wood where the cut will be made. These 2 methods have served my well, but you'll need to use a method that you feel comfortable with. Just make sure that it's giving you accurate cuts.


Ok, let's get on to the building now. For these two assemblies we will be building directly on the plans. Go ahead and place the planes for the horizontal stabilizer on your work surface and cover it to protect the plans. Once the plan is in place we can start building. For the horizontal stabilizer we will use 5/16”x1/2”x36” sticks to cut the leading edge, trailing edge, and the 2 sides of the stabilizer. When I am building and assembly like this I like to get the parts cut for the assembly and lay it out before I start using glue to put the parts together. I like to do it this way because I can make any final adjustments on the fit of the parts before they are secured together. Start by cutting the leading edge of the stabilizer. Pin or place the cut leading edge pieces in place on the plans (pictures #5 and #6). After the leading edge is in place put in the leading edge joiner (pictures #7 and #8). With the leading edge joiner in place measure and cut the two sides of the stabilizer (pictures #9, #10, and #11). Picture #12 shows the parts we have cut so far in place. You can also see the center section of the stabilizer sitting in place.

As I said above, I prefer to wait before I start applying glue. So up to this point I haven't glued any parts yet, I am merely laying them in place.

Since I've run out of room for pictures I'm going to here and continue in the the next post.

Pictures
1. Plans for the horizontal stabilizer in place on the building board.
2. Using a miter box to make a straight cut.
3. Using a pencil to mark where to make cuts.
4. Using a single edge razor blade to mark where to cut.
5. Right side leading edge cut and in place.
6. Both leading edges in place.
7. Center leading edge joiner in place.
8. Center leading edge in place.
9. Marking for cutting the left side of the stablizer.
10. Left side of the stabilizer cut and in place.
11. Right side stabilizer cut and in place.
12. Center section of the stabilizer in place.

Until next time

Ken