So I identified the wood pieces and marked each so I could later identify. This also got me familiar with the kit contents. This always takes more time than I think its going to, but its worth it later so you don't mistakenly use the wrong wood. Everything starts to look the same once the balsa dust starts flying ... this gives me a fighting chance that I'll at least be using the proper sized wood if nothing else .

Since I don't yet have the Saito, I am going to start with the wings. Heck, there are two of them so I might as well start here ... I'll be seeing ribs for a while! The Hog Bipe is not completely laser cut like some of the other Sig kits. The ribs are die-cut and you need to be careful popping them free. There are tabs on the ribs that are made to break free once framed up on the building board - because they are designed to break, they can/will snap off if you're not careful. I found that working out the end with the tab first saved me a ton of frustration. Overall, it was much easier to extract the ribs than I figured - I only used a blade a couple of times and I only had to CA 2 tabs back onto their respective ribs (very small amount - tack glue only).

At the end of this, I called it a night. Hey, I'm pacing myself! I've got a club meeting tonite and will likely get back to the build this weekend. CA will meet balsa very soon! [8D]

Picture1 - Ahh, the beginning of the build - pristine bench, crisply folded plans, nothing but balsa, ply and some hardware - feel the anticipation!
Picture2 - Wing Plans
Picture3 - Die Cut Ribs
Picture4 - Progress. My little pile of ribs
Picture5 - A little tip. I am preserving an outline of every part so I can later scratch build a Hog - if I am so inclined. Capturing the outline of the part and the size of the wood is all I'll need. I'll scan this sheet when I'm done so I can electronically store it.

Until next time...