Next up is what SIG refers to as the “Cowl Filler”. Okay, doesn’t look like much of a cowl to me, but …

You start by gluing some 1” wide balsa to the cowl cheeks and a cross piece just in front of the firewall. These are reinforced with triangle stock resulting in what you seen in Picture1. Once this all cures, it’s time to make balsa dust. I started with my razor plane which worked okay; the problem was the harder triangle pieces at different grain angles really kept the razor plane from doing much on the back end. Out came my trusty dremel. I slapped on a sanding drum and 30 seconds later I was in business. Just remember to stop sanding with the Dremel before you reach the desired shape, as it’s a very rough sand. Before long, I had the results you see in picture2.

The next step had me epoxy the cabane plate together. Simple and straightforward – apply epoxy, clamp together and wait.
In the meantime, I moved on to cutting open the slots on the side of the fuselage for the cabane itself. The instructions call for a ½” x ½” square cutout centered directly above the holes in the side of the fuselage. Being the detailed guy I am, I quickly make a ply jig ½” x ½” with the centerline marked. I used this to draw out the squares on the sheeting. I didn’t take any pictures of the process here. I used care in opening up these holes as I didn’t want to damage the sheeting. I carefully removed a portion of the square and then used a popsicle stick with 150 grit sandpaper to do the rest. I am pleased with the result (picture3).

I wrapped up this section by installing the kit supplied pushrod tubes. I struggled with this, only because I wasn’t sure I wanted to go with the kit supplied hardware. I figured, if I have trim issues in the summer then I’ll change out the inner rods to something metal. Either way, the black outer tube got cemented in…

Tomorrow starts the alignment of the bottom wing.

Picture1 – Cowl Filler before sanding/shaping most of it away
Picture2 – the “after” of picture1
Picture3 – Cabane cutouts with cabane struts inserted to make sure the holes lined up
Picture4 – Completed fuselage with cabane struts to dress it up
Picture5 – Couldn’t resist – had to see what it looks like with the top wing on…
Picture6 – Pushrods installed (I am going to use the kit supplied pushrods – I hope I don’t regret that decision).