After building many kits .040 thru gasser size with ca hinges I am convinced I''m doing something wrong. A search on this topic gives many instances of "never a failure after XXXXXXXXX years, etc. I''ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 hinges fail always a complete separation at the hinge line with both halves remaining in place. The last straw was when the left elevator half fell off a quadra powered 80" profile. I inspected the other surfaces and sure enough, three others were broken. I was able to land it, but this plane was a disaster waiting to happen. BTW, the ailerons each had 8 giant scale ca hinges that came with the kit.

After marking center with one of those straddle gizmos, I freehand the slots with xacto then size and true them with a hacksaw blade. 4 or 5 drops of thin ca on each side, a couple of flexes of the surface to insure no binding and let set overnight. Apparently, I either am leaving not enough gap, or the hinge slots are misaligned, but the surfaces are always free moving and after all these years building I''m not all that bad with the xacto.

So what do you guys think I''m doing wrong? I''ve tried holding my mouth in several different positons, but none have worked.