Finished up the canopy frame last night...leaving it aside now until I decide how crazy I want to get trying to model the inside of Nic's Cap.

Started on the prep-work for the wings today. This is the time consuming part of doing foam wings, imo...but it pays huge dividends down the road.

First, I'll outline the basic process, then I'll describe what's happened so far in some detail.

The process is fairly simple. I do any prep work to the cores (inserting tube sockets, cutting slots or holes for servo leads, that sort of thing. Next, I lay down some poster board between wing and shuck, and trace the edges. That's then cut out to form a wing pattern, on which I can draw any lines for servo bays/etc. Once that's done, I'll be able to form the sheets as single units, and cut any holes needed BEFORE it goes down. When the sheeting's ready, we'll cover it with VERY little epoxy, throw them on the wings, put everything back in the shucks, and bag 'em.

Today's work covers most of the prep of the cores. Below is the process for prepping the bottom of the left wing.

Step 1 was to do any "internal" prep for the cores. In this case, this consisted of simply putting in the wing tube sockets, and the W2 plate to receive them.

Next, make a sheet of poster board large enough to cover the entire wing. Scotch tape pieces together if necessary to make it big enough.

Lay down the bottom shuck, and then lay the poster board in it. IME, it's best not to try to line any of the edges up, since poster board rarely has clean and straight edges. Just let it overlap. Next, place the wing in the shuck, "sandwiching" the poster board between the core and the shuck:



Make sure everything's lined up exactly (core lined up in its shuck), and trace around the edges of the core. For cores like this one, which have a paper-thin trailing edge, it's best to just mark a few spots alont the TE, and use a straight edge to draw that line later.

Remove the skin, and mark it to indicate what it is. I've marked mine "LB vis" with an arrow. LB = Left bottom, vis=visible side (so you'll know how it's oriented when you start making the sheets, and can put the best wood on the outside), and the arrow to indicate leading edge.



Now pull the template out, placing the wing back in its shucks. Use a straight edge and NEW x-acto blade (you'll only use scissors once, I promise) to cut the pattern on the outline.

Now, take the OPPOSITE (in this case, top) shuck, lay the wing core in it, and tape the template over the wing core, making sure to carefully line up all the edges.



Now, with a nice flat and steady surface, you can mark out any holes or locations you may need to...such as the hole for the servo bay. Be sure you extend the lines beyond the size of the hole, so when you lay the template down on the balsa sheeting, you can make allowances for any overlap or setback you may want for a particular application. For example, in this case, I'm going to sheet OVER the 1/8" ply I'll be using to box in the servo bay, so I'll want the hole in my balsa sheeting to be slightly SMALLER than the hole I'm cutting in the balsa. You can also go ahead and draw in "details", such as the framework for the box in the servo bay, as shown here:



Finally, since you have your nice steady surface, and no balsa in the way, you can go ahead and cut out the servo bay, using your pattern on the template as a guide.



It's handy to save the "mini-template" for the servo bay, as it can serve as a guide for cutting the wood you'll use to box in the bay.

Once any features like the servo bay are done, you can remove the wing template, set it aside, and finish framing in the servo bay, cut the slot or hole for the wires, etc:



Though not shown above, I also went ahead and marked a line for the push rod, so I knew where the control horn would go, and placed a hardpoint in the aileron for the horn hardware.