Back to business;

I took the motor and mount off and began work on the battery hatch. I decided on a hatch hinged with pinned nylon hinges (dubro small) and a dubro hatch latch.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXD943&P=7

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMRK5&P=7

I started by cutting out a new "tank floor" piece, using the fuse as a template. This I made into the hinged hatch piece. The original tank floor sits underneith the firewall and the F1 former (in front of the landing gear block). To make it into a hatch I removed some of it on the aft end where it would be hinged, cut a strip off the front of it for latches "plate," and a rectangular hole for the latch to fit into. Dubro provides a template for this. It'll make more sence when you see the pictures.

Next I installed the hinges on the fuselage at the F1 former. I used extra strips of balsa sheeting directly on top of F1, and in front of it, sandwiching the hinges between the balsa. I glued the whole works in with epoxy. I was very careful about the fit of the hinges (I think some would say the geometry of it), and to not get any epoxy in the wrong places.
a note on the fit of the hinges; the hinges are thicker in the midlle where the pin is. I stuck that thicker piece just over the edge of the bottom of F1 so it would make a nice tight fit. To explane a different way, the flat thinner part of the hinge was placed in the balsa sandwiched onto F1, with just the round pin part of the hinge sticking out.