i am just about at the covering stage of my Tiger 2 and the manual says to cover all the parts and then trim away the surfaces on the stab and fin where they are to be glued to the fusalage. i think it would be easier to glue the stab and fin and then cover. i know i am going to end up with uncovered gaps and/or epoxy on the cover job if i do it the way Goldberg suggests. Topflight has a demonstration on there web site on how to cover the stab and fin when they are already attatched. what do you guys think?

Oh and would you suggest epoxy or CA for the hinges?

It's really much easier covering first. You can glue first, but it makes it much more difficult to cover. Some planes you really HAVE to glue first, but if you don't have to, you're just making it tougher.

As for the hinges, if they are CA hinges, use THIN CA ONLY!

Here's a good "How To" for CA Hinges:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...FTOKEN=7407962

The plane will look better if you glue first, cover the joints with a strip of monokote and then cover the strips with full pieces. It does take longer, as MinnFlyer says, but it sure does look better than having the exposed joints. It all comes down to how much work you want to do...it's up to you.

If you're using CA hinges, use CA. If using nylon hinges use CA and tookpicks. I have a demo on how to do the CA/toothpick method at post #45 in this thread:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_15...tm.htm#1538947

In the same thread, at post #52, you can see how strips are used at the junctions in the last picture.

Don

If you want to do it the way goldberg suggests(not my choice though) you could easily cover the pieces, and then mask them off with masking tape, so the epoxy that leaks out doesn't ruin the covering job. After the epoxy sets, but is still soft, you can remove the tape, leaving a clean, strong joint. This tecnique allows for a little more generous application of epoxy especially for beginners, and gets rid of the unneeded glue on the outside of the covering.

I usually cover all the pices first to get it an ARF.
Much, much easier and cleaner for me.
However, I leave the part the has to be glued uncover.
This way I don't have to go back and try to cut off the film later.

If you run a cut or a line on the surface of the wood, it will
cause structure fialure during flight or the pieces might break if under
force or pressure.

I just put masking tape over film nearest to the glue joint to
protect the film during gluing as madscientist had mentioned

us epoxy for the hinges, unless you're lighting fast.lol

To get trim scheme or design to stick over the base color without a lot of bubbles.
use soap and water and use a credit card or something to sqeezgie the water
out.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use epoxy for CA hinges. Use THIN CA ONLY !!! Put 3 drops on one side of the hinge, then flex the control surface the other way and put 3 more drops on the hinge.

The thin CA soaks into the wood AND the hinge to form the bond. If you use epoxy, the epoxy will not soak into the hinge and wood properly and you will wind up with a hinge failing.