I am installing the upper and lower blocks and have a question. It appears that I need to glue them in place and then sand them to fit (attached pictures). Is this correct or am I doing something wrong? If I do sand to fit should I make them flush with the front, back, or split the difference?

This is my second kit build. I have done some ARF's, 1 kit (slow poke sport), and numerous SPAD builds.

Thanks,

Rob

I've never built a shrike, but I think you're correct. It looks like those blocks should be glued in place, then sanded to shape... They're too thick to bend as far as I'm concerned. Study the plans carefully to determine if you should glue them in like the first picture, or the second picture, or somewhere between (flush with the center of the curve).

Looks like you'll be making some sawdust, that's for sure... I hope you enjoy it. I do actually, I find it relaxing and satisfying to sand a nice smooth aerodynamic shape. Start out with some 80-100 grit sandpaper (on a sanding block) to get it to shape, then smooooooth it out.

Keep posting, I'd like to see a Shrike build - I may have to do one myself... What powerplant is going in it?

-Todd

I decided to split the difference between in the block. I will get to the sanding tomorrow (hopefully).

I am not going for all out speed so I have an OS .15LA for this.

I'll take some more pictures and post my progress as the build continues.

Rob