I am at my wits ends guys. I went to glue up my dominator fuselage the other night. Put center lines on the bulkheads, lined everything up on the plans, pinned and weighted everything in place straight as an arrow right? I go to pull it off of the board the next day and the thing is warped all to crap. None of the bulkhead center lines lined up, and it wasnt straight by a long shot. I ended up having to go and cut everything out except the firewall, and when I got to looking at it it seems like one side is stiffer than the other. No matter what I do I can not get it to stay straight and I have tried everything I know. I am now at the point of thinking about soaking it in water and ammonia and then trying to glue it all up. Any Ideas? I cant seem to catch a break.


Thanks,
Joey

Joey, have you thought about going down to the local shop and getting some "good" balsa to cut out your own fuselage sides? Its very easy and simple to do


BV

That's probably one of the biggest issues with any kit, since those cutting the parts and packing kit boxes usually don't know what the pieces are for, or the differences in the individual pieces of wood. Your best bet is, as Bill said, to simply replace the fuse sides with new matching pieces of balsa from the hobby shop.
GS

I am guessing you took it off the building board before the top or bottom was glued on. If that is the case the stiffer side will just pull everything out of line. If the top or bottom is glued on before the fuselage is lifted from the jig it will stay as glued.

It is still a good idea to try and match the wood used for the sides, as has been mentioned.

Ed S

Thanks guys, I had thought about making a bottom sheeting like you said,. I will probably try that and if that turns out to be a mess then I will just go ahead and go get some new wood. It is just frustrating more than anything, I hardly ever get to work on it being in school and when things dont go well it really puts me behind. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot done soon though, I just got the stuff to make a building board for my home away from home ( woo-hoo ).


Joey