It certainly took a good couple of days to do the gluing up, and not without the dramas! In previous posts, I mentioned "cock ups"! I was advised that these are in fact learning experiences? This does not apply to the cock up I made yesterday, It was as bad as it gets. I got as far as setting up the pre glued nose section in preparation to fix it permanently to the fuselage, this has to be done with care, doesn't it! Everything fitted in the right place, everything lined up very well, except that the datum line, that where the cockpit section will mate to the fuselage, was dipping at the nose end. I decided that the top joints were too long, this had to be the problem, so I decided to hack off about 1/4 inch to eradicate the dip, I did this and so out comes the glue, clamped up and had a cuppa. About an hour later I noticed that the datum line was sticking up in the air instead of drooping as it was a little earlier. It was clear that I should not have hacked off the 1/4 inch. I had to un-stick the top joints which I managed with a wide chisel eased into the joint. This worked without any damage, but not without model makers rhetoric? The frames lined up very nicely all on their own, so I glued up and all is well. This morning I had to make some repairs to the area, added in some slivers and an extra brace. Thankfully there is no permanent problem from this. But it was a cock up, not a learning experience! Why was the damn thing dipping when I trial fitted it?
Most of my time today was spent poncing about with bits and pieces, preparing to fit the nose wheel mounting. There are a couple of unknowns regarding the nose wheel, such as where to fit the steering servo. It will be all too obvious at a later date?
The advantage of gluing up is that the model can be stood on its back end for attending to the nose wheel and other front end bits. It's going to be very handy for shaping the front frames in preparation for the eventual skin application.
I have a few areas of sorting out to do on some joints. There are a couple that need a piece of wood inserting on one side to make them tight. These are on frame No. B3 which if you recall was originally the B4 frame that was scrapped because of these joint errors, and re-cut to make B3. This will not compromise the strength of the framing.
The plan now is to do all the fiddly bits now the gluing up is done, fit the Starboard side No. 1 aerofoil to line up with the Port side already fitted, and attend to the filling of the joint slots that are there to slide the aerofoil into its position. Once I am happy that the two No. 1 aerofoils are balanced, then I will be able to fit and line up the remaining aerofoils with relative ease! The basic, main nose wheel mount will also be fitted before progressing onto the removable cockpit section. This is essential to progress the frame shaping as the fuselage and the cockpit sections need to be worked together to obtain the correct shaping. I would like the joint between the two to be as unnoticeable if possible? Then when the cockpit section is in its basic framed structure, I will then need to start on the rear section of the fuselage, another five foot lump!
