HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

I turned the plan over after picking out the important points of intersection and built the opposite side of the fuse.The fittings must lay flat on the plan for proper installation.
Because I am not using these fittings aft of cockpit, I will use the extras for adding some cross brace and floors fittings for the extra rigging wires I plan to put in .These are on the real airplane but are not called up in the plans from the kit.
Next step is to build a jig to hold the frames vertical ,while I add the cross braces.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Forward of the cockpit the fuselage is essentially almost a square box,
no fancy jig needed here.I took the 1" insulation board and pinned on a piece of flat foamboard.Everything is squared up using a couple of plastic 90 deg angles.I am not looking for strength here just something to hold things square while I (super-thin )superglue the thing together.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Using the straightedge as a guide I simply moved back from station to station along the fuse being sure to keep everything squared up.
Usually I don"t work this way but I wanted to try something different.Normally I would pre-bend the longerons to shape and then glue them ,this time I just bent the longerons as I went along and applied super-thin superglue.I removed the majority of the tension from the wood by wetting it and then drying it with a hairdryer after it was glued in place.Basswood is a very forgiving wood ,I won't try this with any wood that was harder.
Basically it worked out OK but it was a little difficult to get the correct angle where the longerons meet the tailpost.
The wood could use a little cleaning up but everything aft of the cockpit will be covered with a tarp.Once I put in the floorboards for the cockpit I will spray lacquer the whole assembly.Note: I could have saved myself a lot of work by just using plywood at each station instead of individual pieces but I enjoy doing it the correct way even if it won't be seen.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The left hand vertical brace just forward of the tailpost looks out of line but actually what you are seeing is a piece of copper photoetch and not wood.The crooked 4th horizontal brace I have no explanation for however(darn camera picks up everything,even the fuzz on the wood)

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Don't expect a step-by-step construction drawing with this kit.Do expect to spend many hours going over the plans digging for information. There is nothing easy about this kit.It would have been better if they had just taken a lot of pics when building the prototype,in this case a pic is really worth a thousand words.
(there should be lots of info for you guys by the time I am finished though)
One word of caution ,don't take any measurements from the castings or laser cut parts,just build the fuselage to the drawings and make the rest fit otherwise you will drive yourself crazy .It is easier to modify the castings than it is to modify the delicate wood parts.

[JohnReid]

They range from not bad to bloody awful.Some such as the elevator will have to be completely rebuilt,others are poor but can be made acceptable and the rest not too bad! Quality control is the big problem here.Don't take anything for granted,check your other research sources,and decide what you are prepared to live with.
Because I don't really don't know what the metal composition of the castings is,I don't take chances.I know that some early castings used on model ships were subject to a kind of cancer that ate away at the metal and left a nice white powder where a casting used to be.(This was especially prevalent where the models were put in an airtight case)
Therefore I prepare my castings like this:
-wash with windex (with ammonia) and a toothbrush to remove any release agent .
-seal with lacquer (2/3rds lacquer and 1/3rd lacquer thinner mix)
-on painted castings use a gesso base for tooth.
-paint on color
-overspray with matte or satin acrylic

So far none of my castings have shown any signs of the problem.