The fuselage
The sides of the fuse box are wider then the balsa sheets I can buy here, so I CA'd some balsa together to get the required width.

Like I did with the rudder, to get the correct outline I traced the plan onto greaseproof paper, and marked the parts to be removed.

All gone!

I forgot to mention that I did this with the two sides pinned together. I also made the openings for the wing spars,
and drilled the holes for the landing gear and wingstruts. Now I know they are all at the same spot. Not trusting the
CA's ability to "hold it all together", I glued a strip of 1mm balsa on top of the seam on the inside of each side.

F1 (the motormount) I did already. Now I made F1b, F2, and the U/C plate.

The F1 goes first. I used alyphatic glue here for slow curing, so I have time to get it just right.

When F1 was done I just forged ahead. Just for some extra peace of mind, I CA'd few scrap pieces of balsa next to each F part.

I then epoxied the hardwood pieces for the forward hatch. Here I used epoxy because of the close proximity to
the motormount. Motor vibrations might loosen the hatch.

I also dabbed a bit of epoxy on the inside of the U/C plate, for some extra strength.

The rest top (and bottom) of the tail was build over the plan.

The tail fill pieces. The plan states that both top and bottom should be balsa, but as the rudder post
rests on the bottom piece, this seemed not a good idea. A quick e-mail to Peter confirmed my suspicion;
the plan should have stated that the bottom piece should be ply.

To build the side I first pinned the top to the plan.

And made sure it was pinned square.

The bottom was pinned on as well.

And the side strips were glued in place.

The other side strips I had to glue of the plan, because my sausage fingers couldn't get them in place properly
without braking something. So I simply put each in place, and let the (alyphatic) glue cure under pressure.

The finished product.

And now to connect the two...

First I pinned the front box upside down on the plan, with F1 hanging over the work surface. For added peace of
mind I also put some weight on it.

Then I test fitted the tail,

making sure both parts were on the centerline of the plan.

And then another nasty surprise. Although I scrupulously build everything on the plan, and checked and double-checked
that all was straight and as per plan I find that there are gaps between the tail and front box...

This is what Pete wrote on the subject:
Those gaps aren't a factor of the inaccuracy of your build mate, probably just the oposite - combined with the way
you built your fuselage rear frame. Conventional practice is to build two SIDE frames and then join those to form the box.
With this in mind, side frames are shown actual size whereas top views are normally a projection of the side view - no
allowance for taper. However, whilst that would account for the gaps at the sides, presumably the front top and bottom
pieces were built in to your top and bottom frames so I have no explanation for those gaps.

Although not causing any major problem on this model, you might find that building your way causes problems with a
conventional rudder. Because of the slope on the bottom frame, that has to end up slightly shorter, when fitted to a box
structure, thereby leaning in the tail-post and giving a poor rudder/fuselage fit.

I did say somewhere near the top of this page that this is a whole new experience for me. Live & learn.

So a few strips of balsa were glued in as filler.

Now the elevator pushrod exit was glued in place.

And the filler piece for the rudder push/pull wires. I didn't make this opening yet, because I first want to be
sure exactly were the servos are going to be, to prevent any wire binding.

Starting to look like a fuse...

F1a in place.

Now the deck. As this is wider then the 10cm balsa I can get, once again I CA'd two pieces of balsa together.

Once cured, I soaked it in hot water.

I wrapped some clingfilm around a bottle, then wrapped the balsa around, and covered that with a layer of
clingfilm as well. Then a handfull of elastic bands, and we'll see tomorrow evening how it went...

Well, next evening I opened it up, and the wood was still moist and plyable. So... boys and girls, don't wrap it up in clingfilm!
I removed all clingfilm and re-wrapped the balsa around the bottle with elastics. We'll see tomorrow...

Meanwhile, I made the papertube for the rudder post, and glued it in place with epoxy, mixed with about 75% Soda
Bicarb (a cheap replacement for micro balloons).

I decided to make the cockpit floor removable. So, I glued two dowels on the front and two rare earth magnets at the back.

And I made two matching holes in F1a

And reinforced F1a with another piece of 1mm balsa.

Time to unpack the turtle deck. The wood was dry now, and it kept it's shape even!

Trimmed to size, and glued in place. While the alyphatic glue cures I taped the turtledeck down with maskingtape.

And weighted it down, just to be safe...

Once cured.

Needs a bit of sanding.

And the prospective pilot dropped by to check the cockpit size. He was pleased.

The ply plate that allows access to the motor. This one is attached with 4 servo screws. I cut & sanded
the ply to shape, and screwed in the screws. Then I removed the screws and put a drop of thin CA into each hole.

I'm a bit stuck now. I thought I still had several rare earth magnets for the top and bottom hatches, but I was wrong.
A quick order went out to www.leevaley.com for 50 1/4" magnets. Untill they arrive I am limited to what I can do.

So, just to keep myself busy, I cut and shaped the tail skid. I made it out of 3mm balsa, sandwiched between two pieces of
1mm ply. And if already fiddling with pieces of ply, I also made the rudder, and elevator control horns.

And now, my "secret" weapon...

To strengthen the wood, I mixed epoxy and thinned it with alcohol till the thickness of water. This I painted on the pieces.

The magnets arrived, so I went into a magnet fitting frenzy.
First I tackled the cockpit sheet. The magnets on the lid itself were already in place, so all I had to do was to
glue two other magnets in two pieces of balsa (I made a indentation with my dremmel), and glue just in front of former F2.

Funny things these magnets. Did you know they had a positive and negative side? I knew that, but forgot to
check... That's why you see one magnet pointing up, and the other one down. Luckily the magnets are so strong,
they pull right through the wood.

The lid is not entirely flush, because the magnets inside the fuse are a fraction too high. But it'll do.

Next, the battery hatch.
First two magnets in a piece of balsa glued across the rear part of the hatch opening.

Then two magnets on the lid (after checking polarity).

Some of the lightening holes will also double as air exit holes. Nicely rounded with a sanding attachment on the Dremmel.

And this is how the hatch fits flush.

And now I'm waiting for the delivery of some stuff from Hong Kong, amongst which are the servos.
To be shipped after the Chinese New Year celebrations....

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