Evening All,
Thanks for the warning Frank: I will keep this model under lock and key in future!
I have rewritten the instructions several times as I try to work out the best way of going forwards with this one. Originally I had intended to add the interior details of the nacelle and then proceed with the ribs on the lower wing, but then I realised that the pilot's seat, the engine and radiator would stand very proud of the top of the nacelle and would in all certainty be knocked off when I try to put the wing ribs into place. So a rethink or two later I decided it was safe to put in the observer's seat and rudder bar, after the seats and rudder bar assembly had been completed. The seats were mounted on plywood sheets resting on the nacelle frame, so they were represented by thin plastic card:
I am still not sure that I am happy with the seat belts - I may replace them later. The observer's seat and the rudder bar were fixed in place:
The wires in the second photo are from the ribs nearest the nacelle: these have been painted and rigging and bracing wires inserted because it will not be possible to reach here later on in the build when I want to start rigging. I also inserted the next three ribs between the nacelle and the boom attachment point on both sides of the nacelle. The booms are from brass rod and were soldered to the rear boom: the ribs against the nacelle were far enough from the soldering iron and hot metal that they did not melt. I did not photograph the jig for soldering on this occasion but it is simple enough to describe. I set the nacelle sub-assembly on a block of balsa wood and placed the brass rod booms over a copy of the plan. The height of the rear end of the boom relative to the spar is calculated from the side elevation drawing as follows:
a. draw a horizontal line from the rear of the rib to beneath the rudder post;
b. measure the vertical distance from the bottom of the rudder post to the line. This distance is the height that the rear end of the boom needs to be above the rear end of the spar on the model.
Now a block of wood or other support can be set at the correct height relative to the nacelle sub-assembly and spar and the ends of the booms placed on it.
With the booms soldered and the joint cleaned the inner ribs could be slid into place and set with CA:
To get the ribs accurately into place on the opposite side I had to pin the structure to the balsa block and pull the ribs over the plans:
The ribs outboard of the booms could now be put on with some of the flying wires attached via holes in the ribs, as I do not wish to use turnbuckles. Personally I think that the items available on the aftermarket are too large to be realistic, and in addition trying to fix them on parts of this model, (the brass bar nacelle frame and brass rod booms), is not possible. However it does mean that I have a tangle of threads on both wings which I am sure are going to be a real pain during the build until I fix the top wing and can put them into place:
Two small ribs are missing from the wing tips - these are being left off at the moment as I have decided that the brass bar alone is too thin to represent the spars accurately so I intend to add strips of 30 thou plastic to the top and bottom. If I put the last two spars into place now I know for a fact that I will have to put them on again after I have knocked them off!
Thanks for looking.
Stephen.
