Necessity is the mother of invention.
It had been awhile since my last airplane model and I had forgotten the difficulty in placing decals on a vertical surface. When I started decaling I thought I better start with something easy. How about the fin and rudder? Bad idea. I was holding a wet decal that had a mind of its own and trying to figure out how to place it on the vertical surface. Obviously I had not thought things through. Long story short I did get them on but I got to thinking, there must be a better way to position the airplane than I presently had. So the following is what I came up with.
I made it from a little foam, a yoga block and some 3 mm plywood. The yoga block is the prefect material for this. Soft, sturdy and non marring.
I clamp it at the edge of the workbench when the landing gear or wing need to extend past the height of the cradle. For most planes the landing gear will not extend past the height of the cradle but maybe for some of the larger airplanes.
I built it large enough for everything WNW produces other than the 2 or 3 very largest. Those I likely won't build but if I do I will come up with something else.
Yoga block, thin foam and ply
The piece that crosses at the back is a fiction fit to support the tail. It can be removed or reposition for different planes.
I made a templete for the largest plane I to ensure it would work. The outline of the smaller plane on the template is of the Pfalz.
If room is needed for the landing gear I clamp the cradle to the edge.
This part is used to lay the airplane on its side. It is a fiction fit between the two side pieces.
Easy placement of decals or when working on the side is needed.
Although I did not need to do anything fancy with the Pfalz to align the wings I think I could use this jig much like WNW suggests one should use a common box.
I did not get to fully use this on the Pfalz because I built it after much of the work was done. On the next I will get a better idea how well it works. So far I like it.
