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Old 03-25-2018, 09:29 AM
BARGeezer BARGeezer is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2017
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After drying overnight, the motor mount is glued into the body. My method is to put a bead of glue into the motor tube. Then insert the motor mount partially into the tube. Put a second bead in the tube behind the top centering ring. Then push the mount into the final position in the tube. Follow with a bead around the bottom of the lower centering ring. This way 3 of the 4 sides of the centering rings have a bead of glue around them.
The CA seems to have hardened the balsa fins considerably. No more flexing at the tips or sponginess. At this point I deemed it safe to try sanding the edges of the fins. But I had a small accident, one of the tips broke off. Easily repaired, but I abandoned plans to put a knife edge on the leading edges. Instead, I slightly rounded all edges of the fins/wings. Earlier I had traced both sides of the fins onto adhesive label paper. I cut these out, including a strip at the leading edges which will be painted silver to simulate a cutting edge. After all, this is the Star SCYTHE. I'm glad EV didn't call it the Star Sickle. That sounds like a frozen novelty treat. Or the Star Sith, which would be in a whole nother galaxy, far, far away.
....................
But, I digress.
The skins are then applied to the fins/wings, and any excess is trimmed off with a hobby knife. The paper was then painted with CA. Be careful when painting the fins and skins with CA not to get any on or near the root edges. Wood glue does not adhere well to CA impregnated wood since the pores are filled. Notice the rear fins are labeled TF and BF. Two of the fins have the pointy end facing rearward ( the top fins). The other bottom fin has the pointy end facing forward. Interesting design feature.
While the skins were drying I printed the canopy template onto 110# cardstock. The template drawing is not full size but there is an inch scale, so some measurements and a little math and I was able to calculate how much to upscale the copy. The canopy was cut out and folded. For cardstock items (shrouds, nozzles, canopies) you only need a bit of glue on the tabs. My standard procedure is to paint all cardstock items with CA. This helps to lessen any creases or dents from hard knocks.
Earlier I had cut out the tube marking guide and marked the locations of the fins, wings, and canopy. I extended these markings with an angle tool. Now comes the fun part. Instructions say to use the double glue method of attaching the fins. But impatient as I am, I didn't want to wait for the first glue film to dry overnight. So my procedure is to apply a film of wood glue to the root edge, leaving a space at the ends to apply a drop of CA. Then I attach it to the body tube holding in place for a few seconds to a minute for the CA to grab. To ensure perpendicularity I align the fin with the leg of a display stand by line of sight. Be sure the fin is in position when the CA grabs, otherwise you will have to break the joint and start over. Rotate the display stand and align a leg with each fin until completed.
Then I glued on the canopy. Next post, fillets, primer, and paint. TBC
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