Notice how I avoided calling these the “forward baggage walls,” which is more accurate, just to not have to go back and revisit calling the baggage area completed? Things have slowed a bit, but I did get these fit. Despite the instructions noting that these were difficult to fit, these were not difficult to fit. […]
Finish is such a strong word. I don’t feel like anything here is ever “finished,” always with things I have to come back and revisit. But much of the baggage pieces are installed. This is a bit of a “where’s the rest of the fucking owl,” (talk about a random reference–you’re going to need to […]
Time to get started on the baggage area. Baggage floors and rear baggage walls didn’t take much. There was some confusion on whether I had the ribs placed in the correct order, but later realized one of the plans was incorrectly drawn. If you, too, are confused, see Detail D on Sheet 25 for the […]
Ok, now we’re adding in some exciting parts. Enough gussets, let’s add some steps and shit. The steps are something I’ve looked forward too. The prewelded pieces are a real piece of work. Lightweight, for steel, and amazing welds and fabrication made these a lot of fun to work with. My concerns: The plate of […]
I wasn’t looking forward to these pieces. I was more-or-less dreading these pieces. Why? Well, I’ve long felt that pieces numbered 6XX are holdovers from the RV-6, a plane that offered less prefabrication and required more work to fit. I could probably verify this assumption with some quick research but I’d rather just continue on […]
Well, the time had come to fit the aft skins (temporarily). Fitting these skins was exciting. Fitting these skins was a pain. Alignment, for the most part, was not very difficult. The aft section was pretty straightforward. The skins resist the bend but the holding power of the clecoes makes quick work of bending them […]
Installing the sills and gussets (cabin… gussets, I guess–not the forward fuselage ones) was a lot of work, but not a lot of stress. Tight areas required the compact tungsten bucking bar (I’m not sure what you’re doing with your life if you don’t have a a few tungsten bucking bars). After some universal and […]
An uneventful yet crucial part of the aircraft. The forward fuselage gussets. These were primed with the sills, and installed prior to the sills. Drilling these pieces was a bit of a hurdle, if I hadn’t mentioned that yet (see video) but installation was fairly straighforward.
Priming the cockpit sills has offered some perspective on the white priming process. The “gloss” white primer has been a difficult aspect of the build since introduced to the project. After various thinning and application techniques, I’ve come so some realizations. At times, I believe I was overthinning MEK, lacquer thinner, and acetone all provided […]
The completion of the aft deck was as satisfying as the initial fit. Again, this area just fit together beautifully, with all lines parallel, and the aft end of the piece lining up in every aspect with the aft bulkhead. Again, a testament to the kit quality, not necessarily the build or builder here.