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The laser-cut parts fit together precisely so building over the plan is optional (above left). The design is simple but effective; once the frame is glued together, simply fill in the rib stations with ¹⁄₈ × ¼ balsa. Elevators are joined together with


pant that will easily clear the suggested wheel. If your wheels are a little fatter, just add another ¹⁄₈-inch lamination to the mid- dle. Position the wheel pants on the landing gear at the correct angle and set this angle by gluing ¹⁄₂׳⁄₈×¹⁄₁₆-inch ply plates to each wheel pant while holding them against the wire. This sets the mounting angle and pro- vides a base for screwing on another ply plate over the wire, securing the pants. Re- member to make a left and a right! Landing gear fairings are made using ¼×


¾-inch balsa sticks glued into a “V” to match the landing gear wire. Carve out grooves on the inner side of this “V” to accept the wire and sand them to a streamline section. Cov- er them, leaving the groove bare, and epoxy them to the wire. Then hide the wire with a strip of covering material. Cowling: The battery is inserted through


the front and held in place with a patch of hook and loop material on the battery tray. So, the cowling should be readily removable. On my prototype I used a vac-formed cowling and held it in place by drilling a small hole in the top which fits over a short peg in the top of the fuse. I drilled a small hole in the bot- tom and looped a small rubber band through which this hooks onto another short peg ex- tending out the bottom of the fuse. You just need to slip off the band, pull the cowling for- ward slightly and it can rotate out of the way,


a piece of ³⁄₃₂-inch music wire with “L” bends on each end. The wire is embedded into each elevator and epoxied into place. The front of the elevators is grooved to allow the wire to sit flush with the hinge line (above right).


without having to remove the propeller. Alternately, you can carve a cowl from


balsa block and fasten it in place on the front of F1 with rare earth magnets. Whichever method you use, make sure you cut out the scale air vents to allow air flow into the bat- tery compartment and around the motor. Windscreen: This is cut from thin ac-


etate or other similar clear plastic using the template on the plans. Bend the tabs straight up and curve the windshield with mild heat. Use glue or double-sided tape to fasten the tabs under the windshield cutout.


Covering and finishing “Light flies right” so whatever you use to


cover your machine make sure it doesn’t add unnecessary weight. The basic paint scheme of Ike and Mike is as simple as they get: com- pletely white. I used Microlite on my proto- types and I highly recommend it for adhesion and shrink behavior. Cover the lower rear surfaces first so that the seams overlap downward and toward the rear. One weak- ness of any of these lightweight materials, especially the white used on the Ike, is their opacity, or lack thereof. Covering sheet bal- sa with “opaque” white will not completely hide the wood grain. For this reason, I rec- ommend a very light “dusting” of white spray paint over the sheeting. Also, if laser-cut parts are used, I advise you to lightly scuff


the burnt edges to remove any black/tan soot that may be visible through the covering. There are a lot of prominent markings on


these racers, the big racing numbers, simu- lated cowling vents, and especially the big Chevrolet logo on the Ike, so to leave these off wouldn’t do the model justice. I designed my own set using a word processor and var- ious programs and printed them myself us- ing an inkjet printer and Avery clear label stock. A couple of light coats of clear acrylic spray sealer fixes the ink and protects the markings from the weather, oily fingers, etc. My markings file is available as a download from my website. For those less interested in making their


own, companies such as Callie Graphics www.callie-graphics.com make markings in ¹⁄₆ scale that will work very well. The mark- ing designs and locations are indicated on the plans, with the exception of the cowling louvers. There are so many of them they would have cluttered the plans too much. They are included, however, on the decal sheet and the photos of my model and the original aircraft plainly show how they are arranged.


Rigging Pick up some silver elastic from the


sewing or crafts store. Drill through the trailing edges of the fin and stabilizer with


The rudder and fin go together just like the elevators and stabilizer (above left). Rudder ribs installed (above right) as well as the rudder control horn. In


FLYING MODELS


this case it is a ¹⁄₁₆-inch ply horn Gary had laser-cut but there is sufficient material here to mount your favorite hardware.


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