model builder Park Pilot
Sanding the Fw 190 fuselage
Jeff Troy
jefftroy@aol.com
>>
I’m having the best time with my 200% Guillow’s
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and its conversion from rubber power to electric-powered RC.
So far, the wings, tail feathers, and fuselage have been constructed. My next step was to sand the fuselage in preparation for adding the battery hatch, battery tray, and fi rewall. That’s what I’ll show you now, as well as a few tips along the way. When constructing the fuselage, I added secondary formers at the front and rear of what would later become the removable battery hatch. I also inserted 1
/16 -inch balsa
spacers between the model’s proper formers and the two secondary formers to provide ample space for the covering and fi nishing materials. After these secondary formers were installed, the numerous fuselage stringers were added in the traditional “one right, one left” manner. If you want the edges of
your model’s battery hatch to blend smoothly into the shape of its fuselage, a little work—that is, fun—must be done before the hatch is separated from the fuselage. All of those balsa stringers need to be blended into the shape of the formers, and the
Prevent gouging and breaking the formers by using light pressure and holding the Great Planes Easy- Touch Bar Sander at approximately 45° to the stringers and formers as you sand.
formers should be properly shaped so the covering can drape over the model’s fuselage without snagging on protrusions or wrinkling into gaps between the stringers and formers. Use gentle pressure on the
Great Planes Easy-Touch Bar Sander (
greatplanes.com) to sand the stringers fl ush with the formers. Hold the sander at approximately 45° to the stringers and formers to help prevent the sander from crashing into any edges of the formers that extend above the level of the stringers. As your sander gets
closer to leveling the intersections, work with a motion that follows the arc of the formers. The trick is to
40 PARK PILOT [Winter 2016]
My Fw 190 would have to have a battery hatch, so I added secondary formers next to the model’s proper formers at the front and rear of the hatch area.
blend the stringers into the formers without fl attening the curvature of the formers between the stringers. It isn’t diffi cult, although it does
require an extremely light touch, and your emphasis should be on patience rather than speed. No matter how careful
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