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After finishing up a couple details and a final touch up sanding, I got ready to clear-coat. I had about 1/2 bottle of Aero Gloss dope sanding sealer, but wasn't sure it would be enough. So, off to the LHS. My favorite store did not have any. He said it was discontinued. Went to My other local...

Thanks everyone for following along. It's been a pretty smooth build and I've had fun with it. Brings back some great memories too.

Spent a good part of the day out in the shop, planing and sanding. Nice work bench, coffee pot, oldies music and a good drafting chair. A few neighbors stopped by to see what was going on. Made for a great day. Did the wings first. Profile Taper to the tip. They came out nice. Then...

I forgot. Looking at this thing I decided to count parts. Fuselage - 63 Center wing section - 16 Right wing section - 26 Left wing section - 26 Stabilizer - 49 Rudder - 60 Nacelles - 11 ea, 22 Misc - 4 Main wheels - 11 ea - 22 1 wire 4 wood 2 molded plastic 4 vac formed plastic...

Finished up the nacelles and sanded them out. Look good, and, they fit up very nice to the center wing section. A couple pics of the assemblies laid out. I need to fair in and sand out the wing sections, the stabilizer and the rudder. It's to hot out today to do that in the workshop where I...

A mini cut off saw. I call it a mini power miter box. It has a 2" blade. I mounted it on a board for easy moving about and added extension tables either side of the machine, level with the cutting surface. Then added a tiny fence for easier alignment. Much the same customization I did for my...

Well, finished up the stabilizor flipped it over and finished the other side. She's ready for fairing and sanding. Assembled the nacelles except for the stringers. Will do those tomorrow. Then, out to the shop to plane and sand all the assemblies. Next post they will be ready to...

Yup. I usually plane and sand both the leading and trailing edges to whatever the profile is on the drawings, then switch to sanding the rest of the area to match / meet the profile of those edges. I often make cardstock profile gauges to help guide the process. Sounds a lot harder than it...

HMMMMM. Today I worked on both the Stabilizer and the rudder. Lots of bits to be added to the basic frames, mainly to give them thickness and allow for shaping. Got the basic stabilizer frame assembled, then set aside to dry. I screwed up on the rudder assembly. I was supposed to use 3/32 X...

Didn't get much done for a few days. Spent a lot of time sitting in the hospital. My oldest son (53) had kidney stone issues. On the 4th day they finally decided to do the sonic boom thing on it and broke it up. It passed after that. It was 9mm, almost a half an inch. Like pushing a marble...

Made good progress today. Assembled the left wing struts, glued up and drying. Cut out the parts for the right wing. Faired in the center wing section, planed and sanded the leading and trailing edges. End view showing airfoil shape. Done with my little mini plane and a sanding...

Amen to that! I guess I didn't really think about size. I'll have to hang her from the ceiling in the den. Yesterday, I went to the LHS for some wood. The piece in the kit for the leading edges was warped pretty badly so I needed a strait one. Plus, I booger d up enough of the 3/32 sq stuff...

Thanks for the comments everyone. Having been a carpenter/cabinetmaker/builder/industrial maintenance guy most of my life, I really feel comfortable with wood. Plus, I like scratchbuilding. Wood kits are not much more than a box of materials instead of parts and I'm fine with that. Today I got...

Made good progress today with the CA / wood glue process. The fuselage is completed. All that remains for tomorrow after the glue sets well is a few fills where bits broke off, and some sanding to clean it up and fair it out. Then I'll spray a clearcoat on it. I broke a couple pieces that had to...

Great idea. Us old guys sometimes get stuck in "the way we used to do things" mode. What did we do before CA glue anyway? Things are progressing smoother now. Thanks for the reminder. EJ

Started the stringers. Four had to be spliced to make longer parts so I did a scarf joint. The stringers themselves are a bit trickier than I thought they would be. Hard to clamp. Then, when held with rubber bands, they are in the way of the next one, so slow going. EJ

Actually, wire, balsa, molded plastic and vac formed plastic. You gotta see this to believe it, but it works. Same system as the planes that use gas motors. They are pretty strong and quite flexible so they don't break off when you land the thing, unless its an out of control hard hit of course. EJ

Formers done. Tomorrow, after the glue sets well, I'll start installing the 3/32 square stringers. EJ

The cabin, engine cowls & trim are all vacuformed white plastic and are pretty simplistic, but, so is the kit.

This is 1/32 scale. The finished model will be 24 1/8" long by 35 1/2" wingspan. The kit comes with paper for covering, but I don't think I'll do that. I'm just gonna sand it up real nice and put on a lacquer clear-cote (or two) before installing the plastic cowling and trim. I just kinda like...