Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Estes SR-71 Blackbird Build Part 5, Fin Edge Gluing

Gluing together the inner wing pieces was a little like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
The instruction illustrations were not drawn to scale which only made it more confusing .
Be sure the front piece of the inner wing is facing the right direction, probably the opposite of how you would think it should go.




To be sure the root edges were in line both were glued on opposite sides of a metal straightedge at the same time.

The outer wings were glued up at the same time.





The lower fin has the shortest leading edges I've ever seen in a rocket kit. The wood grain is running down the leading edge.
The small side facing this copy block is the leading edge!



Planning ahead:
I thought I should fill the edges of the fins that would be exposed outside the shroud overlays.
This should have been the way to go, but the fit of the shroud wasn't perfect. I'll end up trimming off some shroud and balsa to get everything to look smooth.
On second thought - Don't bother pre-filling the end grain pores now.

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