The wing pieces are 3/32" thick. All laser-cut balsa edges are cut like a "wedge", a wider line at the top, thinner at the bottom.
To be sure your pieces butt-up close and tight, square up the sides with a sanding block.
These end pieces will be dealt with later. I wouldn't bother trying to square up the small DADO joints yet.
The two piece wings and vertical stabilizers were glued together on a sheet of glass with some light weights on top.
Here's what I meant about keeping the detail lines clear.
The CWF filler was brushed on, over the detail lines I wiped off the excess filler with my finger.
With some of the filler wiped off, I could see the cut detail lines underneath.
While the filler was still wet, I used a knife blade to open up and clear the filler from the lines.
Here's the wing after sanding the dried CWF filler.
Use a soft brush and clean out the sanding dust from the detail lines. It's a little extra effort to do this, but makes for a better looking model in the end.
Those detail lines are quite interesting, has Estes ever done that before?
ReplyDeleteI came to ask the same thing. Have you seen this on any kit by anyone before?
ReplyDeleteNeil and Mustang,
DeleteI don't remember seeing these laser cut detail lines in any previous kit.
I just picked up some vintage kits on eBay from Stellar Dimensions. The balsa has laser etched detailing like that. Now I'm considering using a highlighter instead of paint because I don't want to cover that up.
ReplyDeleteHi Gary,
DeleteYou are right! Looking back, the one Stellar Dimensions kit I built did have laser cut line details! I remember thinking those fine lines would be gone after filling and smoothing the surfaces!
Well there's another defunct kit manufacturer I hadn't heard of before. This list is surprisingly long.
Delete