This is my second build, so I decided to post for everyone to see, warts and all! My first build was the Lancer kit (not worth posting) and I can already see an improvement in my covering. Overall I am pretty satisfied with where I am but can also see room for improvement in a number of areas. After doing a pretty good job of cutting out and gluing together the two parts of the canopy, I messed up the paint job (paint bleeding under the masking tape). For the future I’ll use some of the hints from Mr. Duckett. This bird was never destined to fly, and just as well, since I forgot to install the angle braces in the wings to establish the dihedral! I’ll probably remember that for the next time. My Trojan was built “wheels up” since after I had finished covering the wings I couldn’t figure out how to anchor the landing gear without slicing up the covering. Perhaps on my next build, the Chipmunk, I’ll secure the pre-bent piano wire before covering. Any hints from experienced builders would be appreciated. Although my covering job has improved, I still have what I think are numerous stress wrinkles, especially noticeable along the fronts of the wings. Any thoughts on how to improve in this area?? I did add gussets at the wing joints as suggested by Phugoid in some of his builds! Since it looked to me like the wing tips were going to be a source of huge wrinkles I made these areas out of solid balsa and they don’t look too bad. My construction was with white glue, and I used the dry kit tissue for covering using the 50/50 Elmer’s glue method for attachment. After covering I applied three coats of 50/50 nitrate dope. As a finish I used a spray can of Krylon aluminum paint. The paint went on pretty well and looks not too bad, but I suspect it would be too heavy for a FF plane. The decals also went on nicely.
Thanks to all the members that have posted their build threads. I have learned a tremendous amount from reading through the past posts, and I’m positive my build would be much worse off if I hadn’t learned from you all. Also, thanks to ADW for his tutorial on posting pictures. I’m sure I would have struggled with that were it not for his screenshots and narrative. When opened, my kit did not include any decals. I contacted Guillow’s customer service through their web page and soon received a reply from Susan Murphy. Ms. Murphy resolved my issue and has been especially helpful. I have to say that her customer service exceeded my expectations.
