 Start by sanding the
flange with 80 grit sandpaper to remove gel-coat from the flange only. Then
sand the inside of the piece to be glued to the flange. Then clean the whole
area with denatured alcohol. Drill 1/8" holes about ½" apart near the
step of the flange, then stagger 1/8" holes near forward edge of flange. Holes
should be in a stepped pattern. Next you will need some toothpicks of the round
or square with round point variety. Flat toothpicks will not work and shouldn't
be used. Break or cut them in half. Glue toothpicks on fuselage about 1" apart
all the way around the part to be joined. Then slide opposite part on to
fuselage and mark between each toothpick. Separate parts and glue toothpicks
where you have made your marks. The points of the toothpicks should point off
of the part they are glued to. The points will act as a guide to help align the
parts upon assembly. Toothpicks in the corners of square or out of round parts
will help to locate them more accurately.
Test fit the two halves and check the fit,
don't be worried if one or two toothpicks pop off, it will still work fine. Now
you should have two parts that mate perfectly. BVM takes the time to assure a
perfect fitting pair of parts so this makes the job worthwhile. Now apply
Aeropoxy to only the step of the flange all the way around the part. Slide the
two pieces together and secure with a couple pieces of masking tape. Remove
excess Aeropoxy with paper towels and a small amount of denatured alcohol. When
Aeropoxy has set-up inject more Aeropoxy into the staggered holes from inside
the fuselage. You can use a flashlight or some other kind of bright light from
the outside of the fuselage and watch the Aeropoxy ooze from hole to hole. When
the holes become hard to reach, use some scrap 1/8" brass fuel tubing (the kind
that bends easily) and Zap it to the end of your Aeropoxy tip. Wrap the joint
of the tip to tubing with carbon fiber and saturate with thin Zap CA. Now you
can bend and conform it to any shape needed to reach all areas inside of the
fuse. You can even twist it on the Aeropoxy tip and direct it where you want
it. A mirror also comes in handy in areas that can't be observed easily. After
all the holes have been filled use your finger to wipe the excess Aeropoxy to
leave a perfect fillet between front and rear joints. Wipe all remaining
Aeropoxy from inside of fuse that isn't useful to keep weight to a minimum.
After the Aeropoxy has set-up you can pop the toothpicks off the outside of the
fuse with an x-acto knife. Remove remaining toothpick slivers by carefully
shaving them off with a sharp x-acto blade then sand joint with 220 grit
sandpaper and brush prime the area.
I believe this method produces outstanding results and is
almost fool-proof if executed correctly. Our models are a portrait of ourselves
and reflect our ability as craftsmen, why not push your building envelope a bit
further and try this on your next BVM model.
Thanks Tim,
this method can be applied to the MiG-15 fuse, the Bandit inlet cowl, the T-33
fuse and of course the F-4 Phantom as shown.
Bob Violett |
