by MerlinJones » Mon Jun 18, 2018 13:35
Whilst drilling tiny holes for strut placement is a good tip, I cannot emphasise the importance of the right glue for the job, which makes the whole process so, so much easier.
(Take care with drilling, though...you don't want to reduce the gap between the upper and lower wings too much!)
Superglue gel...aided and abetted with Zipkicker accelerator.
Tiny dots of the glue can be applied to exactly where you want them and the glue can be left awhile before it sets.
Hold the strut on your glue dot, in your locating 'dimple', until it stops wanting to fall over, but is still moveable.
Be aware BEFORE you start of exactly the right orientation of your strut. I use cardboard templates, based on 3-view drawings), to place my struts against, thus getting exactly the right angle of lean.
When you're sure you've got your strut exactly where you want it and how you want it, apply the Zipkicker to set everything in place.
To do this, I usually use a piece of paper, dipped in the stuff, which I then apply where it's needed. You do not want to flood your plastic with Zipkicker, as you won't be able to apply any more superglue to your model for a long while, as it'll immediately set!
Regarding the order of struts to apply, I usually fix the main interplane struts to the lower wing first.
I then either add the upper wing, or use a piece of stiff card, standing in for the wing, (it's lighter than the plastic wing), to ensure that everything's level.
Once the upper wing's in place, I can apply each cabane strut by gluing it to one point and then letting gravity drop the other end of the strut to where it needs to go. I might glue it to theupper wing and let it drop onto it's drop of glue on the fuselage, or vice versa.
NOTE that, without the cabanes secured, the upper wing has the potential to swing from side to side. This shouldn't be too much of an issue, provided you take care.