Bi-Plane Build

[msatin]

This is an Old School Model Works kit called a Bristol SpadPort.
https://www.oldschoolmodels.com/sfb.htm
I have built several kits from this company, and this one was also excellent (for my skill level)
Their laser cutting is perfect. The manual is very detailed, and they also post hi-res pics of many of the steps.
I did run into 1 problem, which was warped sheets of light ply. Although this is not unusual, the degree of warp was. I'll show some examples.

As David K. once said, there is a level of satisfaction watching a pile of "stuff", decrease, and the parts of an airplane increase.

[msatin]

Wing sections.
The circled areas show the straps that will be the supports for the Cabane and Struts

[msatin]

Here you can see the example of a warped LP piece - a wing tip.
A spritz with Windex, and weighted down overnight resulted in a fairly straight tip. Not 100% but...pretty good.
There will be several more examples of this in the next steps

[msatin]

I've started using heavy tiles as weights rather than clamps wherever possible.
I often had a problem that when laminating pieces together they would end up warping, even when using clamps. The tiles prevent this.
I also found, that after applying the epoxy and aligning the pieces, a couple of crops of CA (which I only use when necessary) at the ends, tacked them in place, so that when I put the tiles on, the pieces did not slide out of alignment.
All of the pieces are LP, and had the same warping issue to greater or lesser degrees.
The clamps kept the fuselage sides together while the epoxy cured, and the weight of the tiles made sure that it was all kept in line.

[msatin]

The completed frame of the fuselage.
Pic 8 shows the tabs that stick out and will attach to the cabanes
Pic 9 is again using weights to keep things straight.
Those are sanding blocks Frank suggested. The sandpaper on the blocks last an incredibly long time.
I used them here simply as supports so the tabs from pic 8 aren't damaged

[msatin]

Pic 11, shows the measuring of each side of the wing to ensure they're aligned to the fuse.
Once I have that correct, I can drill the holes for the wing bolts, and install the blind nuts.
Pic 12, is a top view of the assembly of the battery hatch cover.
Wax paper between the assembly and fuse, and inserts (circled) to align the holes where the magnets will be glued.
Everything aligned properly including the the magnets.

[msatin]

Pick 13 is a paper cutout I used to figure out the cockpit. After a bunch of tries (I'm terrible at visualizing "stuff), I finally got the shape I wanted and then transferred the paper to the balsa sheet.
Pic 14 is the motor box being mounted to the firewall.
Pic 16 shows the top view of the motor box and the cowl being formed
2 things about the motor box:
-Another of Frank's suggestion is to wrap the box in dental floss, and cover this in epoxy. This increases the strength of the box substantially.
-I added some basswood around the box, more for my own piece of mind

[msatin]

Pic 17 & 19 is the competed cowl
Pic 18 is the completed fuse. Pic 20 is with the battery hatch cover
This essentially completes the actual building.
I will do the sanding and covering over the next few days, and will post pics as I progress.

[Frank v B]

Nice going.

Frank