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Williams Bros 1/72 C-46 Builld Series, Part 9


ipmsusa2

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Hello all,

 

Sorry for the delay but I've had to deal with a death in the family (sister-in-law) and an upper respiratory infection. Now, back to the C-46.

 

Once the cowls were mounted on the wing, I used a 3/64" (.095") bit in a pin vise to drill out the prop shaft hole. Then a short piece of .095" brass tubing was installed. Later on I'll create a prop shaft from .0625" (1/16") tubing and end up with removable props. Definitely an aid when it comes to shipping the model.

 

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At this point you'd think things were about to pick up speed. Not so. In fact, the worst...and hopefully last...major problem was about to rear its head.

 

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When you start to mate the wing assembly to the fuselage is when you discover that the wing stubs integrated with the fuselage halves are not symmetrical. The starboard stub sits several thousandths higher than the port one. While that doesn't sound like much, it makes for major trouble as you're about to see. Align the wing center section with the bottom of the fuselage and the wing/stub joint won't line up. Align the wing/stub joints and the fuselage/wing alignment will be cockeyed...and you'll have major filling to do on the fuselage bottom. I chose to align the wing with the bottom of the fuselage and modify the wing/stub joint. This photo shows the port joint. Believe it or not, this is the better fitting one!

 

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The starboard joint is the real nightmare. Worse is the fact that the wing airfoil doesn't follow the airfoil contour of the wing stub. Fortunately that error, which is uncorrectable, won't be noticeable when all's said and done.

 

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That gap on the port joint is fairly easily resolved. I shoved a piece of .020" plastic into the gap, outlined the wing contour with a pen, removed the plastic, cut the piece off and reinstalled. Then added a little Squadron White Putty before an extended sanding session.

 

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Now for the starboard beast. After filling the gap with plastic, I still had a major step to deal with. I cut a narrow strip of .010" or .015" styrene and glued it down on an angle running from the top of the wing stub to the top of the wing. It's that stage you see in this photo. Then that was followed with multiple applications of solvent slopped on to get the styrene good 'n wet. Then White Putty and more sanding...putty and/or plastic where needed....more sanding...and more sanding...and..... Incidentally, if you're wondering why I'm using Squadron White Putty, it's because it doesn't crack when slightly stressed.

 

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Welcome back and don't worry about being away for awhile. Family comes first. My condolences on your loss and I'll be praying for you and your family.

 

Everything is looking great. You handled the wing root issues better than I did. Nice going!

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

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Mark, thanks for your kind thoughts. And however you solved the wingroot problem, you did an excellent job on yours.

 

Gil, after they read this build series, everyone will be the wiser! Keep in mind that this series will eventually be expanded and turned into an ebook, so there'll be no hiding my solution.

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