Top Flite TOPA0140 - Manual (Page 49)

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7. Reinstall the cockpit floor, instrument panel,
sides and support rails the same way you did
before. Securely glue all the parts in place with CA.
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8. Accurately trim the canopy along the molded
cutlines. True the edges with a bar sander for a
finished appearance.
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9. Place the canopy on the fuselage where
shown on the plan. Lightly mark the outline of the
canopy on the fuselage.
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10. Remove the canopy and trim the sheeting
around the cockpit as shown on the plan and in the
photo. Just make sure you don’t cut the sheeting
too close to the canopy outline.
FINISHING
FUELPROOFING
Remove the pushrods, cowl, engine, muffler and
other hardware that may interfere with final
sanding and covering. See the Expert Tip below
and fuelproof all areas that may be exposed to fuel
or engine exhaust such as the wheel wells, the TE
of the wing where the flaps are located, the firewall
and engine compartment area, the fuel tank
compartment, the wing saddle and the front of the
wing, the wing dowels, etc. Use epoxy, epoxy
paint, finishing resin or other fuelproof model paint.
Note: You should fuelproof the wheel wells before
you cover the model. Otherwise, the paint may
soak through the wing sheeting and add blemishes
to your covering.
PREPARE THE MODEL FOR COVERING
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1. Inspect all surfaces for uneven glue joints
and seams that require filler. Apply filler where
needed. Many small dents or scratches in balsa
can be repaired by applying a few drops of water
or moistening the area with a wet tissue. This will
swell the wood so you can sand it when it dries.
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2. Sand the entire model with progressively
finer grits of sandpaper, finishing with 320 or
400-grit sandpaper.
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3. Use a large brush, air pressure or a Top Flite
Tack Cloth to remove dust from the model.
BALANCE THE AIRPLANE LATERALLY
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1. Mount your wing.
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2. With the wing level, carefully lift the model
by the engine propeller shaft and the aft end of the
fuselage at the bottom of the fin trailing edge (this
may require two people). Do this several times.
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3. If one wing always drops when you lift the
model, that side is heavy. Balance the airplane by
gluing weight inside the other wing tip. Do this by
carving a cavity in the bottom of the balsa wing tip
and filling it with the amount of weight required to
balance the model laterally. Glue the weight in
place with epoxy and cover the rest of the cavity
with balsa filler. An airplane that has been
laterally balanced will track better in loops and
other maneuvers.
If you plan to cover your model with Top Flite
MonoKote film and you will be using Top Flite
LustreKote spray paint for parts that require
painting and/or fuelproofing, you may find it
easier to apply LustreKote to some of those
parts with a paint brush instead of spraying from
the can. To apply LustreKote with a brush, hold
a tube (such as a drinking straw) to the spray
nozzle with the other end of the tube emptying
into a container. Depress the spray nozzle until
you have enough paint in your container to do
the job. Spraying LustreKote into a tube will
keep most of it from becoming airborne. Allow
the paint to stabilize for about ten minutes
before you brush it on. This is a handy method
for painting visible areas on the outside of the
model that require fuelproofing and must match
your MonoKote finish (such as the wheel wells
and the TE of the wing in the flap area.
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