Top Flite TOPA0290 - Manual (Page 58)

❏
8.
Glue the eight die-cut 3/32" [2.4mm] balsa belly
pan r
ibs into position as sho
wn.
The outer r
ibs fit
against the belly pan sides
.
❏
9.
Mar
k the location of the wing bolts on the belly
pan sides
.
R
emo
v
e the wing from the fuselage
.
❏
10.
Sheet the belly pan betw
een the belly pan
sides using three 3/32"x 3"x 24"[2.4 x 75 x 610mm] balsa sheets
.
❏
11.
Using the mar
k
s y
ou made on the belly pan
sides as an alignment cue
, cut holes in the sheeting
for the cardboard
wing bolt tubes
.
Cut tw
o
1"[25mm]
wing bolt tubes
from the 9/16"[14mm]
cardboard tube
.
With the wing bolts in position, use
epo
xy mix
ed with microballoons to glue the tubes
into the wing.
While the epo
xy is hardening twist the
wing bolts occasionally so an
y epo
xy that ma
y ha
v
e
gotten onto the heads of the bolts will not tak
e a set
and glue them in.
❏
12.
After the epo
xy has hardened, tr
im, then sand
the belly pan sides
, front and rear and the wing bolt
tubes e
v
en with the belly pan sheeting.
Bolt the wing
to the fuselage
, then round the cor
ners of the belly
pan to match the fuselage
.
FINISH THE
MODEL
At this time all of the w
oodw
or
k, plastic fitting and
most of the systems installation should be complete
,
so no
w it’
s time to prepare the model f
or co
v
e
ring
and painting.
Some modelers ha
v
e
their o
w
n
pref
erences as to co
v
e
ring/finishing mater
ials and
the order in which it is all done
.The model on the kit
bo
x co
v
er w
as finished using the f
ollo
wing methods
.
F
ollo
w these techniques or use y
our o
w
n pro
v
e
n
methods to finish y
our Piper Arro
w
.
CO
VERING
❏
1.
Fill lo
w spots
, cr
ac
ks or nic
ks with balsa filler
.
Man
y small dents in balsa can be repaired without
filler
.
Use a small dab of w
a
ter to w
et the area and
allo
w to dr
y bef
ore sanding.
Often this is enough to
mak
e
the balsa e
xpand thus remo
ving the dent.
❏
2.
Remo
ve
an
y hardw
are that will interf
ere with final
sanding, painting or co
ve
ring such as the landing gear
,
engine
, etc.
Use prog
ressiv
ely finer g
rades of
sandpaper to finish-sand the model.
E
nding with 400-
g
rit should be adequate
.
U
se a bar sander or sanding
b
loc
ks where necessar
y to mak
e y
ou don’t o
ver-sand
soft balsa around hard glue joints
.
❏
3.
After final-sanding, use a shop-v
ac with a br
ush
attachment, a large paint br
ush, compressed air or a
tac
k cloth to remo
v
e all the balsa dust.
Co
vering can be quite an under
taking,
b
u
t
fo
llo
wing are some tec
hniques that ma
y assist y
ou.
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