Top Flite Elder 40 - Manual (Page 12)

in place in pre-drilled holes.
16. Although we have been instructing you to sand the
various components of your Elder as you were con-
structing them, take the time to now re-check
everything that may require final touch-up and/or fill-
ing. The difference between a good covering job and
a great one tends to be about $2.00 worth of sand-
paper and the willingness to use it.
COVERING & FINISH
Now that all of the various components of your Elder are
completely assembled and sanded to their final shapes,
you can turn your attention to covering. This is the point
that can separate your model from anyone else's. You
must decide what you want the finished airplane to look
like. We have finished our prototypes in a wide variety of
color schemes representing everything from an R.A.F.
WWI fighter (in cream Monokote with red, white and blue
Roundels and tail treatment) or a German WWI fighter
(all red Monokote with black Iron Cross's on a white
background) to civilian-type versions (dove gray
fuselages, transparent blue wings and tail-group and
chrome Monokote "cowls")! Interestingly, no matter
what color scheme we used, there was always a group of
people at the flying site who would stand there looking
at the Elder, arguing about what real, full-scale aircraft it
represented. Just remember that the Elder is not a scale
model, you're free to cover it in any configuration that
strikes your fancy—it will look great!
Before covering, it is suggested that the final finish be
applied to the open spruce fuselage structure. This can
be done several ways. There is a very good product on
the market called Varathane that is sold through most
well-stocked hardware and lumber supply outlets. This
material is essentially clear and will leave the spruce
about its same color, maybe a little darker, and
somewhat shiny. It is resistant to spent fuel and quite
durable in actual use. Epoxy paint, mixed to achieve a
woodish brown color and brushed or sprayed, also
works well. Take your time here, use light sandpaper to
go overthe framework, smoothing it forthe finish of your
choice. When applying the finish, be sure that all of the
exposed wood, except the top, rear stab glueing area,
receives paint. We then used flat black paint (again,
epoxy is great) to paint each of the ply "joint-caps." This
really makes the structure come to life!
Now for the covering itself. Use the directions that are
supplied with each roll of Monokote and cover each of
the various components separately; fuselage, wings,
stab, elevators, fin and rudder. Some of you might have a
problem with the wingtips of the Elder, if this is your first
venture into the use of Monokote or your first R/C
airplane. Here's a method that works quite well. First,
cover the wing panels totally, starting with the bottoms
first, including the wingtips. Then cover the tops of the
wing panels out to and including the last outboard W-3
wing rib, but not the wingtips themselves. Next, cut an
elongated triangular piece of Monokote to fit over the
space between the forward W-3 rib and the forward W-7
wingtip former—keep the edges straight, allow about
1/8" overlap and iron this piece in place. Move now to the
next exposed triangular area between W-7 and W-8 and
repeat the process. This method will provide a much
easier covering situation for the newcomer and, if done
carefully, gives you a nice looking, wrinkle-free wingtip.
When covering the fuselage be sure that the bottom
covering—the piece that you should apply
first—overlaps into and on the firewall by about 1/4" at
least.
Assuming that the airplane is now covered, turn your at-
tention to fuel-proofing the engine compartment. We
like to use and highly recommend a liberal coat of
polyester resin. Coat inside the cowl and fuel tank areas and over all of
the Monokote seams that terminate in the cowl itself.
This seals the wood as well as the Monokote seams and
avoids "fuel creep" later on. Be sure to keep the resin out
of the bolt holes in the firewall.
Use your X-acto knife to now clear-out all of the hinge
slots in the ailerons, wing and tail group. Do the same
thing for the wing hold-down bolt holes, the cockpit, the
landing gear screw holes, etc.
Mount the wing to the fuselage with the nylon bolts.
Place the stab in position on the top rear of the fuselage
and sight down the front of the model to observe if the
stab is sitting flat in relationship to the wing, without any
tilt. Once satisfied, hold the stab firmly in place in the
position that it is meant to be; square with the fuselage
and aligned correctly with the wing when viewed from
the top—make sure that it is exactly where you want it.
Use a sharp pencil and, while holding the stab in place,
trace the outline of the framework that is in contact with
the bottom of the stab onto the stab itself. Remove the
stab from the fuselage. Use your X-acto knife to now
lightly cut-out the frame outline from the bottom of the
stab's Monokote to expose the wood—this will be your
glueing surface. The stab can now be mounted to the
fuselage; we used a "thick" CA adhesive for this.
Next, prepare the fin for mounting to the stab by making
sure that all covering is removed from the bottom of it,
leaving exposed wood. Be sure that the covering on the
top of the stab is well-adhered to the center S-3's
because you will be removing some of it, at the center, to
accommodate the fin. Use your X-acto knife to remove
the covering from the fin slot location, exposing the
wood. Before glueing the fin to the stab, use a pin to
make lots of small holes in the exposed wood of both the
stab and fin bottom, these need not be deep. Use a
slower drying adhesive (Titebond, 1-hour epoxy, etc.) to
now glue the fin in place on the stab. Use a length of light
tape over the top of the fin and on each tip of the stab to
hold the fin in place, at right angles, and allow to dry.
Check periodically while this structure is drying to be
sure that the fin has not shifted and is in place at right
angles to the stab and on the centerline of the fuselage;
we want everything "square." When this structure is dry,
remove the tape. Thread a length of 20# fishing line (us-
ed for rigging thru-out, if desired) through the hole at the
top of the fin and glue each end of the line into the holes
at each tip of the stab—carefully applied "thick" CA
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