Great Planes Spitfire 40 Kit - GPMA0179 - Manual (Page 30)

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13. Remove the cowl and template, then remount the valve
cover and/or needle valve, if necessary. Cut out the holes in the
cowl, then test fit it to the fuselage (you may have to temporarily
remove the needle valve so it does not interfere with the cowl.)
Adjust the position and size of the holes as needed.
Hint: Cut
the holes in the cowl undersize at first so you can make
adjustments to their position without having to enlarge them.
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14. Roughen the inside of the cowl at the mounting holes with
sandpaper. Use medium CA to glue one of the 1" x 1" fiberglass
squares to the inside of the cowl at each cowl mounting hole.
After the glue dries, enlarge the holes with a 3/32" drill bit.
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15. Fill the seams and other imperfections in the cowl with
putty filler such as Squadron ® White Putty ™ or automotive filler
such as Bondo ® . We use Bondo most of the time as it cures
quickly and is easy to sand, but usually it must be purchased in
large quantities. Squadron putty works well but it takes
overnight to dry and usually requires at least two applications
because it shrinks as it dries.
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16. When dry, wet sand the entire cowl with 400-grit sandpaper
to prepare it for priming.
Do not confuse this procedure with “checking the C.G.,”
which will be discussed later in the manual.
A model which is not laterally balanced properly may exhibit a
variety of unpleasant tendencies, ranging from uncharacteristic
tip stalls to problems with spin entries. This aircraft, when
balanced properly, has
NO such bad tendencies. Be sure to
check the lateral balance carefully to help ensure that the
model exhibits the same exceptional handling qualities as our
prototypes.
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1. With the wing level and attached to the model (and the
engine and muffler installed), lift the model by the propeller
shaft and the aft bottom of the fuse. This may require an
assistant. Do this several times.
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2. If one wing consistently drops, that is a heavy tip. Balance
the model laterally by adding weight to the light wing tip.
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1. Remove all servos, pushrods, hinges and control horns.
Remove the engine, mount and any other hardware you may
have installed.
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2. Most of the model should be rough-sanded by now, with
all the tabs and rough edges sanded even. Fill all dents, seams,
low spots, and notches with HobbyLite
™ Balsa Colored Filler.
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3. After the filler has dried, use progressively finer grades of
sandpaper to even all the edges and seams and smooth all
surfaces. Remove all balsa dust from the model with
compressed air or a vacuum with a brush. Then use a tack cloth
to give the model a final wipe down.
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4. Cut the canopy along the outside cutlines. DO NOT cut
along the second set of lines, provided as “paint to here” locator
lines to help you paint the canopy. Test fit and trim as necessary.
Cover the model with Top Flite MonoKote Film using the
recommended covering sequence that follows. Before you
cover the fuselage, first apply strips of MonoKote film 1/4"
larger than the fillets on top and 1/4" overall for the bottom into
the corners of the stab and fuse and the fin and the fuse. Then
proceed to cover the fin and stab with pre-cut pieces that meet
in the corners and overlap the 1/4" strips.
Never cut the
covering on the stab and fin after it has been applied
except around the leading and trailing edges and at the
tips. Modelers who cut covering on top of the wood structure
may cut through the covering and into the stab or fin. This will
weaken the structure to a point where it may fail during flight.
Only the prototype’s canopy and cowl are painted (see below).
All other covering is done with MonoKote Flat Finish Grey and
Green and Opaque colors.
Fuselage:
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1. 1/4" strips at fin and stab as described above (camo on
top, grey on bottom)
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2. Fin top then stab ends (grey)
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3. Stab/elevators bottom, then top (grey bottom, then
camo on top)
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4. Fin/rudder right side, then left side (camo)
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5. Turtle deck (camo)
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6. Front deck (camo)
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7. Aft fuse bottom (camo base)
Suggested Covering Sequence
The wing, stab and fin coverings are pre-made sections of
covering. For one side of the stab’s top, begin with a piece of
oversized covering of the base grey. Peel off the backing,
laying the covering onto a large piece of clean glass.
Freehand cut your camouflage shapes from the grey. Peel the
backing off an oversized piece of green. Using the cut grey as
a guide, cut the camouflage shape into the green, allowing for
a 1/4" overlap of the green onto the grey. Lay the green with
a 1/4" overlap over the grey. Using a very hot MonoKote iron,
secure the green to the grey.
Gently peel the oversized camouflage covering you just
assembled, lay it onto the stab, and iron in place as you
would a single piece of covering. Doesn’t it look great?! No
bubbles and no large excesses of covering, either!
Covering Technique
COVER THE MODEL WITH
MONOKOTE ® FILM
PREPARE THE MODEL
FOR COVERING
BALANCE THE MODEL LATERALLY
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