SPA Modeler

Ah Bruce... you were right about the brass. The tabs that I had last glued in place were canted out at the same angle as the slope of the canopy sides. That created too much pinch. So I attempted to put a bend in the brass tab so that they pointed straight down from the canopy bottom edge. Well, the weakness caused by the bend was too much and those tabs were done... victims of material fatigue. Give up? Was this close.

Took a deep breath and decided to give it one more shot. I busted out the heavy metal this time. Well, heavier metal anyway. I had a steel PE fret from my Dragon Ju88G build that I dissected to provide two more tab candidates.


Much tougher beasts to cut and trim these frets! I used a PE bending tool to create a slight angle in the tab so that it does not stick out an angle but sits straight down, more or less.


Another batch of 2-part epoxy to set these in place. Hopefully, three times the charm. All of your timely suggestions were needed to arrive at this final solution, so much thanks to all of you.


Whether or not it holds... we'll have to see tomorrow. I ain't worried because I can always close the canopy. Which is what many prefer anyway.

John,

Beautiful fabrication! Also, I was thinking about the cure time of the epoxy and this being effected adversely by the cold. I don't know if you have a heated work environment or use space heaters like I do, but I strongly suggest... HEAT.

"While some epoxies will cure at room temperature, many will require an elevated temperature to initiate the chemical curing reaction."
— Cure Matters

Q: Are there specific applications where adding heat during or after cure is advantageous?
A: In nearly every application the answer would be yes."
— How to Properly Cure an Epoxy

I am not suggesting baking these parts in an oven—no—but I was thinking that at a minimum, keeping the parts in a warm home while these cure and to possible use a hair dryer on low setting warm, which I have done before without incident, to warm the parts. Airflow. Ambient temp. And letting the epoxy cure for an extra 12 hours, if possible.

These are thoughts—I am just hoping for the best outcome possible!

Bruce, thanks for the info on the epoxy curing... very helpful. My work bench is in an unheated garage. I've used a portable heater to further liquefy the uncured epoxy to help it level evenly on my fishing lures but have not used it to increase strength. I've had no previous problems getting my epoxied lures to cure in my unheated room but I may take your suggestion of adding some heat AFTER curing to add some strength. Thanks so much for the help Bruce!

Try getting your hands on VMS Flexy 5K CA Photo Etch glue from Michigan Toy Soldier Co. website.

I bought myself a bottle of this stuff and it holds promise. Worth looking into...

http://www.michtoy.com/item-VMS-CM01-PE ... _25ml.html

Your advice is good and I've heeded it. Gave the canopy a shot of heat from the hair dryer and put it back on the work bench. Will play with it tomorrow or the next day. I have a new toy to spend the rest of today with...

Ah that's a beautiful piece of leather! I have a Black Rapid strap that I use occasionally but I find that I dislike any kind of strap or sling attached to my camera... it just seems to get in the way. I've gravitated toward a hand strap as my primary method of carry. I like the Herringbone stuff...


Photos by Herringbone, not me!

Canopy report: The steel tabs were glued with epoxy on Monday night. On Tuesday night, I heeded Bruce's advice and gave it a zap of heat with the hair dryer. On Wednesday, I mounted the canopy. On Thursday, it seems to have held.

Do you see how the width of the canopy near the front edge is the same width as the fuselage?


See the difference from this earlier picture?


Woohoo! What we manic modelers go through for just a few milimeters!


One more domino and we've reached the end of this story. I've been playing with the aerial and I think I have a good solution for it. In fact, I had a version of it mounted yesterday but pulled it off because I thought I could do just a little better. But I want to take my final photos of the underside prior to mounting the aerial. So <<fingers crossed>> next time you'll see Black 1 will be in the Completed Builds forum. I've held off on mounting the HD prop for that special occasion. Thanks for following along!