On a related subject, regardless of when its done, I tried something
which may have merit...in my case I'm very satisfied with the results.
When trial fitting the fuselage (using clecoes on 6" ctrs from
firewall to baggage bay bulkhead, 12" ctrs. back towards the tail, and
then 6" ctrs. or as necessary around the horizontal tailplane) I
noticed that the joggle joint between upper and lower fuselage
mouldings did not give a nice vertical plane across the
intersection...an issue easily solved of course with a couple of
millimeters of filler, but one which I'd hoped to minimize.
What I did was use my 3/4" hole saw to make a bunch of FG washers in 2
thicknesses. The pilot drill of the holesaw made a nice 1/4" hole in
the washers. Using a scrap of FG w/ a semicircular 3/4" hole in one
end, I had a nice little tool to push/slide the washers between the
joggle at each clecoe, going down the length of the joint on port and
starboard. In each instance, I could add whatever thickness of washers
was necessary in order to align the adjacent edges of the upper and
lower fuselage along the entire length of the joint, marking the
fuselage w/ the washer count at each clecoe.
Then w/ the upper fuselage removed, I used 5 min. epoxy to bond the
washers around each clecoe hole.
Stiff floxed Redux was applied to the lower fuselage, making sure that
there was a thick enough coat to ensure full bedding w/ some "squeeze-
out". I experienced no bulging between clecoes.
Due to the special qualities of our floxed-Redux, I have no concerns
about using it to fill the gap caused by my FG washer-spacers...If
anyone thinks I'm off-base on this from a structural standpoint,
please say so!
The result is my horizontal fuselage joint finished out smooth w/
minimal filler, except back at where the seam goes diagonal and then
aft above the tailplane.
A couple of pixs below.
Happily building,
Fred
PS: I don't regret having 4 helpers present to place the upper
fuselage in position after the Redux was applied to the joint.
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