Place the upper and lower fuselage side parts together. Use a straight edge to align the two parts.
Hold the joint tightly together with one hand while sticking masking tape on the joint with the other hand.
Continue along the joint, squeezing the joint together with one hand and taping with the other until you reach the other end.
Turn the assembly over, open the joint on the untaped side, and apply glue to one edge. You can use Titebond, epoxy, white glue, or a nitrocellulose cement such as Fab Tac or fletching cement. Fab Tac is my favorite, but I wouldn’t buy a can of it just for this joint.
Use enough glue to make a good joint, but not so much that it will squeeze out all over the place when you flatten the piece. Place the piece on a flat table, tape side down. Add weights along the joint to hold the piece flat as it cures.
The main thing is to keep the joint even. Generally you may find that the pieces are not the exact same thickness. Because of this possibility, when you make the second fuselage side it’s a good idea to tape the joint on the opposite side, so the two sides are mirror image of each other. That way, if one face is smoother than the other, the smooth faces can be on the outside on both sides of the plane.
After the glue is cured use a sanding block to smooth the joint line. Anything from 120 to 220 grit is about right for this job. You’ll be sticking a plywood doubler to the inside of each fuselage side next, so try to put the less perfect face toward of the airplane, if it’s possible to do that with both fuselage sides. Also note that the plywood doublers have lines etched on them. You’ll apply glue to the unmarked side so the lines will face toward the inside of the airplane.
The fuselage sides and the doublers have alignment holes.
Cut two pieces of the smaller diameter dowel 3/16″ long.
Put down a piece of plastic such as kitchen wrap or similar on the table. Lay the doubler on the fuselage side and insert the two little dowels into the alignment holes.
The length of the dowels should be the same as the total thickness of the fuselage side and doubler. If they protrude up past the plywood, use a sanding block to sand them flush.
Lift the doubler off, leaving the fuselage side on the table with the dowels sticking up out of the holes.
Mix some epoxy, preferably 30 minute cure, and apply it to the unmarked side of the plywood fuselage doubler. Don’t use Titebond or Elmer’s glue or any other water based glue for this lamination because water based glues will cause the fuselage sides to warp. It’s probably a good idea to not use Gorilla or other polyurethane glues because they foam a lot and can cause excessive swelling and thickness in the part unless you stack a ton of weight on it while it cures.
Use your wife’s credit card to spread the epoxy to a very thin layer. Don’t lay it on super thick or it will squish out everywhere when pressed.
Carefully flip the doubler over and place it glue side down onto the fuselage side, using the dowels to align the parts. Check around the edges to make sure all the corners match. A pinch of very fine sand can prevent the parts from sliding, although it’s not entirely necessary. Just a grain or two here and there will do the trick. Once you get it lined up, place a piece of plastic over it.
Stack heavy books and other objects on top of it. If you cut your dowels the correct length they should not interfere with the books you are using to compress the assembly. Feel the edges with your fingers in a few places to make sure the pieces are aligned properly. Leave this overnight to cure.
Alternatively, you could apply medium or thick CA glue to the doubler to stick it together, then use your hands to press the parts together, and it will cure in less than 20 seconds. The advantage is that you don’t have to stack heavy stuff on the fuselage side overnight, but the disadvantage is that you get one try to get it right, and if you’re a beginner it will probably be crooked.
Repeat the process with the other fuselage side, making sure that you are making one right and one left fuselage side, with the doublers on the inside of the airplane and the stenciled marks showing.
When the glue is dry you may see some spots where glue has squeezed from under the doubler.
This glue blob will interfere with the balsa doubler that goes here. There are two possible remedies for this. You can gently remove the excess glue with a hobby knife or other tool, or you can use a knife or sand paper to remove wood from the part that goes there, as shown in the following photo.
Temporarily set bulkhead F2 in place as a spacer to determine the location of the balsa wing saddle doubler. Using medium or thick CA glue, attach the balsa wing saddle doubler, but don’t glue F2 yet. Add the 1/16″ ply rear wing dowel tripler. In the photo, notice the slot for F2.
