The Little World

After the trauma of the undercarriage construction on the Havoc, I was not looking forward to the assembly of the rest of the nacelle.

I had done some preliminary dry fitting and trimming of the housing – noting that the aft fairing was going to need either a great deal of putty or forgiveness. As the plastic had to slide over the landing gear cage I was prepared for it to be ill-fitting in all three planes. After that, the three-part nature of the engine, exhausts, and cowling looked to be another chance for disaster.

Well, in for a penny, in for a Pound. I slipped the nacelles on and peeked – surprisingly good fit. A tiny bit of fettling and the joints were close enough to cement. I did choose Humbrol tube cement as there were still niggling doubts but in the event, the parts went on quite well. There’ll be gaps to fill, but there were always going to be those.

Then the engines and exhausts – and these were close enough fit to permit liquid cement. And finally the cowlings – again, tube cement to be safe, but in the end I am pleased with the way it has assembled.

Notes:

a. Isn’t it good that Great Britain never let the Eurocrats bully them into getting rid of the British Pound or pence? They won’t have to reconvert when they are out of the EEC and they have not lost touch with their history.

b. Humbrol tube cement is surprisingly useful – even in these days of extra-thin Tamiya, or MEK, or Mr Hobby Cement Deluxe ( which turns out to be the same as their regular liquid cement but in a bigger bottle with a brush. ) If you need to fill a gap or achieve a slower rate of setting, tube is the go. I am a light enough hand with the tube to be able to use it straight  but if you are unsure of your skills, decant some on a palette and then use a cocktail stick to apply it. It is cheap and tough.