The Little World

…I’ll go to the bakery.

The production of a complex fuselage is…well…complex. And sometimes the strange shape must cause the final product to come out of the mould a little distorted. I suspect this was the case with the Martin B 10.

There was enough of a warp to render it impossible to set all the mating surfaces from the top and bottom together at one time. Match one and three other sections gaped. Match those and the nose flared out like Kenneth William’s nostrils. I’d have despaired a few years ago – much as I did with the late unlamented Revell Convair Tradewind kit.

In this case I made sure that all the fitting surfaces really could fit – if disparately. Then I selected the rogue one and fastened it with a slow-setting medium cement. it was an overnight setting sort – I wanted it welded forever in perfect position.

Next morning I tried the effect of easing the rest of the lines together and found that I could get two more out of the four with multiple clothes pegs. This yielded to Ultra Thin cement and could be set off rapidly in a warm cabinet.

The final cheek needed pressure from three different clamps to press it together. it was cemented and the whole thing was found to be surprisingly plumb. It was similar to, but harder, than the same construction played out with a vertical split. The seam lines yielded to a very small amount of putty.