The Little World

I’ve just used the second of my new Slovakian assembly jigs for a jet. It is the Tornado GR.1 from Italeri – a perfect testing piece for the tool. There are square fuselage panels to rest upon.

The geometry is markedly different from the WW2 small jig – though the construction materials are just the same. In this case there is a long space between the wing and tail supports and the nose shelf. There’s also a padded piece to clamp over the nose of the plane. The wing and tail shelves are reversible for wider or narrower support.

Well, it works. It works so well that I bemoan never having had one before. It works so well that i am seriously thinking about another one; a WWI biplane jig.

The setting up is simple, but it pays to take time to get an even pressure on all the areas you are clamping. This is easy as the areas are all held with captive bolts and wing nuts. Once you have achieved balance a couple of tiny rubber bands on either the wings or fuselage lightly cinch it down and you can freely assemble, paint, or decal with both hands. Then leave it alone for cement or paints to dry.

You are not restricted to the simple fore-and-aft orientation of the model, either. I ran it sideways and at a 30º angle when I needed to expose areas I was working on and it worked beautifully.

So far the epoxy assembly has held well…