The Little World

And not surprising – it’s 38º C outside and 43º C in my work shed. I shall be lurking near the beer cooler and doing the final assembly and decal work inside. I praise the luxury of the choice.

The ticklish job of assembly with a bi- or tri-plane is the stage at which you either make or break all the rest of the effort. Academy are helping with a trench system of inter-plane spar attachment – SPAD also helped by making the attachment points vertical, rather than angled. The trenches are unsightly, for sure, but suitable paint can ease the pain. It is a $ 3.00 model after all.

My favourite adhesive is not, surprisingly, cyanoacrylate resin. It might be thought to be ideal for the sort of pin-point bearing area of a strut – but it is so rapid in action as to preclude any adjustment time. The standard Mr. Cement or Revell Contacta is a better choice to let the joint soak together but give a little for fiddling all the struts together. If you are unsure later you can dot in the CA.

The extreme clamping seen on the Vertigo jig – three rubber rests plus a band at back and acrylic arms over the wing – is probably overkill, but you might as well render the victim immobile if you intend to use both hands to poke struts into place. The same belt and braces philosophy at decal time lets you hold the paper and slide off the transfer with some assurance that the substrate will not slide sideways in time to fold the design.

It lets you have a little leeway to spill the cement bottle or your beer while you work.