Scale Balsa USA 1/3 Scale Super Cub Kit " NIB "

[fencelake]

The next step was to add the stringers to the aft section of the fuselage. A couple of things about this: First, for my particular modifications the side stringers connection to the rear of the cabin top was very important because the former F4 will be removed. So I was pretty careful with this. Second, the installation of the stringers was a little more tedious than I thought it would be because of the bends, so I actually glued certain sections in stages and then shaped it as it dried. I started with tape but instead, I had some dacron line (leftover from renewing my hi-start) which I used to secure pieces in place, and this works great! You can tie it off tight, it doesn't stretch or come undone, and when the pieces dry, simply cut it away.

 

[fencelake]

Time to remove the crutch from the cabin top! It's starting to come together!

 

[fencelake]

Also, it's time to remove the top half of former F4 to begin to create the aft cabin and the L-21 style windows.

 

[fencelake]

As with what to do with the bottom half of former F4, well... I'm still deciding what to do for scale purposes. I may leave it, or cut away certain parts of it... Stay tuned!!

 

[fencelake]

Here's a shot of the fuselage without all the tape and dacron line. I also added the sheeting in front. I went ahead and removed the door because I'm going to use it as a template to build an all glass bottom door. It will be framed up the same way as the top.

 

[Bartman]

just checking in, looking forward to your adaptation of the two-tone orange scheme on this new build!

 

[Jgsticks]

Looking Good

 

[fencelake]

I added the fairing strips. A little bit of studying the instructions and the plans had to be done for this. It seems like a really simple step, but the directions are a little vague, for example: It says to add 1/16" x 1/4" fairing strips to the bottom longeron, then it says to add 1/8" x 1/4" fairing strips on top. In the photo a knife is pointed to the bottom longeron, and on the plans the arrow points to the bottom longeron... but I wasn't sure if it was referring to the top longeron... because there's a 1/8" x 1/4" strip up there. NEW RULE: When in doubt... do the same thing to both sides! haha!

The fun part of the fairing strips was getting to use my planer and sand down the ends to match on both sides. It was like carving a boat hull or something for a few minutes. It felt good.

 

[fencelake]

The next step was adding the landing gear mount. This step truly lets you know whether you built the fuselage true and square or not! When you lay that piece on you realize... "Oh man! I hope this is 90 degrees all the way around!" Fortunately, I was very, very close. I used my trusty dacron again while the 20 min epoxy set. I actually let it sit over night. I also added 15lbs of dive weights and a 5lb gym weight... and I was happy to see the supports holding everything upside down without a problem!

 

[fencelake]

So now, we've reached the point where this project goes off the rails a little bit and the customization begins. Since I'm putting in L-21 windows, I added some custom fairings while putting on the fairing strips, and I had to frame the windows. The other thing, on this particular plane there's a hatch behind the windows on the right side, I'm adding this hatch to access my power switches, etc. I had to add a little balsa material to make a solid connection at the former. I used 3/8" x 3/8" balsa and just sanded it down to fit.

So I added some light ply to begin this process. Here are some photos of adding the windows, and hatch.