Building a SSC Warbird Fuselage - Page #1

The pieces for building the fuselage

CA the engine mount doubler strips to the plywood crutch

Both doublers CA'ed in place

This may be obvious but make sure that you glue the crutch with the doublers facing down to match the grooves cut in the foam.

Review the fit of the crutch into the foam before preparing to glue it in.

Using Probond to glue the crutch into the foam you can dampen the crutch with a little water. Water is the catalyst and an accelerant for the activation of Probond. With water Probond will foam a lot more then normally so use it sparingly and be prepared to watch your work for the first hour. The good news is Probond is very foam friendly and if you do use some water with it the Probond will be pretty much set up within an hour but let it cure over night.

After dampening the crutch with the water, wipe off any excess water and apply a small thin coat of Probond. Again, it will activate to about three times it's volume with the additional water from the damp crutch.

Do the top of the crutch but of course don't put any on the exposed area of the crutch where the engine mounts

Slide it into the foam fuselage. Make sure that you've got the doublers facing into the grooves

Dampen the "tail feather" support and apply Probond

Your fuselage tail will probably already be shaped and not look like this. Just tape the plywood support in place.

Tape around the fuselage so that when the Probond foams it doesn't spread or distort fuselage foam. Also put a piece of tape over the length of the crutch so that any Probnd that foams out the edges will be shaped to the contours of the fuselage. If you applied too much Probond will see it foaming everywhere. No big deal just keep wiping it up for the first 30 to 60 minutes before it sets up.

Next is the anchor point for the rubber bands

Drill a 3/8" hole through the fuselage

As you can see the 1/2" wooden plug will fit nice and snug in the hole.

Dampen it by using a misting bottle or simply running it under the water faucet and after a couple of seconds wipe off any excess water. The wood will absorb enough water to help activate the ProBond

Tape over the hole on one side of the fuselage

Apply Probond sparingly. Push it into the hole. You can do one of two things at this point. You can either tape over the plug and wait for the ProBond to set up or your can leave the plug exposed so that you can wipe the excess ProBond off as it foams. Unless you're experienced with ProBond you may use too much and it may be better to leave the plug exposed and wipe off the excess before it sets up.

Next you can start carving the fuselage shape. Buy yourself a box knife like the Americaline by Personna which uses a standard 13 point break-away blade. The key to this part of the foam cutting is a fresh sharp blade. Start with the front of the canopy. You can see the angle and the depth you want to cut from this picture

Click on the thumbnail for a larger version!

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The pieces for building the fuselage	CA the engine mount doubler strips to the plywood crutch		Both doublers CA'ed in place
This may be obvious but make sure that you glue the crutch with the doublers facing down to match the grooves cut in the foam.	Review the fit of the crutch into the foam before preparing to glue it in.	Using Probond to glue the crutch into the foam you can dampen the crutch with a little water. Water is the catalyst and an accelerant for the activation of Probond. With water Probond will foam a lot more then normally so use it sparingly and be prepared to watch your work for the first hour. The good news is Probond is very foam friendly and if you do use some water with it the Probond will be pretty much set up within an hour but let it cure over night.	After dampening the crutch with the water, wipe off any excess water and apply a small thin coat of Probond. Again, it will activate to about three times it's volume with the additional water from the damp crutch.
Do the top of the crutch but of course don't put any on the exposed area of the crutch where the engine mounts	Slide it into the foam fuselage. Make sure that you've got the doublers facing into the grooves	Dampen the "tail feather" support and apply Probond	Your fuselage tail will probably already be shaped and not look like this. Just tape the plywood support in place.
Tape around the fuselage so that when the Probond foams it doesn't spread or distort fuselage foam. Also put a piece of tape over the length of the crutch so that any Probnd that foams out the edges will be shaped to the contours of the fuselage. If you applied too much Probond will see it foaming everywhere. No big deal just keep wiping it up for the first 30 to 60 minutes before it sets up.	Next is the anchor point for the rubber bands	Drill a 3/8" hole through the fuselage	As you can see the 1/2" wooden plug will fit nice and snug in the hole.
Dampen it by using a misting bottle or simply running it under the water faucet and after a couple of seconds wipe off any excess water. The wood will absorb enough water to help activate the ProBond	Tape over the hole on one side of the fuselage	Apply Probond sparingly. Push it into the hole. You can do one of two things at this point. You can either tape over the plug and wait for the ProBond to set up or your can leave the plug exposed so that you can wipe the excess ProBond off as it foams. Unless you're experienced with ProBond you may use too much and it may be better to leave the plug exposed and wipe off the excess before it sets up.	Next you can start carving the fuselage shape. Buy yourself a box knife like the Americaline by Personna which uses a standard 13 point break-away blade. The key to this part of the foam cutting is a fresh sharp blade. Start with the front of the canopy. You can see the angle and the depth you want to cut from this picture