Chris Madsen

I got really frustrated trying to get this turtledeck former in place so I ended up working on the right side of the forward fuselage for a while.  When I returned to the part I decided to make it again using a smaller form block.  It turns out I cut outside of the cut line and on this part that is enough to make it very hard to fit in place.  The new former fit in place almost effortlessly.  I spent far more time trying to cram the other one in place than the time spent making a new part.  Part of the trouble is accessing the part from inside the fuselage.

Then I began fitting the forward formers.  The first one I made months ago I used the hammer method to make the long bend.  This left the metal somewhat dented so I decided to remake it.  The formers that I made months apart from each other didn’t meet in the middle as nicely as I wanted (the triangle didn’t come to a single point in the middle), so I ended up making another.  So basically I have two perfectly good but unsightly parts in my scrap pile.

There are two gussets that attach at the bottom of these formers.  These require a 30 degree bend.  The first time I tried it, I put the bend in a part I already cut out.  It didn’t bend straight and ruined the part.  For the next two parts, I cut an oversized aluminum rectangle, bent it in my vise, then laid out the part with respect to the bend.  This was much easier.  Notice the part in the vice is just a rectangular blank.

Here are the completed parts.  All the redoing of parts so far is really convincing me to buy the kit for the wings.  On the other hand, I feel like I am starting to really get the hang of making these parts.  If I had to make any of these parts again, they would probably only get better.