I am in the middle of painting the parts that I have now test fit and cut to fit the cockpit... I am not sure how much detail I will do to this cockpit unlike my TF Giant Zero I dont think I will take this cockpit
that far... but since I have started on it I was going to install the
gauge pod... seemed easy enough.. but after I peeled off the decal
that comes with the kit I realized.. ITS A JOKE.. the decal sheet is designed to be stuck to the thin ply then the ply rests behind the gauge pod... LOL the decal sheet does not match the gauge pod...
so this will not be an easy install it will require some cuts and test fits
and try to get all the gauges lines up with the gauge pod...

I installed all the gauges.... I am now going to imulate the lenses
now.. they dont have real lenses but I am going to make it look
little more realistic..

If you look closely.. you will see that the gauges appear that
they have lenses on them...
I used some 30 min epoxy gives them a little more realistic detail.

I have the cockpit parts all painted up... I really like the color turned
out great I think... I may add a few more details... but I am not going
all out on the detail on the cockpit....

Originally Posted by Teammuir1

If you look closely.. you will see that the gauges appear that
they have lenses on them...
I used some 30 min epoxy gives them a little more realistic detail.

That turned out great

Thanks.. Show871

I am happy with them..
they now can just sit and
cure out more... I wont be needing
them any time soon ....

I have been thinking on how I am going to install the pilot.
I was thinking about making 2 slits in the seat 1 on either
side... and use velcro like a lap belt... to hold the pilot in the
cockpit... I really didnt want to glue him in i was thinking
about using the parachute letting the pilot sit on it like the
real thing.. I am curious to see that the velcro and maybe
some HOT GLUE... might work .... I will have to see later...
I wanted to make it were I could reuse the pilot if I wanted
to still thinking on that issue....

The rudder was not drilled for the hinges all that well... you have to align the hinges and the rudder tiller rod all at the same time when
gluing test fitting the tiller rod with its hinge the hole for it was not
opened up that much.. so everything needed to be test fitted several
times before gluing into place... Reminder use some vaseline on all
the hinges and rudder tiller rod....so the epoxy wont glue the hinges.

So after taking the ARF out of the box and looking it over I realized
that the motor box was broken... there was No damage to the box
during shipping.. so this happened at the factory... and what a shame
for Quality..

Hi Team1, My engine box is broken also but on the opposite side, nice

Karl Hibbs

Thats a shame.. that it seems its a problem in the factory... its hard to pin point
why ... but now I am not comfortable knowing that its a week spot.. I will more than likely
beef it up...
Just curious are you building your plane already or have it built ?

I moved on to work a little on the wings.. I un bagged them heat shrunk the covering....
and inspected them .... had to use the heat sealing tool on the edges... not uncommon...
made sure the control surfaces were glued in good...all checked out good there so
before I added the dowel pins on the center part of the wing I made sure the center
section fit properly in the saddle... I dont use nylon bolts for my wings I use metal ones
and I always add a thick fender washer.. so while I test fitted I 6 min epoxy the washers
to the wing.... with the belly pan it would have been hard to manipulate the washers every
time I put the wing on ... so I solved that issue by gluing them to the wing... The belly
pan is the biggest cork,. I have come across so far.. it does not fit the bottom of the wing
good at all.. the instructions want you to epoxy the belly pan to the bottom of the wing
well I have opted out of that idea.. due to the fitment issues... instead there is an
option for the belly pan to use a drop tank... ( I am not using that either ) but I will
be using the mounting holes to secure the belly pan to the wing.. yes... its one
extra step at the field... but I just dont see gluing it to the wing as poor a fitment it has.
I pulled out 4 nylon bolts out of my supply... and I will use them to secure the belly
pan... I ended up opening up the holes and heat sealing the edges down ....
In these pictures you can see that TF did not add any covering to either the front
or the rear of the fuse as well.. I will address that soon....

So the fitment was an issue for gluing the belly pan so I opted out
of gluing I will just bolt it on

Decals will drive you nuts, especially the large numbers with the clear in between. Ping me if you want numbers, i have the font and the size or ring up Callie, but either way, they look a LOT better in vinyl

Team1, Its almost done, waiting on landing gear and pilot. I wish they would have vacuumed the dust off the airframe before they covered it and could have did a better job of sanding.

Karl