Over the next several months I will be building an Earl Stahl Schweizer TG-2 from the December 1942 Model Airplane News. I downloaded the plans from The Plan Page. Tom Martin of Tom Martin Radio Control helped me get the plans lined up and in a printable format.
I decided to begin construction with the fuselage. I photocopied the formers and used the iron on technique. I used my sealing iron on its highest setting, without a sock.
I rough cut the formers with an X-acto knife, then sanded and filed them to shape. I cut the notches with an extremely fine X-acto saw, then used the knife to cut the piece out.
Next came the keels. Rather than using the iron method. I used the pin through method to outline these parts, matching them up with the plan as I sanded and shaped them. Also, I made two of each using 1/32" balsa rather than the prescribed 1/16". This is a technique outlined by Don Ross in "Flying Models". The idea is that both halves of the fuselage can be built over the plan, then laminated together. This method makes square an true construction easier, without changing any dimensions.
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