cub problems.

[old fart]

This may be beating a old thread to death and I thank you for your patience. My first project is the FG Piper cub . I have been following the trials of WadCutter and his efforts with the same model. This is my 5th attempt to attach the clear windows to the cockpit frame with terrible results.This is being attempted before the wing are installed It seems the windows are slightly larger than the fuselage cutouts resulting in wrinkles and very poor fit . The picture of the one done by Bob Martin shows a perfect fit with no smudge or wrinkles . How was this done? Waddy, Mr Marten, Any advice?
Thanks
O.F.

[Swampfox]

Have you been able to build this model with the original windows in place? Not trying to get too fancy with the clear material.

How did that one turn out?

Just curious at this point.

SFX

[Tim Crowe]

I've build this kit, one of my first proper ones. Though, left the windows alone

I think as soon as you cut out the spaces in the card for the windows you lose the structural integrity of the fuselage.

Without pictures it's difficult to your problem. I personally would insert the windows using one large sheet of acetate for each side.

Might even be worth making the clear sheet the full height of the fuselage.

Tim

[willygoat]

When I did my build of the Grasshopper version of the kit, I made the plastic for the windows a touch bigger than the window frames. I also doubled the layers of the printed frames on each side of the glass, and used super glue to stiffen the layers of paper to help support the structure of the fuselage.

I'd post picks showing this, but my work network filter won't let me access photobucket.

[old fart]

Thanks for the replies . Even the original windows are not a great fit . I noticed the final model wad cutter displayed had the original windows after several attempts at clear ones. Would cutting it up into sections be a reasonable alternative?
O.F.

[willygoat]

Spillting up the window frames will greatly compromise the strength of the fuselage.

However, as Tim said, you could try to sandwich the plastic sheet between the exterior and interior paper. If you make the plastic go all the way from the bottom to the top of the fuselage, it should make it quite strong.

[RickTNRebel]

Your problem may have been caused during printing. When I first built this model my printer default settings caused some parts, including the canopy frame, to be printed out of scale. Also, I found it much easier to build the wing as one unit rather than the three part wing (root box and two wings). Don't cut the aft "notch" in the upper fuselage that the wing fits into until AFTER you've found the proper fit of both the wing and canopy frame. This model is greatly improved if you add internal structure to the wing, fuselage and floats. You can really save on ink by printing this model on colored card stock. Hope this helps.

[Vermin_King]

I have only used plastic 'windows' on vehicles where flat panes occur, so I am not a whole lot of help here. It doesn't seem like it should be that way, but I have found that building smaller (usually printing 2 pages per page) is usually easier. I did this when I built the cub (without clear glass). It went together well that way.

[RunwayOneSixRight]

I have tried to build the FG Piper Cub multiple times and every time I too have messed up (and had to scrap the model) because of the windscreen. Even when I didn't cut put the window panels.

-RunwayOneSixRight (Matthew)

[ashevilleangler]

I have to agree that the FG Piper along with all of their high-wing models are not the easiest starter models. You might want to try one of the low-wing FG WWII fighters like the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mustang or Me-109 first to build some confidence. My first model was a Wheaties P-40. It was a pretty basic and very easy, but hey it flew!

Curt