Well, the battery was charged, so I finished installing all the hinge brackets. They're all dead on centerline.
Here's the in-process mounting of the bolt block. Good and plumb.
Too tempting to take this picture. It's starting to look like something.
The jig, being wide enough to build the wings, is about 15" wider than the HS. Instead of running the 1/4" threaded rod through the end, I decided I wanted something a little more rigid (at least closer to the end rib to avoid bolt/rod flex). So, I built this mini-frame deal. I'm sure it looks like it would wobble all over the place, but I made sure it's firmly attached, and there's no flex whatsoever. Levelled over to the bolt hole location and carefully drilled it out.
Here's the HS in the jig. No nuts on yet. I still have to mount a vertical 2x4 in the center, so that I can clamp the center of the spars perfectly plumb (to avoid flex in the middle).
Here it is...cross member up between the joists and this vertical 2x4 between it and the jig.
Here's the skeleton back in the jig, completely bolted and clamped solidly down. Here you can see a 4x4 block clamped to the 2x4 vertical post, with the front spar clamped down onto the block (1x4 clamp pad on top). This sucker ain't moving anytime soon.
Here's a view of the side brace, bolted/nutted square and tight.
One minor screwup...when I went to mount the skin on the skeleton, I found that the hinge brackets I made were too wide for the ends of the spars, since the spars got narrower toward the ends. The skin overlapped the hinge brackets and they caused the skin to bulge away from the spar. Well, I wasn't about to take this sucker out of the jig after I spent so long squaring it all up, so I took my die grinder with a 2" ScotchBrite wheel and ground down the sides of the brackets until the skin cleared. What a pain. Duh.
Here's a picture of the skins on the skeleton. I've gotta make these "clothespin" clamps to help hold the skin tight to the skeleton while drilling. I need a break, though, so I might be done for the day. This is a nice note to end on, I think.
NOPE! Never fails. There's always more to do...
Here are the clothespins in use. Duct tape around bubble wrap for cushioning.
This tail is really coming along! Big day today.
