Build The Fuse Bottom - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

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23. Take out all the T-pins and remove the fuse top
from your building board. Place the fuselage upside-
down in a suitable building stand (such as a Robart
Super Stand II, ROBP1402, seen in following photos).
Reinforce glue joints you couldn't reach earlier.
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24. Use leftover 1/4" x 1/4" balsa (shaped into
triangle stock) to reinforce the glue joint between the
bottom of the stab and the inside of the stab saddles.
One of the later P-47 prototypes was the XP-47B.
Believe it or not, one of its predecessors, the
XP-47, featured an Allison "V" engine. However,
the "V" configuration was still under development
and had not yet proven itself. With the increasing
demands for a fighter that could carry more
armament, it was realized that a much bigger
airframe than that of the XP-47 would be
required. Thus emerged the larger, radial engine
powered XP-47B.

Build the fuse bottom

®
Before you proceed, remember that the embossed
name on the die-cut 1/8" plywood formers
face forward.
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1. Without using any glue, join former 2B and
former 4B to the right and left lower crutches (RLC
& LLC). Join the assembly to the fuse top, fitting the
parts into their corresponding notches. Then, add the
tank floor (TF), former 1B, both 3Bs and 5B. Inspect
all joints and make sure the bottom formers align with
the top formers. Make adjustments to any notches
where necessary so all the parts align.
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2. After you have checked the fit of the parts above
and made any adjustments necessary, use medium
or thick CA to glue them into position.
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3. Glue formers 6B through 9B into the notches of
their respective formers.
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4.Glue former 5D and both wing saddles into position.
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5. Cut the top and bottom tail gear mounting
rails from the 1/4" x 1/2" x 30" basswood stick (save
the remainder of this stick for the servo tray rails).
Drill 3/32" holes in the rails for the mounting screws.
Add a few drops of thin CA to the holes and allow to
harden. Glue the rails to former 8 where shown on
the plan. Temporarily mount the tail gear to the rails
with four #6 x 1/2" screws (not included).