Make The Wing Skins - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

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8. Drill a 1/16" hole through the punch mark in
both die-cut 1/8" plywood forward spar joiner
braces (refer to the die drawings on pages 8 & 9 to
locate the forward spar joiner brace).
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9. If you wish to plan ahead a little, you can use a
5/32" brass tube sharpened at the end to cut holes
in the ribs to accommodate the retract air lines so
they can neatly pass through the ribs.

Make the wing skins

If you would rather get started framing up the wing
panel right away, you can make the wing skins later.
Just return to this section when you need to make
the wing skins.
We recommend gluing the wing skins together the
same as we showed you for the stab and fin skins
(using the "masking tape, wood glue and squeegee"
technique). The wing skins are glued to the wing in
two sections; a forward and an aft section with the
seam between the two over the main spars. This
requires eight wing skins; four forward skins and four
aft skins. Each forward skin is made by joining two
3/32" x 3" x 42" balsa sheets and each aft skin is
made by joining three 3/32" x 3" x 42" balsa sheets.
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1. Gather twenty 3/32" x 3" x 42" balsa sheets to
make the wing skins. Use a straightedge and a sharp
#11 blade to true one edge of sixteen sheets and
true both edges of four sheets. As you proceed, use
a ballpoint pen to mark the trued edge(s) of each
sheet, so you will know which edges are trued when
it's time to glue them together.
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sheets together, apply glue, then wipe the excess
away as you press the edges down. Place weights on
top of the sheets to hold them flat until the glue dries.
Remember, the better job you do of joining the skins,
the less sanding that will be required and the less you
will end up thinning the balsa. The only sanding that
should be required after you glue the skins to the wing
is final sanding with 400-grit sandpaper.
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Make four aft skins, each one consisting of three
3/32" x 4" x 42" balsa sheets.
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2. The same way you did the stab skins, tape the
3. Make three more forward skins the same way.
4. Sand the skins flat and even.