Join The Wing Panels - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

❏
10. Remove the gear. Coat the inside of the landing
gear area on both wing halves with fuelproof paint or
epoxy. For a scale appearance, simulate the green zinc
chromate used to coat aluminum by mixing yellow, blue
and aluminum paint. If possible, it is best applied with
an airbrush for uniform coverage. For increased
durability, first apply three strips of fiberglass cloth
where indicated to the top sheeting inside the wing.This
will strengthen the sheeting where the ribs will be
trimmed to accommodate the wheel after the bottom
sheeting is added.
Refer to this photo for the following three steps.
❏
11. Cut four 3-15/16" long servo hatch rails from a
1/4" x 3/8" x 16" basswood stick. Test fit the rails into
the notches in the ribs. Make certain your servos will
fit between the rails when mounted to the 1/2" x 1" x
1" basswood servo mount blocks. If the servo rail
spacing is not wide enough to accommodate your
servos and the blocks, cut new notches in the ribs to
increase the spacing.
❏
12. Glue the servo hatch rails into the notches of
the ribs for the aileron and flap servos. Glue leftover
1/4" x 1/4" balsa sticks to the servo rails to support
the wing sheeting.
❏
13. Some modelers install paper tubes in the wing
for routing the servo cords. This is not really
necessary on this model, because the lightening
holes in the ribs are large enough to easily pass the
cords by dangling them through after the wing is
sheeted. But, if you prefer, install tubes at this time.
You can make tubes from rolled up paper.
Completed on September 12, 1942, the improved
P-47C was released featuring metal covered
rudder and elevators and a vertical antenna mast.

Join the wing panels

❏
1. Use 30-minute epoxy to glue together the three
die-cut 1/8" plywood wing joiners. Note that two of the
-36-
joiners are birch ply and one of the joiners is lite-ply.The
lite-ply joiner goes in the middle. It is best to clamp the
assembly to a flat board or your workbench protected
with wax paper to ensure that it will remain flat and true.
Simply clamping the joiners to each other may result in
a twisted part.
❏
2. Use a long bar sander with 80-grit sandpaper to
true the root end of both wing panels by sanding the
ends of the spars and top wing sheeting even.
❏
3. Test fit the joiner in both wing halves. It may be
necessary to sand the bottom or sides of the joiner to
get it to fit. If you encounter difficulty, there may be
some glue or slivers stuck between the spars and spar