Covering; Cover The Fuse - Top Flite P-47D Thunderbolt User Manual

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1. After the canopy has been cut out and trimmed to
fit the fuse, carefully sand the edges with 400-grit
sandpaper, then wash the canopy in warm, soapy water.
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2. Mask off the clear areas of the canopy by
applying masking tape to the framing. Use a pencil to
simultaneously press the tape into the corners while
marking guidelines for trimming.
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3. Use a hobby knife to trim the masking tape
along the pencil-drawn guide lines, then peel off the
excess tape.
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4. Cover the rest of the clear areas with masking
tape or a plastic bag. Mask off the inside of the
canopy to protect it from overspray.
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5. Paint the canopy frame.
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6. Paint the rest of the molded plastic parts to
match your trim scheme (including the turbo-
supercharger cover and the oil cooler shutters).

Covering

Warning: Never cut the covering on critical
structural areas of the model. These areas include
the stab, fin and wing sheeting—especially near
the fuse where the stresses can be high. Modelers
who cut the covering on the model tend to cut into
the sheeting, weakening it. If you have a colorful
trim scheme (such as the one on the kit box),
occasionally it may be necessary to make a small
cut in the covering here and there. This is
acceptable as long as the cut is small and is not
over sheeting on a critical area. Cuts that go
across the grain weaken the balsa more than cuts
that go with the grain.
The model on the kit box cover was covered with
MonoKote film. This trim scheme isn't as difficult as
it is time-consuming and can be accomplished by
modelers who are fairly skilled with iron-on films. It
helps to tackle the job in small sections (seams are
preferred over wrinkles and frustration!). Some of
the covering techniques we used are described
below. If you are anxious to get your model in the air
as soon as possible, or would rather not spend too
much time covering, there are many conventional
military schemes (such as olive drab and aluminum
or grey) that are easier to duplicate. Top Flite offers
flat MonoKote in several military colors. The stars
and bars insignias provided on the decal sheet
should work with any military trim scheme.

Cover the fuse

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1. Use a dust brush, compressed air or a Top Flite
Tack Cloth to remove balsa dust from the model.
Thoroughly clean your work area, removing any balsa
dust or particles that could get underneath the covering
and mess up your finish. Get out your covering tools
and "gear up" your work shop for covering.
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2. Cover the stab, fin and dorsal fin first. This is
rather straightforward. You can cover the elevators
and rudder now, or wait until later.
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3. Make the invasion stripes for the fuse. As you
can see, the invasion stripes are not simply straight
strips of black and white MonoKote, but are curved
due to the oval cross-section and tapering angle of
the fuse. Each invasion stripe must be custom made
to fit the fuse. Here's how we made the invasion
stripes for our prototype on the kit box:
A. Determine the width of the stripes. On our prototype
we made them 3" wide. Mark their location on both
sides of the fuse along the side stringer.
B. Use a builder's square to mark short vertical
guidelines.
C. Using the guidelines as a start, mark the invasion
stripes around the fuse with 1/8" wide flexible
vinyl tape. On this model you can see that the
invasion stripes go only about halfway (whew!).