Build The Dorsal Fin And Fit The Tail Cone - Top Flite Douglas DC-3 User Manual

8. Final shape the nose block and blend it to the
fuselage with progressively finer grits of sandpaper. You
can see the final shape of the nose cone on the plan
and in photos throughout the rest of the manual.
9. If you've cut out the windows, paint the inside of the
cabin top, the cabin base and F3C black.
10. The cabin top is intended to be permanently glued
to the fuselage, but if you decide to make it removable,
tack glue the cabin top to the cabin base and F3C
(without gluing it to the fuse). Remove the glued-together
cabin top and formers from the fuse and securely glue
them together. For a permanent cabin top, glue the cabin
base, F3C and the cabin top to the fuselage.
11. Blend the cabin top to the fuse with filler, followed
by sanding and a light coat of primer to make a smooth
transition between the cabin top and the fuse. If your
cabin top is removable, fashion a method to hold it in
place. You could use a rubber band to hold the cabin top
to a wire or a hook glued to the bottom of F3A, or come
up with your own method.
DC-3 Fact
The first incarnation of the DC-3 was the DST, or
Douglas Sleeper Transport which was two-and-a-
half feet longer and twenty-six inches wider than the
DC-2. The new wings were strengthened, had more
tapered and rounded tips and featured longer
ailerons. The span was also increased by ten feet.
The DC-3 was identical to the DST in most ways
except that it was purely a daytime transport aircraft
accommodating up to twenty-eight passengers.
BUILD THE DORSAL FIN AND
FIT THE TAIL CONE
1. Cut the dorsal fin LE from the 15" long tapered
balsa stick. Glue it to the top of the fuse and the fin where
shown on the plan. Glue the die-cut 1/16" balsa dorsal
fin filler to the top of the dorsal fin LE and the fin.
2. Use the dorsal fin skin pattern on the plan to
make a dorsal fin skin for the left side of the fuse from
leftover 1/16" balsa. Taper the inside of the aft end of
the skin as shown on the pattern so it blends nicely to
the fin. Make another dorsal fin skin for the right side
and glue the dorsal fin skins in place.
3. Roughly sand uneven spots on the dorsal fin for
now. We'll add the tail cone, then make a fillet around
the fin and dorsal fin to blend it all together.
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4. Cut the molded plastic right and left tail cone
halves along the cutlines. Sand the edges so they join.
Cut two 1/8" wide strips of leftover ABS and glue them
to the inside of one of the halves as shown in the photo.
5. Glue the two tail cone halves together with thin CA.
Test fit the tail cone to the rear of the fuse and trim for
the elevator joiner wire. Make further adjustments where
needed for a good fit.
6. It is your option whether to make the tail cone
removable or permanent. We elected to make our tail
cone permanent so we could use filler for a seamless
transition to the fuselage. If you wish to make your tail
cone removable, just leave it in position for now. After the
tail cone has been painted and the fuse covered, you can
glue it to the fuse with RTV silicone so it will be removable
if needed. If you choose to permanently glue the tail cone
to the fuse, first make sure the elevator and rudder
pushrods are connected and there are silicone retainers
on the clevises, then glue the tail cone to the fuse.