Fiddlers Green

A few postings have reported difficulty with wing fillets. Here's what works for me. First, recognize that it is unlikely that your wings will have exactly the shapes for which the models were printed. Even slightly uneven paper feed in your printer can distort things. Face it... you'll have to do some improvising. Depending on the model, here are two tips.

1. For models like the B-52 or B-27, glue the fillets together before putting them on the wings. Just as the airfoil more or less shapes itself when you glue the wing's trailing edges together, the loop of wing fillet will conform to the wing as you stretch it on. Of course, you have to do that before mounting the engines. Make the fuselage, slide the wing in (or attach it to the spars) without the engines mounted, slide the loop of fillet on, and then mount the engines.

2. For other models, I use dabs of C/A (super glue). Start at the trailing edge (I start on top of the wing). Tack the fillet in the right place. Then move forward tacking first to the outline on the fuselage and then to the outline on the wingt. You can form the concave contour as you go. The result should match exactly the fillet outlines on the fuserlage and the wing. Forget about smearing everything with glue and trying to do the whole thing at once. Seldom worked for me.

These two tips sound like they will work very well. I am going to try them on the next model that I tackle. For some reason the wings and their associated parts have always given me grief. Thank you for posting them.

Frank

I have noticed that many models have filets with small snips indicated along the filet edge. These help to curve the filet for those with a dished shape such as the Vega and the 162 filets. These snips are cuts perpendicular to the edge of the filet about 1/3 of the width and on one or both sides depending on how much shaping is required.

Ok, count my ignorant -- but not ignorant enough to think I'm not making these mistakes! I don't build a lot of airplanes, but I could use all the help I can get. And I'm assuming I'm not the only one to know these terms, as well as benefit from your tips.

(I tend to use technical terms like "that thing" or "the part I acidentally folded wrong" or even "those extra pieces".)

What's a wing filet?

Sometimes if it is a part with a lot of curves Bond paper is better than cardstock...

Fillets drive me crazy!

In the aircraft industry, at least where I work this piece is referred to as the wing-to-body fairing.

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Gary

In the aircraft industry, at least where I work this piece is referred to as the wing-to-body fairing.

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Gary

I still like doing the fairings out of the heavier stocks. I spend a bit longer than on normal parts forming and dry fitting the fairing. When I'm ready to glue, I set it down on stages from the leading edge back, applying glue every centimeter. I also use a watered-down glue just for these parts, as it doesn't dry as quick, and the wetter piece is much more pliable and keeps its funky shape when it dries.

And, being 110# stock, it's also really strong!

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Edward Merica
AKA "The Sarge"

I bought a set of dapping punches or dies (can't remember the exact nomenclature), they're a lot like the shrinking punches from Micromark-- from Harbor Freight tools a few years ago for an unrelated project. What they are are round steel balls on the end of a steel shaft. If you lay your filllet or fairing on a firm but slightly pliable surface, such as rubber or soft plastic, you can use the punches much like an english wheel, creating complex curves in the paper. Pretty cheap--an entire set was under ten bucks.

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-Rob-

Currently working on: see avatar

rob wrote
I bought a set of dapping punches or dies

I like your idea rob. If I push the car out of the drive so my wife doesn't hear me, and start it down the street, I can go buy "MORE TOOLS, HA HA HA HA".

Thanks for the idea. Northern Hydralic might have them. Thanks again. den.

An alternative name for what is properly called a wing fairing. A fairing is a cover designed to smooth the airflow that would otherwise be disturbed by a protrusion or juncture. A wing fairing covers the wing-fuselage juncture. In the 1930s wing fairings were enormous, covering the wing-fuselage juncture with a large gracefully curved surface that sometimes extended over most of the fuselage's length (see the Gamma, the Vindicator or the DC-3 for examples of truly enormous fairings). By WWII these fairings were reduced in size, but still present. Their contribution to aerodynamic efficiency has since been found not to be proportional to their size, and on most modern aircraft the wing fairings do little more than cover the joint gap. Their contribution to the aesthetics of the airplane however, are still significant, so if you can successfully recreate the graceful sweep of a Vindicator's fairing on that model, you'll have a nice looking model indeed.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

Not to mention the fairing on the P-40 series!

Bob

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I'm not an old fool, but I'm taking a correspondence course to become one.