Major surgery
It all begins with that tail……far too fat and the only real option is to replace with a resin alternative. Luckily there is one out there by Belcher Bits of Ontario, Canada. One quick email, the credit card got a quick say in matters and it arrived within days.
The supplied instructions are very clear where the cut needs to be, carefully measuring and marked with tape, then deft application of the razor saw 1mm or so ahead of the taped cut line.
This allows you to then file and sand back to the exact line, before offering up the resin.
It all looks very brutal, but don’t be shy. The result when the two fuselage halves are brought together is a lovely clean cut ready for mating.
Joining the new resin tail is simple enough, Belcher Bits tail has a step mounting face which assists alignment and gives a larger surface area for CA glue. After aligning each half and flooding the joint with CA, I let it set overnight, however I felt it needed further strengthening so applied some two part epoxy across the interior of the joints.
Now you can see the difference between the kit tail and the replacement.
If you got the cuts right, then very little filler is needed on the exterior to make good the surface.
