Winter build project: Wolfgang Matt’s ATLAS

Chris001 wrote: So good of you to provide a home for the Kitti's hog-nosed bat Mike.

I've not touched the Atlas, but have roped my dad in to help with my Fuselage Building jig, I like hand tools he likes noisy tools, and as a router was needed, so was he It's always interesting as he seems to work in both imperial and metric, often at the same time and not always about the thing you're currently measuring, so it's always entertaining :pinch: Anyway, here's how things stand at the end of play today:

If anyone's interested the orange track is 4 feet long and the base board 1.5 meters.

Thats what i call a Jig - When's your Dad joining the club ??

Nice work Chris, your clamps look a bit more substantial than the waffy plastic ones SLEC provide in their jig. Just be careful how you apply glue when building the fuselage, especially thin cyano!

+1 regarding the jig. It will make it easy to build loads of straight fuselages now and in the future.

Regarding Alans' comment on CA...yes, be careful. My most fun moment was spending an afternoon removing a complete fuselage from my hand. I had been holding it firmly as the thin CA set and not realised that it had run down the stringers to my hand! However, with a jig, you do not need to use CA. My Altas build so far has been done entirely with PVA, aliphatic and polyeurethane glue.

+ another re the jig.

Chris, where do you get the red anodised insert strips and captive screws?

Never had a jig before. Maybe now is the time.

Yes I have looked at the plan, and I have noted the absence of dihedral bracing on the built-up wing and tail. Strangely, all three sheets are the same. Ordering the wood later today.

I have decided to get the Bleriot to a stage of "airframe complete", then start on the Atlas. The rest of the B*** airframe is straightforward.

Jig nearing compilation now, just waiting on some mini G clamps instead of the sprung clamps and some knobs.

This is what the centre track is for:



Whether or not it'll get used in this build I don't know, but when discussing making the jig with Mike, he suggested I looked at a jig made by Christopher Williams: www.retroplane.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2918 So I've basically made my jig so that it can work like Mike's, or like Mr. Williams' or a combination of both.

The centre track is off set so I do have a centre line to work to, or lay a plan over.





Phil, the Orange track is from Axminster Tools and 'T-Track' bolts are expensive, so you'll need a file and a packet of Cross Dowel Bolts. (I can't make a jig without them) Simply put a slight flat on both sides until it slips into the t-track.