Great Planes RV-4 40 Kit - GPMA0180 - Manual (Page 44)

❏ 1. Inspect all surfaces for uneven glue joints and seams
that require filler. Apply filler where needed. Many small
dents or scratches can be repaired by applying a few drops
of water or moistening the area with a wet tissue. This will
swell the wood, allowing you to sand it smooth after the
balsa wood has dried.
❏ 2. Sand the entire model with progressively finer grits of
sandpaper, finishing with 320 or 400-grit sandpaper.
❏ 3. Use a Top Flite Tack Cloth to remove sanding dust from
the model.
❏ 1. Mount your wing to the fuselage. Temporarily remove
the stab and fin fixture from the rear of the fuselage and
temporarily insert the stab and fin into the slots.
❏ 2. With the wing level, carefully lift the model by the
engine propeller shaft and the aft end of the fuselage at the
bottom of the fin trailing edge (this may require two people).
Do this several times.
❏ 3. If one wing always drops when you lift the model, that
side is heavy. Balance the airplane by gluing weight inside
the other wing tip. Glue the weight in place with epoxy. An
airplane that has been balanced laterally will track better in
loops and other maneuvers.
❏ 4. Remove the stab and fin. Then, reinstall the fixture in
the rear of the fuselage.
❏ 1. Now is the time to finish the cockpit area. We painted
our entire cockpit with flat black paint, then installed the
instrument panel decal. We also chose to install a pilot
and a rollover bar. Should you decide to install the rollover
bar refer to the drawing on the plan. This can be made from
the two 5/16" x 4-1/2" [7.9 x 115mm] wood dowels.
It is assumed that you have already covered a couple of models
in the past, so we won't go into many details on covering
techniques, but here are some tips you should consider.
1. NEVER CUT THE COVERING DIRECTLY ON THE
SHEETING. The RV-4 depends on the sheeting for some of
its strength. Modelers who cut through the covering tend to
cut the sheeting and this will weaken the structure.
2. Use a Top Flite Hot Sock ™ to minimize dents in the wood
from your covering iron.
3. When you cover large sheeted surfaces such as the wing,
bond the covering in the middle and work outward, pushing
out air as you proceed. Do not move the iron in a circular
motion, but move it span-wise with the grain of the wood.
4. When you cover smaller parts with square edges such as
the elevators and ailerons, cover the ends first with separate
pieces of covering. Then, all you have to do is wrap the
covering around the top and bottom and iron it down.
5. When you cover sharp junctions like where the stab meets
the fuse, cut narrow strips of covering and apply them in the
corners before you cover the major surfaces. The larger
pieces of covering will overlap the smaller pieces. This
technique also eliminates the need to cut the covering after
it has been applied.
6. If you want to duplicate the trim scheme pictured on the
box, you will need the following: 2 rolls of MonoKote White
(TOPQ0204), 1 roll of MonoKote Black (TOPQ0208), 1 roll
of MonoKote Royal Blue (TOPQ0221) and 1 roll MonoKote
Aluminum (TOPQ0205). Trim Sheets will also work well over
the white base color.
FUSELAGE
❏ 1. Tail junctions strips as described previously.
❏ 2. Stab tops, then bottoms.
❏ 3. Fin right, then left side.
❏ 4. Fuse bottom aft, then front.
❏ 5. Fuse sides.
❏ 6. Turtle deck (may be done in one or two pieces).
❏ 7. Front deck (aft of cowl).
WING
❏ 1. Hidden areas and corners such as the trailing edge on
the flap and aileron area.
❏ 2. Bottom of one, then the other half of the wing.
❏ 3. Top of one, then the other half of the wing.
Covering Sequence
COVER THE MODEL
WITH MONOKOTE ®
FINISH THE COCKPIT
BALANCE THE MODEL LATERALLY
PREPARE THE MODEL
FOR COVERING
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