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The fuselage needs to be put on its side and then inverted during the covering and spraying process. I made a jig out of some steel I had. This rear part of it uses the tailwheel bolt hole and is made of 2 inch angle section steel.
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A picture of the fuselage on its side - I've used a crate to keep the fuselage off the ground. When it is inverted I will hang the fuselage from two trestles.
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The front of the jig is simply four pieces of angle steel, long enough for the fuselage to sit off the floor. I used the engine mount bolt holes.
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I later modified the jig slightly, using longer bolts and some copper tube, so that I could access the very front of the fuselage to fit tapes.
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Then it's covering the fuselage. It's fairly straightforward except for the curve at the bottom of the tailfin. I glued the curve first, before anything else and it followed the shape nicely. Then I cut the fabric and used the iron to ensure a good fit.
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The rest of the fuselage is mostly straight lines, and it proved to me that covering gets much easier with practice.
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The extra bit I am holding is all there was left of the roll of fabric! Talk about close shave! I hadn't been really careful with cutting the fabric, but I still have a box full of remnants left for repairs.
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Now it's time to tape the fuselage. Next page