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Assemble ABS<br />
Cowls and<br />
Wheel Pants<br />
Basic skills, advanced results by nek Ben<br />
When you buy the latest and greatest kit, chances are<br />
pretty good that the included vacuum-formed ABS plas-<br />
tic cowl and wheel pants will need to be assembled.<br />
Because of the assembly required, many modelers don't give<br />
these ABS plastic parts a second thought; instead, they toss<br />
them into the spare-parts box and opt to use aftermarket fiber-<br />
glass replacements.<br />
The truth is, the ABS parts in kits are usually of good quality<br />
and don't require a lot of work to produce strong, durable, light-<br />
weight cowls and wheel pants. The techniques and tips present-<br />
ed describe how I assemble ABS parts for a one-piece look.<br />
To produce a good result, you'll need some basic materials<br />
such as fiberglass cloth, glue for plastic (or thin CA), putty,<br />
styrene plastic and spray contact cement. These are used to<br />
assemble and strengthen the parts and improve their looks. For<br />
DFirst, trim the parts for proper fit. This step determines how much<br />
extra work you'll need to do later. The more thorough you are<br />
now, the less filling and sanding you'll need to do later. Be methodical<br />
with this step. The cowl and wheel pant parts should fit together easily<br />
and not have to be force-fit.<br />
SO MDDEL AIRPLANE NEWS<br />
this article, I used a cowl and wheel pant from Midwest's<br />
giant-scale CAP 232. Let's take a look.<br />
When the parts have<br />
been trimmed but<br />
before you glue them<br />
together, scuff the<br />
inside of the cowl<br />
and wheel pants<br />
with 60-grit sandpaper.<br />
This will give the epoxy<br />
(applied later) something<br />
to grip.
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