Swappable pod won't fit

Anselme

Member
Hello,

This is my first thread, I am a 19 years old guy from France.
I just received the FT Speedfire Speed Build kit.
All went fine until I tried to fit the pod into the nose of the plane.
And it don't fit. I mean I have to push really really hard so that it goes in and anyway I won't be able to clip it to the top of the fuselage.
I tried to be very precise on the construction of the pod AND of the plane itself and I really was surprised it doesnt fit.
Have you guys ever had a problem like that ? How did you solve it ?

I really don't wanna end this build there as I had to wait more than 2 weeks to receive it...

Thank you very much

Anselme
 

Anselme

Member
Thank you for the answers.
Verris, I carrefully did the fold type that was needed, otherwise it would totally won't fit.
It fits but it is very hard to fill the entire pod.

w1lp33, here are the pictures. Don't mind for the missing paper outside the pod. I ripped of the paper and reinforced tape so that it is easier to fit in...
I don't see any wrong folds / unprecise fold / glue problem or any symmetry problem... That's why I don't understand why it is so hard to push the pod inside the fuselage. In the build video it seems so easy ! Wish I knew why it is as it is with my plane.

I guess there is not much I can do to solve that if not building a personnalized pod that fits my plane.

I also noticed there was a huge error in the cut concerning the wing-spars. The spars were almost impossible to fit in the holes, there was like a 5mm error. I had to cut the holes so that it fits. I was a bit surprised this can happens for laser cuts. Maybe the pod don't fitting is like a cutting error ?


Thanks
 

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Anselme

Member
Hello everyone,

I am happy to say that I solved my problem.

The reason why the fuselage was too tight is the step when I glued the upper surface of the wing to the fuselage. I did not managed to keep the pod perpendicular when I did that. I unglued (as I can... now it is ugly but... Its not like I had the choice) one side of the wing to free the fuselage and now the pod is fitting well. Tomorrow I will glue that joint again and it should go well.

Hope this might help someone one day !

Thanks everyone
 

Pougnagna

New member
I've had to "unglue" wings from Mighty Mini Corsair because something had moved during built. I didn't unglued: I have cut glue, force everything where it should be (wing and fuselage angle correction) and glued again.

So don't hesitate to "destroy" in order to rebuild. (about this, Approved plane builders, please don't throw garbages on me if I'm wrong). « Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée : tout se transforme ». Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794).

And now you now where you can ask for spare parts 😁
 

Piotrsko

Master member
You can use a hair dryer OR a heat gun to warm the joints of the fuselage where the pod fits. About 100C, the glue gets really soft, then you install the pod and the warm joints will expand a little bit and make a easy fit. Hope this translates
 

Anselme

Member
Thank you very much for that tip. I will surely do that the next time I mess up something during the build.
Thanks again everyone ! Your awesome ! I will post a picture once the painting finished :)
 
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sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Nice job with the paint! Looks like you're going to have a great flyer.

In regards to "ungluing", don't sweat it. It happens to the best of us. I've had to cut glue joints and even rebuild power pods or fuselages because things didn't go together the way I had wanted them to, and the glue wouldn't melt without warping/melting the foam. It's all a process, but with the little mistakes, you learn how to fix things! :)
 

Anselme

Member
Thanks haha !
Yeah ungluing looks like difficult sometimes. Don't hesitate to rebuild that is the secret I guess :D