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Advice re. tabbing fuselage halves


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I just tabbed an old Monogram kit to make sure the halves lined up right and hopefully preserve the panel detail. Didn't quite work out. It was kind of a random job - no specific number, no specific breakdown of left half tabs to right half tabs, no specific place along the halves. I did use a thicker piece of plastruct strip to do it. To anyone who does it successfully regularly:

Should I use thinner strip to allow for some flex?

Should the tabs be evenly spaced along the span?

Should there be a left side tab for every right side tab and should they close up as close together as possible?

Anything else you can think of?

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I just tabbed an old Monogram kit to make sure the halves lined up right and hopefully preserve the panel detail. Didn't quite work out. It was kind of a random job - no specific number, no specific breakdown of left half tabs to right half tabs, no specific place along the halves. I did use a thicker piece of plastruct strip to do it. To anyone who does it successfully regularly:

Should I use thinner strip to allow for some flex?

Should the tabs be evenly spaced along the span?

Should there be a left side tab for every right side tab and should they close up as close together as possible?

Anything else you can think of?

Important to remember that when you "tab", you are registering on the inside surface of the piece. If the pieces are not identical thicknesses, the exposed surface will be "stepped".

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If plastic thickness (or any other problem) screws up the alignment and leaves you with a step, maybe try putting tabs on the OUTside? They'd have to be sanded off after the glue has dried, but that shouldn't be too big a problem (if the alighnment is out of whack, you'd have to sand anyway). The flatter the joint, the better.

There was a thread in "Airliner Modeling", but the pics are no longer there, I'm afraid. Worked beautifully, though. LINK!

Another idea would be to use styrene rod to form both tabs at the bottom and at the top in one go by making a sort of bulkhead.

What kit are you working on?

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If the inside surfaces are accessible, I would line up the outer surfaces and glue them (Tamiya extra thin, touch n flow etc.) in small, say 2" or 3" increments. After each segment, you can CA-glue a supporting tab or rib from the backside (I have used styrene sheets, even thick paper should do it) and freeze it with accelerator.

If the insides are not accessible, I would consider using separators (styrene rods) to stretch one half until its outers surfaces become flush with the other half's.

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Thanks. I'm building an old Monogram P-40B, but I'm... I was... trying to see if I could get the fuselage halves to line up perfectly, zip a little water-based putty down the seam and clean it up, and thus preserve the kit's raised panel detail, then paint and sand lightly to bring out the darker panels. It was an experiment. And still is. The halves still have a step in places. I'd swear it wasn't there at first. Wondering if putting rubber bands around the fuselage caused it. Tabs on the outside would be perfect except that wouldn't preserve panel detail.

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I'm not an expert by any means, but I would...

1. Not tab "indescriminately", but selectively as needed.

2. Test fit fuselage halfs together until you get the best fit with what you have. Note where you have a "step" and which side is higher. Your best option is to have the step on the side less seen i.e. work with what you have to not create more work.

3. Note the thickness of the plastic on each piece where you noted the step so you can allow for major descrepencies.

4. Put the tab on the HIGH side of the step so that the low side will be pulled up when you join the halfs.

5. Get comfortable with panel line replacement - either scribing or raised line replacement for the sanding you will do.

6. Have fun.

C2j

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If plastic thickness (or any other problem) screws up the alignment and leaves you with a step, maybe try putting tabs on the OUTside? They'd have to be sanded off after the glue has dried, but that shouldn't be too big a problem (if the alighnment is out of whack, you'd have to sand anyway). The flatter the joint, the better.

There was a thread in "Airliner Modeling", but the pics are no longer there, I'm afraid. Worked beautifully, though. LINK!

Another idea would be to use styrene rod to form both tabs at the bottom and at the top in one go by making a sort of bulkhead.

What kit are you working on?

Could you use something like Elmer's glue to tab the outside. After you get the parts glues into place, you could just pop off the tab and clean up the glue with water or maybe it'll behave and you can just peel it off. Just a thought.

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Could you use something like Elmer's glue to tab the outside. After you get the parts glues into place, you could just pop off the tab and clean up the glue with water or maybe it'll behave and you can just peel it off. Just a thought.

You could possibly "external tab" using CA and then debonding the tabs after the cement dries (if you use non CA to actually glue the parts together). The debonder may mar the plastic somewhat but if you use small tabs and are careful during gluing and debonding I expect it will work. This is a guess, personally I use the align and glue by sections for troublesome fit.

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Can you glue in sections if you're using conventional plastic cement? Wouldn't you have to hold it for several minutes every few inches?

You don't usually need to hold it the whole time, but you do need to wait for several minutes. Sometimes you can hold it for a minute or so and then it will stay in place by itself but you still need to wait longer for it to harden before going to the next section. Tape works too. It really depends on how much manipulation the parts need for good alignment.

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