Prepping more rear fuse bulkhead parts

When I first looked at these parts I shuddered.

So many edges...

So many holes...

All those tight corners to debur and smooth.

Only one thing to do and that's pull the blue stuff off and get going.

It was slow, laborious, and many sore finger tips were had.

But I struggled through, and to see all the bulkheads deburred and sanded gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.

I know....this is only the first part of the plane and I've got quite a bit more of this.

Looks even better laid out like this...

I'm not sure if I'm happy enough with the two rudder stops or not yet. I think once they're painted and on the tail, I'm sure they'll be fine. However, you can see of the corners aren't quite square so I need to see how that plays out.

As they're riveted on by themselves (don't interact with anything but the skin), it should be very straight forward to remove/replace if I so choose.

I must have decided to give the hands a rest here and grab a couple of photos. Mostly uneventful.

Here's a before and after sanding comparison...

Elevator Trim Push Rod - both attempts

Here's a quick flash-back regarding the assembly of the F-01401 Elevator Trim Push-rod:

What the plans ask you to do is countersink the outside of the #40 holes in both E-01401A-L & -R. What I did was countersink the inside of the #40 holes of both outer pieces. I obviously realised after I'd done it, which by definition, is just a little too late. Looks like I'm ordering a new push-rod.

I decided since I'd screwed it up anyway, I may as well rivet it together as a trial run using different rivets.

The top side was nice and flush...

The bottom side was never going to be totally filled in. Below is the shop head of the AN426AD3-3.5 rivet...(sorry - not totally in focus. It's not your glasses)

So I tried an AD3-4 and which filled out much better...

...and the next one...

Here's the difference between:

a) the AD3-3.5 on the left and

b) the AD3-4 on the right...

...and yes, I countersunk the AD3-3.5 hole a little deeper than the AD3-4 which does accentuate the difference - unintentional.

My first attempt was back on the 8th Oct but I decided to show the photos above as a comparison.

Below is the second attempt at the Elevator Trim Pushrod after performing one of those amazingly stupid actions only other people do.

(I'm sure someone broke into my workshop and messed my original one up - I couldn't possibly have done it.)

Ahhh, that's better - the spaces are much better.

Again, even though the squeezer took off a little of the primer, the flush heads are exactly that....flush.

Although on this one, I thought I'd try the AN426AD3-4.5 to see how it filled out. Actually not too bad on the shop-head side.

But sitting a tiny bit proud on the flush side - not quite flush.

I obviously ended up drilling that one out and installing another AD3-4.

Deburing Aft Fuselage bulkheads

It's getting closer to completing the Empennage kit. Section 10 is the rear fuselage and below are the rear bulkheads that attach to the Vertical stabiliser.

Deburring first. Only the left hole in the photo below has been deburred and it shows the sharp edges created when punching the holes in the Philippines.

All these are done...

Ahhhhhh....

This is one of the double-edged deburring tools which is very handy when access is restricted and you can only get to one side of the sheet metal.

This shows a close-up of the sprung-loaded cutting edge that depresses when you put a measured amount of pressure through the hole. The spring force can be adjusted to control the amount of deburring.

This is normally only a 5-piece kit, but I ended up buying a separate 3/16" deburring tool for some reason so I thought I'd make a place for it in the box with the others.