Once I have attached both cone shaped pieces to the ends (or you can wait till later if you want )I now begin sanding it with 220/340 sandpaper.Use cloth backed paper if you can find it ,as it lasts longer and grit left behind by the paper backed stuff will dull carving tools,although that is not a concern of ours here.
This initial sanding is meant to take of the edges of the strip wood and remove stray glue spots or bumps.

When it is sanded very smooth with 600 paper,spray on some alcohol to raise the grain,again sand smooth ,keep do this until no more grain can be raised.

For many more pics of this build click on thumbnail pic.

This bag is only partially inflated but I would have been much happier if I had carved it out of solid dowel and was able to carve in a more realistic surface.
I may still do it but it is not quite so important in this case where I am only representing the overall shape of the airplane.
Here again I made the mistake of assuming that this bag was made out of wood and not rubber material(maybe some air valves would have given me a clue .My thinking was that they made it out of collapsible material so they could remove it easily at this stage of the build.If I had thought about it a little more the question would have been ,How do you build a wooden cylinder that long inside the frame? Even if it were possible by building it in sections, I just never thought to ask.Duh!

There are over 300 pics in this album a few maybe entered twice due to quality control issues.

John, please tell us the manufacture of this beautiful engine. It appears to be an R/C intended engine.

The engine is called a Rotex and is of modern design.

Continue the procedure using finer and finer grit sandpaper until you get an almost glassy finish.

Now spray or brush on two or three coats of lacquer.If you brush it on use a mix of 75% lacquer and 25% lacquer thinner.Again sand between coats.
Now you are ready to paint or finish it as you want.It seems a shame to cover such a beautiful surface,I only wish it was made of wood.
I used in this case burnt umber gesso with a few drops of flow medium to level the paint surface.Again lightly sand between coats.I chose to stop here with the gesso undercoats but you could continue on painting it with whatever medium you want oils, acrylics etc...:

Click on thumbnail for more pics.

I have added a bunch of new pics to my photobucket of my last diorama,"The Road Taken" before shipping it out.Where you see obvious lines in the landscaping is where each module is joined to the other.This will be rectified upon completion.

The plans contain another blaring error! The rear undercarriage brace (the one at a 45deg angle) is positioned in the wrong place on the fuselage).It should be attached as shown here.

Click on thumbnail for more pics

I have decided not to use the flotation bag at all.It looks too big and bulky and really takes away from the beauty off the lines of the airplane.The brass fittings will be painted over as well as I am mostly interested in the lines of the airplane and not its details.Too much brass would only be a distraction to a viewer.

Well I changed my mind and put it in after all.

Workin' on the pit.:

I have started working on the engine cylinders.The cooling fins are built up by alternating two basic pieces on a small jig.
I prepare the brass pieces by lightly sanding them to remove any crud and create a tooth on the surface so the finish will not easily rub off.The finish is created using Blackin It which creates a kind of hot cylinder look.

nother pic
After a lot of fitting and fartin' around things are slowing coming together.