Hello.

I've got a couple of WWGs set because the buildings, cars and other props are perfect to be used as tabletop terrain for Infinity. Yesterday I bought the UD41 dropship and started building today.

I was a bit startled when I read the instructions on page 8, stating that I should join the middle with the rear fuselage strip and both cargo bay segments with tape on the unprinted side.

Can anyone explain to me why the use of tape was chosen for these parts? Any reason why I shouldn't just cut some custom glue flaps while cutting those pieces out? ...which is a bit late for me now, didn't see the tape instructions before cutting the pieces ... but I might build another

Maik

Hi there!

The 2010 version of the UD-41 is essentially a 1.5x upscaling and re-detailing of the original 2005 design. After the upscaling, many parts were too large to fit within the safe cutting zone on US Letter/A4 sheets and needed to be broken down into smaller pieces. The increased size also led to an increased need for reinforcement and a whole bunch of new reinforcer parts.

Tape allows the fuselage segments in question to be joined flush and manipulated as if they were single large parts, which they would have been if they actually fit on the paper as-is. You can use paper backing strips or cut your own glue tabs out of cardstock, but tape is thinner, is already sticky to begin with, doesn't warp flat parts, and it's what I personally use for this sort of thing.

A flush edge-to-edge fit between those sections means there are no ridges or offsets caused by glue tabs on either the interior or exterior. Since there are several exterior parts that glue on along that edge, and there's a bunch of interior reinforcers and the cargo bay to deal with, I wanted the transition between fuselage segments to be flush.

It's also not the only thing I use tape for. I use it for several things where it's cleaner and more convenient than backing joins with scrap cardstock or whatever, like closing up flower-shaped parts like wheel wells and intakes.

Thanks for your answer.

I assembled the fuselage yesterday. I used some small pieces of tape at the outsides, then one big strip from left to right over the whole length. I agree that fitting both pieces directly edge at edge delivers a better visual appearance.

But, in retrospect, I think I would handle this step of assembly different. I wouldn't use tape again. It seemed to degrade flexibility at the folding lines - at least it seemed that way when I was mounting the . I think I'd rather add an additional layer of cardboard to join middle and back sections, using separate pieces which don't cross the folding lines. The water resistant wood glue I'm using most the time should do if I apply it a bit conservative.

I'm also thinking about a different order of assembly.

Slight deviation: I would join the individual middle fuselage pieces with their corresponding back parts before glueing them side by side to form the the round and closed fuselage bit. The glue tabs give a bit more freedom and tolerance in alignment and any misalignment could be hidden from view by using one of the two bottom glue connections as the last one closed.
Joining my middle and back section left me with a millimeter wide gap almost in the middle of the topside because I had a very small alignment fault with the middle fuselage pieces side by side combined with a small cutting error.

On a second thought, bigger deviation: First I'd join the corresponding middle and back pieces (13 to 24, 15 to 26, etc.) to get longitudinal strips. Then I'd take the intersection piece between cockpit and main hull (12) and attach the strips. Then probably add the reinforcer parts and only then sticks the longitudinal pieces together using their glue tabs. First the two top seams, then the two bottom seams. Maybe it is possible to close the last seem with the cargo bay still inside.
Then I'd add the cockpit pieces in reverse order... probably even by first glueing the still flat piece where it belongs before closing it.