I managed to squeeze in a start to the Curtiss project. First, the wing on "wing build day" along with the A6M2 and Hs 129 wings in the background. It was easier to just work on all three while I was thinking of it.....
June Group Build--Curtiss Hawk 75
After the wing was cured I offered it up to the fuselage and found huge gaps on the wing root-to-fuselage joint. I got out a three-view and saw two problems--the dihedral of the wing is too shallow and the fuselage is too narrow on the bottom. The fix for the wing was to flex the center section up into a sharper angle very carefully. This photo shows the first adjustment, more was still required:
June Group Build--Curtiss Hawk 75
Once the dihedral was corrected it was on to the fuselage. I found that adding roughly .020" of material to the seam in front and back of the wing area was just about right. I simply used styrene strip for this and then tapered it down gradually to nothing at the tailwheel area:
June Group Build--Curtiss Hawk 75
Next everything was taped together and the results checked. It'll still need a bit of work but the fit and dihedral are now much, much better than when I started. There is still MUCH work to be done at the rear and front seams of the wing-to-fuselage joints but the dimensions are now correct.
June Group Build--Curtiss Hawk 75
