Glueing on the paper

This should be done after forming the leading and trailing edges and sanding the frame but I do it before glueing the wings to the body, usualy.

1. Lay the piece on the tissue paper and cut around the piece leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch border. Its possible to trim the paper later, but it's a lot harder to make the paper bigger later.

2. Use a big (2-3 inch) brush to wet one edge of the tissue paper. I usually wet the edge that will connect to the shortest straight part of the piece to be papered. On wings, this is bit where the wing connects to the hull.

3. Put the wet edge on the piece, hold the other end of the paper with one hand and your brush in the other. Work your way from the wet end to the dry end using the brush to wet and stick the paper as you go. Try to avoid wrinkles but they aren't critical yet. Only the edges of the paper should be wet at this point. (If you get the middle wet now, then you might tear it in the next step)

4. Pick up parts of the paper that appear loose, wrinkled or out of place. Very Very gently tug on the paper (after lifting it a little) to straighten it out. It doesn't have to be very tight or perfectly straight at this point. The paper will shrink some as it dries. Be exceedingly careful not to tear the paper.

5. Use the brush to wet the rest of the paper. It might sag even more at this point. Very carefully lift and tug the paper to straighten in out.

6. I use Elmer's gel glue. I lay a bead down on the outer frame of the piece and then go in with a wet brush to spread the glue flat, but I do not spread the glue to any other pieces of wood on the piece. The idea is that I want the paper to be stationary relative to the edge of the piece but that I want it to pull tight in the middle. So if I glue the paper in the middle, then I will get funky stress lines as it pulls against the wood.

That's it. Repeat over and over until done.

I try to avoid paper-to-paper joints but that is not always possible.