I initially struggled to find a way to cut the nav light covers.

But then I spotted my tin snips, which had been included in my initial tool order from Cleaveland, but which I hadn’t used at all …

… until now!

They proved to be ideal for acurately trimming the covers.

I masked the covers to prevent scratches.

Fitting was another iterative process, gradually trimming and sanding the covers to match the wing tip recesses.

I found that the AeroLED moldings needed some fettling to allow the covers to sit snuggly.

The original Vans profiles in the wing tips are much closer to the required shape.

Once I was happy with the fit, I drilled the holes for the attachment screws …

… and then used the usual temporary bolt to secure a nutplate for match drilling.

Careful use of the rivet gun was needed to set the rivets.

The manual asks you to final drill the holes in the nav light to #28. I didn’t have such a drill size, but having reamed the hole to #30 …

… I found that it allowed the #6 countersink bit pilot to fit just fine in the acetate.

I wasn’t happy with the recess lip in the molding for the covers … it varied too much in depth, leaving portions of the cover proud of the surface.

I decided to produce my own recesses to match the covers.

After masking the cover edges with parcel tape to act as a release agent …

… I applied microballoons along the cover edges.

It was lots more work, but after the usual filling/sanding …

… I ended up with a much better fit.

If I hadn’t done this I know that every time I walked up to the wingtips the bad fit would have offended me!