thanks for the advice mturpin013 will get my clamps out of shed tomorrow and give it a go
cheers brian👍

I always steam and clamp any piece of wood that has a curve on it, It makes it so much easier to fit and make sure that you have symmetry, not steaming can lead to stress in a model during the build. I usually make a simple jig out of a piece of scrap MDF and just cut the profile in the piece giving two halves which are clamped together overnight, have a look at the link
You will see I use a kettle as a steamer but for larger pieces I use a modified wall paper steam stripper and a piece of stainless steel pipe.

thanks for that
brian

If you are using 1/4" square ones I usually soak them in boiling water and then clamp them in position to dry.
On some models where they say 1/4" balsa I have used two pieces of 1/8" there by laminating them hope this is of some help