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Model Building Tips
Cutting Out Printed Wood Parts
Here is a tip about cutting out small parts that might crack into
tiny hard to reglue pieces, such as the small fingers of balsa wood
left after cutting out stringer slots. Before cutting use rubber
cement to paste some heavy Kraft paper on the back of the printed
wood. The Kraft paper will hold all the little pieces in place since
the paper has no grain to split. Then later on if there is a split
in the wood rub a very thin layer of rubber cement over the front
of the split part after cutting. When the cement is dry, peal the
paper off the back of the wood, and gently rub with your finger
to remove the rubber cement residue. This adds very little weight
to the model, but a lot of extra strength.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Trace the parts on the printed wood prior to cutting them out, in
this way you will have a pattern for a replacement part should you
make a cutting error. Another easy way to do this would be to photocopy
the printed wood to make your patterns.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
While you are cutting all the fuselage pieces out, some pieces can
get lost or destroyed, but fortunately there is a way to keep all
the little pieces of strip wood safe from getting lost and in some
semblance of order. All that is needed is a sheet of paper, and
a roll of double sided tape. Hold the paper sideways, then put a
strip of tape across the page near the bottom. You can stick your
fuselage-bottom longerons on this strip. Now tape another strip
a little farther up the piece of paper, on this you can put the
extra uprights from the cabin area. Make another strip for the top-longerons,
and then one final strip for the top and bottom cross pieces. Now
you have all the strip wood pieces safe from getting lost. If you
put them on in order to build the model it makes things a lot easier.
This same system can be used anywhere you cut parts prior to construction.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Sanding
Get some spruce sticks of various thicknesses, 1/16, 3/32, 1/8,
3/8, etc. Cut the sticks into 6" lengths then glue different grades
of sand paper on the edges of the sticks. You now have a set of
sander blocks to use on the inside of stringer slots. Sanding blocks
can also be made by gluing sand paper to various sized dowels and
lumber trim shapes such as half round, quarter round etc. for sanding
hard to reach places like the formers between stringers.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Inexpensive sanding sticks can be bought at the local cosmetic department
of any of the chain stores. They are inexpensive, can be cut to
any shape and come in different grits. The clerk will probably know
them as emery boards or nail files.
- Dick LeClair
jleclair@citlink.net
Building Methods
When building a half shell fuselage usually only a one side view
is shown on the plan. One side is built over the plan, and the
other side is built on the first side this can cause a lot of
misalignment when gluing the very small areas of the left, and
right formers together. These problems can be avoided very easily.
The steps to do this are simple.
1) Make a duplicate set of center pieces that the half formers
are glued to.
2) If necessary enlarge the notch in the half former that goes
over the center pieces.
3) Build one half of the fuselage as usual using a triangle to
insure that the half formers are trued up at a proper 90 degree
angle to the building board.
4) Turn plan over, and rub a light coating of cooking oil over
the back of the plan in the area of the fuselage side view. This
will make the plan translucent so that the other half can be built
directly over the plan as the first half was.
5) Glue the 2 sides together along the wide center pieces this
gives you a large glue area, and you can use V notched wood, or
spring clothes pins to hold the 2 halves together as the glue
dries.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
I build all models on a plate of glass, such as that used for
a picture, or one cut by a shop. I put the plan underneath the
glass. The model is then built as normal on top of the glass,
and the pieces held in place with masking tape. This ensures all
parts and components are perfectly flat, as well as providing
a better work area. Excess glue, paint, and other droppings are
easily cleaned with a razor blade or Windex.
- Rick Krakoff
rickkrakoff@hotmail.com
Here is another way to build both sides of half shell
fuselages over the plan. Most models of this type build with a right side,
and a left side. one side is built over the plan, the other is
built in the air, which means one side can be perfectly aligned,
the other might be built with warps. There are some models such
as the Easy Built Gremlin which are built as top, and bottom.
This type of construction allows you to build both halves over
the plans. Converting the side built to top, and bottom built
is not difficult. Simply glue the half formers together on a flat
surface. Then locate the center side stringer notch (one that
goes from nose to tail). Cut the formers apart across the center
of this notch, enlarge the notch to take a full stringer in both
halves. Now you can build the top half over the plan top view,
using triangles to keep everything properly aligned. When it is
dry, take it off the plan, and build the bottom half over the
top view, using triangles to keep proper alignment. The completed
halves can now be joined, completing the construction. If you
need small building triangles, take a strip of balsa 1/4"
thick, and 1" wide, now use a miter box and razor saw to
cut out as many triangles as you need. They can be pinned to your
building board where needed.
It should be noted that this technique will make the model slightly
heavier but may make it easier for some builders to get that straight
and true fuselage.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Some builder's are unaware they can build off simple
ceiling tiles,
which can be found at any hardware store (I prefer home depot).
Ceiling tiles are very light, durable, and are also good for holding
the parts down using pins. They also work for holding cutting
tools in order (anything sharp sticks into it easily and firmly),
and they absorb small glue spills.
- Joey Sanchez
Bonkerboo73187@aol.com
When adding wheels to the landing gear wire, you will need to
use retainers to keep them from falling off. The usual choices
are:
A) Wrap soft wire around the landing gear wire and fix with solder.
This adds weight, and may imbalance the model causing unwanted
turns in flight.
B) Wrap heavy thread around the landing gear wire and fix with
glue. This adds less weight than wire, but may also cause imbalance.
C) Build up a layer of glue on the ends of the landing gear wire.
Unless exactly the same weight of glue is used on both sides,
imbalance may occur.
D) Bend the ends of the landing gear wire. This does not affect
in any way but one, it doesn't look good esthetically.
Here is a great no-cost alternative wheel retainer that adds very
little weight, causes no imbalance, and is virtually invisible.
There is always a bit of celluloid left over after cutting out
the window patterns for a model (other plastics can be used as
well), use a paper hole puncher to easily make small round, invisible
retainers of equal size. Now use a pin to make a hole that is
less than the diameter of the landing gear wire in each of the
retainers. All that remains is simply to force the plastic onto
the ends of the wire. Friction will hold the plastic retainers
in place, and they are invisible.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
De-Thermalizer - The simplest way to deal with a
kick-up stab DT,
would be to extend the fuselage
back to the rear edge of the
rudder, then build a subrudder to match the plan, and let the stab
with upper portion of the rudder attached rest on the top of the
fuselage. On my Miss Canada Senior, I ended the fuselage where
the plan
shows and after building the rudder per the plan, I simply cut
it in two pieces
on a line level with the bottom of the stab line, added a couple
of
reinforcements on each side of the cut, glued the upper rudder
portion to the stab and the lower portion to the bottom of the
fuselage extending aft as shown on the plan. You'll need some
better
support than shown on the plan for the sub-rudder. I also widened
the fuselage about 1/8" at the point where the rear motor is located
to make a blast tube easier to insert. - George White
Gang Cutting Ribs from Template
Wood Putty for Balsa
Gluing Up Your Model
There is an easy way to insure that wing ribs, and fuselage clam
shell type construction formers are held at a 90 degree angle to
the building board while the glue dries. All that is needed is a
supply of triangles that can be pinned on either side of the rib,
or former. To make these triangles you will need various widths
of 1/8 strip wood, a razor saw, and a miter box. For wing ribs I
recommend 1/8 X 3/4, and for fuselage formers I recommend 1/8 X
1, and 1/8 X 2. Simply measure along the length of the wood, and
mark off sections equal to the height of the strip. Thus you will
have marked off 3/4 inch squares on the 3/4 inch wood, 1 inch squares
on the 1 inch wood, 2 inch squares on the 2 inch wood. Then use
the miter box and razor saw to cut out a supply of 45 degree right
triangles. Now all you have to do is pin 2 triangles on each side
of the rib or former to hold the part at a perfect 90 degree angle
till the glue dries. Please note because of the dihedral on some
models it is necessary to glue the wing root ribs at an angle. In
these cases simply calculate the proper angle, and use a protractor
to transfer it to the triangles used to hold that rib in place.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
When building a model, there is always the extra glue that has hardened
around a joint and has to be removed. This can be minimized by using
flat toothpicks as glue sticks. Instead of squeezing large gobs
of glue onto the parts, apply the glue to the end of a flat toothpick
and then transfer it to the parts. Not only does this permit you
to apply the glue where it is needed and no where else, it also
saves the cost of all the wasted glue, and the time and trouble
of removing the excess later.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Tools for the Model Builder
I have been getting e-mail requests about information on what tools
are needed to build a model. Here is a picture of the basic tools
required to build the framework of a model. Please note that the
items shown are a representative. In other words the X-Acto Jr.
knife shown might just as well be a #1 knife, and the saw shown
might be a coping saw. This picture is merely to give the new modeler
an idea of what is needed.
The items shown are:
PLASTIC WRAP: To cover and protect plans.
T-PINS: To pin parts down.
SANDING BLOCK: For clean up work, final shaping of nose block, and
preparing for finishing.
PUSH PINS: To pin plan and plastic wrap to building board.
RAZOR BLADES: For cutting wood in straight lines.
SAW: For rough shaping of nose blocks.
TWEEZERS: For handling small parts.
MODELING KNIFE: For cutting curved surfaces.
HAND DRILL: For drilling out hole in nose block for prop bearing.
PLIERS: For shaping landing gear wire.
CLAMPS: For holding parts together while glue dries.
GLUE: For gluing parts together.
- Allan P. Weisman
allan1136@msn.com
Socks for your Tissue
Iron
Make your own Glue Clamps
Covering Your Plane With Tissue
Making the panel lines on models can be difficult if you don't know
how to do it. Here are some of the easiest ways to do it:
Some people like using pens and pencils to draw the panel lines.
Round fuselages are the easiest to deal with, wind up the motor,
hold the pen firmly extended, and while holding the prop carefully
bring the spinning fuselage up against the pen. Just kidding, I
found making a couple of plastic straight edges from .005 plastic
to work good. Some of these are short, some long, some with rounded
or square ends. Clear is nice because it allows you to pick up your
location. Get a very soft artist pencil, these leave a nice dark
mark without damaging the tissue, use these for your reference points
when you are ready for inking.
Another thing that has worked equally well for me is to enlarge
a good, detailed three view to the size of my model. I cut out the
various lines and features that I want to mark. Take your copy with
the cutouts, make a few extra holes in the copy for catching reference
points such as trailing and leading edges on the wing to be marked
and then fold the paper over the edges. Lightly grip the structure
with the pattern over it and start following the lines you cut.
This is great for some of the wild WWII landing gear outlines. Sometimes
I will make a little tick for continuing a line that will cross
over an open space. This will be completed with one of the plastic
rules after I remove the copy paper pattern.
And yet another method is using a combination of post-its and 8010
magic removable tape to mask the lines and airbrush your markings
on, my favorite, but time doesn't always allow for this.
The easiest and most forgivable that I know of was taught to me
by Paul Boyanowski. He would take this adhesive film tape, adhere
black tissue to it, cut thin strips, remove the backing and apply.
This allows for you to carefully position it as you go along. I
modified it by using the glue stick in place of the tape and finish
with a layer of clear Krylon.
To each his own but I rarely, as in glues, use only one technique
on a model. A final spray of the Krylon clear provides an even overall
appearance. Have fun.
- Dave Niedzielski
daveann@easybuiltmodels.com
Rubber Motors
Hi, I'll try to give you
a real short version of my Hi Gumbandery piece that appeared in
both the Flying Aces & the Famous Cloudbusters newsletter called "Twice
Twisting Tan II".
Here goes, Once you've decided the cross section you need, make
up a motor that is twice as long and has one half the section.
If it's a small motor, 1 or 2 strands, tie a 1" loop at each end
of the big loop. If it's a larger motor, serve a small loop at
each end with a small rubber band wrapping. Then, lube it. Then
secure one end and put in 4-5 turns per inch winding in the same,
I repeat the same, direction you wind in when flying. Then, bring
the two small loops together and serve them together with a small
rubber band. Then, "milk" the doubled over rubber until it forms
into a straight braided motor. The two smaller loops will be relaxed,
not twisted and will be easy to work with. On a smaller motor you
can then insert a 1/2" piece of a large plastic straw into the
doubled over end which would go into the rear of the model, the
rear motor peg goes through the straw. On larger motors use a section
from a ball point pen cap, it's stronger. You can use a motor 2
1/2 times the prop hook/rear motor peg distance with this method.
Stretch wind in your turns, then just hold the model and be amazed
as the rubber motor unwinds and bunches up in a series of twisted
knots. When all the torque turns are out of the model, when the
prop stops turning, there will still be considerable tension on
the motor. It will not shift around and mess up the CG. No fancy
stops needed. If you are free wheeling, you'll need a latch type
free wheeler as the simple spiral catch won't work, there is too
much tension for it. After the motor has unwound, you can grab
the nose block and pull it forward and the bunched up motor will
release about 50 turns and the motor will again hang out past the
front of the model. Thank Andy MacIsaac and Don Srull for this
great and simple method of braiding. No more need to have a tight
large section motor peg to peg. You can extend it way beyond the
length of the fuselage, calm down the climb, and extend the motor
run, especially on unlimited's and old timers. Have fun.
- Ralph D. Kuenz
Making Your Own Propellers
George White made the jigs
seen below so that he could make his own propellers.
If you want to form your own props George White now recommends
the Prop Forming Data Pack available at the Flying Aces Club
web site. According to George the method described is a more
accurate and scientific approach than the jigs he made. It can
be found at http://www.flyingacesclub.net/volare/modules.php?op=modload&name=CCart&id=2
Here is the old fashioned
way to carve a propeller. Some still do it this way, particularly
when building a model for display.
How to Make Laminated Props
More Ideas for Building with a Magnetic
Building Board and Magnets
Below are some photos by Steve Kranish demonstrating
some ways to build with magnets.
Click here for a review
of the Magna-Board™.
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