The next step in building the upper wing is the shaping and sanding. I have heard guys who want to be model builders complaining that they “don’t like sanding”. I don’t get it…while putting all the pieces together in the right relationship is great, I especially enjoy the process of trimming and carving and sanding […]
The next step is the assembly of the outer panels to the center section and the addition of some braces and gussets prior to final sanding. I started the assembly by lining up both outer panels in exact alignment with the center section, in position over the plan, with the center section spaced up off […]
We’ll start building the outer wing panels with the top left and right…they are a bit less complex because there are ailerons only on the bottom wing. As with the center section, I am using a magnetic building board system. I have placed spacers between both the front and rear spars and the building […]
The Great Lakes 2T-1A trainer is a biplane. The lower wing includes ailerons, some dihedral, and no sweepback.the upper wing has no ailerons, more dihedral, and pronounced sweep with a straight center section. The plan presents one drawn superimposed over the other, so that you must pay attention to exactly what you are working with. […]
I love old balsa wood scale model airplane kits, especially the ones featuring printwood, where you cut out the parts yourself. Most of those I come across are for free flight rubber powered models from the 1950’s and earlier. Some of those are big enough for practical conversion to electric power and radio control. There […]
The first job was to clean away everything that was left of that 1/8″ ply plate. As it turns out, that plate was designed with several tabs that fit into corresponding slots in the formers (or bulkheads) ahead of and behind it. Neither of those formers was damaged. It would have been impossible to get […]
People are always asking me about ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) models. There are some impressive ones around, and these days most of them fly very well. (That was not always so.) I don’t pay a lot of attention to them because my “thing” is building the airplanes I fly. However, recently lots of experienced […]
The next step called out in the instructions involves sanding the entire horizontal tail assembly. It helps to remember that “sanding” in this case involves two different jobs…shaping, and smoothing. Shaping comes first, and it can be scary if the plans don’t show exactly what the finished part is supposed to look like. In the […]
Last time we were talking about building the forward horizontal tail surface (stabilizer) and how a little extra effort helps all those parts to fit right. The first photo shows the entire tail surface built up and ready to be sanded. This time I’d like to discuss several of the steps involved in building the […]
Last time I talked about how big this airplane is. It is made up of a whole lot of very small parts, and I want to explain some of the small things you do with them that can make a big difference. If you are working with plans and patterns, or with old-time printwood kits, […]