I've never built a balsa wood model, but picked up dumas aircraft's F4U Corsair as my first one as it inspired me.
I have my first parts pinned down to a 1/2 foam core board ready for gluing, but now I'm questioning the glue sold to me for this which was Testors Cement for Wood Models. I see several posts about yellow (wood) glue being best.
I also see several posts about 'painting' the pieces with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water.
I was wondering if there was a series of posts like Bill Zuk's series on building a model, but for balsa not plastic and if there was a good website or book that might be of assistance to me in this.
Lastly, I live close to Portland, Oregon and while I know there are modelers here I am having a hard time finding a hobby store with more than 5 kits. If anyone knows of any good source and local modeling chapters I would appreciate it very much.
I also travel to Eugene, Oregon on a semi-regular basis (I visited the shop on 11th) and will make a stop in Boise, Idaho this week if anyone has any suggestions for those areas.
Testor's wood glue is not a good choice, IMHO. I use yellow carpenter's glue (Titebond, etc.), or super glue. Both are great for balsa.
There are a lot of resources available for "stick and tissue" builders on the web. A couple of good ones:
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The Yahoo group "FFcookup" Moderated by John Ernst, this is a very friendly bunch.
Painting the pieces with diluted white glue is an option for applying the tissue to the frames, but does nothing for you during construction of the frames themselves. There are a number of techniques used to cover models with tissue, from the traditional dope to glue sticks and spray Krylon clear. Covering techniques are discussed in both forums mentioned above.
HTH,
-Bill (Who currently has a DPC models 16" span Sopwith Triplane framed up and almost ready for covering.)
Thanks for the suggestions, I shall look them up. I am pleased to see a book that actually addresses Rubber Powered.
When I visited one of the shops and asked about Rubber Powered balsa wood plane kits the hired help said they didn't know what that was. They then showed me where their kits were and of course in big letters across the kits it said "Rubber Powered."
Testors cement is okay, and was the standard for decades, but this was before good vinyl (white) glues and CA.
White glue is VERY good for balsa models, though you have to be careful not to use too much or you end up with a heavy model, not a problem if you don't intend to fly it much.
Gap filling (thickened) CA also works well, and really speeds up building time.
The fifty fifty mixture of white glue and water is for cover>
I think that's the glue I used when I built balsa models years ago, but as others have said there are better wood glues now.
As I recall, normal procedure was to tape the layout plans to foam core board (or cork board or corrugated cardboard), lay waxed paper on top of the plans, and pin the parts down, using the plans for proper alignment. The waxed paper keeps the parts from getting glued to the plans.
Testors was never the first choice from most stick builders, Ambroid was. Sig still makes thier Sigment, which is about closest match to the old formula.
its faster drying, and has a little more 'give' or flex to it vs the testors or white glue.
Is still a pin and let dry glue.Look for it in shops that do R/C aircraft. Its 'Old School' but stil popular, much stronger than testors, too. If solvent smells bother, stay far away.
Has been overtaken by by the titebond style yellow wood glues, as are much faster drying. Fast enough that you can almost do without pins and clamps. Not so much weight, too.
For larger kits, or gluing Balsa to foam, the new Polyurethane 'Gorilla Glue' foams up as it dries, filling gaps. Very strong, expensive, and slow drying.
This is probably the best to go with, as is the fastest, esp. if you use the kicker. If parts are sanded to an exact fit, the thin CA can be used for the fastest work.lightest weight of all types.
For all these, use saran wrap or other clear wrap over the plans, as no glue will stick to it. Its better than waxed paper.
Back to older methods, I still like dope the best. Not everyone likes the smell, though. Some use the glue sticks now, and some of the larger stick built kit you can use the lighter iron-on types used by the R/C aircraft, if its not going for rubber power.
I totally forget about wax or saran(sp) wrap until after I had pinned down the first 4 piecs and glued 'em, which brings up a question. If I glue them 'carefully' then I'm not getting glue on the paper (which is what the aforementioned wax paper is for). Does this mean I'm not putting on enough glue? Or am I confused about it...pin down part 1 then put glue on 2nd part and pin it down. Because the way I'm doing it now I've pinned down the entire main fuslage and then glued it, but I can only glue one side of it and that doesn't sound very solid.
Gluing the piece before insertion and pinning down is definitely better- makes for a stronger joint, though I have seen some folks only glue after all parts are in place. Makes for a heavier structure if you apply enough glue to get thoroughly into joint.
If pinning second side over first, be sure to put a sheet of waxed paper or saran wrap between first and second sides as well as between first side and plans.
But not a major problem. Its sort of like 'tack glueing', after you unpin from the backingboard, reglue the joints from the other side.
Besides not getting glue on the paper(and not having to razorblade the balsa from the paper) the wrap or wax paper lets the gluejoint be smooth on the outside, making covering easier later, as very few glues sand easy, esp. when next to soft balsa stingers.
A glueblob is a PITA in that case, and can tear thru the wet silkspan when time for covering. So wipe the joint smooth before the glue dries.
with the clear wrap, youcan build very fast this way with the thin superglues, but it will wick right thru waxpaper, glueing the whole together.
If its still pinned, you can slide strips of the wrap under where the gluejoints are to be, then superglue away.
The other glues wont penetrate the joint well enough from top glueing only, but will be strong enough to handle and doubleglue later.
With the sigment, a way to speed assembly was to preglue the spots where the balsa bits would meet, let dry, then pin all together, and hit the area with a hot thinner like MEK or acetone, and it would melt the sigment together, then dry fast. That was the speedbuilding method before superglue came on the scene.
strong joints are needed, as if this is for rubber power, you can have a terrible failure as the fuselage implodes when the rubber is wound fully. There are few sights as sad as this. Crashing or losing the FreeFlight are shawdows of the pain when looking at the ball of wadded up sticks and painted tissue in your hand.
Enough of the darkside.
even though pinned down, you can lift the joint to get glue on it, then press back down for the slower non CA types.
Think of it as cheap therapy. Its a little bit of a learning curve, but doesn't take long to get good at.
Besides, building is fun in its own right.
If its to be a flier with rubber power, look into gear reduction for the prop, a simple one can be made from spares. You can get amazing flights this way.
Sig still sells a lot of handy equipment for FF, like DT fuse and thrust bearings.
Radio control gear is small enough now that parkflier sized R/C gear can be used to control.
If not to fly, but sit on a shelf or hang from ceiling, weight isn't an enemy, add on the paint and glue.
Well, It is apparent that a lot of you have not built many balsa sheet/stick/tissue models.
Not a single one of you has mentioned the point where you go into the bathroom and "borrow" a double edged razor blade from your father's stuff . Because of the previous omission, nobody has mentioned the return trip to get bandaids to repair your sliced finger.
Further not one mention of "Banana Oil"
And still yet no mention of your first "Exacto" or Swann-Morton scapel
And further still, how you explained to your mother about the disappearance of her waxed paper or film wrap.
Jiminy Christmas, you are leaving out some of the most memorial parts.
At least with plastics we don't mention "DOPE" in conjunction with modeling anymore.
Oxmoron1 MFE Proud owner of an autographed photo of D.T. Packard (Cleveland Models).
Also Season's Greetings for whichever Holiday you celebrate. Planning Chinese New Years BASH will start just after "Boxing Day Blowout"
in article snipped-for-privacy@mb-m13.aol.com, OXMORON1 at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote on 12/24/03 4:35 PM:
Double Edge? Pleeese. Only a slightly used single edge would do to cut the rock-hard balsa I usually got for those tiny delicate parts. When my dad switched to a Schick shaver, those little single edge blades looked so much like Exacto blades, I had to try them. Took a lot of adhesive tape wrapped around it to protect the fingers but I could snap the blade to get a scalpel like point.
Dad was a machinist so he "made" a few tools for me, like brass rod with a slit to hold a blade. Still had to tape it in thought.
Excess model glue was wiped off or into the parts with fingers. Then, when it dried well, was chewed off. My fingers looked like I had some bad skin disease and my mother said she hated to take me out in public. Still, model building kept me busy and home most of the time.
in article snipped-for-privacy@starpower.net, William H. Shuey at snipped-for-privacy@starpower.net wrote on 12/24/03 5:13 PM:
Joe Ott! Now there's a name I don't hear everyday. Remember the Ottomatic Construction technique, where formers were installed around a tube? Got a lot of those things back in the '40s when balsa wood was a rare commodity. Bill, you are the first one I've heard mention that brand. Yes, you did give away your age! Hey, who cares. It was a great time to begin modeling.
You complety forgot to mention biting the end off the tube of Ambroid cement ! Blasamy! I was in Muncie Indiana recently for a reunion of a group of us from Ball State and my wife and I stopped by the Academy of Model Aeronautics museum on the south side. Even if you were never a flying model builder it's a very nice museum and staff was great. One of the exhibits is a complete walk-in set up of a 1950's -60's hobby shop with all the kits and engines and such laid out with the original boxes and such. Really brought back a lot of memories. Of course I never did get that Nobler kit I wanted for Christmas! Allen Catonsville, MD
My mother used to get really PO'd about glue on the "Good" jeans. Mothers did get PO'd about the simplest things like the smell of dope in the bedroom or blood on the carpet. (Maybe that was why she was so violent when dusting the models on the shelf). It also got to be a repitive thing around the summer...mow a lawn, buy a kit. Mow several lawns and get one of those new fangles super duper Monogram Speedee-Bilt monsters, escpecially the B-24 and B-17.
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