My first design

[scigs30]

I have been busy lately with RC stuff, but hope to get back into building some Freeflight. I just got back into RC and I am very disappointed in the few options out there for kits. Everything is ARF but luckily there are some small companies out there that produce some short kits. I wanted fast and easy WWI planes so that is why I designed my own. After I build a few WWI planes I am going to redesign the Guillows 35 inch Stuka for RC. I will keep the outline the same so all the plastic parts can be used but the parts will be redesigned for laser cutting. There is a good selection of short kits out there for WWII birds that are 35-40 inch wing span, but there is no Stuka.







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[cliffm]

Love the design on the wings,the fuselage is a beauty too. So, when is it going into production for the masses. Nice work. Craftsmanship on your scale is more like artistry. What kind of set-up have you got for a laser and what cost range are you into? If you don't mind me asking.

[ADW 123]

so you laser cut your own parts? is that what i am getting out of that?

[scigs30]

I design the plans and draw each part. Then I email my files to a laser cutting service to have the wood cut out. This plane cost 65.00 dollars for the wood and laser cutting.

[scigs30]

Here is what it looks like, this is the plan and the part sheet that I send to the cutters.

[Supercubber95]

Gorgeous... As usual...

[Xanadu]

Anxious to see you landing gear set up.

I have a Great Planes DR1 and the aluminum landing gear bends almost every time it touches down. Need to make stronger ones for sure.

[ADW 123]

what program do you use? and what company do you send the plans to?

[scigs30]

Xanadu, This design is based on the Great Planes Fokker Dr.1 so it uses the plastic parts and metal parts from the ARF, I bought those pieces on Ebay. I will first fly it with the parts I bought, but if they don't work then I will make my own. WWI birds this size are always tough to make durable landing gear that is light. Wire works great but the weight adds up quick, but that is my back up plan. Just a little insight into my design. When I got back into RC I noticed Great Planes had some awsome planes, but they were all ARFs. So I called the company asking for the plans so I could build my own, since I will never own an ARF, and they said there were no plans. So I designed my own using the specs from the ARF so I could use the plastic and metal parts that I could buy online. There are much better scratch designs out there, but mine is a much faster build. Drawing up the plans is easy. I scan a 3 view or Guillows plan into Coreldraw. I trace it then enlarge the outline to the size I want. Then I add the structures and design the parts. I used Corel X3 to draw the plans, emailed them to Kinkos for printing, and National Balsa cut the parts out.

[ADW 123]

looks like this coral x3 isnt very cheap...

[scigs30]

Yes it is expensive, but I use it for a lot of things. I think you can get the student edition pretty cheap. Here are some more pictures of my progress.

[ADW 123]

where do i get it?

[scigs30]

http://www.amazon.com/CorelDRAW-Graphic ... B001CEXR94

[StefanJ]

I used to use an ancient version of Corel Draw to make decal designs for rockets. I printed out the B&W designs on clear label stock.

I've been meaning to get a fresh version. The old one was pre-Windows 95!

[grinx76]

speechless...except to say absolutely stunning