New to balsa, but ready for the challenge!

[Reamon]

Hi everyone! I'm a fairly decent builder of plastic kits, but I've never tried my hand at balsa until now. My wife's 80something year old grandfather is an avid collector of many things and enjoys vintage toys. A couple of years back I built my father-in-law a replica of his 1950 chevy truck ( AMC's old plastic kit ) and it caught the grandfather's attention right off! So this year I thought he might enjoy having something built for him. I wanted do do something with even more vintage flavor so I found an old Guillows kit that I thought he'd like. It's the Nieuport 11. Not sure what it was, but the shape of this plane just catches my eye! I've since learned that there are still Guillows kits being made and that they're even lasercut these days! Oh well! I've begun framing up my fuselage, and although I quickly discovered what a fragile medium balsa is, I've also found that it's very forgiving when making repairs and also quite strong after the glue has set and multiple part are providing mutual support. I'm enjoying the process alot! I find that the instructions aren't very exact, so I have exercised some creative freedoms and guesstimations... I'll post some pictures soon so that you can follow my progress. Thanks for having me here! Slainte'!

[Wildpig]

Welcome!
Cool project you've embarked on. You'll find that some of your plastic model skill will apply to balsa. Mainly, patience. The older, die cut balsa kits can be frustrating. The Nieuport kit, 203 , is still in production, so you can order spare parts. I'm not sure how well the laser cut wood interchanges with a die-cut kit.

I guess you have been looking through the forum threads? There is a thread on building the Guillow Cessna 180. It's many pages long but, there is quite a bit of useful information therein.

[Reamon]

Thanks for the tip! I've been picking up all kinds of helpful stuff all over the forums. One question... What the devil is dope? I googled it and the DEA will probably be keeping an eye on me from now on... My understanding is that it's a waterproofing laquer of some sort. I doubt that this build will ever actually see any real flight time, so is doping(?)really needed?

[Wildpig]

Dope goes back to the earliest days of aviation. Not sure of it composition but, don't breathe the fumes. It's does waterproof and it tightens or shrinks the fabric or tissue. By the way, dope comes in clear and a variety of colors. I seldom use it.

For your model, you can shrink the tissue with water or with alcohol. I would then spray the model with a clear lacquer, thats something you can get from a craft store in a spray can.

Just so happens, that there is currently a discussion about dope on this forum:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2477

[Mitch]

Welcome to our hobby and I guess I am getting old myself... I like Dope... I always use Dope. I thin down my Dope about 60/40 with thinner or retarder. You will shrink the paper with water but you need to seal it. If you can not find Dope at your Local Hobby Store, you can get it online frome SIG.

You can use watered down glue instead of Dope, but you should seal the paper.

Looking forward to seeing a pic of your model!

Mitch

[Jason K]

I ordered my dope and thinner from dare hobbies fairly cheap and cheap shipping. I have called them before very nice ppl to deal with. Check them out.
I need too finsh my model here soon. I have been working on it on and off as i can.

[Reamon]

Probably not horribly impressive for you old pros here, but I'm going to call it progress!

[paul]

Impressive clean build. keep up the good work

[joecrouse]

Agrees with Paul I was just thinking that is about as good as anything I am doing.

[Reamon]

So, this has sat for a bit since the arrival of my daughter in April ( I'm sure many of you know how that is...). I've started another push to get it done by Christmas and I have the assembly pretty much finished. I plan to begin covering once I finish shaping and sanding. Two things I could use some help on though. First off, I didn't care much for the plastic kit prop and acquired the wooden one you can see in the picture. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience converting to such a prop and did you use the kit hardware or fabricate your own? Next, I'm wondering about the landing gear. I used the included wire to stiffen the struts and there's none left for an axle. Whats the best material for an axle, and how do I keep the landing gear nice and sturdy? Thanks for your thoughts!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/13863955@N05/11028469835/" title="nieport by immortalloki, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/11028469835_667e21673b.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="nieport"></a>

[Wildpig]

Looking very nice.

I am assuming it's a display only model? To make that wood prop work, just find a wooden dowel that fits in the hole and then adjust the hole size in the thrust button as needed.

As for the landing gear, you can buy wire at some craft or hobby stores. But, a search around the house might yield something.
I have used sewing needles, the head on the needle makes a nice hub to keep the wheel on.

Too sturdy up the landing gear, can be difficult. From the pictures, it looks like you could wrap sewing thread around the stringer and exposed wire ends. With the thread pretty much soaked in glue after it's wound around the parts.

[Reamon]

Thanks, yes it will be display only. Excellent, a wooden dowel should be easy... but please explain "thrust button", I'm not familiar with the term, sorry.

[Wildpig]

Thanks, yes it will be display only. Excellent, a wooden dowel should be easy... but please explain "thrust button", I'm not familiar with the term, sorry.

Black, plastic thingy that plugs into the front of the cowling. The prop shaft goes through the middle of it. Your model may not have one because the radial engine may be a substitute for a thrust button. Guillow calls them thrust bearings:
http://www.guillow.com/516x12thrustbearing.aspx


With your model, I'd just use a long, wooden dowel that goes through the propeller and all the way through the plastic, radial engine. That should give the dowel good support.

[Reamon]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13863955@N05/11505431186/

Here's my stringbag in all her glory! Not all bad for my first outing with balsa. I've had to rush the last few days to get her done in time for Christmas! I have to say my next try won't be with a vintage kit, I'm more game for one of the new lasercut jobs, but it was a positive experience overall!

[SpiceMan]

WOW
VERY NICE JOB

I also say ... welcome to the hobby.
I think that if you decide to take on another kit to build, a Guillow's Laser Cut kit will make you very pleasantly surprised I built the Cessna 170, and the "fit" of the parts was incredible

Fun Fun Fun