New to Modeling

[Acorn Man]

Hey guys,

I am new to this forum, and new to this hobby. so how should i start?I have made and flown the little balsa wood planes for years, and I found that Guillows makes more, and that there's a forum. So is there a specific series or model I should start with? Should I even try to make one of the balsa and tissue models, or should I start with a simple model (one without a 3D fuselage)? Should I try to make one like the one this guy makes? http://youtu.be/Hi09BmbeXQw My main interest is in flight, not static models. I am 15, are these going to be too advanced for me? I have read around the forum, and still don't understand most of the stuff (abbreviations, terminology, etc...) So any information will help, thanks.

[Phugoid]

This may help....

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2215

Andrew

[Acorn Man]

That's a lot of info, thanks. I'll read through it.

[WIDDOG]

I agree great advice

[zoomie]

Hey Acorn Man, welcome to the forum .

For beginners in this hobby, it's best to start at the beginning. To learn some basic terminology and building methods your best sources would be:

http://www.scienceguy.org - covers the basics of stick & tissue model building, lots of pics to help.

http://www.endlesslift.com - construction and flying of beginners models, has plans and lots of pics. BTW, Guillows makes their 4000 series of beginners models and three or four of them are covered here.

Best of Luck with it!


zoomie

[leonhsu]

oh ... that thread looks like it might be incredibly useful. i just joined the message board and was about to post some newbie questions i hadn't seen answers to yet, but i'll have to read through this thread first.

It would be great if there was a section of the forum decided to posts/threads that are particularly worth archiving.

[Wildpig]

Hi Acorn,
Welcome to the forum and to a great hobby.
If you are wondering which model to build first, I suggest going ahead with the built up or 3D model.
My suggestions:
Javelin
Lancer
Flyboy
Fairchild 24

All four of those are designed for easy build procedure. They look good and they fly well. The Fairchild comes laser cut, now. Laser cut greatly reduces some of the frustration with building these models. Yes, they can be frustrating. I think someone on this forum said, ' this is the toughest hobby you'll ever love' or something like that.
Take your time, ask questions, keeping learning, and have fun.

[Acorn Man]

That looks a little easier, I was looking at the Cessna build thread and I was getting a little woried. The part where you curve the stingers seemed a little tough. Which of the 4 would you recommend? Thanks for the info guys, thanks.

[Wildpig]

Javelin. It's a straightforward construction and it's a decent flyer.

There are also some build threads here for that model.

[Acorn Man]

Yeah, that one looks like it will make sense to me. One question I've had is how do you tell when it's wound up? I've always just done double knots, but you can't see it. So the only thing I've seen is having the nose come off, but I just don't know. Thanks.

[Wildpig]

I heard one fella say,"wind it until it breaks, then back off one turn"

The answer is: it depends.
The kit rubber: maybe 150 turns. Rubber that can be ordered from model supply houses can be wound several hundred turns and even a couple thousand turns. Don Ross' book on Rubber Powered flying models has a chart.
The number of turns is based on the cross-section size of the rubber and the total length.

The models I have are usually wound about 400 to 600 turns. I use a winder for that.

[Acorn Man]

Hmm. Would it be really worth it to get some better rubber?can I just get it at like Hobby Lobby or hobby Town?

[Acorn Man]

Haha, insane capitalization skills. My English teacher would be proud.

[Wildpig]

Hmm. Would it be really worth it to get some better rubber?can I just get it at like Hobby Lobby or hobby Town?

Wherever you can find it.
Yeh, I think it's really worth it. The kit rubber is good for anywhere from 3 to 5 flights before it fails. And it doesn't have much endurance. You get a short burst of power and then hardly anything. At least, that's my experience with it.

I looked at my old flight log for my Javelin. Was using 4 strands of 1/8" width rubber, 22" long loop and winding it anywhere from 700 to 900 turns. This was Tan II rubber. According to a chart I have: I could have wound the motor to 1500 turns.

[stx44]

I'll back up Wildpig with the Javelin- its a relatively easy built and a great flyer. Just take your time with the wings. The multi dihedral isnt hard to master, just a little fiddly and you have to be patient.

With the Javelin and Lancer I also found the wings a little weak for the span, so I added square strip in a zig zag running from the front of one rib to the back of the next - this added a little extra tortional rigidity (they can twist when you cover otherwise). But thats purely optional.

I would say try the kit rubber, but be prepared that you will not get as long a flight as using after market rubber- like Wildpig said, the Guillows strip is more powerfull, but gives shorter run time. Tan 2 or Tan Supersport is available cheaply via Ebay if you have no other access. I used 3/16 (same as the Guillows) in a single loop in my lancer - ran it to the rear peg and can put on about 600 turns with no problems. and I wind by hand!!

After the javelin, if they look more attractive to you, try a 900 series kit. A lot of people are drawn to the scale appearance. Again, easy build, good flyers- you just need a 6 inch prop (the kit 5 inch is really too small IMHO). Typhoon, Skyraider and Mustang are all good flyers.