Model Airplane Stick Building 101 By: Patrick

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Model Airplane Stick Building 101By Patrick
Doc Ferguson

• Rather than boring anyone, I would like to
  guide you through many aspects of building stick
  models and preparing you with some basics.
• First off, find a hobby store and pick out a
  model airplane kit to build. Ask the clerk or
  shop owner for some help, as they can determine
  what model would be best for you to start your
  building experience.

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The nick name Doc was given to me because I
once was a Fleet Marine Corp Navy Corpsman. Here
I am at the Vietnam wall finding the names of my
friendsthat did not make it home. Semper Fi !
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The Kit
In most kits you will find a rolled up set of
plans, an instruction sheet and the parts that
you will need for your building project.
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This is a Herr Kit. One of the better model
kits. There are others, too. Guillow is an old
name, and made kits as far back as the 1930s.
All the parts are in a plastic bag. This
lessens the chance for parts being lost or broken.
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Before opening the parts, read over the plans and
become familiar with the parts and where they
go. Spread the plans out using thumb tasks at
the corner to hold plans flat on the building
board. Its best to have the plans tacked down
for about 24hours before starting to build to
assure flatness.
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The instruction sheet may contain a list of tools
that are recommended, as well as the kit
inventory. It is important to determine that all
of the parts are in the box.
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These particular parts are laser cut. The parts
in the sealed bag are not numbered. It is
important to number each part in accordance with
the instruction sheet. Failure to do so will
have you hunting with each piece like a puzzle,
and by doing so will avoid much frustration while
building.
Parts are not numbered
Parts may fall out of sheets
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Instruction sheets will indicate the parts number
and show that they are located on separate pieces
of balsa that must be matched up with the
instructions.
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1) Match up the printed and die-cutbalsa sheet
with the parts sheet
2) Put the number on the parts as shown on the
list on the parts sheet
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Identify the part and number it with a ball
point, pen or pencil
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Mailing label
This can also be done with stick-on mailing
labels cut up in small squares and placed on wax
paper. The part is free of ink or pencil which
eliminates sanding later to remove the part
number from the balsa.
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This is a part that fell out of the sheet. It
could have been confused for scrap and lost.
Scrap or part
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It is better to leave small parts such as these
intact in its sheet until actually needed. In
this case they are gussets used in in the wing.
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These small parts (gussets, in this case) are not
important until you actually need them.
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A small part, maybe, but very significant. The
dihedral gauge is used in final assembly of the
wings. It is a very important part.
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All the parts have been numbered and this is the
only scrap remaining in the kit. Laser cutting
does not waste wood.
For propeller
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Some small parts are sometimes placed in a
separate small bag
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In this case, thread for the rigging and nose
piece and cross piece for the rubber band motor.
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Essential tools listed on instructions.
Building board.
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Layout of plan
Use wax paper over the plan to protect it and
prevent glue from sticking parts to the plan to
allow for easy removal.
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A small magnet on a string retrieves all those
pins that drop on the floor.
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Ball pins and hobby T-pins with magnet. Should
the pins get bent or soiled with glue throw them
away. Dont be frugal. Pins should be sharp
and straight
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This small Dixie cup was all the glue that was
necessary to glue the entire model project from
start to finish. Easy on the glue and you get a
neat model.
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Starting the build
M
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Avoid pinning thin balsa especially on the ends,
or its splits-ville!
Cross-pinning, or inserting pins at an angle,
prevents the balsa from splitting
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The pins are not placed into the thin balsa of
the stringers. The pins are wedged between the
former and the stringer, just to hold the
stringer until the glue sets.
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Again the pin is only wedged between the rib and
stringer until the glue hardens.
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A small brush is useful for applying glue. Use
glue sparingly to keep the model neat and avoid
unnecessary sanding later. Excess use of glue can
cause distortion.
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A cup of water for the brush will keep it soft,
and use a separate cup for glue. Notice the
small drop of glue. That is all that is
necessary when working from one part to another.
Use a paper towel to dry the brush before dipping
into glue. Dont over glue!!!!!
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I use T-pins as well as other types. There is a
tool to insert and remove T-pins. I use a
hemostat and twist. I always keep two fingers on
the work, one on either side of the pin, when
removing the pins to prevent breakage of my work.
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I apply a small amount of glue to the part let it
get tacky and then place in position. It should
stand up straight all on its own, practically.
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A small square is useful to assure that the parts
are at 90 degrees
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Scrap
Notice the pins in the tail of the home made
triangles to keep 90 degrees.
With scrap you can make small triangles that will
fit in tight spaces.
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These longerons are laser cut. Before any
application of glue, trial fit very carefully
since this is going from rib to rib. Do not
force. If it binds, sand lightly until it slides
into the rib without resistance. Again use your
brush and apply glue sparingly.
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By carefullly gluing and fitting parts, your
fuselage will not need much sanding. (Its
starting to look like a Ryan ST already)
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MAKING A SPINNER
Glue an 1/8 in dowel about Two inches in length.
Chuck into portable drill. Use a sanding stick
to round into bullet shape
Use a triangle to draw a line from corner to
corner.
Drill an 1/8 inch hole In the center. Use A
drill press to be accurate
Balsa square
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Laminated parts ready for shaping
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Wings

• The important part of building wings is to have a
  truly flat surface to prevent building warps and
  twists into the wing. If this happens there are
  ways to correct twist and warps, but it is very
  difficult. It is much easier to use a building
  board of basswood or soft white pine.

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Its important to have a good flat straight
building board. This is ceiling tile. There are
commercial building boards. I made the table to
fit my size and working height.
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Use wax paper or clear food wrap to cover your
plans. Use small pins T-pins or with a small
ball to pin through the ribs if necessary
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A dihedral gauge in position on the root rib and
pinned to prevent shifting of a rib.
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The top spar needs to be pre- fitted to the rib
especially on ribs that are all glued together.
Do not try to force fit or you might break the
stringer or rib. This is where an emery file is
useful.
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Widen and deepen the rib for the spar just enough
that you need notforce it into the slot. Just
so it fits and is not sloppy.
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Now is the time for that final sanding and
shaping of parts such as the wheel pants.
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By cutting a small notch at the end of the spar
and under cutting at a 45 degree angle with a
razor the spar easily bends to shape, and the
part can be pinned if thick or cross pinned if
thin balsa.
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There are times when plans are not very specific
about instructions and unless you have knowledge
of what the designer is telling you to do it
may be confusing. These are called doublers!
These fit upright on both sides of the rib. The
reason is that a 1/32 hole is drilled through the
rib. Without the doublers, the rib would split
or be very weak. String goes through this hole
for rigging.
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Give the wheel pants a final sanding with 400
sand paper.
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I have indicated that simple paint stirring
sticks 1 x 3 pine boards, emery boards for finger
nails, number 11 blades and single edge razor
blades are all used to finish your model. You
need a long straight board with 400 paper to
smooth all the balsa for covering. In this case
Japanese paper will be used for covering.
I
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A great site for tissue covering a static model
or indoor electric models is Located at.
http//www.easybuiltmodels.com/ebl.htm. That
site has many Photos tips, tools, chalking
techniques and more.
Covering techniques next Gampi
tissue Dacron Dope Krylon
Doc Ferguson
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Gampi or Japanese tissue

• As a young man, all of our airplane models came
  with tissue paper for covering our airplanes.
  Usually it was white tissue or maybe a color like
  red or blue and very little variety. Most of us
  used clear modeling dope to adhere the tissue to
  the wings and frames. It was tedious work, and
  many times the results were not what we hoped for
  in appearance. As a builder of U-control
  airplanes, wings mainly came with balsa ribs that
  were covered with sheet balsa covering which
  could be painted with dope and colored dope or
  paint. We also had silk, which was more
  expensive, and again special technique was needed
  to prepare the frame to get good results. Today
  we have iron-on covering, fabric covering which
  is more user friendly. The art of using Gampi
  tissue is being lost and is being rediscovered by
  many scratch builders. The tissue is not the
  same as the cheap tissue paper that was found in
  most hobby stores.

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With tissue its important to determine which way
the grain runs. By determining which way the
grain runs is important as to how this will
stretch and pull on our model and how neat it
will appear.
The shiny side faces out. The dull side to the
inside. This will be important to remember
should you choose to use pastel chalk to color
your tissue or otherwise dramatically change the
appearance or camouflage your your tissue. See
Easy Built site for other techniques.
So just way does the grain of paper go?
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One of the first instructions I found when
building stick models was to determine which way
the grain went on Gampi tissue or any other
modeling tissue. The issue of grain was never
explained to me until I got into constructing
fireworks. Gampi tissue is used as a
separation between halves of round fireworks
shells. Again the issue of grain came into the
instructions as to wrapping shells. Just what
is grain and how do you determine which way the
grain of any paper goes? I was taught a very
simple test! Tearing of the paper determines
which way the grain actually goes. If you tear
with the grain you will get a nice clean tear
line and no ragged edges.
Paper tears straight with the grain.
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See how neat and straight the tear is when you
tear with the grain! No more guessing as to
which way the grain of paper is going. The
results of tearing against the grain are very
dramatic and leave no question that the tear is
running ragged and not true.
When it tears ragged Its against the grain
Notice the ragged tearing