New Guy with Thomas Morse Scout

[THE KID]

Hello to all. Im 24 I started building the guillows kits when I was 8 years old. I remember my dad teaching me the art of building these in the basement next to the furnace. We where building the hellcat kit #503 and man did that come out nice! I was hooked ever since. That was the first one he did since he was a young lad and he was telling me how my grandfather taught him. My grandfather would have been building these in the 1930s before he was in World War 2. So these kits run in my blood. They both always recommended the guillows kits. Needless to say I built a lot of these until I got into antique auto restorations. My fiance as a joke bought me the Thomas Morse Scout for my birthday and that was a mistake. I'm hooked again. I found this forum in the search for anyone remaking the WW1 18'' series planes. Well here is the progress on the Scout. I just have it balanced together for the picture. Thanks Jared

[PsyberPhlier]

Jared,

Welcome to the forum. That is a beautiful TMC. Great work. I want to build that one someday. Too many plane conversion projects... lol.

Here you will find short kits for some of the old Guillows 18" kits. All laser cut. http://www.aerowerkes.com/SRKS.html

Ted

[THE KID]

Wow those are actually perfect. I bought a fokker DVIII kit years back that was missing most of the wood pieces and the guy threw in the cowl, wheels, prints and decals for a DVII. Thanks Jared

[David Lewis]

champ%203.JPG

I enjoy final assembling the main components with Duco cement for photos, and then dissolving the Duco with dope thinner prior to covering. (Inspired by the black and white photos on Guillow's plans with the caption -- NOTE: ALL FRAMES ARE COVERED WITH TISSUE BEFORE ASSEMBLY.)

[kittyfritters]

I love putting them together for the "bones shots" too. I use Testor's "green glue" and take them apart with acetone. The photo is a Piper NE-1 (Navy L-4) being kit bashed from a 300 series Piper Cub.

[THE KID]

Ive always used the "Green Glue". What do you guys recommend? Im sure you guys have talked this over but is there anyway they might remake the 18'' series WWI planes again? It would be great to see them on the market again. Thanks Jared

[PsyberPhlier]

It would be cool if Guillows remade them, but I doubt they would.

LOL they all show up on ebay and Aerowerks has a lot of them.

Ted

[BillParker]

Hellcat #503

[PsyberPhlier]

NOW THATS A HELLCAT!

[kittyfritters]

Hellcat #503

Bill,

By now you've built enough of these oversized ones to fill a real hangar. What do you do with them?

Howard

[kittyfritters]

Ive always used the "Green Glue". What do you guys recommend? Im sure you guys have talked this over but is there anyway they might remake the 18'' series WWI planes again? It would be great to see them on the market again. Thanks Jared

I use very little solvent based glue and dope, because of my wife's allergies. The model in the photo was built with TiteBond II, an aliphatic resin (Yellow carpenter's glue.) Lots of guys use just plain white glue. I've also used Scotch (3M) Quick Drying Tacky Glue, a white glue intended for crafts and photo mounting. It has incredible tack for a white glue. When I use cyano I use a very small amount and immediately hit it with a drop of accelerator from a dribble bottle (never spray) to set it and kill the smell.

The idea of producing biplane kits causes a constant argument between the designers and modelers on staff and the sales people at any model company. The read on the market from the sales types is that while they sold very well 40 years ago they would not be worth the effort to put into kit today...as an R/C ARF or Ready-to-Fly maybe, but as something that people will have to sit down and build no. I challenge that view, but mine is just one voice trailing off in the wilderness.

Howard

[THE KID]

I completely agree with you Howard. There isn't a good selection of good kits from the WWI era out there though and there hasnt been for a while(my observation). There probably isn't a large selection of balsa model builders out there either haha. On a lighter note, I'd really like to do a lozenge camouflage pattern on my next German plane. I'm thinking of getting the wood pieces to complete my Fokker DVII and DVIII from Aero Works. I have heard of people printing there own on the tissue paper? Anyone have any guidance? Thanks Jared

[PsyberPhlier]

Jared,

There is a whole bunch of information on rcgroups about printing on tissue... I cant remember where but try here http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=359029. I saw it in there somewhere.

I am going to try printed tissue on my 902 birddog conversion.

[Mitch]

I know a guy in the FAC that prints German lozenge in any scale you want...4 pattern 5 pattern whatever. I suppose anyone can do it but I do not. My method was a 4 color hexagon and I made a pattern and cut out the pieces. Very time consuming... but I was on a ship. I kitbashed a Guillow Fokker Dr1 into a Fokker D VI. I chose 4 colors and laid down the first. Then applied the hexagons of the other 3 colors. The bottom has a lighter pattern starting with linen color.

here is a picture I found...



I am only home for a few hours... If you want the guy who makes the lozenge paper I will be home next week and can find him. The paper needs to be wet with rubbing alcohol as the colors will bleed with water.

I think Guillow's made the decision not to make more biplanes at this time.

Mitch

[BillParker]

By now you've built enough of these oversized ones to fill a real hangar. What do you do with them?

The shop where we're assembling the 3 big ones, 10 foot wingspan each, P-40, F6F, and Avenger, all 500 series blow ups, is not my shop. Right this minute we have all the parts hanging in a horse stall. If I assemble the planes, (they're all three covered in cotton muslin right now) they'll take up almost exactly 100 square feet each.

No room at the INN for that right now.

Plan to paint em, and post em up on fence posts 8 foot in the air...

I'll keep you posted...


bp