alternatives to balsa wood

[woundedbear]

Hello, everyone, I have heard about something called Paulownia wood (Pawlonia wood?), and Jelutong wood to name two. There is some information on these two kinds of wood on the net but most of it is outdated. I was wondering if anybody here on the forum has used any of these two kinds of wood, "or any other woods that I am unaware of". SIG sells spruce and basswood sheets as alternatives to balsa wood for some applications. As far as carving woods are concerned I know from my woodworking days that basswood is good for doing detail work, (there are some examples of relief carving from Germany "where it is known as limewood" that survived the war that are very life like ). The reason I am posting this because it is obvious that if you want to build one of the Guillows discontinued model kits getting the vacuum formed parts is a problem. I contacted "parkflyersplastics" about doing some vacuum formed parts for the 800 series P-39 and De Havilland Mosquito and possible the 2000 series B-29 kits. Their reply was that there isn't any demand for these parts. Also, if, "and this is something I have thought about". If you wanted to enlarge a Guillow's plan builder's sheet up to say 1"=1' (1/12th scale) or larger (1/10th scale) you would have to vacuum form your own cowls and canopies from a carved plug. What wood would be best for doing this? My current skill level isn't up to such a project, but it is something I have thought about for the future. I guess what I'm asking for is have any of you used other kinds of wood to build your frames with And have any of you carved and vacuum formed your own cowl and canopies

[Steve Blanchard]

Most guys on the scratch building side of rubber powered free flight have had the need to carve a plug and mould a canopy at some point. Most everyone uses balsa. There are several different tutorials on other sites such as Hip pocket aeronautics that show how this can be done. Also there is a great tutorial on plunge molding here http://www.ffscale.co.uk/page4f.htm This is Mike Stuart's site. After you read the tutorial, take some time to look around the site at some the very inspirational work from Mike and several other talented modelers featured.

I hope this helps,

Steve

[BillParker]

Mr. Bear:

When I blow up my planes, I don't worry with the plastics During the "Drafting Stage" i create formers to replace the nose as far from the firewall as is practical, then use solid wood to finish the nose. Same with the canopy. I add former structure, then cover the cockpit as if it wasn't there. Then, paint it back onto the plane in the paint shop.

Lots of guys have the knowledge and equipment to do plastic work, and do a great job. When you start getting up around 1/12 scale though, your costs begin to go up. I like to blow the Guillow's plans to 1/5 - 1/4 scale, and that's just too much cash, when I can use it for the next plane...



P-40, 400 series... Note nose and canopy...



P-39 note nose and canopy...



P-39 note nose and canopy...



1000 series Stuka note nose and canopy...



500 series P-40 with built up nose. Canopy is a separate piece with mylar panes... maybe.... still in design...




bp

[Bill Gaylord]

I've never used vaccum and have simply heat pulled parts, using a heat gun to heat the sheet using gloves, then rapidly pulled over the mold. Some folks use 2-liter pop bottles, with a leverage arm. Balsa works well for mold sculpting, and can be finished with various methods, although a fine sanding will produce good results. The ME262 has a new canopy, which is less than 1/2 the weight of the Sig WWII canopy also shown.

[akjgardner]

Iv'e used cardboard on some rc builds

[NcGunny]

Bill,
That P40 could take a mid sized chainsaw engine..lol!!! Gawd that things a monster.

[BillParker]

we want to do the Morse Scout full sized, and make the prop turn... Lawn mower motor maybe? make all the controls work, some kind of a system for noisy but safe machine guns...

we'll see...

[kittyfritters]

Mr Parker is not the only one that likes to build large models with materials other than balsa wood.

This model Dr-1 (Yes, this thing is actually radio controlled model!) was built using the same type of materials as the real airplane.]

28359.jpg

[woundedbear]

Big is beautiful

[Mitch]

Hi WB et al,

I am happy using Balsa wood from the kits. When I try to build as light as possible I use contest Balsa wood. I do however substitute wooden Coffee stir sticks (I double them up) or use Bass wood for interwing struts. I believe the extra weight is negligible for the extra strength I think I get. Balsa wood is probably okay.

I am not an expert, but my planes fly. For me, that is what I want to get out of this hobby.

Mitch, Keep building, Keep flying, Keep improving

[tom arnold]

An interesting substitute for sheet balsa is foam dinner plates (not a substitute for balsa stringers, though). They can be cut with a scissors, strengthened if desired by gluing 1/16 square strips on the face, and take water based glues very well. The faces of the parts need to be lightly hit with a fine sandpaper to break the glossy glaze that occurs during the plates forming process if anything needs to be glued to the foam. Repairs are different in that the sheet foam formers don't shatter into pieces in a crash but bend and "break" but stay together. All you need to do is reach into the fuselage, flatten out the bent former and glue a brace against the face and you are back in business. I once built a 24" span Typhoon with foam dinner plates, blue foam, and strip balsa and it worked out fine. It flew as well as an all-balsa version and covered in tissue, you could not see any difference. The one awkward thing about the stuff is that it was hard to get a glued stringers off the edge of a former during a repair. You could soak it off if you used white glue but that took time and ingenuity in keeping the joint wet until it released. I found that grinding the stringer joint off with a moto-tool worked best.

[Xanadu]

[/img]You can also use Depron foam, or Blue fanfold foam sheets. I have built from all the mentioned mediums, plus these foams. They are easy to work with, sand well, but they do not like CA glues, you need foam safe version, or use gorilla glue instead.

[BillParker]

wait a minute....


Foam goes on top of beer...

[BillParker]

[woundedbear]

Bill Parker, you da man I like em' too, really big! Airplanes of course not women Don't like a woman that's bigger than me I like petite women. Petite women at least the ones I have known are very beautiful and limber too Limberness is a quality that is often over looked in a woman. Of course in the final analysis it's those delightful 2 to 3 days each month that we men folk can not do or say anything right. Women can't live with them... The end