It has been a couple of months ago I ordered Curtiss Robin light kit from the BELAIR KITS. And it came yesterday. The delay was caused by both the current situation in Europe and the fact that the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU and every package must be claimed by the customs office. During the import process, the VAT must be paid.
I decided to switch from Saturn glider to Eagle Mk. I by HEARN’S HOBBIES, as I stated in a previous article. The reason is quite simple. Under the current circumstances, I can’t build models in my workshop now. The Saturn is mostly constructed from plywood, which requires a CNC router and other “advanced” tools like a larger construction desk to be used. Currently, I can only build models in our living-room. It means simple balsa models using just basic tools can be built, and of course, only the airframe. The rest stuff, like sanding, covering, and finishing will be done in the workshop later.
The goal is to build the whole airframe in the living-room using basic modeler tools like steel rulers, razor blades, pins, etc. I have chosen the simplest method to obtain the plans. It is hosted on the Outerzone website, so I downloaded and printed it at 100% size. Then cut and stick the plan parts together. Honestly, I have never tried this method, although I know many modelers do it exactly this way. I usually do not use the plan as a “direct source” to build the airframe.
I have started to build this ship as usual by the fuselage. It is a straightforward job and I could recommend such a model even to total beginners. Because this glider is all balsa construction, special care should be taken to careful material selection. Do not attempt to build it from the “light” wood, but choose “standard” or “hard” density. Especially the tail section of the fuselage is quite fragile and we do not want to use additional reinforcements just because we’ve used “soft” balsa wood. I am pretty sure the glider could be built as-is by a simple rule of following the plan.
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