Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Last night was Tuesday Night dinner. It was totally fun, Jack was there, he is improving, and able to drive himself around. this is great news. Kevin was there with his kids, Sophia and Fiona, they are great. and Sara rode her motorcycle. She was dressed in black, and looked like a NINJA when she arrived! woo hooo!
I got email form her dad, who liked the knife we got him for his birthday. YAY!
Oh, and I totally flipped out and ordered the digital camera I have been hemming and hawing about. It should be here soon.
Hmmm, what else happened in our little town?
I'm incredibly numb? My skin is wierd, I cannot feel my fingertips, and typing is a huge PITA.
Chris shot photos of the Monday Night Ride. Where I look goofy, but had fun
and my pal Flash is in town tonight, we'll go for dinner.
thats all the news for now.
oh, I sent a cool email to a pal here who wants to get into building stick and tissue model airplanes, the info is too good to sit on. if you want to builld stick and tissue planes, here is a ton of info. I can't at the moment, cause my fingers are too numb, and I fear cutting myself.
In no particular order, here is an incredible amount of information on model airplanes. I will try to have links too.
First is the kits:
This is a great beginner series, they used to market all 4 planes in a single box. the big advantage is you build them in order, and they teach you different skills needed to build other planes.
I would not buy the first one, "goldwing" it is a simple glider,
but the "Cadet" will teach you about stick & tissue framework and basic covering skills
the third kit, "cloudbuster" teaches about covering on both sides
the fourth kit "flyboy" is an actual plane and allows you to practice all skills
After building these 3 kits, I recommend the "Javelin" it is the first model I ever built with my father, and is easy to build, and flies very well.
After building all these, you will be ready for more advanced planes, I will give links to good vendors in a bit.
Supplies: You will need some special supplies to build. I recommend starting small, and moving up.
Most of these are available at Michaels Arts & Crafts
Xacto Knife, with box of spare #11 blades. You will need lots of fresh blades to cut the balsa and tissue. I use them as a disposable item
Building Board: you need a board to lay the model out on, and you need to be able to stick pins in it. Many companies sell premade boards, I would go to Michaels and buy a cork bulletin board, they are cheaper, and work just as well. It should be at least 24 inches wide.
Wax Paper: from grocery store, you lay your plans on the building board, then put wax papaer over them, this lets you build on the wax paper, and the glue will not stick to it.
Straight Pins: from any shop, to hold the wood in place
Glue: I use plain elmers white glue, I tend to thin it 50/50 with water. You can also buy "Ambroid" tm cement, it works well
Stick Glue: any brand of glue stick, you will use this to stick the tissue to the framework you build
Dope: Avaialbel at Michaels, you want a bottle of Pactra Clear Model Dope. This is a picture, I do not recommend buying 6, you only need one bottle:
also if you get a bottle of dope thinner, it will help. This stuff smells horrible, only use it in a well ventilated area.
Brushes: I buy cheap small disposable brushes in quantity form hobby stores to brush on dope, then I toss the brushes it is too hard to clean them.
Now some links to really cool model vendors:
my favorite, they carry lots of reproduction "old time" kits, very vintage
one of the best "have it all" shops on the net
makes some very easy to build, good flying planes
good supplier and info source
page of plans from vintage magazies, also some great articles
collection of vintage model magazine articles
I got email form her dad, who liked the knife we got him for his birthday. YAY!
Oh, and I totally flipped out and ordered the digital camera I have been hemming and hawing about. It should be here soon.
Hmmm, what else happened in our little town?
I'm incredibly numb? My skin is wierd, I cannot feel my fingertips, and typing is a huge PITA.
Chris shot photos of the Monday Night Ride. Where I look goofy, but had fun
and my pal Flash is in town tonight, we'll go for dinner.
thats all the news for now.
oh, I sent a cool email to a pal here who wants to get into building stick and tissue model airplanes, the info is too good to sit on. if you want to builld stick and tissue planes, here is a ton of info. I can't at the moment, cause my fingers are too numb, and I fear cutting myself.
In no particular order, here is an incredible amount of information on model airplanes. I will try to have links too.
First is the kits:
This is a great beginner series, they used to market all 4 planes in a single box. the big advantage is you build them in order, and they teach you different skills needed to build other planes.
I would not buy the first one, "goldwing" it is a simple glider,
but the "Cadet" will teach you about stick & tissue framework and basic covering skills
the third kit, "cloudbuster" teaches about covering on both sides
the fourth kit "flyboy" is an actual plane and allows you to practice all skills
After building these 3 kits, I recommend the "Javelin" it is the first model I ever built with my father, and is easy to build, and flies very well.
After building all these, you will be ready for more advanced planes, I will give links to good vendors in a bit.
Supplies: You will need some special supplies to build. I recommend starting small, and moving up.
Most of these are available at Michaels Arts & Crafts
Xacto Knife, with box of spare #11 blades. You will need lots of fresh blades to cut the balsa and tissue. I use them as a disposable item
Building Board: you need a board to lay the model out on, and you need to be able to stick pins in it. Many companies sell premade boards, I would go to Michaels and buy a cork bulletin board, they are cheaper, and work just as well. It should be at least 24 inches wide.
Wax Paper: from grocery store, you lay your plans on the building board, then put wax papaer over them, this lets you build on the wax paper, and the glue will not stick to it.
Straight Pins: from any shop, to hold the wood in place
Glue: I use plain elmers white glue, I tend to thin it 50/50 with water. You can also buy "Ambroid" tm cement, it works well
Stick Glue: any brand of glue stick, you will use this to stick the tissue to the framework you build
Dope: Avaialbel at Michaels, you want a bottle of Pactra Clear Model Dope. This is a picture, I do not recommend buying 6, you only need one bottle:
also if you get a bottle of dope thinner, it will help. This stuff smells horrible, only use it in a well ventilated area.
Brushes: I buy cheap small disposable brushes in quantity form hobby stores to brush on dope, then I toss the brushes it is too hard to clean them.
Now some links to really cool model vendors:
my favorite, they carry lots of reproduction "old time" kits, very vintage
one of the best "have it all" shops on the net
makes some very easy to build, good flying planes
good supplier and info source
page of plans from vintage magazies, also some great articles
collection of vintage model magazine articles
# posted by cstatman : 1:35 PM
