Balsa-EZ Part 2: construction begins!

[H]

What's really time consuming about this is the design work. You're never sure you've designed a part correctly until you fit it in place, and fit all adjoining parts to it. That's part of the fun though.

The same when I decided to make retractable landing gear on a model that only included glued-in-place ones (plastic modeling but much of the ad-lib work is similar). I put a length of the plastic tree into the drill chuck and shaped/sized its diameter with a file (for the strutwork). The Corsair(F4U) was more difficult  because its struts not only had to fit in a shorter space when retracted but turn to the side, as well, and even 1/48th scale is limiting.
Found anything for your canopy yet?

[TacitBlue]

Not really. I have looked at some generic canopies on the Tower hobbies website that I might be able to cut-to-size, but I don't know yet.

retractable gear- chucking the pieces in the drill is a cool idea, sort of like a mini-lathe. I'm thinking about making a removable nose gear for my plane, because I haven't decided if I want to hang it for display, or put it on a shelf. The large wingspan will probably dictate its placement.

[H]

I prefered retractable landing gear so that I could occasionally change scenery and I never liked the "unnatural" mounted-on-a-pedestal effect; in addition to realism, being retractable rather than removable meant the landing gear weren't apt to go missing.
I also cut out and made the ailerons, elevators and rudders movable on some. I found making plastic hingepins rather delicate for 1/48th scale. Utilizing wire or metal pins (melted in) were sturdier. That method should work even better with wood since one wouldn't have to do the 'melting' part. However, since you're working with wood, if you're working with a larger scale then another thing I tried (not so effectively with plastic) was wooden matchsticks. If they're not shaved down much (just enough to smooth them) they remain quite sturdy.
BTW, perchance you haven't tried them:
www.americanpioneerhobbies.com
http://www.hobbypeople.net/mfr/mdlprt01.asp
If you can find the base material, an article on making your own canopy:
http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe ... i_n9430401

[TacitBlue]

Thanks for the links, I have a feeling that  I will end up having to make my own. Thats all right though, it's all part of the challenge.

[TacitBlue]

Hi H (and anyone interested), I did a little search of my own and came up with this article on building a vacuum former- http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=404 -looks like I have a little side project.