Solved How hard is cutting out the parts for a speedbuild kit instead of buying the kit?

[GreaterAviation]

I wanted to build the P40 but it's a bit too expensive for me. I can buy the powerpack and battery though.
Has anyone drew the planes on foamboard and then cut them out without a laser? Like with a knife. And also how should I make the cavities? And how should I print out the plans to scale when my printer only prints 11'' by 9'' or something like that? Thanks for your time.

 

[mackaiver]

I wanted to build the P40 but it's a bit too expensive for me. I can buy the powerpack and battery though.
Has anyone drew the planes on foam board and then cut them out without a laser? Like with a knife. And also how should I make the cavities? And how should I print out the plans to scale when my printer only prints 11'' by 9'' or something like that? Thanks for your time.

i cut out the tiled free plans they give on the article at the bottom of the build video, i cut them out the trace them on the foam board and that hasen't failed me yet.
see for your self
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.p...190-z-17-mini-me-609-mini-ho-229.65614/page-2

 

[mackaiver]

I wanted to build the P40 but it's a bit too expensive for me. I can buy the powerpack and battery though.
Has anyone drew the planes on foamboard and then cut them out without a laser? Like with a knife. And also how should I make the cavities? And how should I print out the plans to scale when my printer only prints 11'' by 9'' or something like that? Thanks for your time.

also the plans might differ a little from the build video just because they use the kit and in producing it they have to change, but otherwise it is just as easy as following the video

 

[PsyBorg]

This is how I did my Edge 540 from the free plans using 8.5 x 11 printed plans. Documented it all from start to failed maiden.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/psyborgs-edge-540-build-log.54757/

 

[mackaiver]

Most of the time you want the tiled plans, so you can print them at home, but some community plans you have to go to places like Office Depot and get them printed.

 

[Ketchup]

Most of the time you want the tiled plans, so you can print them at home, but some community plans you have to go to places like Office Depot and get them printed.

Actually you can tile stuff in adobe acrobat apparently. I personally import into doublecad and it tiles for me, but that is just personal preference.

 

[Ketchup]

For me, I print tiled plans and cut/tape everything together. Then I lay the plans over the foam and pin them down. After that I use a pin to make holes around the plans in the correct places (where lines meet and stuff). For curves I just make a bunch of pin holes right next to each other going around the curve. After this I can use a ruler and pencil with the plans as a reference to just connect the dots. I don't pencil over the curves though, I just follow the pinholes with a knife.

 

[mackaiver]

Same here, only I trace the plans while holding them down with my hand. But the pin idea is great.
Then I just cut all the lines and the curves with an x-acto blade.

 

[GreaterAviation]

Ok, thank you! But some plans have cavities, how do I cut those? Do I remove the paper from a strip and then dig the foam out?

 

[Merv]

Ok, thank you! But some plans have cavities, how do I cut those? Do I remove the paper from a strip and then dig the foam out?

Yes there are some areas that the foam needs to be dug out. For A & B folds, it faster to fold it backwards, then press the foam off.

 

[Timmy]

Ok, thank you! But some plans have cavities, how do I cut those? Do I remove the paper from a strip and then dig the foam out?

It shows you in the build video too.

 

[mackaiver]

any idea on a plane to desgin before i tackle the FW-283.
something to do that will help me get to the FW-283

 

[whackflyer]

I wanted to build the P40 but it's a bit too expensive for me. I can buy the powerpack and battery though.
Has anyone drew the planes on foamboard and then cut them out without a laser? Like with a knife. And also how should I make the cavities? And how should I print out the plans to scale when my printer only prints 11'' by 9'' or something like that? Thanks for your time.

All the time. I've had one speed build kit out of countless planes I've built.

 

[GreaterAviation]

any idea on a plane to desgin before i tackle the FW-283.
something to do that will help me get to the FW-283

I mean the fw-283 looks like a me-262 and a rocket hybrid. Maybe building the me-262 might help.

 

[Ryan O.]

I find it takes twice as long for printing and cutting, but once you have a set made each build only takes about 1.7 times longer. It saves quite a lot of money, and after you get used to it you can start designs and modifications. On most ft planes some razor blade work is required, so it's worth getting some practice with scratch builds.
Basically, it's not too difficult if you chose the right plane. The FT Ugly Stick, or The Hangar's Ugly Stick are probably the fastest to cut out because they are mostly straight lines woth very few curves.
Oh yeah, having a sharp blade makes it much easier to cut parts out.

 

[Ryan O.]

any idea on a plane to desgin before i tackle the FW-283.
something to do that will help me get to the FW-283

What have you designed before? For a first ever design, there are some 1930's French Warbirds that are very boxy with simple wings. After that perhaps you could do a HE-162 for the duct shape, or just jump straight to the FW283, depends on how confident you are. I would probably recommend building either a community mini Master series planes, or one of Flite Test's to get used to making the curves on small surfaces.
An example of an easy first design to do oragami style (Deotwine D500)

HE-162, some of the techniques for this may be helpful on the FW283, like the engine, 2 piece stabilizer, and nose

FT Mini Zero https://store.flitetest.com/flite-t...electric-airplane-kit-762mm-flt-1171/p1275012
Grifflyer's mini Spitfire https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/mini-master-series-spitfire.123/

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

Its easy once you have had some practice

 

[danskis]

A compromise would be to put the plans on a memory stick and have a print shop print them full size saves time and is more accurate

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

I have still got a plan for every FT model I have ever built, they are in the same condition as the day I printed them off. I even have the tracings for 90% of the models too. which means I can transfer a plan from tracing to foamboard and be cutting it out in about an hour.
Ive built about 6 Tiny trainers so the tracing wore out for that model, it needs to be re-traced again from the original plan.
If you use a sharp enough pencil and a ruler to copy the plan to the tracing paper, its pretty damn accurate. My models are a testament to that by virtue of how well they go together.

So getting someone to print a full size plan isnt really needed. I suppose you could compare the cost of printing full size plan aginst my cost for A4 paper, printer ink and sellotape for joining the sheets together ? but then there is petrol cost travelling to the printers as well to add on ?
Even with full size plans I would still trace the image and transfer it to the foam board, as I do now. Just so I could preserve the integrity of the plan for future use.
As for assembling plans from multiple A4 sheets. I work 6 consecutive 12 hour night shifts with 3 off inbetween. I have loads of spare time for assembling plans at work during quiet spells, in the wee small hours its something to do

 

[Ryan O.]

A compromise would be to put the plans on a memory stick and have a print shop print them full size saves time and is more accurate

At one point I thought of making the FT giant Cruiser from the 400th episode a while back, but I decided not to since the place nearby had closed.