OfficeWorks-Ready Full size Print Files (For Australians)

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
First Post here, HI! so i live in Australia and just started this hobby. apart from the expensive foam, i have also found it hard to find a cheap custom printing place to get the full size plans printed at .I finally had my first Crash-free flight today with my mini sparrow (yay!!). Anyway after all the help this forum has given me i thought id give something back to celebrate this historic occasion. I Decided to get my plans printed at Officeworks to save myself some time, but Officeworks does not support custom size prints (only A ands B sizes). The only size print that would comfortably fit the FT plans was the B1 size (1000mm x 707mm). The files need to be exactly those dimensions in order to upload them, so i opened a plan in photoshop and added the remaining area around the plans so that they would fit. long story short, i went and converted Almost EVERY plane in the FT Collection. A b1 size print costs about $3.50 (B&W, 80gsm) and the mini plans usually use 2 -3 pages and the standard plans use anyware from 4-9 pages so it will cost a bit but it saves so much time that i think its worth the money. NOTE: The Tiny trainer plan was the older version (Taller and wider than the new ones) so i just joined all the tiles up and split it into an A0 size Print and an A2 size print (to save you some $$)

Disclaimer, i havent tested EVERY plan but i ordered 4 of them and the scale is dead on and they all were the same size. Definitely Check that i didn't miss a page (it got pretty repetitive so could have slipped up)

Also shipping to regional areas costs $25 per order if in-store pickup isn't an option so get as many plans done in one order to make it worthwhile :)

LINK https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HEGyjyAaQNMOjv-E3CLmGPUE4Su75c5S?usp=sharing

Anyway apologies for Rambling, if anyone needs a plan i havent done please let me know and i'll happily help you out or if the link doesnt work/isnt allowed on this forum. Cheers

IMPORTANT: all plans except tiny trainer are for B1 size prints.

PS: i probably could have made the pdfs smaller (compressed) but i was too scared to risk it haha
Screen Shot 2019-05-06 at 9.01.47 pm.jpg
 
Last edited:

jgrouse

Junior Member
Just a heads up for anyone in Australia who wants to get the foam board laser cut rather than print the plans and use them to manually slice the foam, I've now got a laser that can do up to 1200x800mm foam board. The laser can also engrave the paper surface for note/markings without cutting through. Should save on the cost of importing the pre-cut kits from the US. The Officeworks foam boards are cheapish but I'm sure we can find a cheaper supplier of an appropriate board in AU? I live in the Blue Mountains so this may work out well for the Nepean RC club who only fly electric. PM me if you are interested in getting any of the plans cut to save some construction time or need replacement parts in a hurry? Just going to charge for the materials and $25AUD per kit. If FT want a cut of any profits then that amount may go up. We'll see what they say.
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Just a heads up for anyone in Australia who wants to get the foam board laser cut rather than print the plans and use them to manually slice the foam, I've now got a laser that can do up to 1200x800mm foam board. The laser can also engrave the paper surface for note/markings without cutting through. Should save on the cost of importing the pre-cut kits from the US. The Officeworks foam boards are cheapish but I'm sure we can find a cheaper supplier of an appropriate board in AU? I live in the Blue Mountains so this may work out well for the Nepean RC club who only fly electric. PM me if you are interested in getting any of the plans cut to save some construction time or need replacement parts in a hurry? Just going to charge for the materials and $25AUD per kit. If FT want a cut of any profits then that amount may go up. We'll see what they say.
Awesome, I've found that the cheapest foam I could get was actually from the Flite test store. I think foamboard Australia sold A1 sheets for $9 which is a little bigger than the ft stuff but is heavier and they use couriers which are fine for metro areas where they deliver direct to your door, but I live in a regional area and it took a good week to even track it down (they just leave it somewhere in 5he nearest town. Flite test FB comes via auspost and only ends up costing $6.40 a sheet or something with shipping and it's better! Just out of curiosity, what price range are those laser cutters?
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member

bluejets

New member
Awesome, I've found that the cheapest foam I could get was actually from the Flite test store. I think foamboard Australia sold A1 sheets for $9 which is a little bigger than the ft stuff but is heavier and they use couriers which are fine for metro areas where they deliver direct to your door, but I live in a regional area and it took a good week to even track it down (they just leave it somewhere in 5he nearest town. Flite test FB comes via auspost and only ends up costing $6.40 a sheet or something with shipping and it's better! Just out of curiosity, what price range are those laser cutters?

Have been looking all over for this board and finally found this site.
Can you give some detail on your flite test fb..... like where you get it and how etc..??
 

bluejets

New member
First Post here, HI! so i live in Australia and just started this hobby. apart from the expensive foam, i have also found it hard to find a cheap custom printing place to get the full size plans printed at .I finally had my first Crash-free flight today with my mini sparrow (yay!!). Anyway after all the help this forum has given me i thought id give something back to celebrate this historic occasion. I Decided to get my plans printed at Officeworks to save myself some time, but Officeworks does not support custom size prints (only A ands B sizes). The only size print that would comfortably fit the FT plans was the B1 size (1000mm x 707mm). The files need to be exactly those dimensions in order to upload them, so i opened a plan in photoshop and added the remaining area around the plans so that they would fit. long story short, i went and converted Almost EVERY plane in the FT Collection. A b1 size print costs about $3.50 (B&W, 80gsm) and the mini plans usually use 2 -3 pages and the standard plans use anyware from 4-9 pages so it will cost a bit but it saves so much time that i think its worth the money. NOTE: The Tiny trainer plan was the older version (Taller and wider than the new ones) so i just joined all the tiles up and split it into an A0 size Print and an A2 size print (to save you some $$)

Disclaimer, i havent tested EVERY plan but i ordered 4 of them and the scale is dead on and they all were the same size. Definitely Check that i didn't miss a page (it got pretty repetitive so could have slipped up)

Also shipping to regional areas costs $25 per order if in-store pickup isn't an option so get as many plans done in one order to make it worthwhile :)

LINK https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HEGyjyAaQNMOjv-E3CLmGPUE4Su75c5S?usp=sharing

Anyway apologies for Rambling, if anyone needs a plan i havent done please let me know and i'll happily help you out or if the link doesnt work/isnt allowed on this forum. Cheers

IMPORTANT: all plans except tiny trainer are for B1 size prints.

PS: i probably could have made the pdfs smaller (compressed) but i was too scared to risk it haha View attachment 130588
Don't know if we are doing it correctly, but downloading any of your pdf's take forever and even then, difficult to know where they went and how to simply get a copy on our pc.
Any help appreciated.
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Don't know if we are doing it correctly, but downloading any of your pdf's take forever and even then, difficult to know where they went and how to simply get a copy on our pc.
Any help appreciated.
I did upload them at full size, (uncompressed) so that may be why it is taking a while, although I don't think any of the files are over 15mb per file. As for the downloading, as long as you are using the download button in the top right of the page (when you have the file open), it should go to your downloads folder. Which designs were you interested in, I might be able to upload them here for you directly? As for the foamboard, I buy it throu the Flite test online store
https://store.flitetest.com/flite-test-waterresistant-foam-board-by-adams-25-pack-flt-2050/p674259.
Best of luck
 

bluejets

New member
Each file is something like 350 meg. so something amiss there.
Cannot see any download button on the right hand top.
As far as sheeting goes, your link says it's out of stock.
 

Attachments

  • GoogleDrive.jpg
    GoogleDrive.jpg
    132.8 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Each file is something like 350 meg. so something amiss there.
Cannot see any download button on the right hand top.
As far as sheeting goes, your link says it's out of stock.
Whoa, 350mb? I would have run out of data uploading them haha. I think you might be looking at the size of the folder? I looked at the sportster files and they were only just over 5mb each and most are only 15-20mb each. Try right clicking the files and a list should open up with 'download file' (or something similar) as an option. As for the foam, They regularly run out of stock, you can still order it and they will ship it when they restock ( usually a week or two)
Screenshot_20191219-195546~2.png
 

bluejets

New member
Whoa, 350mb? I would have run out of data uploading them haha. I think you might be looking at the size of the folder? I looked at the sportster files and they were only just over 5mb each and most are only 15-20mb each. Try right clicking the files and a list should open up with 'download file' (or something similar) as an option. As for the foam, They regularly run out of stock, you can still order it and they will ship it when they restock ( usually a week or two)

Yes, tried your method to download and a window pops up down the lower RHS and it says, zipping file, but it hardly moves after 10 minutes waiting either.
Tried opening the file and downloading by right click on each and that was ehere the 350meg per file originated.
Something amiss somewhere.
Download is not a new thing for me but this "Google Drive" monster is a right PIA.

So if you get from the States, where does the $6.50 a sheet you quoted above come in?
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Yes, tried your method to download and a window pops up down the lower RHS and it says, zipping file, but it hardly moves after 10 minutes waiting either.
Tried opening the file and downloading by right click on each and that was ehere the 350meg per file originated.
Something amiss somewhere.
Download is not a new thing for me but this "Google Drive" monster is a right PIA.

So if you get from the States, where does the $6.50 a sheet you quoted above come in?
At the time of purchase, it was $50 USD for 25 sheets. Postage was $61usd so $111 USD Total=$161 AUD. So 161/25= $6.44 per sheet. It is now $58 but assuming postage hasn't changed it's still only $6.88 per sheet.
 

bluejets

New member
Ah..ok...thanks.

Found some mob in Mt Gravat and their price for similar (paper 2 sides) was up around the AU$220 mark for 25 sheets plus $35.00 for delivery so your suggestion is way below that.
Good one.

Also, revisited the Google Drive thingo and went to your plans for the Simple Cub, opened that and it was, as you said, around 15 meg.
Went back then to the "explorer" and did the same but it definetely says 385 meg per sheet.
Something amiss there.
 
Last edited:

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Ok
Ah..ok...thanks.

Found some mob in Mt Gravat and their price for similar (paper 2 sides) was up around the AU$220 mark for 25 sheets plus $35.00 for delivery so your suggestion is way below that.
Good one.

Also, revisited the Google Drive thingo and went to your plans for the Simple Cub, opened that and it was, as you said, around 15 meg.
Went back then to the "explorer" and did the same but it definetely says 385 meg per sheet.
Something amiss there.
Ok Thanks I'll check it out
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Yeah your right it is ridiculously large, I wonder why that was. Oh well I'll redo it and upload it at a smaller size
 

bluejets

New member
Smaller explorer files are up. If you run into any more let me know
Yes, just saw it, thanks.
Asked about their new "maker foam" and they replied they are currently working on a video.
Imagine the freight would not be all that much extra for double the amount.
Just need to see how this "folded" arrangement affects things.
 

bluejets

New member
Awesome, I've found that the cheapest foam I could get was actually from the Flite test store. I think foamboard Australia sold A1 sheets for $9 which is a little bigger than the ft stuff but is heavier and they use couriers which are fine for metro areas where they deliver direct to your door, but I live in a regional area and it took a good week to even track it down (they just leave it somewhere in 5he nearest town. Flite test FB comes via auspost and only ends up costing $6.40 a sheet or something with shipping and it's better! Just out of curiosity, what price range are those laser cutters?

Been thinking of getting a pack.
No problems with post etc..??
In the international shipping section they mention destination country taxes etc not in the price at checkout.
Did you find you had to pay any extra or did Paypal just add the 10% gst..?
 

duckduckgoose

Well-known member
Been thinking of getting a pack.
No problems with post etc..??
In the international shipping section they mention destination country taxes etc not in the price at checkout.
Did you find you had to pay any extra or did Paypal just add the 10% gst..?
Not sure, it came through auspost and there didnt seem to be any extra costs, although maybe I need to check.