Papercraft - Trying a new source of inspiration

[hunterdave99]

That's exactly how I did it it for my P40 many moons ago. Started me down the paper skins path. Fiddlers Green is awesome! View attachment 221101

That looks nice! I like how good your canopy came out. That was the part I struggled with the most. That and the wing fairing. I should have cut it out as a separate piece.
This technique is addicting. I have about a hundred planes in my mind I would like to try this with.

 

[Scotto]

Yes the vinyl sticker is a home printing thing. A 55 pack of 8.5x11 is $21 on Amazon.
First practice with plain/scratch paper until you get the print settings correct.
I imported the plans into Inkscape.
In Inkscape, you have to designate the page size for a PDF export.
I created an 1000mm page height and then sized the plans until the wingspan matched the height of the paper.
I then duplicated the plans about 8-10 times in the Inkscape work area.
This allowed me to cut out each piece individually.
I then created a standard size (8.5x11) PDF page and drug all the smaller pieces onto it.
The smaller stuff that I could fit fit onto 1 page was easy.
Slightly large stuff (2 pages) I cut myself that way I could control where the seam was.
For the the fuselage (10 sheets) and wing (12 sheets), I created a PDF that was just large enough to fit them on and then exported them.
There are several YouTube videos on how to do this with plane plans.
Once printed and placed onto the DTFB, I gave them 2 light coats of clear spray enamel.
The vinyl stickers are supposed to be waterproof but I wanted a little extra insurance.
Another option would be to size it to match a commercially available plane that way you may be able to their use parts for that.
The fuselage is pretty strong as is from the folding technique so I didn't add any internal formers and I am still a fairly new/gentle flyer.
If you want to go crazy with it, you can add a few formers in there. The wing is stout with the spars I created.
View attachment 221105
Still trying to get the maiden in as it has been quite windy here at Vandenberg SFB lately

Many thanks. Ive had my eye on their SBD Dauntless and P6E Hawk for a while. Its good to know multiple people have had success scaling up. Did you put the vinyl on the paper or did you peel the paper from both sides first? Good luck on the maiden flight!

 

[hunterdave99]

Many thanks. Ive had my eye on their SBD Dauntless and P6E Hawk for a while. Its good to know multiple people have had success scaling up. Did you put the vinyl on the paper or did you peel the paper from both sides first? Good luck on the maiden flight!

I placed the vinyl right over the paper. It acts like a tough outer shell. I peeled the inside paper to help with shaping.

 

[hunterdave99]

Maiden on the BF-109 went OK. Was able to fly 3 times on Saturday as we had a good window with only moderate winds.
Have to be very careful on takeoff by easing in the throttle and holding some up elevator to keep it from wanting to nose over on takeoff roll.
I may position the main landing gear a little further forward to counter this.
Still trying to get the CG right.
It is lightweight and could definitely feel the wind. Kicked on the HobbyEagle A3 Pro V2 in low gain and it helped a good bit.
Controls seemed adequate for mid level speeds.
The main issue is slow flight. Once I get below a certain airspeed, I really start to lose control.
This made for some sketchy landings. The first one went into some tall weeds, the other 2 I had to come in pretty hot.
That exposed a couple more weaknesses: first the landing gear was too flimsy and bent too easily; second the wing needs to be attached a little better than just hot glue as it loosened up a little on the last landing. I will work on a better connection.
I was expecting a better slow speed performance.
It is still a work in progress

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Holy cow! I was just thinking about doing this. I just printed out a 300% 757. Going to try that with some EDFs.