printing out plans at staples or fedex

aryanne

New member
so i have a question when i use the online upload it doesn't seem that the plans scale right unless i move it up to the biggest size is this right? i dont want to pay 14 bucks just for printing. example when doing 24x36 these are the plans for the FT duster : oDhsRcd.png muFOzsN.png and i followed these instructions here https://www.flitetest.com/articles/printing-flite-test-plans so anybody can help with it. i really want to start building my first plane. i got all the electronics(except one servo i need) but need an air frame to put them in.

thank you
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Yeah, they do usually need to be printed on the big size.

If you need convincing that it's worth the money, just do the 8.5x11 prints of something big and tape them all together once. If that doesn't drive you crazy, you can save the extra $$ :)
 

FredOfMBOX

New member
Unfortunately, large format printers cost a lot of money and have little demand, which drives up the price for the people who do need them.

@rockyboy is right: print the "tiled" plans on 8.5"x11" paper on your home printer, tape them together, and then tape them to foam board. It's a lot of work, but will save you a lot of money.
 

skymaster

Elite member
there is an easier way to do the plans i will have take some pictures and show you guys how i have been doing it. you might like it or not.
but i will share it with you guys. and all you need is a regular laser printer and a few special paper sheets .
 

skymaster

Elite member
Here is an idea for you, and this is how i do my scratch build. I use a plastic sheet and an overhead projector to project the image onto a wall and then copy straight to the foam board. the further you move the projector away from the wall the greater your scale will be. I did this to the mini arrow and scaled it to 200%. maybe even take a picture of with your phone and use a movie projector and projected to the wall .
it works for me. w
What do you guys think?
 

stvrob_63

New member
Here is an idea for you, and this is how i do my scratch build. I use a plastic sheet and an overhead projector to project the image onto a wall and then copy straight to the foam board. the further you move the projector away from the wall the greater your scale will be. I did this to the mini arrow and scaled it to 200%. maybe even take a picture of with your phone and use a movie projector and projected to the wall .
it works for me. w
What do you guys think?

Very ingenious!. Do make certain there are no distortions. You might want to project a test pattern to see if there is a difference in scaling between the center and the edges of the image. (like an air photo)
 

skymaster

Elite member
yes you are right stvrob_63 i did have that problem at first. but trial and error is the key . i found out that if you have a scaling ruler like they have on the plans at flite test. there is no problem all you have to do is take a ruler and measure, and if you have at the starting the correct measure but then it gets shorter or longer. just twinst the projector to align and walla you are set. saves alot of time and paper.
currently i have an old movie projector and trying to take a picture of the plans with a phone and projected to the wall with the movie projector. what do u think?