How To Build a Balsa Airplane Fuselage | Balsa Basics Series

[@Ellesmere888]

I am 60 years old and glad to see a young man keeping this craft alive. Built many of these as a young teenager and loved the process and experience. My first was a Hawker Hurricane. He is correct about the glue - use it sparingly and clean up the excess with a scrap piece of balsa. Pin the joints as much as you can while the glue sets, even on the stringers, to insure a good bond. In my day the pieces were dye-cut rather than laser cut. Have fun doing this and thanks !

[@sebastianmarconi2855]

Thanks for keeping this beautiful tradition alive! We need more young people (like me) involved with this hobby. I'm currently working on a rubber powered Stinson Voyager. Good regards to the USA!

[@JanHenk-k1b]

Im planning on making my own balsa wood plane, likely based on the Fokker E.3 because of its simple design, and this gave me alot of insight on construction, types of components etc.

[@mariusberger3297]

Building balsa airplanes is a magical experience, currently building the West Wings Hawker Hart

[@johndublyoo2553]

Oh the reief of laser cut parts, I'm 75 now and in my youth everything had to be cut from printed sheets of balsa and was part of the fun of the build. Of course if you were building from a plan only you had to trace out the components too, kept me out of mischief for hours on end.

[@angelreading5098]

Very nicely presented James,and thank you for calling it an aeroplane,you are a credit to VMC.

[@richardbriggs5834]

Skipping my stumbling block was disappointing. Securing the 1st half of the fusalge while putting the 2nd half of formers on place. Keeping it stable is what I'd like to know. Good stuff too though

[@danhollatz5944]

Now try to cut out the templates, transfer them to balsa sheets, and cut them out, sorry im totally old school. I've been building models for over 50 years. Its the most amazing relaxing hobby ever.

[@johnmel2234]

what is the best glue to use on balsawood model?

[@fpeco80]

Good job Great 👍

[@vivcross2158]

lovely wee video, but no advice on what glue to use?

[@w3vjp568]

As a kid, all the kits I built were die-cut. More accurately, they were die-crunched. Laser cutting has brought a level of precision we could only dream of back then. Fitment and precision are 50X better with today's kits, not to mention the ease of removing parts from the sheets. I just wish they could figure out how to cut without leaving char!

[@greensocks4507]

Is that a cork foundation your building it on and, what do you have as a transparent covering please, over the plan. I'm a real life pilot who doesn't fly any more. Thanks in advance.

[@OldManse09]

What about basics? Which adhesive? Pins? Building board? Thanks.

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Like that SE5 a. Love WW1 warbirds. Hope you make some more like the Sopwith Camel, Dr 1 and the Fokker Eindecker

[@bobgreen3116]

What kind of building board do I need?

[@JessicaSimonson1976]

What glue do you recommend? The glue I bout was a modelers cement....after I broke the seal it wouldn't stop coming out of the tube. What a mess!....My fuselage stuck to it trying to remove it broke balsa in several spots......Yikes! I am going to try, and repair it tomorrow after I buy a liquid type Super Glue.

[@stevelizpeters4346]

What are using to cover the plans?

[@kevinchamberlain7928]

Excellent video thanks! Some glue AFTER assembly whereas you glue as you go. Are there pros and cons, please?

[@milesromanus7041]

How can I get these drawings? I'm trying to make a Ki-109 which is a lesser known plane, and I think I have to do the drawings myself

[@TailEndCharlie-fi9gd]

yeah probably....share your progress!!

[@milesromanus7041]

@@TailEndCharlie-fi9gd I've since bought a kit for a Ju-87 Stuka and am working on it. Maybe I will post something once progress is made

[@TailEndCharlie-fi9gd]

@@milesromanus7041 nice mate!! Please do!

[@johngormley2192]

Is there a video on covering? Mine never looks good.

[@stevezvada313]

Hello...Love your videos and products. Do you have a video that explains how to cover a traditional balsa fuselage using film instead of tissue?

[@dewexdewex]

How have you hidden the burnt edges of the parts so that they don't show through the tissue for your show models? Do you spray them before assembly?

[@mathewclutterbuck1593]

Plz tell people to put greaseproof paper on plans to stop gluing plane to plans

[@elijahf111]

o yea i forgot you were doing this, i saw it on Instagram the other day but didn't know it was you

[@michaelhager9889]

A lot of sanding and filling the gaps with the old kits. The laser cut looks a lot cleaner.

[@nja3224]

I’m building a Guillows 109 and having trouble with stringer placement. I made one mistake, same on both sides, so while wrong, it’s asymmetrical and is really undiscoverable so no big deal, no impact whatsoever to the looks or build. I did make another mistake, still no big deal but the diagram alone is not enough for me to know certain things. Forget written instructions, there aren’t really, but it did say “some of the L parts have to be positioned before gluing stringers, but it doesn’t say which L parts. I came to KZbin hoping to find some guidance, still looking. I’m about to do my own thing. It’s not going to be flown, so I have no concerns. I just needed to vent. BTW, I like the idea of building the fuselage in half’s, stringers and all. My instructions said otherwise, and I followed it but in retrospect, I would have preferred the way you did yours.

[@williamkoppos7039]

Maybe you should tell beginners what kind of glue you're using...

[@vivcross2158]

My thoughts entirely . . . lovely wee video, but no advice on what glue to use?

[@airliners321]

Do you offer the laser cutting plans separately?

[@jack002tuber]

what glue do you use?

[@MCsCreations]

That's really, really nice! 😃 But I have a doubt... You put a brushless motor on models like this? 😮

[@angelreading5098]

Yes and why not ? I have several with brushless motors and micro radio gear that fly well on a 1S battery.

[@MCsCreations]

@@angelreading5098 Fantastic! 😃

[@karlhutson8821]

i have been building balsa wood models for years and have converted several into rc planes

[@larrywhalen596]

MC's Creations: One way I've managed to "shoehorn" an RC system into small models such as these is by buying one of the small, economical, mini helicopters or fixed wing planes for $12.00 to $35.00 and then using the RC gear and motor(s) from it to install in my project. The only problem I've had so far was when I used the motor from a 'micro-heli' that did not have enough power for the plane I had built - well it did 'fly' but could not gain any altitude to speak of; so to my way of thinking go with the 'larger' mini-size setup rather than the micro-size, unless you are flying something like an indoor Penny plane or something which weighs next to nothing. Also, there is a You Tube video which details how to do this which I came across about a week ago - so for anyone interested it's there for the viewing and was well done.

[@MCsCreations]

@@larrywhalen596 Nice! Thanks! 😃 Do you know about FliteTest? It's fantastic!!!

[@garymurphy5133]

2hrs! Can I ask what glue you was using? I thought it was PVA. thanks

[@vintagemodelco7936]

Yep! PVA. You can use cyano glues too, but PVA works just fine for most components.

[@noahstuddert-kennedy1281]

Looks awesome

[@datgio4951]

damn brother, I didn’t expect someone of almost the same age to be into plane like this. cool!

[@OsceolaLongBeard]

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the glue

[@JANDLWOODWORKING]

I so need to get one to build! are they sold in Canada?

[@thercproject9309]

James Bussing yes of course just go to your local hobby shop and look for guillows kits

[@JANDLWOODWORKING]

@@thercproject9309 thanks!!!

[@vintagemodelco7936]

Hi James, we ship our VMC model kits around the world at great rates, and you can sometimes find them in local hobby shops. They are not, however, the same as Guillows kits. This is the model featured in this video. Hope that helps! :) www.vintagemodelcompany.com/messerschmitt-me-109.html

[@oliverw782]

@@thercproject9309 they aren't guillows kits. Those are much heavier

[@angelreading5098]

And Guillows kits you need to hand cut lots of tedious parts,VMC are modern laser cut and I have to say better quality balsa wood too.

[@padualnickorafael4387]

Hey. Can i have a copy of that buleprint. For Shool project purpose only

[@ts0719]

21century RC air plane is still Wood

[@orbitalair2103]

theres nothing like building old school balsa. you should try it. BTW all, outerzone.co.uk has thousands and thousands of plans you can download.

[@ts0719]

@@orbitalair2103 Someday, high-tech materials will be available.

[@zefkosta]

@@ts0719 balsa is high-tech, I've been using it as a core, besides Airex, for sandwich carbon fiber composites.

[@zefkosta]

@@ts0719 God's work is the most hight-tech you can find.

[@ridermarque]

global pandemic brought me here :)

[@billhennessy5118]

A bit disappointing I wanted to know form this video on how to keep the formers straight. It looks like by this video you do it by eye which never works for me. Seem to have much more trouble on the 2'nd half than the first.

[@aeromodeller1]

Wing build is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGmQnomHm8pmhtk

[@vipinchauhan7338]

💖👈👍.. Great

[@johnhelton457]

Woodglut scripts contain most of the woodworking plans you can find.

[@tamaratamrot2681]

Woodglut plans are amazing!

[@kill3rb0tt]

what's the glue your using?