Keil Kraft Gypsy Build Series - Pt 1: Epic Fail! - 1949 Design by Bill dean

[@Antonnick]

You recall a couple of years ago, a chinese firm bought out the entire production of balsa from Ecuador for the production of the paddles for wind turbines such that we in europe got no supplies at all. What was available was only the very hard heavy variety, most unsuitable for flying models. It would seem likely that your kit example was a victim of this situation.

[@Glenfilthie1]

Two years ago I fulfilled a childhood dream to build my own RC plane from plans. I did an Ugly Stik, carefully following along your videos. I finally got round to flying it two weeks ago... and it flew beautifully. Thank you so much for these vids, Mark.

[@MarkRobinson555]

Excellent, really pleased to hear that your build went well and flew beautifully, thanks for letting me know, well done 👍

[@sheeeene7]

I've built a Keil Kraft Mini Super and now have a Chief glider to build. Much better than a box on the shelf! Mine are originals.

[@chriskeithb]

Last year while visiting the UK I saw the RipMax Keil Kraft Dolphin in a couple of model shops. I was tempted to buy it and take it home with me to New Zealand. In the end, I decided not to as I was worried it would get damaged on our luggage. When I got back, I downloaded the plans for it from Outerzone and built it from scratch. It glides beautifully. After hearing your experience with the kit, I'm glad I didn't buy it.

[@jeremyrichards8327]

I built one 35 odd years ago.Re covered the tissue on the fuselage and you have reminded me the wing needs doing. Lovely flyer and needs 12 yards of rubber then 800 turns ha ha.Keep hold of that prop. Throw all the wood away and scratch build another with the correct wingspan.

[@andymodeller965]

I'm fully on board with you Mark - I too wouldn't be overly happy with either the 5% smaller plan - OR - and probably way more importantly - the quality and hardness of the balsa wood. Nicely done that you discovered the error early on. 👍 Looking forward to the building.

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thank you very much, appreciate your comment. We will get there in the end! Hahaha

[@richardwilson8271]

My brother in law and me built one of these in 1960 and we had to carve the prop, my very first build at 10 years old.

[@richardhayes200]

Great video. Thanks a lot. RipMax owe you one!

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thank you, pleased you enjoyed the video

[@jamescattanach1129]

Absolutely hilarious, brilliant episode Mark, thank you for sharing and reminding not to trust anything. Brilliant, sorry you had to go through the pain, looking forward to seeing if you'll end up just using the accessories and redoing all the parts rather than just the sides, somehow I think you might. Thanks again, it's reassuring to me to see that mistakes happen even with phenomenally good and experienced builders

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thanks for the kind comment, pleased you enjoyed the video. Hahahaha, pleased you enjoyed the pain! BUT, will soon get it sorted!

[@jamescattanach1129]

I have no doubt it'll be sorted in no time, good luck

[@MarkRobinson555]

@@jamescattanach1129 thanks 😀

[@jamescattanach1129]

I meant to add how impressed I was to see you using plastic free cling film Cheers James

[@jamescattanach1129]

I meant to add how impressed I was to see you using plastic free cling film Cheers James

[@davecooper5951]

Hi Mark. Just finished building a 'Mercury Cobra' (Bel-Air parts kit). The plan seems to have been re-drawn /updated by several designers with somewhat conflicting instructions and diagrams. I had to 'mod' some of the parts to make sense of it all....To us experienced modellers this is not too much of a problem but, I fear for newcomers who may not have an old-hand to guide them. This especially applies to youngsters that the hobby needs to survive.

[@ronaldarif5290]

I also built a KeilKraft model from scratch, back in the late 1960s as a kid. It was a rubber band powered model called Achilles, with gull wings. It was not a engine powered model, but rather the prop had to be hand wound a few times and then hand lauched.This was when I lived in Rawalpindi. It was quite an exhilarating experience for me as a kid to build and fly successfully, as this was all that I could afford at that age.😅

[@stephencrowther524]

Me too,in the U.K.

[@waltersnowdon1243]

I too have the same problems with these kits. one of the gliders (I forget which one ) the ribs were good 3/8th too short. None of the stripwood was as the happened the size specified. think that something was lost in translating sizes from inches to metric by persons not used to imperial - Chinese production company ?. As to plan printing I have numerous experiences where plans were printed as "fit to paper" by inexperienced printers. This happened numerous times in Aeromodeller/ Model aircraft mags on free plans which had to conform to magazine production size. I found these kits most disapointing. I am 84 and have been building model aircraft since I was six, particularly free flight scale, so wood quality and weight are far more critical than on a radio job.I give these kits 3 out of ten. Walter

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Mark, I looked at the plans on Outerzone and the prop was carved out of a 17" x 2" x 1 3/4" wood block. I think that is the reason why the landing gear is so long.

[@MarkRobinson555]

Yes, totally agree. I will eventyally use a larger prop, but mostlikely the 12" to start with

[@CliffHarveyRCPlanes]

It'll be interesting to hear what Ripmax has to say ... I wonder if they'll do a kit recall 😮

[@thomasshelley4617]

I built one of these last year and had the same problem - I was pretty staggered at this. In the end, it was possible to bodge it without too much work at all. Just a mess and as you say, this is not a new and unusual design or even a complex one. Oh well, just goes to show the beauty of building from scratch!

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thanks for the comment, certainly reaffirmed my like of building from plans. Such a disappointing experience, certainly would be for someone just starting out.

[@johnroberts3723]

Throw the whole lot away and demand a refund plus compensation for your wasted time!.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Duff plans and lousy balsa? That's very disappointing. I have clear memories of saving up my pocket money to buy kits from Keil Kraft, Cambria, Chris Foss and Flair, and the quality was always excellent. You could tell that the balsa had been selected by a person with modelling experience; it was task-specific, and exactly what you'd have picked yourself whilst sorting through the racks in a model shop. Top quality stuff - light, stiff - and often quarter-sawn for critical parts. Sadly, when time is money, taking care over that kind of attention to detail is exactly why small firms go bust and others take their place, content to churn out (expensive) inferior products.😞

[@hangflyer907]

Purchased a Keil Kraft Ajax a year ago and the balsa was the same color as mahogany and about the same weight. I scanned the sheets, traced them in LightBurn, and laser cut new parts using decent balsa. Keil Kraft kits aren't what they once were.

[@Tom-wl9sx]

Hi Mark, been in the same situation myself, bought a kit an year ago with very hard balsa and I really mean hard balsa. Have alot in stock so I could change it and build it in a proper way. That's not why I'll bought the kit, thought it would be fast and easy to build 🙃

[@jacksnavely559]

Well there goes the future sales , I've done a control line Radion , it has Norvel 1cc , good kit , ❤

[@126smiffy]

Wrong and poor quality of balsa was the reason why my KK Radian was the only Kit I gave up on. That was in the 1970's and even with skill learned now it would have been not worth trying to sort with the wood supplied. I built all types but RC back then. Mainly C/L . I did manage to build a KK joker despite a rock hard bit of balsa that had to be cut and modified to finish it. That D.C. Merlin powered c/l plane I hard flew a lot for 2 years over grass and tarmac. It survived to be recovered and repainted into a tidy looking model again and a friend offered good money and bought if from me. I was flying bigger models by then.

[@RC-Flight]

Should be called Ripoff Max!!!

[@mervynprice7009]

Wow, For what should be a proper English (Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish) cottage industry using laser cutters & selected materials. You have received the typical Chinese mass-produced cost-cutting product. Exactly like my Mini-Mill-Drill. That item has required total re-builds & re-designs to make it into a reasonable machine. Bearing in mind that your Gypsy is a 1949 Wakefield, which looks like a model plane. I think you would have been better off building it from scratch.

[@ralphjohnson4041]

Best Chinese quality then! Thanks for the tip though - I’ve got a repro Senator here to build.

[@andymart61]

Hi i built two of these from plans back in the 70s. Great fliers and probably a wise choice using radio assist as my first one flew away. I fear though you may not get a response from Ripmax as the company went into administration back in 2023.

[@leosmith848]

Ripmax are still about and te kit is still available www.ripmax.com/Item.aspx?ItemID=A-KK2050&Category=010-060

[@terryblackman6217]

This is so bad for a modern kit. I would have thought that a company like RipMax would have checked the size of the plan. I wonder how many more kits out there are the same. And as for the balsa very poor. What if it was a young lads first entry into the hobby. My grandfather bought me this kit when I was a young lad for Christmas. The timber was superb. No lazer cutting. The propeller in my kit was a piece of quarter sheet balsa that had been twisted and you had to shape it yourself. Keep smiling. Terry

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thanks Terry, yes, totally agree it would be an appalling start for a young modeller. Thanks for the comment

[@Alanfarmer86]

Wow that's so disappointing that and production kit has that mistake. I like the challenge of scratch building from plans but also like to build a kit rubber free flight plane now and then. Here in the states the Guillow's kits are popular and now that many of their models are updated to laser cut instead of die crushed they are more enjoyable to build.

[@MarkCroucherRC4fun]

It's not as if they have not had the time to sort the issue!!!! It's not really good enough is it???

[@MarkRobinson555]

Hi Mark, certainly very sad affair, you would expect better from them, thanks for the comment

[@oliverbowen17]

I build a rip max qypsy about a year back and I had the same issue I reached out to rip max and they apologised profusely gave me a full refund and allow me to pick a free model from any of their keil Kraft kits I also did end up getting the gypsy built so it was a win-win situation.

[@alanreynolds2125]

Hi mark I thought ripmax had gone to the wall?

[@MarkRobinson555]

I think they are still trading, perhaps taken over, not sure

[@skyterrapin]

Totally unacceptable in this day and age…

[@Pete-tq6in]

I might be tempted to cut down the nose of those side ladders, put on a shorter undercarriage and improvise a nice new wing, tailplane and fin for a cabin radio assist electric model.

[@JamesBaker-n5x]

What a disappointment Mark. 😢

[@NormanLedoyen]

So you got RIPPED OFF Mark. 55555

[@tomfaires1700]

I do like watching your videos, but I think this is more of a old man get off my lawn video. It would be nicer to see you work through it just like everyone else who buys the kit.

[@MarkRobinson555]

This is part 1 of a build series, so stay tuned and all will be revealed! Pleased you enjoy the videos, appreciate the comment

[@jimbo2629]

It looks like an old stock Keil Kraft kit I suspect as shown by the rubber and balsa in it. Try Vintage model company instead. They make superb kits. That rubber supplied looks like Pirelli. Get some modern super sport from free flight supplies. Bodging this kit wouldn’t be too difficult. Just another challenge. Just build around the supplied parts. I built a Hawker Hunter from a kit that was equally challenging. I am a long term aeromodeller despite Keil Kraft kits. 😮 Alternatively bin it.

[@briancox3691]

That's not an old stock KK kit! The early KK kits were excellent, but after the company was taken over by Solarbo, around 1980, quality and model culture dropped to zero. It was obvious that the kits were being produced by people who just didn't understand what they were doing. And Ripmax appear to have continued that, with Chinese involvement... Oh dear.

[@stephencrowther524]

It’s not an old stock kit.

[@stephencrowther524]

Hopefully you have complained to the supplier ?

[@Elnufo]

That didnt go as planned. (see what i did there?)

[@57andyp]

Hi Mark. Somewhat unrelated to this video but is there a way of contacting you by email? I've got something I believe you might be interested in.