Author Topic: Cheap kit. (Read 5254 times)

Perry Rose · « **on:** November 08, 2015, 05:55:07 AM »

Has anyone built a kit of the Tower Hobbies Fun 51 and converted it to c/l? I looked over the construction manual and the fuselage would have to be replaced and possibly the stab/elev. Two more bays on the wing wouldn't hurt. $59.95. I'm tempted for that price.

Motorman · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2015, 01:56:25 PM »

They claim it can be built at 55 oz. Let us know. Why would you replace the fuse and stab?

MM

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2015, 02:15:31 PM »

Walter Hicks flew a very credible flight in Advanced recently, in fairly high wind, with an RC 3D ARF converted to CL. So while stretching the fuse and whatnot may help performance, you may just want to build the thing per the plans and go have fun.

http://flyinglines.org/follies.15.html

JIM Nordin · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2015, 02:20:21 PM »

Sig Twister can be had for $54

John Rist · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2015, 03:04:48 PM »

Ain't life grand. I can remember the days when the talk was to convert U-control to RC.

bob jablonski · « **Reply #5 on:** November 08, 2015, 03:29:28 PM »

Countyline will have C/L planes at Black Friday weekend. Sig Banshee with Free shipping total under $57.00? Acromaster under $28.00?
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1123
countylinehobbies@yahoo.com
www.countylinehobbies.com
Like us on facebook

Perry Rose · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2015, 05:52:42 PM »

The fuselage is built using lite ply. Balsa would be better. I've had several Twisters and Banshees. Time for a change.

Dan McEntee · « **Reply #7 on:** November 08, 2015, 07:41:20 PM »

Well, if you have to replace the fuselage, tail feathers and modify the wing, then it isn't a cheap kit any more. If you have built Twisters and Banshees, then you should still have plans for the wings. Use the Fancher Twister moments, and design your own fuselage and tail feathers. Wing tips and flaps can be changed to suit a certain shape and your tastes. I morphed a Twister into a profile Shark .35. The wings can be modified for leading edge sheeting and cap strips for a stronger wing. The advantage here is, you know how to build them, and are familiar with trimming them. This is desirable if you are working your way up from Beginner class. Allen Brickhaus published a design for a model called Tornado that was just a Twister wing in a box type fuselage. If funds are scarce, kit bashing and some creativity can be a lot of fun and still yield good flying airplanes. Lots of good stuff out there on line and in magazines to borrow and steal from to get what you want.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee

Steve Helmick · « **Reply #8 on:** November 08, 2015, 07:45:41 PM »

Or, start with the SIG Fazer? Not sure what the price is on them now, but they're mostly balsa. And I have two Fazer kits that could be had pretty reasonable.

Steve

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #9 on:** November 08, 2015, 07:53:43 PM »

I agree that if you're going to bash the kit much at all you're better off scratch-building. Either do a Twister wing with LE sheeting, or buy a rib kit from Brodak for something reasonable (Legacy 40, maybe?) and then do the rest from scratch.

Go for it, one way or another!

JIM Nordin · « **Reply #10 on:** November 08, 2015, 08:59:46 PM »

A Sig Faser are about $80 . I think it would make a great control line with little work

Avaiojet · « **Reply #11 on:** November 09, 2015, 05:16:07 AM »

Quote from: Perry Rose on November 08, 2015, 05:52:42 PM

The fuselage is built using lite ply. Balsa would be better. I've had several Twisters and Banshees. Time for a change.

Perry,

I have a R/C House of Balsa P-51D NIB someplace. I'm not sure if the kit is still made? I do know I'll probably never build it.

Has to be worth somewhere in the price range of that Tower kit. Probably a better kit.

Because it's you,

, I would consider letting go of it. I can get a photo of the color promo paper on the box if you like?

The Mustang is a fine aircraft to model.

Hey wait! I just remembered. I have this R/C ARF P-40 someplace also. NIB, never opened. Had it for 10 years plus. Just like that H of B kit.

This P-40 ARF is really well made. You could have that in the air in a couple of weekends.

Only because it's you.

Charles

P.S. NO, I placed no graphics on the P-40. It's still original and prestine.

Perry Rose · « **Reply #12 on:** November 09, 2015, 05:26:42 AM »

Thanks for the offer Charles. I just looked at the Sig Fazer kit and it has conversion to c/l instructions in the book. I'm still in limbo with the move and all.

Avaiojet · « **Reply #13 on:** November 09, 2015, 05:59:02 AM »

Quote from: Perry Rose on November 09, 2015, 05:26:42 AM

Thanks for the offer Charles. I just looked at the Sig Fazer kit and it has conversion to c/l instructions in the book. I'm still in limbo with the move and all.

Perry,

Took this photo just for you.

Will Hinton · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2015, 07:43:31 AM »

My flying buddy here several years ago did a Fazer in C/L and it was a dream to fly.

Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach · « **Reply #15 on:** November 09, 2015, 04:22:37 PM »

"P.S. NO, I placed no graphics on the P-40. It's still original and prestine."

Charles...this just cracked me up!!!

Avaiojet · « **Reply #16 on:** November 09, 2015, 05:24:37 PM »

Quote from: Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach on November 09, 2015, 04:22:37 PM

"P.S. NO, I placed no graphics on the P-40. It's still original and prestine."

Charles...this just cracked me up!!!

Everytime I put graphics on a model it depreciates the value.

Dick Pacini · « **Reply #17 on:** November 09, 2015, 05:31:12 PM »

Put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig.

Garf · « **Reply #18 on:** November 09, 2015, 09:48:27 PM »

One time I ordered a set of wing ribs for this thing, then built a wing with a straight TE. Worked fairly well.

Pat Chewning · « **Reply #19 on:** November 10, 2015, 12:11:59 AM »

Quote from: bob jablonski on November 08, 2015, 03:29:28 PM

Countyline will have C/L planes at Black Friday weekend. Sig Banshee with Free shipping total under $57.00? Acromaster under $28.00?
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1123
countylinehobbies@yahoo.com
www.countylinehobbies.com
Like us on facebook

Akromaster for $28 is a great deal. I've bashed mine up quite a bit and would love to build a replacement one. My Akromaster is my 1st C/L plane as I re-enter this portion of modeling hobby again after building a few CL models in the 1970's

Mark Mc · « **Reply #20 on:** November 11, 2015, 06:04:18 PM »

Bought my first Akromaster kit around '82 for about $15-20 bucks, although it never got built back then. Don't remember exactly, but it was in that range. The fact that you can still get it for mid-$20s is amazing to me. I bought a new kit from SIG earlier this year, and as I was about to start building it, I found the original Akromaster kit in the back of the closet. The wood and cutting on the new kit was leaps and bounds above the quality of the '80s kit. I decided to build the original and keep the new kit for a later build when I don't crash so much. Comparing the price of the Akromaster to other kits of that size/ability made today is amazing. The only negative I can say about the SIG kit is the bellcrank. I'm sure the plastic 1/2A bellcrank will work, as it's been the standard for decades, but the investment of a couple of bucks for a better one is a good idea I think. Even then, about $30 for a .15 sized plane that will do most anything the average flyer can do is a great deal to my thinking.

Mark

Scott Richlen · « **Reply #21 on:** November 14, 2015, 06:50:06 AM »

I am currently flying a Fun-51 and it flies quite well...

However....

There is not one dimension on my plane that is the same as the kit design. I had to change EVERYTHING!!!! My flying buddies in NVCL kept telling me: "you coulda designed and built something really nice in the time you spent on that thing! Maybe two!" And they were right.

Only do this if you like challenges.

I also modified a Sig Fazer years ago. Not quite as bad to modify, but still....

Here's 2 hints:

One - get a couple of bottles of "white-out" so you can white out the lines on the plans and then re-draw them. (The guys in our club thought it was hilarious to roll out plans and watch the white-out pop off.) The moments are all wrong on these things. The wings not tapered, and the elevator is just wrong.

Two - CA the rear punch-outs in the ribs so you can re-cut and taper the wing starting at the spar and trimming at the trailing edge. Otherwise you build a barn-door.

Here's your challenge goal: use as much of the wood in the box that you can and only add wood that isn't there. No fair substituting wood out for lighter stuff. Of course, the plane will be heavy and would have flown better if you had substituted wood. But then, you should have built from scratch and used a design that wasn't a POC.

Just saying

Scott

Scott Richlen · « **Reply #22 on:** November 14, 2015, 06:53:17 AM »

And if you do it right, here's what you get....

john e. holliday · « **Reply #23 on:** November 14, 2015, 02:06:14 PM »

To me a low cost kit(not cheap) is one you can open the box, read instructions, build, finish and go fly with out having to change things. The Brodak Warbird series is one series I would highly recommend. On the ones I have built and flown, was doing the pattern as soon as the engine was set right.