another new modeller

[Will]

Hi,

My name is Will, I've been lurking for a while so I thought I ought to post.  I found your site a couple of months ago, via the "solid shop" website, when I'd googled the spitfire prototype (my daughter bought me a Revell Spit / Lanc / Hurricane combo kit for Christmas, which got me back into planes from trains).  From the Solid Shop and Collectair's websites I found more info and bought the Elwell, Woodason and Doylend books on Ebay for 4 quid each (about 6USD each).  I've read them, got some Balsa and am planning to start with a P40 ID model.

When I was a kid I built loads of Airfix planes, but also scratchbuilt a Fokker E111, BE2 and a Spirit of St Louis in Balsa from a paperback book of paper plane models.  I also made a couple of X-wings from the photos in the Star Wars soundtrack album, though George Lucas probably wouldn't have recognised them!

I expect I'll have loads of questions, but in the meantime you guys may be interested that the JH Elwell book (different cover to my copy) is on UK Ebay right now as are 3 vintage solid kits - a Mustang, Fury and a Hawk Zero (though it doesn't look much like a zero to me!

Regards
Will
Olde Englande

[dave_t]

Welcome,
         What are the Elwell and Doylend book titles? These are new to me.

Dave

[lastvautour]

Welcome. Everyone on the site are always more than happy to help out.

Lou

[lmsjim]

Welcome Will
I am also into trains but do build a few solids too. When I was posted in Germany back in the 60 and 70s I built a lot of Airfix since that was about all I could get. Fond memories of them. Welcome aboard.

Jim

[Will]

Dave t,

The books you queried are:
"Aircraft in Miniature", W.O. Doylend – 1957
"Solid Scale Model Aircraft" J.H Elwell – 1941

The Doylend book is very detailed on how to build small-scale solid planes.

The Elwell book is more basic but he does allow you to use balsa, unlike Woodason or Doylend.  My version of it has a "Walrus" (aka "Shagbat") on the front cover but two others on Ebay in the two months since I bought mine have a combat scene on the front and seem to include an additional He111 plan as well as the Defiant, Hurricane and Spitfire in mine.  There are some great adverts for model kits in the book, though the proportions of some of the German planes look slightly caricatured.  I would have thought they had better jobs to do in wartime with balsa than publish books and model kits, perhaps it was a way of using up the leftovers from Mosquito production!

Regards
Will in the UK

[Will]

OK so I've got balsa sheets for wings and tailplanes etc, which will do me for a few starter efforts.  But if I advance, how does one go about obtaining these thin sheets in other woods?  Basswood is rare and seems very expensive here.  I don't have a scrollsaw or table saw so is it a case of planing down from 3/8" board?  Is there a simpler method, cos my planing is somewhat unpracticed, shall we say?

Regards
Will in the UK

[lastvautour]

Will, I mostly use clear pine and have used a hand planner to reduce the thickness of wood. If you have thick wood, why not just carved the wing as one piece with the dihedral built in?.

Lou