Scratch Build, What's needed?

Thank you everyone so much, I'm compiling a list of items and links online stores. It's great when a produce gets universal praise such as the permagrit tools, they should be sending me a catalogue... in the mail... like in the olden days

Thanks for suggesting a self healing cutting mat David, I've been meaning to get a larger one for a while, unfortunately it's just one of those 'unexciting' items that tends to get forgotten about, but which is actually really useful for lots of jobs.

Phil, I have a delightful mental image of you sitting at your treadle operated fret saw, I guess the puff to blow away the sawdust comes naturally from the effort exerted? I have a hand fret saw and I'm sure I'll be able to borrow my dad's little model one if I decide that would be better.

In my mind a 'scratch build' would be taking a set of plans and cutting all the wood and formers, and building it up, a 'kit build' would be buying a kits with laser cut bits and a plan and putting it together, then the ARTF being a mostly bolt it together affair. I usually jump off the deep end with these sorts of things :pinch:

Hi Ron, Having got two modern ARTF kits, I have to conceded that there probably isn't much point trying to replicate what they do by hand, trying to replicate the laser cut interlocking pieces would probably be a lesson in frustration. I've been looking at some of the plans you can download from here:, most of which are of an older style of building aerofred.com/

Nice to hear you are going to have a go at scratch building Chris!
Building a model aeroplane from a stack of balsa and ply and then flying her will be one of the most rewarding things you will ever experience.
The best advice I can give you is start with a simple construction and work your way up to get a feel of how the construction of a model aeroplane goes together.You will make mistakes at first but as you progress and gain confidence you will learn by them.
The choice of glue is very important in construction as you will have at least three different types of glue,and understanding which glue to use in the different areas of the model is critical and what material you are trying to glue ie ply,balsa or plastics. At the end of the day, if you are unsure about anything just ask on the forum as there is a wealth of knowledge in the club.

Good luck

Pete

Chris, if you are referring to the slec fuselage jig, it is ok -ish; all you get is a load of plastic clamps + screws and a piece of printed sticky plastic.
You supply the 18mm melamine chipboard and you drill all the holes for the clamp screws.
It has it's uses in stopping the fuselage going banana shaped but the clamps themselves are quite flimsy and require additional clamps to keep things square. I'd give it 5/10

A few other random musings:

For building boards I use a an old door laid across a couple of old kitchen units and cover that with a sheet of plaster board; flat, takes pins well and is cheap to replace when you knacker it.

A bench hook and mitre box will come in handy.

If you buy a dremel makes sure you get decent eye protection and USE IT EVERY TIME you're grinding or cutting.

Cyano fumes can give you flu like symptoms and some people suffer worse than others Epoxy can cause skin problems and it's effects can be cumulative. Balsa dust is bad, carbon dust is probably worse - work outside if you can when sanding.

Collect tin lids and lolly sticks for mixing epoxy, curry trays for bits, jam jars for brushes - I never seem to have enough.

Plastic A4 wallets, when cut open, can make good plan protectors

Lego or Duplo bricks make good jigs for keeping wing ribs square.

Definitely +1 for the razor plane – you wont believe how therapeutic using one is.

A Stanley knife is useful for accurate cutting of ply up to about an 1/8th inch ( lots of light cuts)

If you are film covering, the rotary cutting tools used for dressmaking are easier to use than scissors.

One of these with plenty of blades

Lots of good advice from all, but I have to comment on the use of plasterboard...not only can it cause skin irritation but disposing of plasterboard is becoming increasingly difficult and I predict it won't be long before you have to pay to leave it at the tip. Sundeala has already been recommended...I use cork tiles.

Best advice I ever got:
Measure twice, cut once!
Buy cheap, buy twice!

The irritation aspect, I suspect, is more likely to be experienced by those in the building trade where continual exposure to the dust from cutting is present. It is a good idea, however, to tape cut edges. I've never experienced any problems and I'm a very sensitive fellow - YMMV. As for disposal, I don't know, other than we were charged £2 by Sita at Teignbridge dump to dispose a carrier bag of stones! So anything could happen

MikeSeale wrote: Lots of good advice from all, but I have to comment on the use of plasterboard...not only can it cause skin irritation but disposing of plasterboard is becoming increasingly difficult and I predict it won't be long before you have to pay to leave it at the tip. Sundeala has already been recommended...I use cork tiles.

Blandford start charging for Plasterboard, amongst other things, next year.

As a complete novice I've started to build one of these RCM 15-500 printed the plans on A4 and taped them together.. I chose this model because it looks simple for a first attempt and a bit different to the Wot.
I've cut out the parts on a CNC machine and built the wing in one piece, to keep it straight I used a board and a piece of angle iron.
I've glued every thing with gorilla wood glue. One thing that you need that's not been mentioned is a lot of time.
If you need parts cut out I can do it for you if you provide a drawing and the material.
If you need a fret saw just make one Fretsaw

That's looking good, what are you planning on powering it with John?

As for the time, yep, there never seems to be enough of it, or there is too much of it when you're not enjoying yourself! I've decided it will take as long as it takes. I tend to be very cautious the first time I try to do something like this and it is going to be especially important on this project as I will not have instructions, so I'll be looking at the plans and trying to work out in which order to do things so I don't end up in a mess later.