Aerographics balsa/tissue flyable Swordfish?

Perhaps a bit out of this groups remit, but has anybody built an
Aerographics balsa and tissue Swordfish (really a flying model)?

I just bought it out of interest mainly as a large scale model (26" span which my maths equates roughly to 1/21). The balsa/tissue seemed appropriate for the Stringbag in particular. It is intended to fly on rubber power, although I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with it.

I'm thinking along a number of lines:

1) Build it just as a balsa skeleton
2) Build it as a static model (probably needs lots of detail)
3) Build it as flying model

If anybody has built and flown one, I'd be interested knowing if it flies well enough to justify going down this road. As a static model it's never going to be 'true scale' (always having that 'freeflight' type look to).

I built a balsa/tissue free flight plane before (didn't fly too well!), but after opening the box, just a few bits of wood, plans and a few other bits and pieces was a bit of a shock to the system!

Lander < <email> > writes

Yes, you'd have to do something like that. I was planning to use good old fashioned 'dope' (assuming it is still available and hasn't been banned).

The instructions recommend clear dope with colour from Humbrol enamels, preferably sprayed.

When I built stick and tissue models 25 years ago, the standard covering/finishing method was:
1.Put a coat of full strength clear dope on the wood structure, everywhere the covering would later be touching. Let dry.
2. Apply the tissue using dope thinned 50% with thinner. Let dry.
3. Use a fine water mist to moisten the tissue. When it dries, the tissue would shrink tight.
4. Seal the tissue with several coats of the 50% clear dope.
5. Use colored dope sparingly-- it adds a lot of weight.

I've recently returned to stick and tissue modeling, thanks in large part to the Yahoo groups "Free Flight Cookup" and "Guillowsbuilders". Last winter,
I built my first stick and tissue model (Guillows Fairchild F-24), and I tried th "new" techniques that folks are using these days:
1. Use better quality tissue. There are two types of tissue available- doemestic(US) and Japanese tissue. Domestic tissue is inexpensive and available in lots of colors. It is also heavier, and has very little strength when wet, which can be a problem when covering and shrinking.
Serious free flight modelers looking for maximum flight times use Japanese tissue. (You can get it in the US from Peck-Polymers, and other FF suppliers.)
2. Apply the tissue using a glue stick. (Elmer's, etc., found in the school supplies section.)
3. Shrink the tissue with a fine water mist. (Some folks use rubbing alcohol to lessen the shrink, some pre-shrink the tissue before applying, and then shrink it a second time on the model, to protect against warping delicate structures.)
4. Seal the tissue with Krylon clear spray paint. Krylon does not have the shrinking power of dope, so you're less likely to overshrink the tissue and introduce warps.
5. For color, airbrush with hobby acrylics. Use sparingly, as color coats will add weight.

I've found that the new techniques work as well or better thant the old, and are a LOT less nasty in terms of fumes and odors.

If you're looking for more info about this, I strongly recommend joining one (or more) of the yahoo groups...

one pint of dope with a cherry bomb taped to it could clear almost a quarter acre of weeds. an dlooked really awesome at night.

I haven't built that kit, but I've had my eye on it for a while. (I hope you get some good responses!)

Over on Yahoo, there's a group called "Free Flight Cook Up" (FFCU). It is a group of stick and tissue builders, mostly scale, who share tips and techniques, and in theory we sometimes build the same model together.
Cookups are loosely organized to run run every It is a low-key group, interested in building for fun. Some of the modelers there are both FF and plastic builders (myself included)

You can find out how to sign <email> - just follow the groups link.

ve.earthlink.net> writes

Yes, this kit contains printed but not cut parts along with strip balsa and some un-printed balsa sheet (it's use yet to be identified). It includes vac formed wheels and prop spinner and an overscale (flying prop), if anybody knows of a scalish three blade prop for display I'd be grateful.

Lander < <email> > writes

Dunno exactly, to me it's just liquid stuff that shrinks, seals and glues tissue to the balsa frame. Others probably know a lot more about it than me, I just bought some of the stuff years ago from a model shop (asking for 'dope'.