budcop

My Feedback: (23)

So many kit's to build and we still look all the time for more. The ARF models are becoming very popular now days and I have bought a few myself, But there is nothing as satisfying as building it from a box of sticks up. There is a lot of stress relief available for those who get into building and in the world we live in, all of us can use some de-stressing from time to time. As far as kit's are concerned I think every modeler has one in mind that is either not made or not made anymore, one such comes to mind for me, It is the Columbia Models brand P-38 100" wing span, I have come close , but have not found one yet.

If you have such a model in mind that you can't find list it here with your story, maybe someone could help to find that dream model kit, Let have some fun with this forum!

Bud...

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

I couldn't agree more with on this one. I have been building kits since the 50's and that's all I have in my shop, ah there's an OOPS here!!!!!!! I do have a Hanger 9 Ultra Stick 40 ARF, but only because I got it in a trade, and it wasn't available in kit form. I find it very relaxing to go to the shop, put some tunes on and lay the wood out and over a period of time see an airplane appear. Those in the hobby that do nothing but ARF's I feel are really missing out on one of the better parts of this hobby.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

AMEN! Ya gotta love to build these days or the ARF is a strong tempation.

Jerry

Nathan

My Feedback: (12)

Well, I'm one of those ARF'ers you kit builders like to talk about I attempted to build my third airplane (Lanier Stinger 10). I thought I'd start off with something small, easy to manage, and quick to build. Simple, right? Not for this guy. It currently resides inside it's box, unfinished and a mess. I don't even like to open the box any more because of the frustration that ridiculous thing caused me. I thought I would really enjoy that aspect of this hobby, only to find it was a very frustrating process for me. Since then, I haven't even considered another kit, and sold the three kits I had purchased.

I'm not one to give up easily, but I can recognize when I'm not good at something. I haven't written kits off completely however, especially since I still have that OS.15 for the Stinger just staring at me every time I walk in my shop. I've got more knowledge under my belt now, have a better understanding of how these things are built, better equipped tools for the job, and still have it in the back of my mind that I would like to try it again someday. I don't want to judge kit building by one experience, so I'm sure I'll give it another shot with something inexpensive for the OS.15. Who knows... I may even try another Stinger 10 ( I got spare parts if I need them)

wynterhwk

I am one of those guys who loves nothing better than spending the entire evening in the shop building. For those of us who do, there is nothing better. We try to hone our skills and our craft to the nth degree. Its better than any drug or drink I ever had and the satisfaction of a plane flying straight off the boards is the best. I started flying about 20 years ago and was pretty good. Then I traded in my wings for two boys and a wife and a house. Last year I re-entered the hobby with abandon since the wife is "ex" and the boys are grown. I remember in the old days, the second plane I built was a Mark's Models Bushwacker plane. It was a long winged tail dragger with some real pretty lines. It flew very gracefully and I always enjoyed bringing it to the field. But as I have found out recently, Mark is no longer making models and the Bushwacker is no longer available. Shame, it was a sweet plane. So keep the coffee hot and I'll see ya in the shop. Oh by the way, I made two fuse/wing stands this past weekend out of 2" thick rigid foam and some pvc tubing....works great and it cost a total of $12.... the (new) ol lady loved that one!

Peace

wynterhwk

Just an afterthought...I am in the process of building a Great Planes Easy Sport 40. I figure it will be a great plane to re-acquire my flying skills. I have found the kit to be lacking in several areas. Many parts had to be sanded extensively to fit, the fuse has been a bear to get straight (yes, I followed all the instructions) and when I went to fit the wing to the fuse I found the dowel hole I had drilled per the instructions was 1/8" off!!! I had to dowel the hole and redrill. The instruction book is for both the 40 and 60 size Easy Sport and in several areas was very confusing.....not complaining...just my humble observations...

Peace

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

To continue on with what Budcop said, my missed out on kit was the Mid West Sweet and Low Stik.

rcav8or

My Feedback: (5)

Actually, the smaller doesn't necessarily mean easier/quicker, etc. Even an accomplished kit-builder, can have a serious hassle with a small kit such as a .10...I know, because I probably have WELL over 100 kit's built, and even more, if you count the built-from-plans. Yet I also have a Birdie .10 sitting half finished. It is because I inadvertently built in some "wash-in" (the wingtips drooped a little, for those who don't know), which would make it very hard to fly, and stall VERY easy. Now, if you have a plane with a 5 foot wingspan, divide that in half, you have say, 1/4" of wash in, you have 2 1/2 feet, to be able to wet and twist, and support opposed to the wash-in (over compensate with wash-out, to make it straight when it is relaxed), clamp until dry, and usually you can get the wing straight. NOW, the problem comes with a small wing, 2 1/2 wingspan, with the same washout, you have to try and bend it in 1 1/4 feet. Very hard to do! So mine sits, after several attempts to get it straight! The easy cure? Just scratch build a wing...no problem, and someday I will, but soooo many other projects, soooo little time!!

I suggest to anyone building their first kit, to get one that is well designed to begin with, well cut-out (laser-cut is perfect, if the plans are good), and that sort of builds itself.

One such plane is the Sig Four Star .40 or Four Star .60 (both are laser cut if you get a new kit..some of the older ones you might buy "used" might not be - check it out before purchasing one here). The entire fuselage is put together, locking itself in place, before you even put a drop of CA on it! You rubber band it just before gluing, and believe me, you can't even get any twist in the fuse by trying! Then when you glue it, you have an excellent, straight fuse, and it doesn't take any time at all. The wing and rest of the kit, build just as well. It has cheek cowls, so no bothering with cutting a plastic or fiberglass cowl, on the first plane. And if it's your 2nd or 3rd, it lends itself to building a balsa cowl to enclose the motor. (there was an article in RCM on how to do that).

AND, the best part of it is, when you are done, you have one of the best planes to fly ever, up to intermediate flying. Many novice pattern flyers have won contests with the Four Stars. They can do most any manuever, and yet, with the semisymmetrical wing, land like a kitten! My Four Star .60, was flown by a newbie that had just soloed on his trainer, and was flying inverted, and attempting knife edge flight, his first try on it.

Get with as many people as you can, find out kits they enjoyed building, and give it a try...it can be very rewarding, with the right combination of design, and kit manufacturing...

Jaguar-RCU

Nice thread, but I think kit builders are "preaching to the choir" here! I don't have enough years in RC to miss a lot of bygone kits but I bet there are hundreds. One recent such kit death is the GP Trainer 40,which I heard was a great flyer. So much attention goes to what Tower is pushing on their first few full color pages, and of course, to ARFs. What happened to carl goldberg- I don't see their stuff in Tower's catalog.....To the poster with the smallish kit, that can be more frustrating I bet. I built a couple Guillows tissue kits last winter and found them a handful... Kits are so cost effective too if you devide the price by not only the hours enjoyed building, but also the many more hours dreaming,figuring,scheming about the various build issues.

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

I'm also long time kit builder. Art, I know what you mean about relaxing, I do the same thing. It offers something to me unlike anything else.
In all years of learning(it's an ongoing process) the early years were tough, and I definately trashed a few kits. Then stumbled onto kits that I could really learn from.
Not every kit on the market is instant success. The manuals/plans have alot to do with successful building.
Goldberg kits started as one of the best, then GreatPlanes came out, and in my opinion is one of the best kits you can get for a first or second kit. Don't forget Sig, Midwest, TopFlite, and a few more I don't recall. Every one of these brands seemed to teach something. One of the keys is starting with a kit within your skill level.
What you'll see is each manufacturer has different procedures applied to thier own kits. After several different brands, you end up with skills that you can take to any kit.
I proudly own several ARF's as well, there are some very nice ones out. It used to be, the only way to a really nice plane was to build it. Now we can own some real nice stuff, and have our own touches put to it.
I think it's great, ARF's like that have opened up the hobby to so many more people that otherwise would not experience this cool hobby.
On top of that, some of those guys with ARF's can downright fly the heck out of them, as they are totally focused on the flying, and not as much on other things. I've always said...we can't be everything in the hobby, but pick a few things and get good at them, and there you have something.
It's all good clean fun, no matter how you look at it. No question about that.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

I'm building a Lanier Giant Stinger and couldn't figure out how to get the fuse sides straight, I came up with a great solution, I clamped two four foot levels, one on each side with bar clamps from F3 to the tail post then I glued the tail post in place with the tail blocked up 1/8 in, same as F3. The level on the side away from me is tight against the building board. The one next to me is blocked up 1/8, I set my band saw to cut 84 degree angles on the ends of the floor sheeting. I cut one end and slide the piece in until it contacts the level on the far side and mark my side and cut it. It works so well that you can't see the joints between the floor pieces. I set a 7 AH gel cell battery on the top of the fuse sides as they wanted to bulge out and raise up a little. Occasionally an idea just appears out of thin air.

Gastronom-RCU

My Feedback: (5)

I too am a long time builder. I have built well over 50 models over the last 10 years and I really do love it. There's nothing like picking at your fingers all day for a week to free yourself from the evil CA monster(JJ). I have an ARF at my house and it does fly well but it is very heavy & hard to repair. It is the Lanier Bipe.
At any rate, I can see your point about being soothing and taking stress out but let it happen that you slip without noticing and you hold your firewall at the wrong angle while it dries, or break off those little tabs on the wing ribs that control washout and you'll see my blood boil over and over. Now over the years I have learned from my mistakes, maybe not the first time but usually by the fifth . I have become a very proficient builder, but I still say that the best times are at the field with your neck cricked back and watching your buddies run behind because they know that you won't hit yourself. hehe that is a blast, 'cept when you undershoot a landing at you and you and he have to jump the wing just not to get hit. I love it I tell ya. If I could find a way to do nothing but buld, fly, repair, fly, re-build, fly build, fly, stomp, then I would be just the most happiest person alive today. Well that and a new TF Douglas DC-3 would do the trick.

OK to original question, not that it was been omitted or lost , but I would like to see a 'kit' of the Harrier Jump Jet and for that kit to actually have revolving engines and such.

Later all.

ec121k

Ah Kits!!! First one I actually flew was a Debolt Livewire Trainer. Still have a set of plans and hope to build another one some day.

Oh! and no "shrink wrap" PLEASE! Sig Coverall and applied with nitrate and butyrate dope. Stinks up the house so my wife says but what a finish. The closest thing to plastic wrap I'll use is Coverite Fabric.

Nice to hear that the Sig 4*40 flies well. I bought one in '90 and never finished it. Now that I'm back, it's almost done. Won't look much like one when I finish it though. Tail reworked and real wing tips.

Next to finish is a Sig Liberty Sport Bipe and then on to one I should have built many moons ago. That will be a scratch built Aeromaster Bipe.

Another real good flier is the RCM Acrostar. Had two and will be building another.

(Got a soft spot in my head for bipes)

Gotta admit I do have an ARF Kangke CAP 232 only because I got a good deal at last years WRAMS show and didn't have time to build last year. Flies OK but it's not the same. I would have changed things and it would have been lighter if I built it.

Tony

CaptainHook

My Feedback: (80)

It is definately in my blood. I have been building for 30 years, started when I was 10. Peanuts to control line and then RC. I really love the WWII warbirds, don't know why other than my father was a vet. One day I will built them all. I build a lot of models for others and find no time to build for myself. So now I have taken on the ARF kits as my flying models, 20 hours and ready to go. Not the same as wood kit, no pride in them. If I can ever get myself to quit building for others, that Don smith B-17 will be mine. Just finished this one for F4u5. Hope you enjoy it Jeff!

mselby

My Feedback: (1)

Oh to the one that got away. I am still looking for a Byron T-28
Mike

Darrinc

My Feedback: (5)

I think I love building just as much, or dare I say it, more than flying. My first kit was a NorthEast Aerodynamics Train-Air 40 tha required me to creat every part. Not hollowed out trailing edge for your aileron torque rods here. It taught me a lot and put the hook in me. My next kit was a Sig 4-Star and I was almost disappointed on how easy it was to build. But they were both great fliers. Now I make my own composite planes and everyday I'm thinking of new was to do design things, I am a very aggressive flier, but I sure love handing over the sticks to a Pro every once in a while to wring out my design!!!

If I had limited myself to ARF's I never would of got to fly my 4.19lb, 59" wingspan Cap 232(one of my small planes). What a riot!!!! (pictured below w/o cowl and canopy had not been glued on yet)

Keep at, no matter what your angle is!!!

Darrin

razorback11

My Feedback: (9)

I think that the new ARFs serve a purpose for those in this hobby who don't have the patience, the innovation, or maby just don't have the time to build. But nothing is better to me than visualizing an aircraft model and then setting out to build that vision. Building is a problem solving event from the time you you open the box to a kit of from the time you pick out the balsa for a scratch built aircraft. I have to work to support my passion but I find myself all during the workday daydreaming on sorting out an issue with the model I have on my building board. I have had people in staff meetings ask me why I am smiling and I just can not bring myself to tell them that I have just figured out a solution to a problem I was having with my model and can't wait to get home to work it out. When you bring your latest project out to the flying field for the first time and all the guys gather round and pat you on the back and tell you what a great looking warbird that is.....well, you just have to experience it once to know that it is the greatest. Many of us have received awards that usually were earned with the help of a bunch of other people. However, when you get some well-earned remarks about the aircraft you just finished, that is reward for something you did yourself (even though you may have used tips from the experts). You put in the hundreds of hours of elbow grease and brainwork to create and complete that vision. You know you are a builder when you can not enter any store without looking around to see if they have anything you could use in your model building ventures. My wife dragged me to a fabric shop the other day and it was her who had to drag me out because I kept finding little things that could possibly be used in model construction. It was embarrassing! God Speed to all you builders out there. Razorback11

mshay

My Feedback: (3)

An arf is a kit.....you just didn't build it to the 95 percentage of completion. Someone else did it for you.

acdii

Great title, and today I can agree 100%!  I took my Kadet LT40 up for the first time, and what a joy it was flying it for the first time after building it. It flew better than I could have imagined. It flies as great as it looks!

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

I have  a 98in wingspan Giles 202 that I have built the fuse and tail feathers on.  It is going to have an 80cc gas engine so it is by far the most expensive kit I will have built.  A model that size requires expensive radio gear as well. 
That being said, I just finshed a lanier Stinger 60.  And by just finished I mean that I declared it airworthy just 2 days ago.  The magnum 61 has had 2 tanks run throught it so I have not yet maidened the Stinger.  Hopefully this Sunday the weather will cooperate.   
On the same evening that I essentially finished the Stinger I cleaned up my shop and then pulled down the Chaos 60 from the shelf and started on it.  Got the plans taped to the wall, and built the vert and horz stab.  I also have another kit in the box in line for when the Chaos will be finished. 

I have it bad. 

I am semi retired and only work at my wifes store about 2-3 days a week..  So I have plenty of time.  And I spend a great deal of that time in my shop.  So many of my club buddies can build but due to the constraints of daily life just dont have the time and as such there are alot of ARFS at our field.   They all like to see what I will show up with next. 

Watching your new bird fly straight and level is a good feeling.  I must agree that building your own adds a whole new dimension to the hobby and I think all fliers should try to build a kit at least once.  I also agree that smaller is not easier.  There are alot of kits out there designed for the new builder.  I would also suggest the Balsa USA trainer.  Check out their  website.  They have more than just bipes. 

And the Giles 202 will probably be finished later this year.  
Have a kit you wannae sell?    PM me and lets talk!!! 

box car

All talk and no build. With so many kit builders why is there only one kit being build for 2012 on this forum?

prgonzalez

wynter,

I highly recommend you to modify the wing block use two nylon bolts for attaching the wing to the fuse, not one. I only have the wing because of that.

Yes, the dowel hole is off in the fuse former.

prgonzalez

Oh yeah...building is great, relaxing, stress reliever, sometimes challenging, problem solver, enlights creativity, ..., etc. So many qualities.

Then, the thrill of flying what you build from pieces of wood, gives me goose pumps

Good thing that I started to collect some years ago. I have enough kits for retirement and some extra to give to my grand kids.

SeamusG

Me thinks that Nathan can probably answer that as I'm just guessing but I'll bet a bunch of $$$ that postings in all RCU forums are way way down. Why? RCU website stability and performance have been taking a dirt nap until recently. If you're doing a build thread and it takes 3 times longer to do thread posts than it does to do the building - I'm guessing that the builders would rather build than wait on RCU to get healthy. Now that RCUseems to have risen from the ashes (Phoenix like) I think that build threads (and all others)will improve in their numbers.

At least I'm hoping they do ...

acdii

Ifinished my Kadet LT 40, and still working on a Top Flite P-51. Ijust dont have anything new to post about it.