ORIGINAL: Insanemoondoggie
I build alot , but have always avoided foam core kits, more out if ignorance , than anything else. As my building skills have progressed, a lot of the kits I,m looking at have foam core wings.
My understanding , is you use a foam cutter to cut a blank , add spars, LE,TE and sheet the wing ? I was wondering if there are any downside to foam wings, are they hard to build, durable and are repairs hard to do ?
Do they make precut foam cores or do most kits come just blocks of foam ?
Congrats, you are moving UP to the 1970-1980's
Seriously the only down side that I experienced was the wings are a bit heavier than balsa wings (a lot depends on the glue you use) and the sheeting has to be applied while the wing is in its cradle or you may end up with a warp and those are difficult to remove after the sheeting has been applied.
Frequently no need for spars as the balsa is VERY strong (I like to use Dave Brown's Southern Sorgum as the contact glue- but they don't handle it anymore). Someone else picked up that line and I can't remember who - help!!!
There are some companies that still cut foam cores for various planes and that is the way to go as cutting 'can' be difficult until you gain some experience.
Glad to see you expanding your building experience....