I don't know if I am the only one wondering about these things, but lets say china builds a new arf ..how many fuse and wing jigs do you suppose they have? and are being used..I have always wondered if they are building ten fuses, a hundred..maybe a thousand jigs set up? It would be interesting to see. I wonder how many people are just covering ?

I realize that arfs that have a long term sales probably change and establish a set pattern, It just is an interesting situation...

I have had the opportunity to visit a couple of factories whilst I have been here so can answer some of your question!

Jigs - A lot but they are probably not as complex as you may expect (The reason that some brands get poor reviews) - they consist largely of a flat bench , basic positioning blocks a drawing and some fast setting glue (Hot glu or CA in many cases).

the lines that I have seen range from
10 - 20 people building Fuses, 10 - 20 people building Wings, 5 or 6 people building tail feathers & 10 - 20 people covering.

to

1 person Operating the Laser Cutter to feed all of the people and for each model there is 1 person building all components, 1 person covering & Finishing and one person painting - that particular factory specialises in F3a and 3d models and only builds around 5 of each model per month (about 8 models in their range) and they are as good as any Kit I've ever seen built. In the meantime they keep the laser cutter and packaging people busy making "Foamies" for another company.

In all cases there is a lot of additional people packaging etc and keeping the machinery busy on other projects. All of the factory owners seem to fly a lot - and quite well. It's also interesting to see many components being made for some of the traditional "Non Chinese" brands!!

The quality ranges from incredibly good to quite poor - but this is largely dictated by the customers by what they accept and how much they will pay. The people here will produce exactly what you ask for - you just have to ask.

I too have visited several ARF factories in China and will be visiting some more in November.

My supplier's factory produces in batches of between 300 and 600 of one model and there is one guy on the CNC laser cutting machine, may be 8 guys making the fuselages, 8 making the wings, 10 - 12 girls covering. Then there are people making tail feathers, trim sets, hardware sets, U/C etc etc. They have a separate factory unit making all the fibreglass parts. In all about 60 people over 2 factories.

I agree with Aussiesteve that the quality varies quite a bit. I spent hundreds and hundreds of pounds getting samples before I found a good producer. I now have a good relationship with them and they will modify models to my requirements and particularly if I see ways to improve the model. For example the first batch of Electric Pitts I received only had 2 ailerons on the lower wing and a couple of my customers commented that they were a bit sluggish in roll rate. One guy even cut additional ailerons in the top wing and told me it was fantastic. I told the factory owner and the next batch had 4 ailerons. Needless to say, the guy who suggested it was chuffed to bits when I told him how he had mad a difference to the model.

Many of these models are copies of someone elses. Some factories copy CMPro, and I know CMPro copy others so the quality will vary from factory to factory. All I know is that all the models from my supplier's factory fly beautifully as any of my customers will testify.

I have attached a couple of photos of the jigs used in the factory so you guys can see just how they are made. I saw no evidence of the sweatshops that we are led to believe these models are made in. Maybe my supplier is different from most, but I doubt it.

Pete

I agree with Pete850's comment about these factories not being sweatshops, I also didn't see any of them - In fact I saw well lit work areas with clean benches.

Pete - PM me If you are likely to come anywhere near to Tianjin when you are next over here, it would be good to catch up with a fellow expatriate modeller. I can introduce you to a couple of the factories that I have found over here (I'm not in the model supply business - I just fly with a couple of the people).

Al Kondor ran some pics of the factory where some of the KMP models were built a while back. They also showed that the factories were not "sweat shops".

Thanks for the pics and info, I have always found it interesting to see what it was like. I wonder how many of the employees tend to be aviation fans before they start there..and sick of seeing airplanes after they have worked there

it would be an unusual job to build on that scale...

See!!! I WAS RIGHT!!! look in the 3 pictures and show me where is the glue???
They use glue fumes and the real wood glue is used in the ICBMs...No wonder the ARFs come apart in the air...
-Note to self: buy missle and rig an OS .46 on it.

Danny,

From what I saw during my visits they assemble the laser-cut parts dry first in the jig and THEN apply the glue. So you may not have seen glue in some of those pictures.

I have sold and flown many of the models from this particular factory, and have yet to witness or hear of a model coming apart in the air (unless it was a mid-air)

Cheers

Pete

Hi guys, can you send me a URL where you sell your ARF's?

Thanks

Many here complain on the quality of many Arfs. Many that I have look like they went the "CA glue" route but I always beef things up when I get the plane. Even with the changes i routinely make, they are still saving me alot of building time.

If you build any arf "as is" and make no improvements and a gear rips out or the firewall cracks etc, you cannot blame the chinese for poor quality but blame your self for not checking it out

I do have to agree... I'm always discovering better ways to improve upon the ARF. I always find areas that require reinforcement or special attention. Then there are areas you modify "just because" [8D] plus I like to make the model more unique when possible.