I am about to start a Marutaka Zero and was wondering if these kits are meant to be built on jigs seeing they have no jig tabs or interlocking construction.I have built quite a few kits but this is my first Marutaka and it looks like it would be hard to keep it aligned during construction. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rich M

No jigs other than what you make.

Just be careful.

Bill.

mines a Royal which i believe is the same thing, don't plank the fuz like they say, mine looks like a damn 50p coin now[:@] not sure how i'll get that out before covering. it's been two years in the building, every now and again i get some steam up and do something.
the formers are very fragile, i broke one while gluing the stringers in.

I am starting to wonder how long it will take me to build this plane. I have read of people building them over the course of several years. Are they that time consuming?
Rich M

These kits build just fine and they are great lookers and flyers, a jig to build the wings never hurts, I've built several Royal kits and they were some of my favorites, should you end up with a not so straight trailing edge of a wing, by wetting the surfaces and applying opposite pressure while it dries, takes care of the problem.
If you have built a couple of kits before this one you shouldn't have any problems, using brain power is also just as helpful as using jigs.

my wing was great, went together quick, but i got bored with it, esp when it came to sanding down all the blocks. it's pretty much done wood wise now, just a lack of funds means theres no point in doing more right now

For sure they teach you which grit of paper is for what stage of construction, I enjoy sanding though, but not during the summer months.

"Builder's Kits" are just that; They are designed to be built by people who really like to build. Plans are sketchy, instructions are vauge at best.

Basically, you are scratch building a plane, but Marutaka was kind enough to rough out most of the parts for you.

These things don't build too slow if you use the right tools. Use a razor plane instead of 60 grit paper, for example. You do have to understand what needs to be done before you start because you don't have step-by-step instructions with interlocking parts to keep you on the right path.