Sterling Stearman
 

Just a question and a thought. With the increase in the number of ARF Stearmans on the market, what would it take for a laser kit cutter to make either a short or complete kit from the original plans. Seen a lot of requests for those of us that like to build for this Old kit. I was fortunate enough to purchase one off Ebay that is in excellant shape.

Going to enjoy building her.

Jim :D

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

Be aware that not all of the pieces are shown on the plans, particularly the bulkheads. You would do the world a favor, and trace them before you build. I'll take a set:D:D:D Since I did not have the foresight.

You would be wise to examine the Robart RoboStruts made for this bird. They ain't cheap, but the supplied landing gear are impossibly soft.

Les

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

I wonder if they would scan to correct size.
Will have a ook and play around a bit.

Jim

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

I've had very good luck scanning directly to PDF files on an HP ScanJet scanner. PDF preserves the actual sizes and proportions when printing.
I'd also LOVE to get my hands on a set of templates and plans for the Sterling Stearman, but I just can't justify the cost of a decent well-preserved kit...

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

I have done this for an old Champion kit. I used a very fine black marker to outline the dye crunches on the sheets and used my scanner to scan the sheet for all the parts. I printed the out and the matched up perfectly for me. I then do the vector ray tracing to preserve in CAD format for laser cutting.


Bill

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

Les, that is an especially beautiful Stearman in your attached picture. Congratulations on a really fine piece of work.

In my limited experience those Sterling kits had lousy wood and not very good fitting parts, but they really looked right when completed. I guess that's why they command high prices on ebay. So many modern kits, like the Dynaflite SE-5 and the BUSA WWI types just don't look right when they're done because the designers messed with the proportions.

Nice work!

Jim

RE: Sterling Stearman
 

Jim O: When you scan include a 6" metal ruler in the scan. That will allow you a size reference. It is probably that the X - Y sizes will not scan accurately, but will be close enough.

Buzzard. Thanks. It was a joy to fly after I got the Robart gear. Before that, there was no telling which way that thing was going to go, and I was not alone. There were two others in town that acted the same way.

Les