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Balsa USA Smoothie

Old 07-03-2016, 10:05 AM
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JollyPopper
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Default Balsa USA Smoothie

I really like the appearance of the Balsa USA Smoothie and would like to pick up an unstarted kit. Does anyone know if this is a printed wood kit, die crushed, laser cut (doubtful) or something other? I really do not like printed wood kits.
Old 07-03-2016, 12:57 PM
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The new ones are die cut. Im pretty sure the old ones are too. A little bit of carving too. I picked one up at their shop as I had a business trip in the area. I have not built it yet, but got it out to do soon. I remember when I was a kid they were $19 for a kit. They use their laser to cut the die boards that they put the blades in. Laser is too slow for the number of kits they make.
Old 07-03-2016, 01:01 PM
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I like printed wood kits if the wood is not to hard. Planes like these are so easy to throw together, its nice to add a little craftsmanship.
Old 07-04-2016, 02:57 AM
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Did BUSA produce printed wood kits ? The few that I have seen, or built, were die cut.
Old 07-04-2016, 09:34 AM
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All of the Balsa USA kits I've come across have been die cut, but they are the finest cut kits you'll find. The parts fall out of the sheets just like a laser cut kit.

If you want real precision in a kit, try a Bruce Tharpe Engineering kit. They are all finely machined parts, and go together like a dream.
Old 07-04-2016, 10:03 AM
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JollyPopper
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TFF, what tool do you use to cut the individual pieces out of a printed wood kit? For instance, say a tapered wing with 20 or so ribs, no two the same length in each wing half? What tool do you find sharp enough to precisely cut these ribs? I have never been able to do it.
Old 07-04-2016, 01:15 PM
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Knife and sandpaper. I just like building stuff.
Old 07-04-2016, 01:28 PM
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http://www.mag-knight.com/diecutting..._Rule_Dies.htm http://www.helmold.com/ if you want to die cut your own. I miss the die crushed kits; I would rather be building those than most of the junk today even if the fit is not good.
Old 07-18-2016, 05:23 PM
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Back in the day these were so cheap that even a dirt poor college kid could afford them. Simple to build. The Smoothie was an okay flier on a KB40.

Wood quality was mediocre at best but I made it work.
Old 07-21-2016, 09:52 AM
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The Smoothie I had was Die Crunched. I tossed it together in a weekend. She flew will with my O.S. FP 40. Flew it for a long time.

I miss the old days of actually "building" Fitting the parts, sanding, cutting, making it right. I have a few kits on the shelf and a room full of plans I would like to build. Work and health keep getting in the way of my dang fun.

The worst die crunching I have had was the old Guillows kits. Now there was some bad wood and die crunching with blades that had seen their better days. Looked like they used a piece of rebar as the cutter.

I loved my Smoothie, Super Sportser 40, Jr. Tiger. Those were some fun planes.


Buzz.
Old 07-21-2016, 10:44 AM
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Funny you should bring up Guillows. Their current kits are laser cut. The designs are well done, the laser cutting is very clean and the part fit is outstanding. They still machine cut their stringers from firm balsa. Actually most of the wood is firm but is very strong which allows lightening holes galore.

my grandson and I just completed the 28" spanned P51. It went together great. I lightened it quite a bit and put in the twin servo brick from EFlite. The AS3X stabilization and the P51 don't work well together unfortunately....the control surfaces are too large and need mods, but that's not a fault of the kit.

the model appearance is outstanding, so much so I picked up the Spitfire, P40 and Focke Wulf190 from AC Supply. Their prices are excellent.

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