MEMPHISBELLE

My Feedback: (24)

Has anyone used a laser lizard short kit for the Don Smith B-17? GOOD OR BAD?????

edgeman55

My Feedback: (25)

My buddy who owns the local Hobby Town used him and had lots of problems.He ended up cutting a lot of the formers himself as he had trouble getting the parts re- cut right.Some on here have been happy with his work but I know from what my friend went through I would not use him.That is one big plane when framed up.My friend is in the glassing stage now and hopes to have it flying this summer.

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

same problem here as well. bad parts fit, missing parts, no service

Tomcat_104

My Feedback: (42)

So far Jesse Wilkins at laserlizard has cut an Avonds F-14 and a Ziroli 101" B-25 for me. He offered to re-cut 1 former for me because I couldn't get it to seperate, that night I got it to seperate just fine. He emailed me the next day saying he would gladly recut it for me. My next plane will be a Don Smith 120" Corsair and I would ask anyone to cut it but laserlizard. His cuts are clean, his price is good, his service is great and his communication is even BETTER! Just my opinion based on past dealings.

David
[email protected]

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Looks like a mixed bag. I have always had great service from Jesse.

Gremlin Castle

My Feedback: (14)

Jesse tries hard but sometimes there are mistakes. He cut a Hostetler Stinson for me and all of the parts were 90% of the plan size. It took a couple of months to get it re-cut as he was having a bad time with his equipment and finances at that time. The re-cut was right on the money although a few parts were overlooked.

In fairness to parts being overlooked, Hostetler plans require more study than Ziroli's. He had never cut one of these before so his learning curve was a little off the mark.

If everything is in good shape for him at the moment I would have no problem using him again. However, I would identify all of the parts that I wanted cut myself rather than depend on someone else to do it 100% the first time through.

Also some plans have a few parts that are not accurately drawn. You will find that the plan and part match but it won't work in the build without modification. There is nothing that a kit cutter can do about that.
He can only reproduce what is drawn unless he has specific knowledge of the inaccuracies and redraws the part correctly.

joeystowers

I'm on the verge of ordering a Don Smith B-17 from him right now... For the price he's asking for the short kit, you can order the remaining wood and still beat other laser cutter prices by a considerable amount, even if you have to "re-cut" a few pieces out on your own... I'm thinking it'd be worth a shot from him...

Tomcat_104

My Feedback: (42)

Jesse cut a Zirolli B-25 and an Avond's F-14 for me and both were PERFECT. I wanted an extra piece for my F-14 and he VOLUNTEERED to cut it for me then he spent the time to tell me how to cut what I wanted myself. I did that the same day and I didn't have to wait and got instant results! Good luck on your B-17, my next plane will be a B-24.

David

Evil_Merlin

My Feedback: (13)

I got the Ziroli Stuka short kit and wasn't 100% happy with it. I had to recut a few pieces here and there. But the P-51 was right on the money.

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

laser lizard cut two of these wildcats for me. dead on and no problems. barry

Live Wire

Well the P38 by Ziroli has a few bugs Makes you wonder

rrudytoo

My Feedback: (27)

Jesse cut a ZStuka and a ZHellcat for me and I was so impressed with everything that I had him cut a Platt Bf 109 for me from plans that I provided. Things fell apart at about that time. The kit took quite a while in coming, communication became hit and miss and he complained of equipment problems and money. I did get the short kit and it looked great but later sold it without building it so I can't vouch for the accuracy. I tried contacting him about six months later about cutting a 1/4 scale version of Platt's plans but no reply. Hmmm.

When things are going good for Jesse, he is a joy to deal with but if things aren't so good..........well, good luck.

While I don't have any experience with the laser work from Aero Accessories, I do know that Dino DiGeorgio and PJ are fantastic to work with and they will do custom laser cutting for a very fair price. It wouldn't hurt to contact them.

Al

Jgear

My Feedback: (3)

I bought a DS B-29 and Ziroli DC-3 short kit from him about 4 years ago, prices were lower back then, but still a fair price now if his website is still correct...... overall, Im satisfied with the quality of the kits. As for accuracy of each cut, can't say much, still haven't built these two yet. But, the pieces literally fall out of the sheets and he was very good to deal with at the time.

SomeSailor

If you're still looking for laser cutting services, I've got a 40W laser and can do single pieces up to 1/4" and 20" x 38" sheets. I'm always looking for fun planes to cut and have done a few on here and for private contacts.

Shoot me an email. I'm sure I can be competitive pricewise. I do prefer those that are proficient in CAD though. Nothing worse than having to redo hours worth of someone elses work.

[email protected]

- mike

popierre

My Feedback: (11)

I asked Jesse to cut me a short kit for the Bates WIldcat a few years back, not only did I have to provide the plan for him I got the kit with part missing or wrong, [:@]I ended up cutting the kit myself[&o]. He made all kind of promisses to make it right even offereing me an already cut kit from his stock. The communication with him stopped as soon as I asked for the kit, never got any answer back and all my emails went unanswered.[:'(]

Would not buy a kit from him again even if he was the last kit cutter left.[:'(]

my 2 cents.

Pierre.

I edited the thread, I had my names all mixed up.

DaddySam

My Feedback: (9)

Pierre,
What "Larry" are you referring to? I ask because I bought a full kit for a Vailly Hurricane several (like maybe five years back from PCK, and when I went to start the fuse, I found that the slots for the fuse stringers (and there are a lot of them) didn't line up, and the fuse went together looking wavy. I emailed Larry and he called me on the phone and told me that he would send me new fuse parts whenever they cut the next run of hurricane kits. In the meantime I ordered a short kit from Jessie at LL and it looks great, and accurate. I recently started digging through my Hurricane stuff, and remembered I'd never received the fuse parts from PCK, so I sent Larry another email just the other day, have heard nothing so far. I mentioned this experience in a thread years ago, and I was surprised when others said that they too had found that the slots did not line up, and it seemed like the tone was "that's the way it is" and a builder has to just work through it. I don't think it has to be that way, and am glad that there are more and more laser cutters out there.
sam

SomeSailor

I only bought my laser about a year ago and have been helping a local UAV start-up engineering company get going. We're on our 5th ship now. It's a monster (17 ft wingspan), but I'm looking to see if there's enough interest in cutting short kits to fill the time in between and keep the machine busy. My machine will cut a maximum of 38" wide and I've cut single piece fuselage sides just over 9 feet long.

If anyone is interested, I'd like to explore any possibilities.

- mike

[email protected]

popierre

My Feedback: (11)

I edtited my thread, it was Jesse not Larry.

sorry for the mixed up.

Pierre

Icemanjr92

My Feedback: (73)

He guys,
While I don't know Jesse at Laser Lizard, I do know that no one is perfect. Remember, if the parts don't fit it's usually not the cutters fault. The laser runs off of the drawings from the designer.
Besides the product, service is whats important. We have been cutting kits for over 10 years now for various designers. We even cut kits for other companies you didn't even know. We have cut three Don Smith 1/4 scale Corsairs to date with no issues so far, then again we are all human operators of the laser machines! If anyone needs any help or pricing we have the largest selection of aircraft in our system. If theres something unusual or perhaps we have not cut yet, please let us know. Happy building!

laserlizard

My Feedback: (29)

Well, here is an example of what happens when you don't stay current on what is being said about you on RCU. I have been very busy for the past few months and I havent chatted or posted on this forum in a while. Today I did a search and found these comments.

If I promised to cut a kit or offered to cut a kit < I would not have ignored anyone. If I have offended any of the above posters, it is news to me. Very seldom do I even hear of anyone that is unhappy with my work, but when I do I offer refunds or recuts. To the contrary, I hear compliments and happy customers. I never ignored anyone. Please contact me if you have any issues further. I am still in business and I do not ignore anyone. I have lot's of happy customers that like the work I do, and I will be glad to talk to any of you.

Call me or email me if you want to talk about any of this.

Jesse

eagle56

My Feedback: (33)

Jessee has been cutting kits for me for about 3 years now. I kit a 9 foot SR-71 that has 42 fuselage and nacelle formers, along with 16 rudder ribs and 8 very long wing ribs. And a few misc parts. I have never had any problems with any kit he has done for me. I concur with another gent above. The cutter can only cut what the draftsman draws. It is not his job to question the patterns he is given, just to cut them. If they are drawn wrong, they will not fit. Regardless of what the cutter tries to do, or doesn't do.
Jesse's cutting is excellent. He uses quality wood. And very seldom do I have a question, that I don't get a prompt answer. There are exceptions, of course, but, overall, great.
He has drop-shipped for me, to save me some headaches when I am in a bind, and never *****es about helping me out.
I whole-heartedly recommend him to anyone looking for a reasonably priced, good job.

Buzz
Sunset Models

ProfLooney

well when jesse first started up I did a lot of the cad work for his cuttings from all the plans I had most of which were a Ziroli. there are 2 things I notice people complain about the first is sometimes the Ziroli Corsair. what people blame on the kit cutter and dont realize is that Nick has 2 totally different sets of Corsair plans out there and they were both drawn from scratch so the parts wont match up. The old set has folding wings and no flaps the new set the wings dont fold and has flaps.

The second and biggest complaint I hear is from people whining how the parts dont match the plans. Since I did a lot of the cad work this reflects on me and so here is what I have to say about that. If you want parts to match the plans perfectly cut them yourself if you want the parts correct get it laser cut. why do I say this that is because people dont use their heads before they run their mouths. 90% of the complaints are on stuff like fuse formers. Most fuse formers are symetrical thus you take the best side and then mirror image the part giving you a perfectly symetrical part which will make your plane a better flyer and wont match the plans. why because most the old time designers drew their plans by hand and as anyone knows you cannot draw perfectly symetrical by hand. Also paper expands and contracts with weather. A lot of designers will have several sets of plans printed at once because it is easier or they get a discount. these unsold plans may sit for weeks or months on the shelf susceptible to climate changes in the room. same goes with builders who pull a set of plans they had sitting around for several years and decide to order a kit. So for all those that complain abt parts not matching take a minute and check out why they arent matching ie is one side of the former correct and the other off a little? that probably means it was fixed when computer drawn for cutting.

I personally have a set of nickls plans that the wing was off quite a bit and I knew it wasnt my building. I checked the sweep on the plans wioth a ruler and 1 side was 1/4" more sweep than the other side. since then I redraw every plan I get that I am going to build and there are tons of errors in the old hand drawn. So In defference to any kit cutter out there before you guys decide to dis someone for parts not matching check your drawings first. make sure also there isnt a second redrawn set out there and that you got the parts for the other set of plans because you didnt tell the cutter which plans you have.

I have used jesse for years and never had a problem with anything fitting may have had a few parts missing but they got promptly replaced.

Joe

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

welcome back jesse, how is the family and of course your dog. barry

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

Joe,

the problem with my kits (I had 3, and gave 2 away because of my problems)
was consistant parts fit. the plans I used where the Zero, and the 92" Jug. no
2 different kind of plans there.

I was missing parts, of which I asked about those parts, and was told that being
they wherent on a "cut sheet", Jesse didnt do them, and would be extra cost to
cut them. so, the parts I needed, but where not cut, because somebody did not
do them (I.E. the cad guy) so I was SOL. I can also attest to this fact on 4 other
occasions for the same plan.

also the substitution of 1/8" 5 ply aircraft ply for 3 mil, 3 ply Italian ply that you can
cut in half with your finger nails. these items where substituted in areas of retract
ribs, and also most of the fuse formers. I broke out 2 gear on my zero from this.
the fuse is one thing, but the retract rail mounts are another.

ultimatly, thru my emails back in forth with Jesse, I knew I was at a dead end. he said
he could make me the missing parts at my cost. I did not do that as I felt that since the
parts where on the plans, they should be in the kit. therefore, I got a "short" short kit.

in the end, I was told that I could get any kit I wanted free, to make it up to me. I declined
and had my kits cut by a couple East Coast kit cutters, and have been happy ever since. and amazingly
my parts match my plans

Mike Emilio

Don't know about all the nit-pickers, but keep up the good work Jessie.
The kit you did for me last year is great!!