plans to kit
 

I was wanting to know if the was any companies out there that can build kits from yourplans.I dont have the time to scratch build but I have plans for an A-1E Skyraider and was wanting to know where if at all Icould get the parts made. Thanks.

RE: plans to kit
 

That is sort of a double edged call there. For no one knows of the completeness of the plan(s) you have nor how much you can do etc.

I am working on plans and parts for a Skyraider from the old Pica/Platt kit. Not real biggie, but good enough for to fit into my auto trunk.


Wm.

RE: plans to kit
 

If you have plans from Ziroli, Palmer or one of the other plans services, check out the Laser Cutting Services. They have the laser cutting programs already for many of those plans. Look in the Scratchbuilding or Kit building forums, or search online for Laser Cutting Services.

If you drew your own plans, then you're probably on your own, unless you want a production run of kits made. The professional cutters pretty much stick to cutting from known designs, and won't write up the CNC program for a single kit.

If you're looking to have someone cut the parts by hand, and expecting a reasonable price... let us know who you find.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

RE: plans to kit
 

This sounds scarier than it is. A laser cutter is noting more than a printer/plotter with a laser instead of a pen. The "program" is just a vector graphic file of the patterns. A laser cutter can even work from a raster file, like a .jpg, or.bmp, but the results will not be precise enough for good quality parts. If you are working from a paper plan, it will have to be scanned, then traced in CAD to produce an accurate laser ready file. Done properly, this involves a skilled drafter who would charge ~$35-$40/hr. Depending on the quality and accuracy of the original plan, this could take as little as an hour for a profile foamy, to 10 or 20 hours for a fine scale model like the ones from Platt and Hostetler (Which are already in CAD files) You could ask for those files, but I bet I would hear them laughing at you from here.

Drawing in CAD is a lot like programming, and the files them selves can be pretty valuable "source code". I would do it for you, and either sell you the code for more than the kit would be worth, or I would get you a kit cut, and sell it to you at a reasonable price, and keep the code for myself. If the plane was your design, we could work a deal where you could sell them as your product, and I would be the supplier. If they were someone else's design, I would try to work a deal with whoever owned the rights to the plan.

. . . unless you drew the plan in CAD, then you're more than half way there. I am getting a scratch built plane laser cut, but I drew the plans in CAD, so they were pretty much laser ready from the get go.

RE: plans to kit
 

What about if you want to take a set of plans and you want to make the plane larger than the plan calls for?

RE: plans to kit
 

It depends. What plans do you have? What size do you want? How many do you want? You've provided very little information. Are your plans paper, or electronic? If electronic, were they CAD drawn? If you mentioned the model, and what size you want, we could respond better.

If you bought some pirated plans off Ebay, and you want them enlarged, you'll probably have to get a pirate CAD person to do it - and they don't advertise. On the other hand, if you have some popular RCM plan, there's a good chance someone here knows where to find enlarged plans.

You mentioned cutting. The reason professionals don't want to draw up that CNC program for one kit is, then they're responsible to you for the fit of the parts. For one kit, that's not a profitable venture. For a production run, they might work something out for you.
If we buy an enlarged plan, we expect common size balsa to work, and that won't often happen. Just enlarging the plans, the various joint notches have to be adjusted.

Provide some information, you'll get some back. Good luck,
Dave Olson

RE: plans to kit
 

What got me started thinking about this is that I've jus bought a Top Flite Contender kit. and I was thinking of how nice this plane would be if I blew it up to a .90 2 stroke engine size.

It comes with a small set of plans that are in the instruction manual, besides the full size set too build the kit on.

I know someone that has a laser cutting system, but he says he'd need a digital set of plans.

And I have no idea how that would be done...

RE: plans to kit
 

Chuck, you might be better off to trace all the parts, then enlarge them by your desired percentage at Kinko's or Office Max. Adjust the spar cutouts to standard size wood. Then build off centerlines or wing cordlines. I'm at the primer stage on a model done just this way.
Other Chuck

RE: plans to kit
 

I have cut custom short kits for people using corel 13. I take a set of plans and scan just the really hard to cut parts like tapered wing ribs and fuse formers. The program has a tracing feature that actually works quite well. I true up the slots to fit the spars nice and snug then convert the outline to a vector. www.lasershortkits.com