Next weekend will be spent with my in-laws at their mountain house four hours away from home…My wife and two year old son will be there, but being 30-45 minutes from anything gets a bit boring. So instead of packing up the various supplies for a plastic model, I was thinking about bringing my Guillow’s Rufe.
Has anyone built any of these balsa kits? The booklet that camewith it states that I need “airplane dope”…now this “whipper-snapper” doesnt quite know what that is…although a quick googlesearch gaveme an idea…BUT, is there anything I canuse in its place? I have read something about a white glue mixture, but I figuredthe gurus on here would be the best online source of knowledge…
I haven’t build a balsa and tissue paper plane since I was a kid. I’d think the best place to search for airplane dope would be either a hobby shop or online dealer that sells RC (radio control) aircraft. At least they’re know what you’re looking for.
For assembly I’d take a large piece of cardboard, lay the plans over it, then a layer of wax paper over that. Then you can lay the balsa pieces down over the plans, pin them in place (stick the pins though the paper into the cardboard, and glue them (the glue won’t stick to wax paper very well).
Of course this was 30 years ago so there may be better ways to do this now. I always used white glue (Elmers) though again there may be better products now, wood glue would probably work better. You won’t need the dope until the model is pretty much complete.
Dope is NASTY-NASTY stuff [imagine the smell of painting an entire wing surface in testors tube styrene glue, and then multiply that by 10!!], you can still find it here and there, but it’s pretty scarce, I would try searching the white glue/water mixture a bit more. The purpose of the dope is to shrink & stretch the tissue paper taught over your stinger/formers/longerons and give the tissue some rigidity & greater strength - come to think of it Future might do the trick!!
pack all the stuff Justinryan215 mentioned, - don’t forget the wax paper! I would substitute a soft plank [large enough to do at least one half wing] a couple handfuls of T-pins and possibly med or thick CA glue - I always used carpenters glue but CA will cure WAY faster.
I always used a resin glue on balsa kits water based glue such as elmers will warp balsa because of water in the glue. I used Amborid’s Ssecure-it or Titebond watch the tite bond they make both a resin and water based glue. I used a large piece of thick cork board to pin parts down to hope this helps out. ACESES5[snWcm]
Thanks guys, as I said I offered what advice I had but it’s been 30 years since I built a balsa and tissue model and as a kid I used what I could find around the house. A cork board and glue made for wood should be a big improvement.
I would recommend you pick up a pack of single edge razor blades though. I’d think they might be more useful than a pen knife in some applications unless someone has a better alterative.
Gorilla glue would be over kill. Elmer’s white glue is fine and will not warp surfaces if it is applied sparingly. Dope seals the tissue, sizes it a little, and preps it for paint. You can make “dope” out of thinned white glue if you do not intend to put an engine in the model and will otherwise be avoiding model airplane fuel.
Stick construction is slow going. Unless you are going to be at the in-laws for the rest of the summer, don’t expect to get finished.
I’ve built a few Gillows kits before. Airplane dope is a fancy glue for flying models. However, if you don’t intend on flying the model, you should be good with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. (acually, it would still fly, although the skin will be more fragille)
Here’s what I used for my Guillow models:
1 large cardboard box pannel
1 box of wax paper
1 box of dress-maker’s pins ( the ones with the plastic hed)
glue (wood and white)
a hobby knife
What you do is pin the instructions to the box pannel, and then you pin the wax paper over the instructions.
Pin the wing supports down as you go, and glue it all together. Then, once the glue is dry, remove the pins, and remove the wings. (same applies for the elivator/rudder assemblies)
All of the above replies are very good. I’ve built Guillows kits quite often in all my years of modeling. I have 5 or 6 of them in my stash. I would use CA as glue for construction but white glue for putting on the tissue. It’s quicker and stronger. I’ve used colored tissue that you can get in craft stores. All kinds of colors and cheap. No painting necessary. An old spray bottle to spritz the tissue with water to shrink it. If you’re going to use a gas motor in it, then you have to use dope. It does have a bad smell and is getting harder and harder to get. Use plenty of ventilation if you use it. Your in-laws might not like the smell. There are also some iron on coverings that you can get for gas powered planes. Rubber powered is easier and cheaper. No power is even cheaper yet. [2cnts]
I dont intend on flying this one…I just thought it would be neat to do something a bit different. The fact that it doesnt require too much in the way of tools and materials. I DO plan on building it outside, but I may just use the thinned white glue…
Thanksguys for all of your responses! It really helps!
I built several of the Guillow’s WW1 aircraft years ago (1960s) and still have a couple on the shelf for future build.
A word of caution when doping the tissue on the wings and fuselage assemblies. When applying the tissue to the assemblies, only apply dope to the outer edges of the bare wood, e.g., on wings - the leading and trailing edges. Cut tissue slightly larger than the wing area to be covered, e.g., halves, and apply to the wing from leading edge to trailing edge. Once tissue has been applied, dope the top of the tissue on the leading and trailing edges only, gently pulling the tissue snug (not tight) over the assembly being careful not to induce warps. Once tissue has been applied to the entire top and bottom of the wing you are ready to shrink the tissue. Use a spray of water, not dope. Otherwise you will create huge warps in thw wings. Guillow’s assemblies are fragile. Let dry for an hour and the tissue should be ready for clear and color doping - Pactra paint or whatever can found in an R/C hobby shop. Again, use clear sparingly and best thinned. Otherwise warps will be a problem.
For gluing wood, I always use Ambroid wood glue which can be found in hobby shops.