LUCA BALSA MANUAL

I added tubes in each wingtip to serve as camera mounts for capturing in-flight footage. It goes together rather quickly.īuilding a model yourself allows you to incorporate your own custom touches. Think of it as a 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. You pin the bottom spar to the plans and begin gluing all of the other pieces in place. The wing is constructed of die-cut balsa ribs, hardwood spars, and pre-shaped leading and trailing edges made of balsa. It should come as no surprise that there is also a lot of overlap with how wooden full-scale aircraft are built. The ElectriCub II provides a good example of the typical structure you will find in a balsa RC airplane. It is important to use epoxy very strategically on model airplanes to avoid creating an overweight dud. Epoxy is great stuff, but it is also very heavy. It is available in a variety of working times (5, 30, 60-minute). The traditional adhesive for these applications is 2-part epoxy.

Some areas of an airframe, such as the firewall and landing gear mount, require extra strong glue joints. In some instances, the additional working time is helpful to get all of the parts correctly aligned. Yes, it takes several hours to dry, but that’s okay. It is cheap, easy to work with, and creates very strong joints. Solvent based cellulose glues have been used since the early days of modeling.

There are lots of slower-drying alternatives to CA. However, the accelerator gives me headaches at times. Some modelers avoid CA because the fumes are an irritant/allergen for them. Anyone who uses thin CA will inadvertently glue themselves to something sooner or later–probably sooner. Also, CA doesn’t discriminate between balsa and your skin. Most modelers primarily use cyanoacrylates.įor all its speedy stickiness, CA definitely has drawbacks too. There are lots of applicable glues for working with balsa. Spray-on accelerants can be used to speed up the process even more. The primary appeal of CA is that it dries very quickly–usually within a few seconds. It is available in different viscosities (thin, medium, thick). Most hobbyists use CA glue (cyanoacrylate) for building balsa airframes. That topic alone could fill up several articles, but I’ll cover only the basics here. There are countless adhesives to choose from. This gives me a flat work surface that will accept and hold pins really well. The plans and wax paper are then layered over the tiles. So, I like to lay out a few ceiling tiles on the benchtop.

Pins do not stick into the plywood very well. Many assembly steps require you to apply wax paper over the plans and pin the balsa parts into position before gluing them together.

LUCA BALSA MANUAL

The manual tells you what to do while the plans define what everything should look like. Like most balsa kits, guidance for building the ElectriCub comes from a step-by-step assembly manual and full-size printed plans. A sanding block isn’t mandatory, but you’ll be glad you have it. I typically get by with 80, 150, and 220-grit. You will also need a variety of sandpaper. It probably isn’t powerful enough for anything other than hobby tasks, but it works great for me. I recently began using a cheap mini table saw for this task. Mitre boxes and fine-tooth hand saws can make this job much easier. Some kits require you to cut balsa sticks at precise lengths and angles to create truss structures. A hobby knife and sandpaper will cover most building tasks. You don’t need many tools to build a balsa airplane.

Luca balsa