Guillows Laser Cut Kits

scigs30 · Post by **scigs30** » Tue May 10, 2011 12:14 pm

I have the 200 series kits and ordered the 400 series from AC Hobby Shop. I was planning on building the Nieuport 11 but noticed the wood was still heavy. 2 sheets came in at over 19lb/ft and 3 came in at 14 lb/ft. I emailed Guillows to see if I could get light wood. So, I will see what they say. If they don't send out new wood, I will probably just build it for electric freeflight. I notice a lot of the builds at the fields are now electric. They are not RC just plain electric, I guess a lot of the guys are tired of messing with rubber. When I receive the 400 series, I will let you know how the wood is. Now don't get me wrong, these are still great kits and worth the money if you don't a rubber powered plane. These kits will fly great with electric or gas motors. I cannot wait until the large Stuka is laser cut.

Phugoid · Post by **Phugoid** » Tue May 10, 2011 4:50 pm

I've pretty much given up on the Guillows kits for rubber Free Flight following the awful Cessna 170 kit which I've now canned. Back to buiding with nice quality wood, from my stock of Veron and Keil Kraft plans..........

winger · Post by **winger** » Tue May 10, 2011 6:09 pm

Electric free flight is what I'm interested in--- seems to be little info available-just the ones Harbor Freight sells. Don't have those in Canada, we have princess auto instead. No cheap planes to cannibalize. Anybody know of a cheap kit?

scigs30 · Post by **scigs30** » Tue May 10, 2011 6:24 pm

Phugoid, That is a bummer since you produced some nice builds. I am done with the die crushed kits but sure would like to build more of these laser cut kits. I am not asking for contest balsa but 8-12lb/ft is not too much to ask for. I am almost done with the Aeronca with replacement wood and probably won't build any more 300 series kits until they come out in laser cut version.

ADW 123 · Post by **ADW 123** » Tue May 10, 2011 6:44 pm

i dont mind the die cut too much, but i havent been t'ed of by a really poor die crushed... yet... so im still hanging in there building guillows

Phugoid · Post by **Phugoid** » Thu May 12, 2011 5:30 pm

ADW You could do much better though, you have the skills to build much better than Guillows.........

ADW 123 · Post by **ADW 123** » Thu May 12, 2011 5:32 pm

i know that there are "better than guillows" companies out there but really havent bothered to try them. there is something about guillows to like, but still, like any company, things to dislike

Phugoid · Post by **Phugoid** » Fri May 13, 2011 1:34 am

You don't need to deal with any company other than those that supply the basics, all you need is a plan, some balsa, a prop etc and you can be away.....

scigs30 · Post by **scigs30** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:52 am

Guillows is sending me out some new wood for the Nieuport, so I am happy. My WWII Zero should be arriving any day and I will let you know how the wood is in that kit. I did write a long email to Guillows praising them for their work on converting over to Laser cut kits. But I also voiced my concerns about the heavy wood 20 lb/ft, way too heavy. They agree and are trying to keep the wood at 8-12 lb/ft, hopefully they can hire a QI person for this. Heck, If Guillows wants to ship the wood to my house, I will do the picking and sorting for free.

Like I said earlier, contest balsa is not the way to go with these kits, way too fragile for most. With 8-12lb balsa, I can get most of these kits to fly pretty good.