Replacing Guillows plastic parts with balsa

[jpuke]

I'm going to build a 500 series Hellcat for my next build and I'd like to try making the cowl out of balsa instead of using the Guillows plastic one. I think it'd be a neat project, though a time-consuming one.

Has anyone here ever made a large cowl out of balsa instead of plastic? I did one for the 900-series Chipmunk that I built by laminating 4 x 1/16" balsa pieces (glued cross-grain) and sanding to shape. That was easy because it was so small.

If I were to do this, would it be better to laminate the balsa into one solid cowl-shaped piece and hollow it out later or laminate a bunch or "rings" that are would leave the middle already hollowed out?

I've always had to add nose weight so I'm hoping this idea won't add too much weight to start with. I also plan on replacing most of the kit wood. Some of it was fine but what I found is that when there's two duplicate sheets in a kit, one is incredibly hard balsa and the other is nice, soft and crushed. The hard balsa should make fine templates for replacement parts.

I'd love to hear what those of you that are far more experience than I think about this. Thanks.

[ADW 123]

i wouldnt say that i am more experienced, but ill share my thoughts anyways.

am i safe to assume you are building for static? really, you could use either method. depending on the shape of the cowl, and how big it is. based off of what i know about the sizing of the 500 series cowl, it wouldnt be too much of a hassle to make it from solid wood, from hollowed out wood. i think its a matter of opinion. try a controlled experiment and use both methods. see wich one you like best, and post some pics of the two for kicks. luck.

[jpuke]

I'd like to build it to fly. That's why I'm wondering if it'd add too much weight. It seems like it'd be just as much of a hassle as building a nose block within the plastic and it'd be a good project with winter coming soon.

[SteveM]

I've made one before from laminated sheet, but it was for display. I do have a kit where the nose is laser cut rings with alternating grain direction that should be fairly easy to glue together and sand to shape since the rings are already close to the final shape.

If you have a dremel then you could hollow out as much of the nose cone as needed if you built it with a solid center, but it might be a good idea to at least start with rings with at least a little center hole before you start laminating layers. I say give it a try both ways and see how it turns out.

[Steve Blanchard]

For free flight and weight considerations it would be best to continue the build of the formers and stringers all the way to the position of the engine and then use the laminated rings for what extends past the engine. You can then, for durability sake, fill in between the stringers with soft balsa and sand to smooth. There are many ways to do this and if you are are interested I will post in more detail. The biggest problem with the Guillow's kits is all of the plastic. It would be great of there were options to build the plastic areas from balsa instead. This would only require a different plan option.

Steve

[jpuke]

Thanks for the tips and photos. I've got a good idea in my head of what I want to do now and I'll post photos as I get going.

[rayd]

One more jpuke.....in ye olden days, many planes, especially if you get ahold of some vintage Comet models or look at some plans from eg the Fifties or earlier, often had printed parts, you maybe used balsa for wheels, a ring type system with disks etc for nose/cowls. Sometimes you had to carve your own prop from balsa using plans given, and cut out paper for windshild, and other gizmos. Sure, you can do it with balsa...I well remember the days where not one plastic piece was included with a "stick model"...we got by, balsa ring systems, clever stuff, ...so can you, consider it a challenge. Try it. Go green.

[flash52]

I don't know if you can see this clearly but I build a square box out of sheet balsa and glue it on front formers. Then I make a smaller box with the thrust button to plug in the first box. Do not glue the smaller box jn. Its removable to install rubber. Cover with the plastic cowl and your done. A lot easier to do than explain.

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[flash52]

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[flash52]

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[flash52]

adw123 can you tell me where I'M SCREWING up?

[SteveM]

Get rid of the tags in the link below, all you need is one set in lower case. Click "preview" before you post to make sure the picture shows up properly.

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[ADW 123]

here is the second page of my tutorial. i would strongly encourage reading through the whole thing. if you dont get it, try reading the first page of the tutorial as well

[Dusty]

Actually I was looking for that same kit to make as a flier, formers made of the right cross section and some sheeting should get you to the point of a light and smooth cowl pretty fast with maybe a slab of balsa on the front to get the curves right. There's lots of ways to do it but why don't you like the plastic one? Is it not formed well or too thin?