It’s early 2020 right now, but this post was written last year, so it’ll make sense. Enjoy!
Welcome to Part 1. Okay so wher’e on with the build! The first thing i did was download the Natsneez plans in PDF format from Outerzone.com, a great free website resource for old and new plans. Check them out and have a cruise through the site. What I then did was open up the file in AutoCad and scale the plans up to give a wingspan of 31 inches, which is what is stated on the plans. I then had the plans printed out on a large printer, so I had two sheet plans to work from.
Once I had traced out the individual parts from the plans on tracing paper, I transferred the outlines on my balsa wood sheets using the’pin-prick’ method. a bit time consuming but it works well.
Below are some of the progress pictures I’ve taken starting with the ribs for the wing which are cut out using the ‘sandwich’ method. Also shown is the part assembled tail unit, which is designed and built to be knock off-able so is constructed separately and as one unit. And then theres the Cox 09 Medallion glow engine, still in the original box packaging (it has a nice thick perspex box cover just visible in the photograph).
Below are some pics of the completed tail unit, which just needs the front sections covered in thin balsa sheet. Also shown is the basic framework for the fuselage. It is built on a soft balsa block base, hard 1/8″ thick former’s and hard 1/16″ keel and upper pieces. I decided to add the keel since I need all the help with building straight fuselages!
Above pictures show the build up of the fuselage. It consists of 1/32″ plywood sheet wrapped around the already glued former’s, stringers and block balsa base.
To get the curved shapes, the ply sides are soaked in a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes, then wrapped and taped around a spray can. After leaving over-night to dry they are then taken off the can, having achieved a curved shape, and glued and clamped onto the fuselage.
A bit more work to do on the fuse, but in the meantime I’m going to start building the wings, so that’s next.
To download the full article of the model build written by P.E. Norman, click here.