pedrospe FB-22 tutorial

[pedrospe]

Hi everyone ,it's been quite some time since i posted anything new, so i decide to make a small tutorial,of how i make my scratchbuild aircraft,this tutorial is for my new fb-22, i hope you like it.
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first you have to draw the aircraft that you want to build


this are the tools i use to cut the polystyrene



to help see the lines were to cut ,use a pen to mark the polystyrene







this is the fuselage after being sanded






in this picture  you can see were the airintakes and exhaust , are located





now the fuselage is ready for cutting the wings,this is the type of plastic i use



the wings are already glued and the cockpit is also ready





since you can not mark the polystyrene, i use self adhesive paper or plastic sheets, to mark the panels of the aircraft


this is how the aircraft looks after everything is done









as you can see it's not very difficult,but it takes a while to get use to work with the polystyrene and all this materials are very easy to find, feel free to ask me any questions.




                         regards




                             Pedro

[bobbo]

That's just like those solid balsa kits I built as a kid, 50+ years ago!   

bobbo

[darthspud]

looking really good.
One question, how long does the physical build take?

[deathjester]

That is just pure genius !!

[perttime]

OK... how do you manage the cockpit well and other hollow areas?

[McColm]

Wow!!
That might work on my future car builds, thanks

[royabulgaf]

Thanks for taking the time to prepare this tutorial.  It helps a lot.

The "polystyrene" you use for the fuselage seems like some sort of foam, resembling styrofoam.  Does it have a brand name?

[NARSES2]

That's very nice, interesting tutorial as well. Many thanks 

[Hobbes]

How do you paint the polystyrene foam? Can you just apply paint on the foam, or do you need to apply a layer of putty first?

royabulgaf: you'll need to look for expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) or extruded polystyrene foam (XPS).
I think this material is XPS, it's more uniform and can be sanded to a smoother surface than EPS. EPS is commonly used as packaging material (e.g. packing peanuts).

Styrofoam is a brand name, they produce XPS.

[pedrospe]

HI everyone thanks a lot for all your kind comments, i ´m sorry that this tutorial is not as completed as i wished for ,but i don't have much time for making it better,sorry about that, one very important thing that i forget to say,is that you cannot use any SOLVENT BASED GLUES to glue the polystyrene, because that will destroy the polystyrene, you can use non solvent glues from uhu that can also be use , to glue plastic parts (like wings ,airintakes,canards etc...)to the polystyrene, another very important thing about painting, do NOT USE ANY SINTETIC PAINTS,to paint the polystyrene,because that will destroy it ,use acrylic paints,now to answer your questions;DARTHSPUD-it takes me about a week to build an aircraft,but it depends on the time you spend on it, i usually dedicate about 3 hours a day,the fuselage is the part that takes more time,mostly the sanding process.
ROYABULGUF-well the polystyrene that i use can be bought on supermarks that sell construction materials,here in Portugal i can find it on AKI OR MAXMAT, the polystyrene can be roofmate or floormate, the roofmate is better, because it is easier to sand ,and has a better finished look when painted.
HOBBES-the paints i use are all acrylic paints, i usually use tamya acrylic paints,mixed with water ,but you can use any kind of acrylic or plastic paints,just remember not to use synthetic paints, i just use this paints, to paint for example, the exhaust nozzles of an aircraft.
I hope my answers helped you.



              best regards

            Pedro

[PR19_Kit]

BLIMEY! 

[Spey_Phantom]

holy ****, that looks awesome 
very nice scratchwork 

[royabulgaf]

thanks, I know what kind of material you are referring to.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Wonderful work.

Ian

[Rick Lowe]

That, Sir, is some very nice work!  

I have thought of the same method, but usually shy away due to the problems of getting an even cross-section when sanding from square to round... though like everything else, it's probably taking the time to practice.

It would certainly take the expense out of making multiple versions of the same aircraft, not having to purchase multiple kits...

I will have to use your work as inspiration and actually get making something.

As an aside, I understand that Ados F2 contact adhesive plays well with expanded foam and won't melt it... or the blue and green varieties of foam, anyway.
You could also probably use a couple of thick coats of primer to seal the foam and get a smooth surface for painting. Maybe it could even seal it enough to use enamels?

Cheers

Rick