Airfield Models - Model Building Tips

Miscellaneous Model-Building Tips

December 19, 2021



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Airfield Models (http://www.airfieldmodels.com/)Miscellaneous Model Building Tips

  • Stop jury-rigging your planes!  I'm serious now.  Just stop it!

    I'm glad we've reached an agreement on this.  Thank you.

  • PVC pipe is great for storing lengths of Music Wire, NyRod, etc.  Tape two pieces together to prevent them from rolling around.

  • Always sweep your shop with a broom not a Shop Vac.  Look through the sweepings for any small parts that may have been swept up.  You can pick up fine dust easily using a piece of paper such as the letter inside a piece of junk mail.

  • As far as I am concerned, there is only two "right" ways to store plans: Rolled with the printed side out or hanging.  I learned this when I was a draftsman many years ago.  If you roll the plans in (like they are in many kits) then when you lay out the plans, they tend to roll up.  I suggest that any time you buy a new kit you roll the plans if they come folded or rolled printed side in.

  • Try to have a standard way of doing things whenever possible.  For example, I always set up my radio switches to be "On" when pushed in.  If you have some one way and some another way then you are likely to make more mistakes.

    The same thing goes for setting up fuel tanks.  I always set up the tank so the feed line is on the left (looking from the cockpit) and the pressure line is on the right.  I never have to guess which line is which.  Some things can be done more than one way.  It does not matter which way you choose so long as you are consistent.

  • Another good way to spend non-project time is cleaning equipment, taking inventory of supplies, putting things away that are strewn all over, etc.  If you have a family, you could stop in and have one of them fetch you another beer so they know you are still alive.

  • You know how sometimes you pick up a screwdriver and then immediately drop it?  Then it bounces around on the floor for a couple seconds and you angrily exclaim, "Shit!" because it is annoying when you drop things.  This is why you shouldn't put fragile items, such as semi-completed fuselages, on the floor in your shop to get them out of the way.

    Actually, you shouldn't put any of your airplanes on the floor because sooner or later someone will step on it.

    Likewise, when you throw the remote for the TV across the room so it lands on the couch which it then bounces off of sending it through the wing of the plane you left on the living room floor is why you shouldn't throw things in the house or leave planes on the floor.

    Similarly, when you are pulling a video tape out of your VCR and it slips from your hand and falls into the fuselage you left on the floor in front of your entertainment center breaking all the turtledeck stringers is another reason not to leave fuselages on the floor.

    When you are sitting on the floor covering your latest creation and your sister lets her retarded English Cocker Spaniels in the house which they run through like the brainless, hyperactive morons that they are and in the process trounce through your wing and rip it to shreds is why you shouldn't live with your sister, let her have stupid dogs or sit on the floor to cover your planes.  I actually love dogs - just not energetically stupid dogs.

    These are probably the best tips on this site.

 
 

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