Restoring A Classic (Model) Airplane

Restoring A Classic PT-19 (Model) Airplane – Part 1

Restoring A Classic PT-19 (Model) Airplane – Part 1 A note to my readers: You were expecting to see the next installment of the B-17 project here. Don’t worry, that model is alive and well in my shop but I elected to take it “out of the spotlight” for a while to concentrate on getting […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 15

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 15 This session is going to be about the first of a series of steps that have got to come before I can think about doing any “fine detailing” on the fuselage, let alone get into “finishing” (a paint job). Just as with the wing, along […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 14

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 14 I finished the last work session on the B-17 fuselage by sharing my decision on the best way to go about sheeting/skinning the framework. Just so you know, what we’re doing does not qualify as “planking”…that’s a somewhat different process based on using lots of […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 13

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 13 Now that I have a fully framed -up fuselage assembled to the stage that I can actually set it in place against the wing, the logical next step might be to get to work “finishing” it by starting the process of balsa sheet planking/skinning. But… […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 12

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 12 Do you like it when all the separated parts of a project finally begin to come together? I certainly do, and…for me anyway… that’s what starting work on the fuselage of a new model airplane is all about. As you’ve already figured out, I nearly […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 11

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 11 We finished our last building session with the basic structure of the wing, as well as the engine nacelles aft of the cowls, all built. All that was left to complete the outline was the flaps and ailerons, and I’m going to build those now. […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 10

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 10 I finished off the last session (Part 9) by promising you a “prodigious mess of balsa shavings” that would result from completing the job of shaping all four engine nacelles. Doing that turned out to be an exercises in using a sequence of traditional model […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 9

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 9 Part 8 of our “building the B-17” story ended with my giving you a sneak peek at the first of the aft nacelle fairing blocks stuck into place. In showing you that (as a hint of things to come) I got a little ahead of […]

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Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 8

Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 8 I finished our last session of B-17 building by closing-up/sheeting-in the forward section of one of the one of the engine nacelles. I’ve been doing nacelles for quite a while now and I’m sure it has occurred to you (as it did to me when […]

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