Building With Speed and Efficiency
by Dave Garwood
There are times when you don't care how long it takes to build a model, because sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. Other times it becomes a priority to complete the project as quickly and efficiently as possible. To that end, the following is a compilation of tips and methods for organizing your shop and planning your activities to finish a building project rapidly and with minimum wasted time and effort.
The "Dual Zero" project turned my attention to efficient construction methods. Endeavoring to produce two pairs of Slope sailplanes with matched flight characteristics, Joe Chovan and I agreed to each build a pair of Slope Scale models. He constructed a pair of Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars and I built a pair of Mitsubishi A6M Zeros.
I struggled to summon all the tips, tricks, and techniques I knew to complete this project as rapidly as possible while maintaining my highest possible level of craftsmanship. Furthermore, I asked my flying and building buddies to add to the list, and they responded by generously sharing their experience.
- Thoroughly read the kit instructions.
This is one of the easiest ways to get rolling quickly, yet some of us skip this step, thinking perhaps we'll save time if we dive right in. Don't do that!
The kit instructions add the designer's advice and counsel to your own knowledge and experience. His or her goals are aligned with yours: to complete the project with minimum expenditure of time and materials and with the best possible result.
Well-prepared kit instructions will give you an overall idea of how the model goes together and the order of battle for component construction and assembly. Thinking through the project, you'll find opportunities for parallel operations, such as subassemblies you can work on while adhesives cure on other components, and these can cut days off the overall building time.
Carefully review the "materials needed" list and determine if you have all the necessary supplies in stock. If you do not, make a checklist and go to the hobby store or mail-order the items you'll need. If you see unfamiliar materials or operations, this is the time to get help from the kit maker or other sources.
- Review the tools you'll need.
Having good tools and maintaining them undoubtedly makes any construction project go smoother. Did you know that a sharp knife is safer to use than a dull one? A sharp knife requires less force and is less likely to slip. Buy single-edge razor blades and hobby-knife blades in bulk and replace them frequently. Dispose of them safely by taping over the cutting edge and points as soon as they are worn.
Make long, flat sanding blocks for several grades of sandpaper. Replace the sandpaper as soon as you notice that it's worn. Sandpaper is one of our more precise cutting and shaping tools, and it works so much better when it's new and sharp.
Be sure you have long enough straightedges. I often use 18-inch and 1-meter aluminum ones. Fix them so they don't slip when in use by applying thin cork on the back or taping them down before you run a cutting tool along the edge.
A heat gun is highly useful—not only for its common use of shrinking covering, but to get epoxy to flow freely and to wet out fiberglass. A razor saw comes in really handy when a hacksaw blade is too thick and cutting with a blade would be too crude.
Use power tools when possible. Rough-sand large balsa, hardwood, and plywood pieces using a belt or a disc sander. Use a power rotary tool to cut and sand smaller parts quickly. I get a great deal of use from a benchtop jigsaw.
Will you need any new tools for your next project? Is it time for a new soldering-gun tip? Do you have the drill sizes and tap sizes you'll need? How about a second pair of scissors—one for cutting sandpaper and the other rough stuff, and one for heat-shrink covering and other delicate work? Is this the time to replace those bent and rusty T-pins and stock up on razor blades? Would a couple more small clamps speed your work? It's better to get the tools you'll use earlier in the project than later.
- Gather building supplies and materials.
After a project is underway is no time to run out of paper towels, waxed paper, epoxy mixing cups, stir sticks, or masking tape; it disturbs your flow. Stock up on these items before you start. Do you have the adhesives you'll need to finish the project?
Lay in a supply of epoxy and microballoons, fast and slow cyanoacrylate glue, Titebond or your favorite wood glue, ProBond or another specialty adhesive for EPP foam work, and Shoe Goo for shock-mounting a servo tray into a fiberglass fuselage.
Make sure you have the solvents you'll need: fingernail-polish remover or other cyanoacrylate softener, alcohol for epoxy cleanup, and Ironex, acetone, or Goo Gone to clean your scissors and covering iron.
Do you have several sizes of rubber bands and suitable weights of fiberglass cloth? Will you need a can of expanding foam to fill a void or stiffen a fuselage?
- Is this the time for shop improvements?
It seems as though you can never have too much horizontal workspace—especially since with parallel operations, some work dries or cures while other building commences.
Would two benches improve your productivity? If so, think about having two bench heights: one a standing and one a sitting work area. Some tasks go much easier with one or the other. It’s easier to install a wobble-free workbench if it’s fixed to a wall, but a freestanding bench allows you to walk around and get at all sides of your work, and it allows you to handle larger pieces, such as a big model with the wing mounted.
Would an extra set of shelves help you stay organized? One of my seemingly unreachable goals is to get everything off the floor—to really clean up the shop—and every new set of shelves I install gets filled rapidly. Steel shop shelving is cheap, custom-sized shelves make the maximum use of available wall space, and some things (such as finished wings or fuselages) deserve special storage space. I’ve never been sorry about spending money or time adding shelf space.
How’s your shop lighting? Maybe another fluorescent fixture over the workbench would substantially increase your shadow-free lighting. A portable, clamp-on reflector light provides brighter task lighting when and where it’s needed. Both are inexpensive.
- Check to see if you have all small parts you’ll need in stock.
Will you need wire, brass tubing, clevises, servo arms, or pushrods? How about nuts, bolts, screws, or washers? Do you have a receiver for this model? How about the servos, switch, and battery pack you need? It’s often the small stuff that holds you up when a project is underway.
- Follow logical procedures.
Clear off that bench! Before you start your project, clean up the workbench and put everything—tools, glue, parts, etc.—away so you can find the work surface when you need it. Get in the habit of putting tools away during building; they’re easier to find in a regular storage place than under piles on a messy bench.
Plan to do your dust-producing tasks together and separate from the tasks that are sensitive to airborne dust. Sanding wing leading edges creates plenty of sawdust, and you don’t want to apply paint or covering with airborne sawdust settling.
Measure carefully before cutting and heavy sanding. Making templates often increases your accuracy in cutting parts and saves time in making multiple identical parts. Measure in millimeters—not in inch fractions. This enables you to obtain more precise and more easily remembered measurements, and it simplifies calculating ratios and fractions of measurements.
Stack identical parts in manageable bundles when cutting and sanding outline shapes. Keep them together with tape or rubber bands. Make all similar parts before going to the next step.
Store small parts such as screws, clevises, and control horns together in small containers for each model. I use film cans, snap-lid food containers, and zip-close plastic bags for this, and I often write a label for each on white vinyl tape. Small containers help you keep inventory and stay organized if you temporarily put an airplane away in its box while you work on another building or repair project.
- Prepare your finishing supplies and materials.
Do you have your final color scheme in mind or your scale documentation in hand? If so, you can order your decals or cut vinyl markings early in the project.
Do you have enough iron-on covering, fiberglass, filler material, etc., to finish without running out to the store? How about primer paint, masking tape, final paint colors, paint thinner, Testors Dullcote spray, and a couple of tack cloths?
- Keep safety in mind.
Shop safety is important and deserves its own article, but briefly stated: protect your eyes, protect your lungs, and protect your hands and other body parts.
Wear eye protection for any cutting or grinding operation. Wear a dust mask when sanding. Make sure you have adequate ventilation or wear a suitable mask or respirator when using any paint, adhesive, or solvent. Cut in such a way that a slipping knife or razor blade will cause no harm. Be mindful of solder drips, splatters, and hot parts when soldering.
- Get help if needed.
If you are faced with a new procedure or an unfamiliar adhesive, ask about it at your local hobby shop. If you belong to a club, many times your fellow members will be helpful. Post a question on an Internet modeling exchange. Some builders enjoy working in a group, and that's a great way to learn new techniques.
- Make building an enjoyable time.
Music sets a mood, so make provisions for tunes in your shop. A radio, a tape player, or a CD player will greatly improve the atmosphere. I like big band music when I'm working on World War II aircraft.
Be sure to dress for the occasion; wear shop clothes. Who needs another cyanoacrylate blob on a good T-shirt?
Heat or cool the work area so you're working in a comfortable temperature. Basement shops often benefit from a dehumidifier.
Probably the biggest payoff from time invested comes from your reading and understanding the kit instructions before you start and thinking through the procedures. Make note especially of any operations that are unclear and any supplies, materials, and tools that would be helpful to have, and get these squared away before you start. Work safely and have fun. The journey is as important as the destination, no matter how fast you're traveling.
Thanks to the guys who have increased my model-building knowledge, skill, and ability: Robert Cavazos, Joe Chovan, Terry Dwyer, Jim Harrigan, Brian Laird, Mike Lee, Carl Maas, Bob Powers, Pete Young, and my dad David E. Garwood, MA.
Dave Garwood 5 Birch Ln. Scotia, NY 12302 [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
