Faster Way to Transfer Scratch Build Plans

by SGRacer | September 9, 2015 | (11) Posted in Tips

I found flitetest almost 2 years ago and fell in love with the idea of creating planes my self for just a few bucks.  I cannot thank everyone at flitetest enough for helping me turn my desire in to a hobby.

 

For years, when transferring the plans to the foam I would poke holes through the paper plans on to the foam board, then take a pencil and trace or connect the lines with a ruler then proceed to cut them out from there.  It is labor intensive and time consuming, but I didnt mind because building is half the fun!

 

As I became a better pilot, flying became just as fun as building and I needed a faster way to build.  

 

With the release of the FT Bushwacker, I decided i needed a new way to build. So I built a jig.

 

I had some spare 7/16 inch OSB from Big Box home store from a previous project and decided to cut it up, about a 1/2 inch larger than a piece of Dollar Tree foam board.

 

After cutting that, I traced out the board on the wood.  This gives me a good boundry mark when laying down my plans.

 

Next I hammered some finishing nails on the traced line from the foam sheet.

 

I placed about 10 nails around the perimeter.

 

 

And extra in the corner of one side.  This help align the board and keep it square.

 

 

Next you can begin to layout your plans, keeping in mind that you should keep them about 1/4 of an inch away from the edge.

 

 

Then peel the paper of one whole side of a piece of foarm.

 

Then spray the back of your plans (NOT the foam) with a Spray Adhesive and let it sit for about 10 seconds.  Here is what I used.  It is available at most large retail and home stores.

 

 

Once you spray you plans, lay the foam on top and VUALA! Perfect plans, ready to cut.

 

I did use good, even pressure to make sure i had good adhesion and I do, better than the original paper and the weight it identical. (40 grams)

 

 

Once you cut them out, start your build it is just that easy.

 

 

I am very excited to have this jig. Yes, you end up with plans on one side of the foarm, but you wouldnt even notice unless you looked very closely at my plane (it is mostly on the inside anyway).   In my case, this jig cost me nothing, just spare parts I had laying around, but you could use anything you have.  This process made the build of the FT Bushwacker so much faster.

 

I will definitely be using this from now on.

COMMENTS

RedheadBarron on September 21, 2015
I've thought about doing this....but I just tape them, then cut them out with #11 blades The tape and plans can be removed. I've reached the point where I can print, tape, cut, glue, and complete a plane within 24 hours if time permits.
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Petrie on September 14, 2015
This sounds great, but I'm a little confused on the steps. Do you lay the plans on the board then spray the board and plans? Or spray the plans then lay it on the board? Spraying it all would be easier but what keeps the foam from sticking to the board?
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SGRacer on September 14, 2015
If you are fast you can spray the back each piece and then lay it on the jig, or you can lay the pieces in the jig and spray them all. I find that this works best but if you are not careful the spay will blow your pieces around. When you do it this way your foam will lightly stick to the board but it is not hard to get it in stuck.
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Desert Wings on September 14, 2015
I use this method to both transfer the design and dress up the plane. Here is an article I did awhile back:
http://flitetest.com/articles/foam-board-that-looks-great
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Goose on September 18, 2015
Yeah great, good article. Transfering the plans to foam board is the part of the build I hate the most. I tried your idea tonight but the foam board I have here in Australia won't let me peel the paper off, so I just ended up using the spray glue and glueing the plans straight onto the foam board. It seems to have worked well. The only problem I can see is the weight of the paper which is bugger all!! I'll see how it goes.😀
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SGRacer on September 18, 2015
Great! So glad you tried it!
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hugozhu on September 14, 2015
Good job~
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Hoagen on September 21, 2015
All very interesting but time consuming. All I do is spree the board with spray adhesive from 3M and lay the plans in tile form on the board and press lightly. Then cut out the plans and board. When cut out I just wipe the plans with mineral spirits and the plans practically fall off the board leaving very little residue which come off the board with mineral spirits.
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MEbyGood on September 14, 2015
If you don't want to have the plans permanently attached, here's an old trick. I haven't tried it with your spray glue, but with 3M Super77, you can make the bond less permanent by leaving the plans off the foam until the glue gets tacky, a couple minutes or so. It should still stick to the foam, but will be peelable.
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SGRacer on September 14, 2015
Definitely a possibility. I try to choose the opposite side that already has a slight bend (it is from the dollar store after all) to remove the paper from, but there is still a slight curl. I have not noticed this curl transferred to the plane though, which is good.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on September 13, 2015
Great article!
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RCMasterx on September 14, 2015
That's a great idea. I'm about to start my first FT project.nThe FT Flyer. An interesting thing that could be done here SGRacer is to do what you've done here but keep the glued plan parts as templates. Using a marker to transfer from the templates onto another piece of foam board.
I'm am old balsa kit guy and to me the building is very satisfying.
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SGRacer on September 14, 2015
Very true! Josh Bixler often says if you guy their speed build kits to trace them out. Good luck on the Flyer, by far my favorite plane. No stress to fly, fun and rugged!
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RCMasterx on September 14, 2015
Thanks. I have my plan printed out(tiled because I want to see just how cheap I can do this build) and joined together. I will use the electronics from a retired, i.e. crashed, foamie. My particular Dollar Tree foam board is black. No white in stock so it will be different than most just by that fact. I look forward to flying it. I'll let you know how it goes.
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pintokitkat on September 17, 2015
I'm not sure I understand the need for the jig. Surely it is easier and far faster to simply spray the back of the entire rectangular plan with repositionable adhesive, stick it to the board (which is the same size as a piece of foamboard anyway) cut it out and finally peel off the plans.
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SGRacer on September 17, 2015
Definitely worth a try if the prepositional glue works on paper to paper contact. If you keep paper on both sides (one side is the plans) then you keep the structural integrity of the foam board.

The Jig was needed because doing this without a jig is harder than it seems, especially when you are trying to position things accurately to make the most use of your foam. (I did it several times without the jig first and it was a pain).
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themistocles3 on September 13, 2015
Clean. Simple. Effective. Good job!
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flyer135 on September 14, 2015
I use this it is removable, it never dries so no hurry, as long as you don't use too much, http://www.michaels.com/aleenes-repositionable-tacky-spray/10189004.html#q=tacky+glue&start=12 I need to make an article on it soon
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danield on September 14, 2015
Nice article, will try this on next plane. Now what do I do with all the push pins?
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Faster Way to Transfer Scratch Build Plans