Flite Test is all about getting people into the RC hobby and doing it affordably. Often times you will hear them mention that you should trace out the parts of your speed build kits so you can make another, or make replacement parts if you crash.
If you spend any amount of time on the Flite Test forums, you would know that a topic of discussion that comes up frequently is how to make templates from printed plans. If there is a deisgn that you think that you might build more than once, or you've crashed and need to rebuild a wing or part of your fuselage, having templates can save you a lot of time. There are many techniques that have been discussed. Some of those techniques include using foam board templates (or using your speed build kit as the template), laminating paper plans, printing plans on card stock, or using poster board. Personally, I prefer to use poster board. In this article I will describe the method I use to create my own templates.
Supplies:
- Poster Board (white is usually cheaper but you can use any color you like)
- Scotch Tape
- Spray Adhesive (3M Super 77/Loctite General Performance 100, etc.)
- T-Pin(s)
- Mechanical Pencil (.7mm works best)
- Straight Edge (preferably metal)
- X-Acto or Utility Knife
Making Your Templates:
- Print out the full-sized or tiled plans. For this example, I will be using my plans for the Baby Baron, but the same principles will aplpy for any Flite Test plans and most of the plans you will find by other designers that contribute here such as nerdnic, ALP, and Hotwax to name a few.
- If you are printing the tiled plans you will need to cut and tape together the individual tiles.
- Cut-out the individual pieces from the paper plans leaving roughly 1/2" - 3/4" around the outside of each piece
- Glue the individual pieces to poster board with spray adhesive (I use 3M Super 77). Use a generous amout of glue on the backside of the paper and carefully place them on the poseter board.
Note: Most of the poster board that I use is 22 in x 28 in. Foam board is usually 20 in x 30 in. In some cases, there will be parts that can fit on a sheet of foam board but cannot fit on a single piece of poster board. You can splice two pieces of poster board together with tape for these larger pieces.
- Cut out the poster board templates for each piece on the cut lines using an X-Acto or utility knife. Take your time with this step. Use a straight edge to cut the straight sections for the best results.
Note: Any mistakes you make here will be repeated with every airplane built from these templates. So, take your time.
- Cut out any openings on the inside of the part (i.e. servos, formers, etc.)
- Poke pin holes through the score, crease, reference and control horn lines. At a minimum, put two holes in each line near the ends of the line. I place a scrap piece of foam board under the poster board to make the pin holes.
- (Optional) Label each piece with the plane name, part name, quantity, left/right hand, etc. This will make it a lot easier to know what parts go to what airplane if they get left out or mixed up later on. If you are using any of my plans than I've already done all the work for you.
Once you have all the templates cut out, you are ready to use them to trace out the patterns on your foam board. You will also use the templates during the build as your instructions for your folds, score lines, referenece lines and cavities.
Transferring to Foam Board:
- Position the poster board template onto the foam board
- Pin the template to the foam board using at least 2 pins to keep it from moving. Only pin through the top paper and part of the foam. Optionally you can use weights to help hold the template in place for tracing.
- Trace around the outside of the template onto the foam board with a mechanical pencil. Also trace any cutouts on the inside of the part.
- Mark all the holes (score, crease and reference lines) in the template with a mechanical pencil
- Remove the pins and the poster board template and check to make sure your lines transferred. If you missed anything, you can easily realign the template using the same pin holes to locate it.
- Connect the dots for your score, crease and reference lines using a straight edge and a mechanical pencil
- Once the part is fully transferred to the foam board you are ready to cut it out.
Storing Your Templates:
I also use poster board to make a folder to store my each of my templates in. Simply fold a full sheet of poster board in half to make a folder. I tape one of the loose sides together to keep the pieces from falling out easily. You can easily label the template folder using a sharpie.
Creating your own templates with poster board is relatively easy and inexpensive. It does take a little more time upfront before you can get that first plane built. But, if you build more than one, or need a replacement part or two, you will be saving time in the long run.
If you enjoyed this article please take the time to rate it. Also, if you have any questions, corrections or comments, I'd appreciate your feedback, so please leave a comment below. Thanks.
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Thanks for the article.
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I have been using foam board templates because I work in the house in the winter but for those with a heated garage or good outside weather this is definitely the way to go. I used to use poster board for storing. I made mine by taping several full sheets together to make several attached full sized pockets. These are good for paper plans. I use the cardboard tri-folds that are right beside the Dollar Tree foam board in the store for storing foam board templates. They stack well and hold the smaller models well.
Thanks for sharing.
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Above it states "Mark all the holes (score, crease and reference lines) in the template with a mechanical pencil."
What exactly are you doing here? Are you just drawing along the score, crease and reference lines and it's just making an indention on the foam? Are you poking holes through to the foam and then marking the foam directly?
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First, make sure you are using the latest version of Adobe Reader (currently 11.0.14) to print the files. Never try printing these from your browser's PDF viewer. In the print dialog box use the following settings in the Page & Size Handling section:
-Custom Scale: 100%
-Uncheck option (Choose paper source by PDF page size)
-Orientation: Auto portrait/landscape (this option should center the output on the page)
The actual document is only 7.5" x 10.5" so you should not lose anything from the printer margins. I've never seen a printer with printer margins that large. Hope that helps. Good luck.
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Thanks for your leadership!
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SPONZ, Thanks for the article i was racking my brain on how to get the plans transferred to the foam board now going to get some poster board and make the templates..
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However, Brother machines worked so I now have a Brother MCF-J835DW. So far it hasn’t missed printing to very close to the edges. When I go to replace this printer I’ll take a sheet of paper, place a 45 degree or so diagional line about half-inch form each of the 4 corners and make sure it can copy to the edges and/or who copies closes to the edges.
Oh, going through the thread haven’t ran across it so far so . . .
Instead of using pins to hold down the plans, templates or whatever you are holding down in this process I have starting using the “blue” painters tape. I have heard the blue has less tacking the the standard light brown masking time. This way I can have several tape-down points, always two in place so there is no movement until finished with that part of the plan.
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Another great article. Will definitely use this info for future scratch builds. Now off to build a plane.
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It depends a little on what plans you are trying to print. I have recently added an additional tile size to the plans for people with access to larger printers. For the standard size tiled plans (A Size) you will want to print on A4 (210 x 297) paper. Hope that helps.
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Thank you for taking the time to guide me, a "newb", to this awesome hobby and using templates. You, and the guys at Flitetest are really a great group of people. I am a principal and I run an afterschool group of students called "The Innovators" and this year's project is principles of flight. This article really helped me visualize how to teach them to use the templates properly. I don't think I could have gotten this year's project off the ground without Flitetest and yourself. So I wanted to thank you for taking the time to put this article together.
Dave
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Thank you so much! Such a great article which really made it easier for me and I am sure others. I keep links to the plans index, how to print plans article, and this template article together as my guidance for new folks. Awesome!
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You are most welcome. Thanks for the kind words. And thank you for helping point new people in the right direction to get started with scratch building.
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Eventually, all of those planes should be available as kits and free plans. The Master Series P-51 Mustang will be the next release and can be pre-ordered on the FT Store now.
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