Thank you for your comments.
In reply to AES as to the 'how and why', I have an interest in aviation from a technical viewpoint and started building models by accident, wondering if it was possible to accurately replicate an aeroplane in wood. I sold this first model (spitfire) and word of mouth took over and my order book currently stands at 11 aeroplanes. My customers think I must have quite a collection of my own by now but in fact I do not have a single one. Once they are built and all the difficulties associated with their construction overcome I lose interest in them. Thankfully my clientele do not and keep ordering more which is great for me as I get to enjoy them for a couple of days after completion and then I courier them off to their new homes.
Concerning the plans, Iine drawings for pretty much anything that drives, floats or flies are available from The-blueprints.com. These are downloaded and converted into working drawings and adjusted for the scale I wish to build in - all my fighter aircraft are 40 :1 which for a Spitfire equates to a wingspan of from memory 32cm. I template all the components in 3mm MDF which I get free from our local window glass company. Glass comes wrapped in thin MDF sheets for protection. Currently I have full templates for around 30 aircraft. I essentially use recycled NZ Rimu and occasionally mahogany which I now also get for nothing. We live in a small village and people soon get to know what you're up to so I am given old bed heads, dressers etc. The beauty of modelling is that a beaten up old chest of drawers will still yield usable bits of timber but useless for bigger projects. I cut the components to the required thickness on my 70 year old 8" bench saw and then to shape on an el-cheapo scroll saw. Then it's a lot of shaping and constantly checking, mainly with a low angle block plane (my all time favorite tool) a few different spokeshaves and then up through the different grades of sandpaper finishing with 400 grit and 0000 steel wool between coats of Teak oil. I use epoxy glue in the assembly and all parts are also pinned together for strength using 1.6mm diameter stainless steel rods, also known as broken bicycle spokes which our local bike shop gives me.
One of the great pleasures is figuring out now to do stuff. Obviously I needed some sort of small lathe which were eye wateringly expensive so I built one using scrounged bits. I hope I'm not giving the impression that I'm a bit of a bludger. ... It's a bit rough and ready but I can turn to 0.1mm which is near enough for me.
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And I get a lot out of fun in building simple jigs for certain functions. Here's another roughie for drilling and spacing propellor blades into spinners
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So there is as much pleasure to be had in figuring things out as in creating something that interests me, but there are also disadvantages in not coming from a woodworking background. I have only recently discovered the wonders of the Dremel tool and its many attachments. Why didnt i know about this before?
