Model Airplane

We are two students who where given an exercise to make something and upload it on this site. we chose to compete in the plywood contest. we started thinking of things we could make. eventually we came with the idea of making a decorative airplane!

Plywood

Spruce Wood

Buttons

glue (try to find something specifically for wood)

ruler

pencil

jigsaw

sandpaper (regularly 80p, to finetune 120p)

nail

First of all, gather the suplies. Then draw the following measurements out:

Fuselage: 21cm long, 3,5cm wide and 3,5cm high (spruce wood)

Front wings: 21cm long, 6cm wide and 0,5cm high (2x) (plywood)

Back wing: 8cm long, 3,5 cm wide and 0,5cm high (plywood)

rudder: 3,5cm long, 0,5cm wide and 3,5cm high (plywood)

front chassis: 1cm long, 1cm wide and 2,7cm high (2x) (plywood)

back chassis: 1cm long, 1cm wide and 0,7cm high (plywood)

front buttons: diameter=2,5cm, 0,3cm wide (2x)

back button: diameter= 2cm, 0,3cm wide

nail: diameter= 0,3cm, length doesn't matter much. 2-3cm optimal

propeller: 1cm long, 1cm wide and 5cm high (plywood)

"pillars": 1cm long, 1cm wide and 5cm high (4x) (plywood) - (more explained in step 4)

First, you need to saw out the Fuselage as seen as in the picture. For the back wing you saw out at the top the following measurements:

3,5cm long, 0,5cm high and 3,5cm wide.

For the front wing you saw out at the bottom, you start sawing from 3cm off the front of the fuselage:

6cm long, 0,5cm high, 3,5cm wide (make sure the wing fits perfectly in the hole)

To get the round curve, you start sawing from around 9cm from the front of the fuselage to the end, the end needs to be around 1cm high (not the gap from the back wing included). Try to curve it evenly, to make it smooth use sandpaper. For the front curve, just start at the front and stop when you reach the front gap. The front is around 2cm high. Again, use sandpaper to make it smooth.

First, grab the plywood plank with the drawing of the wings and saw them out (make sure to saw them out a bit bigger so you have room for error). After that you can make them smoother using sandpaper and give it a little curve in the back, make sure to leave it bigger in the middle (around 5.5cm in the width at both ends, and still 6cm in the middle).

Saw out the back wing (again saw it a little bit bigger so theres room for error). you don't have to curve the wing, but you can make it smooth with sandpaper.

Saw out the rudder as seen in the picture, so a triangle but round at the top. The length at the top = 1,5cm. A little detail would be to saw out the back a little skew, so that the top part is hanging over the back of the plane a little bit.

Making the pillars is a little hard, because you want them to be skew. You can do this by screwing a plank with an angle of 85 degrees onto a table, by doing this you don't have to measure every pillar by these degrees but can just put the ''pillars'' against it. By doing that you will always have the same angle (make sure to saw a few extra in case you mess up).

Saw out the chassis with the correct measurements, if you've done that, you need to saw into it a little bit to make space for the buttons (make sure to use sandpaper to finetune it).

First saw out the correct measurements you have for the propeller (the same as the "pillars" but a 90 degrees angle), then use sandpaper to make it a bit curvy, do this at all four sides (it takes some time). drill a hole in the middle for the nail, make sure that the diameter/hole is bigger than the diameter of the nail so that it can spin.

Glue the bottom front wing and the back wing into the gaps you made in step 2, make sure its dry when you glue the "pillars" onto the front wing. After you've done that you can glue the top front wing onto the "pillars", here's where you glue the "pillars" onto the front wings:

0,5cm inward from the front and 1cm inward from the side, do this for all four "pillars" and you will see that the top front wing will lean forward because the "pillars" are skew.

While that is drying you can glue the rudder on top of the backwing, make sure to glue it exactly in the middle and the back is equal to the back of the plane.

After you've done that (make sure its all dry) glue the buttons in the chassis, at the same time you can nail the propeller in the fuselage. if the buttons are dry and stick on the chassis you can glue the chassis onto the bottom front wing, make sure these are the big button chassis. Here's where you glue the 2 chassis:

4,7cm inward from the side and 3cm inward from the front.

The last chassis you need to glue on the fuselage, here's where:

1,7cm inward from the side and 4cm from the back.

If you have everything right the plane should look just like showed in the picture.