Balsa USA


Easy Weathering Tips: 5 Pro Secrets

Easy Weathering Tips: 5 Pro Secrets

So you’ve finished painting your new scale airplane and it looks nice and shiny and brand new. You check your model one more time against your photo documents of the full-size plane and there’s something just not quite right… What is it? Well, it would be a safe guess that your full size subject airplane, […]
RC Airplanes -Scale Wingtip Skids — The Triplane gets some Axe Handles

RC Airplanes -Scale Wingtip Skids — The Triplane gets some Axe Handles

Over the course of several months, I have detailed the building process of my Balsa USA 1/3-scale Fokker Triplane. A great detail point for the Cole Palen Triplane is that the lower wingtip skids are made from ordinary axe handles. Even thought I have flown the Balsa USA triplane most of its first flying season, I […]
Best Ways to install Hinging — Avoid Control Surface Binding

Best Ways to install Hinging — Avoid Control Surface Binding

One of the most important tasks to do with any giant scale airplane you build is to install the hinges correctly. This article shows how I did it with my Balsa USA Fokker Triplane, and with this giant scale 33% WW 1 fighter, I wanted everything just right. Let’s check out these hinges and how to […]
How to: Make WWI Warbird Lozenge Camouflage Covering

How to: Make WWI Warbird Lozenge Camouflage Covering

Tackling this particular aspect of WW I warbirds can be both challenging and rewarding. It’s really not di cult to do, once you understand the system and have relatively good organizational skills and a healthy dose of patience. Let’s start with some history. Before the advent of camouflage, all German aircraft were finished using clear […]
Road to Top Gun — An Editor’s Invitation to Top Gun

Road to Top Gun — An Editor’s Invitation to Top Gun

And now for something completely different! For the very first time ever, an editor for Model Airplane News will be competing at the annual Top Gun Scale Invitational. I received my invite to compete from Frank Tiano himself while I was covering the 2015 event. MAN has been a major sponsor of the event for many […]
Balsa USA Vintage 3-Point WW 1 Floats

Balsa USA Vintage 3-Point WW 1 Floats

If like our editors, you like WW 1 scale airplanes, and are looking for a way to spice up your vintage flying! Try adding water! Flying your Fokker or Sopwith off of water with scale-like 3-Point Floats adds a whole new dimension to the sport. Featuring Balsa, Basswood, and Plywood construction, the new Balsa USA 3-Point […]
Dawn Patrol over the Glen WW1 Meet

Dawn Patrol over the Glen WW1 Meet

The Shade Tree Miniature Aircraft Association’s  (SMAA)  flying field is located in  Glen St. Mary Florida, about 35 miles due west of Jacksonville. This club hosts several events during the year, the most popular being their “Dawn Patrol over the Glen” open to of any size WW1 models. They also have a “Warbirds over the Glen” meet for […]
SIG Kadet Seniorita EP ARF

SIG Kadet Seniorita EP ARF

Since 1987 the KADET SENIORITA has been built and flown by literally tens of thousands of beginning R/C pilots, helping them to earn their “R/C wings”. The designer, R/C pioneer Claude McCullough, knew that the key to learning how to fly an R/C model was being able to slow the model down to allow the […]
HobbyKing Piper J-3 Cub Balsa GP/EP 1620mm (ARF)

HobbyKing Piper J-3 Cub Balsa GP/EP 1620mm (ARF)

The Piper J-3 Cub is one of the most recognized light airplanes in the world. It was built in large numbers and was a favorite due to its simplicity, ruggedness, affordability, and easy handling. The large wing enabled it to fly slow. It has worn both civilian and military clothing in its long history including […]
Prepping Fabric Covering — RC Sopwith Camel Build-along — Part 22 — Updated

Prepping Fabric Covering — RC Sopwith Camel Build-along — Part 22 — Updated

It has been a little while since our last posting for the Sopwith Camel Build-Along, but we are making some progress. Last time we covered the basics of applying Stits Lite Poly Fiber covering material and now we continue with the basic steps required to make it ready for painting and finishing. As mentioned before, […]
Fabric Covering Tips – Sopwith Camel Workshop Build-along — Part 20

Fabric Covering Tips – Sopwith Camel Workshop Build-along — Part 20

Now that the Sopwith Camel’s fuselage and the rest of the project has been all buttoned up, and the engine cowling’s magnetic attachment arrangement taken care off, we can how move on to the covering process of the project. For this model, I am using Scale Stits and Polytone paint and adhesive. The fabric is specially produced […]
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