Four Types of Model Aircrafts You Can Build

Author: Bobby Handzhiev

Do you enjoy the beautiful model aircrafts that are sold in the toy shops and on so many sites online? Of course you can just go to a shop or click on a site and buy the ones you like most. But besides the fact that buying ready models costs you money it's just not as cool as building models yourself.

What kind of models could you build yourself? Almost all. Here are some ideas:

Paper airplanes. Who has not build one as a kid? Building paper airplane can be as simple as getting a sheet of paper and making few folds. But there are also flying paper aircrafts with an engine and remote control or others which are exact scale models of existing real aircrafts. Some enthusiasts build even paper helicopter which can fly.

The main disadvantage of the paper aircrafts is that they easily get damaged - especially the really flying ones.

Free flight aircrafts. There is a category of model airplanes called "free flight" which means they fly without any attachment to the ground or even to your hand. Most free flight models are simple - just like the simple paper airplanes that we build as kids (they are in fact free flight airplane models too). Free flight helicopters are much harder to build than the airplanes for obvious reasons, but there are people who build them - with self rotating propellers or "charged" by a rubber band mechanism.

The free flight airplanes are great enjoyment and fun. They are easy to get lost which is their main disadvantage.

RC Aircrafts. Remote control aircrafts are very cool toys but they really require technical knowledge about electronics and similar stuff. You will not save money by building such models yourself - the ready RC airplanes and helicopters are pretty cheap compared to the efforts to build yourself. But if you can build an RC aircraft by your own hands you will really have something to be proud of.

You may build RC aircraft much easier if you buy a kit or at least a package of remote control and engine.

Static Scale Models. Sounds simple? Actually this is the heavy artillery of the airplane modeling. Making scale models is hard exactly because you have to keep the scale of the real model. This require high preciseness and skills to work on very small parts.

The static model aircrafts can be made of wood, mahogany, plastic or even clay. If you are scarified to do everything from scratch you can buy almost ready static models which require only painting. This is a good way to start.

Most fans of the model aviation sooner or later want to build their own models in addition to the ones they buy and collect. You may decide to start by building yourself - there is nothing scary and it's a lot of fun.

About the Author:

If you want to know more about the different types of model aircrafts and how to build them check out my site about model airplanes and helicopters - http://modelsaviation.com