This page is devoted to your Bright Idea's,

 Hints & Tips

If you have any Hints & tips to add to this page please send them to hints@alport-mfc.fsnet.co.uk.

How about this idea to keep the dust down, a sanding box.

It is quite simply a box made of hardboard & strip wood, the top being perforated with hundreds of holes. A pipe is fastened into one corner for the attachment  of a vacuum cleaner.         In use the vacuum cleaner is turned on & the job to be sanded placed on the box, any dust created is then just sucked away through the holes.

Dave P

Do you have problems screwing those little threaded rods into the end of snakes when making up your control linkages ?

Not any more, this neat idea from Dave Harrison will solve your problem.  Just put the threaded rod in the chuck of your cordless drill, hold the snake inner tightly & use the drill to screw the threaded rod in.   neat eh?

Dave Harrison

A handy tip.

 When covering a model with film, after peeling the backing off the film, use the backing film as a duster to lift off any tiny pieces of dust that might have settled on the bits to be covered.

( when peeled off, the backing film gets charged with static electricity that attracts dust )

Dave P

Shave Can Caps

If, like me, you use canned shave cream, keep the caps from the used cans.

These plastic caps make great containers for mixing resins- be it epoxy, polyester, JB Weld, or whatever. Several ounces can be mixed in the caps, enough to join wings or other fibreglass projects. Or, turn it over and use the flat "top" to mix up just a bit of epoxy for a small job. Generally, the excess leftovers can be popped right off the cap when cured. I use a piece of scrap balsa, cut to an appropriate point, to mix and apply resin, or a throw away brush for `glass' work.

Just leave the balsa or brush in the leftovers and use that as a "handle" to pop the cured resin out of or off the cap when cured. Each cap can be used several times this way.                Dave P

DIY model stand

How's this for a cheep DIY model stand, made from a cardboard box,  Excellent idea from Peter Turner.

This is for all you ARTF builders, you know who you are, all you Proper builders can miss this bit completely.

Right now the scratch builders have all gone Let me say I think they all tell porkpies as I have never and do not know anyone, who has obtained or bought any scratch it just does not exist.

JOINING WINGS, no not Paul McCartney and his band on the run, ARTF Model wings.

I always use 2 part epoxy for the joining bit and although they are joined and never come apart even when I crash, I always and I mean always get glue finger prints on the wings no matter how careful I am. Some may say it’s because I’m a nut strangler others that I may be a touch impatient, correct on both accounts. So here is my TOP TIP to prevent it.

1. First take your wings out of the plastic bags they come in, make sure they fit correctly (bla bla bla), then Mask of the wing edges right to the edge with Masking tape.

2. You know the plastic bags that the wings came in,  you didn’t throw them away did you???? If you did you can go and read something else because you just ruined my TIP. If you still have the bags, slide one on the first wing and using masking tape,  tape it to the first lot of tape on the wing edge.

3.Wrap the excess bag up and repeat the exercise on the other wing,  now you can mix as much glue as you need and slap it all over your wings as they are protected. 

4.Remove after 24hrs, and they are perfic, no glue finger marks, lovely clean join, the jobs a good un.

                          Mark Hall

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