3d printed plane kit (P26a)

thingiverse

I'm excited to create a free flight model airplane using a unique hybrid construction of 3D printed parts and balsa. I love building from kits, but I currently don't have access to a laser cutter, so I decided to try printing the complicated parts and using affordable 1/8th and quarter inch balsa sticks for the rest, then covering with tissue paper. This construction technique has several advantages over totally 3D printed planes - it uses way less filament, prints faster, and is lighter overall. This current design could use a lot of tweaking, and should probably be printed at 50% to achieve better results. I printed at 100 percent and found the wing mounts to be very delicate. Anyone interested in a remix should consider starting with this design as a good foundation for improvement. I'm sharing all the files used to create this model, and moving on to a different plane where hopefully I can apply lessons learned from this one. This might not be the best first-time builder kit - I would encourage an interested modeler to try something like the 4401 Build N Fly Model Fly Boy instead.