LC kit woes

[NcGunny]

I purchased 2 kits #401 and #406 online and the guy promised they were older and not LC kits. Been sitting in a box for.over a month and decided to cleanup my work area today...it was getting hard to even walk around. Took them from the box and noticed they had Laser Cut on the front. (small heart attack began) ripped open the FW...SOB!! They are both Laser Cut!!! Blew my lid. So...the wood seems fine,the LCing seems very nice. But I just really realized I hate LC kits. Alot of people like them because they are easy and they get out of alot of work. I guess I would rather just cut and sand. These 2 kits are very nice and I really couldnt find anything to be negative about..except they are LC. If it was some obscure plane and it was available in LC only I might feel differently. Thankfully still lots of Die Crunch and COMETS on the market.

[woundedbear]

Hello NcGunny,
I just heard of your plight, I really like the laser cut kits myself. I was just thinking how could I help a friend in need. I'll cut right to the chase, how much would you want for both LC kits ? My zip code is 27205, I live down in Carolina, near the town of Asheboro. Of course I know you don't want to just give away these two kits, so what ever you want for them, and of course I would pay the shipping cost. Think about it and get back with me, and if my budget will allow, I will be happy to take them off your hands. Look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely Wounded bear

[NcGunny]

Hey Wounded, I might have a guy that will trade equivalent kits in non LC form. If he falls thru I will send ya a pm.

[woundedbear]

Thanks NcGunny, I'll be watching out, whatever happens good luck to you. I called Guillow's today, they said that the 500 series will be laser cut by the end of the month, now we'll have to weight for the 1000 & 2000 series to be changed over to laser cut. Personally I love the laser cut kits that are coming out. I hate to cut die crushed parts from the sheets. I will be glad when all of Guillow's kits are LCs hopefully this will be done while I'm still alive to enjoy that great day !

[scigs30]

Man laser cut kits are much faster to build, but I don't like the charred edges. The issue I had with the old Die crunched wood was it was way too heavy to fly. If Guillows was able to produce die cut sheets at 8-10 lb there would be no issues. I'm building some old Sterling kits right now out of the box and hope to fly them.

[NcGunny]

I understand Scigs. I dont care if a kit builds fast or slow in my case. I think I feel maybe I am being ripped off?..
Example... I buy a $32.00 LC kit..build the whole thing in a weekend and its done. I buy a die crunch kit or a Comet for the same price and it takes me a week to do or two weeks. In that time with the LC build a person will have ordered another kit just to build again. (Lots of people cant build from plans so I omitted this) I feel the LC kits only benefit the company making them. New people to the hobby lose out on breaking stuff trying to cut notches, longerons,etc. Guess alot of the experience is lost due to the almost instant gratification of LC kits.

[Steve Blanchard]

Instant gratification of LC kits? I have to say you seem to be taking the RTF argument to the extreme in this case! LOL!

I have been building for many years now, a few kits but mostly scratch built and some from my own plans. There is definitely a sense of accomplishment in scratch building but don't lessen the sense of accomplishment in doing a great job of building a laser cut kit. That's just not fair. I've seen some pretty crappy builds of LC kits. It's what you put into it that makes it worth doing. It doesn't matter if you are cutting the parts or having them pre-cut in the kit. There's no shame in either. I sincerely doubt that if you are building a completely detailed scale model that can fly well and looks well built you are not doing it in a weekend.

I have several LC kits in my stash and I still scratch build 99% of my stuff. That doesn't mean I don't want to use laser cut parts whenever I can. I don't agree you are being ripped off at all. There are still choices out there if you care to make them. There are plenty of kits still available that are print wood that are much better designs than Guillow's. You just have to look. I think the best thing Guillow's has done recently is to go to Laser cut and use better wood.

I admire that you like to cut out the parts and suffer through the issues that come with it. Keep on doing it. Go to Outerzone. UK online and download the plans and scratch build everything. That's mostly what I do.

Steve

[NcGunny]

Dont want this to turn into a flame war but I tend to scratch build 75% of my builds, then its Comet,Veron,Sterling kits. Like I said the wood is great,the LC cuts are nice,nothing to bitch about with the kits contents at all. But I stand by my statement that you are being ripped off. Whether a build is good or not, you are getting a kit with 50% of the work already done. And like my 1st post said..LC kits are not for me. Even Aerowerkes offers their kits printed if you ask.

[scigs30]

The good thing about Guillows is that you can order the plans and plastic parts and build using your own wood, or buy old Guillows kits for a good price. I just bought a Guillows Corsair brand new at the swap meet for 10 bucks.......The wood is pretty bad for a freeflight model so when Guillows comes out with laser cut wood I will order just the wood. Back in the 80s I was the laser cutter for our club...The adult club members would give me balsa, rubber, plans, tissue and other building supplies if I cut out the balsa parts for them I think laser cutting was a smart move for Guillows to keep there company going. Most people I see building Guillows kits are converting them to RC with micro gear. Now with better quality balsa it makes building RC a little easier but still challenging, just look on Youtube. I wish people still built freeflgiht balsa kits, but they don't. The cost may seem high but Guillows gives you a bang for your buck with the plastic parts and detailed instructions. Operating a laser cutter is not cheap nor is quality balsa. Right now I am working on a Sterling Corsair that is die crunched, I am having fun but cannot imagine most people would enjoy this type of work. Lucky for us nostalgia builders of Guillows, Comet and Sterling kits we can still find them out there pretty cheap. The two local hobby store owners I talk to said the laser cut Guillows kits sell pretty fast compared to the old die cut kits, that is good news for keeping this hobby alive.

[scigs30]

Here is a vintage Sterling rubber powered Corsair that I started. I like the look of old wood but it takes some effort to get the parts ready for building. Once all the parts are punched out and matched to the plan the build goes pretty fast.

[NcGunny]

I think I have 2 of those kits stashed Scigs. Your box is in much better shape though,I think mine had been box.displayed and.have alot of UV fading. Did you scan in your print wood to save? I knew this post would draw some raised eyebrows..lol
and I probably didnt exactly get my point across. The LC kits are great IF you like a laser cut kit. In my case I dont like them,but they are nice kits. I still will build Guillows stuff sometimes..but it will be die crunched or plans.

[scigs30]

NcGunny,
The parts are on the plan making it easy to build from scratch in the future.

[davidchoate]

I could care either way, it's the end result that counts. LC saves time cutting out parts, but adds time in the end removing the charred edges so they are not visible. I agree with Sciggs that die cut wood is very heavy. The reson I dont know. Honestly, I would prefer it if the kits just printed the part shapes onto the wood and I cut them.

[NcGunny]

I dont fly my builds so the wood never really was a issue with me,although I had got some that you would swear was some of the old Comet "rock oak" type. I realize that the flyers here always had issues with it and other small matters but what I hope doesnt happen is this scenario? (I have seen this happen many times with a ton of companies)
So we are now almost all LC and the wood in the kits is much better than it has been for years. Everybody is loving up the new kits and Guillows decides "Hey we can make a extra $4.00 profit per kit if we go back to the heavier wood" I have seen this happen so many times..I hope I am wrong here,but...statistically it will happen.

[Steve Blanchard]

I can't imagine that at the volumes Guillow's is buying balsa that they would up their profits tremendously by trying to sneak bad wood into their kits. Also, at the size that Guillow's is I don't believe they are putting the hands on selection of kit wood into their product that other smaller, or owner operated kit businesses do. This means that there will inevitably be some kits going out with not so great wood. Let's just hope they will be good about replacing parts sheets at no cost if this happens. I really don't believe that Guillow's will try and hurt their relationships with their customers in this way.

Steve