Spitfire model plane for laser cutting or 3D printing

• Print or laser cut all of the parts
• Designed to work and be assembled like the old balsa wood rubber band model planes
• The wingspan of the aircraft is ~420mm
• Watch the video assembly below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvR3ibxaFY
• Check my other similar design of a Hawker Hurricane MKII I've just uploaded: https://cults3d.com/en/users/taciucmarius/creations
• Some of the parts as the cockpit and the nose of the airplane are being optimized for spiral vase printing.

Printing INSTRUCTIONS:

Propeller
- 0.1mm layer height
- 6 top and bottom layers
- support material
- 2 rafters
- no skirt
- print as it is and do not flip over. It should be with the nose down and with the hole up
- sand, prime, sand and paint for smoother surfaces. See the pictures and the video for example.

Nose
- spiral vase
- 0.1mm layer height
- 6 to 10 bottom layers
- print as it is and do not flip (it should be small flat base down).

Cockpit (the spiral vase model)
- 0.1mm layer height
- the spiral vase model has two mirrored cockpits
- trim one of them after printing
- use a marker to color the window trims after printing and cutting the excess material

Cockpit (the solid model)
- 0.1mm layer height
- 5 top and bottom layers

Wheels
- 0.2mm layer height
- 4 top and bottom layers
- no rafters or support material

All the other parts
- 0.3mm layer height
- no special settings and leave the default infill settings. Most likely it does not matter as all the pieces are having only 6 layers

Use the provided A3 layout to get the right position of the fuselage and wing pieces. When you assemble the wings to the central section, elevate the outer edges of the wings with 1.8cm as in the video. Notice that I used a couple of green li-ion batteries as stands. You can use any object that has similar heights. Also, check the overview picture (with labels and arrows) to get an idea of where each part should be placed. Otherwise, the name of the parts could get confusing at some point.

Use a thick paper clip to make the hook and the pin for the rubber band. You can cut the paper clip wire in half. Use one of these half as an axel for the propeller. At one end, the axel will connect with the propeller and it will be inserted into it's hole and at the other end you will have to shape it and make it into a hook to attach the band. Insert the hook from the inside of the nose cone as you see me doing in the video and once is inserted through the nose hole, secure the propeller into position using a drop of super glue (see the black picture).

Somebody asked me this question and I’m posting it here since I think is good information other people might be interested in.

DM: They were beautiful planes, weren't they? I kind of miss the balsa and paper days, but I like the idea of printing the parts.
Question: why heat weld the parts rather than gluing them?

MT: Of course one could glue the parts, especially if they choose to laser cut some wooden or cardboard sheets. I choose to weld them for the simple reason of having a fast build I could share with my son and record in a short video. I created these parts being inspired by an older balsa wood plane design from the '80s. I realized there are not so many of these models being uploaded on Thingiverse nor any other sites. People have plotters for cutting cardboard and laser cutting cnc machines nowadays and they could easily involve in creative weekend activities with their kids like I did with my son, but the models are nowhere to be found. I checked the ebay and online markets to see if I could find some old school balsa wood models for sale and they are either too expensive, preassembled or inexistent. You rather find kits or dismantled drones, but is not the same thing. If you check the hobby stores you are most likely to find balsa wood plane kits, but most of the parts are semi-assembled. Like the wing is made out of 2 or 3 parts one has to glue together, and the fuselage is made of 5-6 U-shaped segments. They simplified the build to make it faster. Maybe the kids nowadays don't have the patience to spend 2 or 3 days to build it and they would rather have it finished in one afternoon. But on the other hand, my kid would probably never understand the shape of a wing rib and why it needs to be like that if the wing comes preassembled in the package.

Have fun and post pictures after you make your own.