| Paul,I take my hat off to you,you are doing just the things that make a model builder unique,building from scrap is a wonderful idea and something which I just wish more people would try,here are a few pointers for you to exploit and experiment in this direction,card flying models are nothing new by the way,as we had a kit manufacturer make a radio control trainer from commercial card used to make packing boxes,here are a few tips-
Sure use corrugated card by all means,plan the fuselage by using the outline drawing to hid a 'box' within,from around this basic box add the side formers from just aft of the engine bulkhead to the sternpost of the tail,so what we have in effect is two sides for the fuselage minus the decking,undersides and top plan view side formers,in fact if you study the full sized Auster you will see that it is basically a welded steel frame with wooden side pieces added,then stringers,so copy the lines of G-AGOH and you will not go wrong.
Once the basic box has been glued together now consider removal of surplus card to save weight,especially around the tail area,to do this go to your local supermarket and buy a set of pie cutters,these are stainless steel metal discs used for cutting pasty,seriously dont laugh because you have the idea thing to remove surplus material,just dress up the outer edges with a warding file and place the cutter against the card,use a swirling motion and see the cutter start to remove the excess,you can clean the hole up with glasspaper wrapped around a piece of broom handle,thick card sands very well.
Consider buying a bundle of balsawood offcuts,these cost a few pounds and provide a lot of wood for your money,this can be used to bring out the fuselage shape with those vital formers,you can also use a bit around the nose cowl area overlaying the card underpan for the engine,plus the card side pieces for the engine as well,for the nose cowl make a blue foam plug ( scrap from any builders site,it blows around in the wind ) then make a paper mache nose cowl using brown paper and PVA glue,three layers baked in the oven make for a tough nose cowl,dig out the surplus material with a round chisel or potatoe peeler,or even pour thinners to melt the foam from the plug.
Wings can be also made from card,there is a special way to do this,if you are still interested to pursue your exciting project from card etc then I will deal with the wings and tail next time.
Another excellent source of scrap material not to be overlooked is Depron foam used to make those pizza bases and also for supermarket meat plates,basically toughened foam outer skin it can be cut with scissors and glued with PVA or even now special odourless cyno,it can be easily built up onto a card base.
So get cracking and cutting that card to make a super Auster project,it will succeed because you have your heart set on that particular aeroplane,best of luck.
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