| Paul,most interesting methods of construction,and all from scrap materials ! welcome to the scrimpers side to model building,great fun as well,modern materials abound in skips and literally in the street,look out also for discarded signs that employ unusual materials,one blew into the garden one day that was made from a lightweight bubble plastic but rigid,I tried a sanding block onto it and it sanded beautifully,but I understand you are talking mainly of card that is understandable,considering its sheer size it is cheap even if you have to buy the odd sheet,ever tried Chipboard ? not the heavy lumber scraps type,but compressed card which substituted the old brown strawboard rarely seen these days,it rips with a bandsaw and can b shaped at the edges with a sanding block,a thinn coat of PVA seals the grain to take car spray aerosols.
To build a tailplane cut out the planform from medium card,add another layer around the outline extending in aprox half an inch,then add ribs crosswise or even geodetic construction for real strength,sand the whole lot up,add re-inforcement at the centre section of the tailplane,cover with scrim faced paper pulling and easing around the tail,flat plate Auster type tails are easy,flying tails with proper ribs also work well,you could use the pie cutter tool to remove excessive material prior to sheeting in with the scrim faced card,results are very tough and surprisingly light,add hardpoints from basswood sunk into the tailplane,search out alloy curtain rod from a DIY store,there is even an aerofoil section that can be crimped up at the ends and screwed into place.
Look forward to seeing any photographs you may already have.
If I had got that job on 'Blue Peter' years ago then there would have been plenty of flying card aeroplanes on television !
Someone described an Airspeed Oxford built entirely from card in the 'Radio Control Models & Electronics' many years ago,he came from Leicester,was that you ?
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