1/12 WW2 Pilot (RAF)
£6.95
Balsa Basics Spitfire - 40" Airframe Only Kit
Laser cut wooden parts to build a 4-channel radio controlled Spitfire | No electronics included | No covering included
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£0.00
£119.99
FREE UK Mainland Delivery on orders over £30 | 90 Day No Quibble Returns | Click For Worldwide Shipping Info | Order by Phone: 01629 258240
AT A GLANCE
Brand: Balsa Basics
Wingspan: 40" (1016mm)
Ease of build: Beginner
Flying skill: Intermediate
Control type: Radio Control
Power system: Electric
Scale: 1:12
All up weight: 700g
SPITFIRE - AIRFRAME ONLY KIT
This airframe-only kit builds up into a superb 4 channel RC model of everyone's favourite fighter - the Supermarine Spitfire
With a 40” (1016mm) wingspan and wing attached with rubber wing bands, it’s large enough to see and fly in a moderate breeze, yet small enough to transport easily in your car.
If you already have your own preferred electronics and covering, then this is the kit for you.
Easy to put together and ready to take your choice of motor, ESC, receiver and servos.
Cover with the material of your choice: we recommend Oracover, but any polyester heat shrink material should do the job.
YOUR KIT INCLUDES
- Laser cut components (including 2x ply sheets, balsa sheets, balsa strip wood sheet, and thin ply sheet with control horns)
- 18swg (1.2mm) x 19 inch (480mm) piano wire pushrods (no z bend)
- 18swg (1.2mm) x 4 inch (100mm) piano wire aileron pushrods (no z bend)
- 1/8th (3.175mm) x 9inch (230mm) hardwood dowel
- Vacuum-formed scale plastic canopy
- 4 x M3 T-nuts
- 4 x M3 bolts
- 12 x Mylar hinges
- 4 x Rubber Wing bands
UK SHIPPING
Most orders are shipped via Royal Mail’s Tracked 48 service.
For larger or heavier orders, we use UKMail/DHL to deliver your package on a Next Working Day service.
Shipping is free to UK Mainland addresses for orders over £30.00, otherwise we charge £6.00 for Royal Mail Tracked 48 parcels and £12.00 for UKMail/DHL Nest Working Day.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
Smaller items
Items that fit within Royal Mail International Tracked Medium Parcel parameters (59cm x 17cm x 15cm weighing less than 2kg) can be sent to most countries outside the UK.
For example up to 3 of our smaller 18” wingspan kits can fit into one of these parcels.
A parcel like this currently costs around £14 to Europe and around £18 to send to the USA and will take up to 3 weeks to arrive. This is because Royal Mail hands over the parcel to the local Post Office service for your country who have to clear it through customs and then deliver it to you.
The Royal Mail tracking code also transfers over to the tracking for your country’s postal service.
Larger items
For items that do not fit within Royal Mail International Tracked Medium Parcel parameters, we use standard international couriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS.
These companies use something called volumetric weights to calculate the cost of shipping.
For example, a Balsa Basics RC bundle kit that measures 102cm x 34cm x 16cm and weighs 2.5 kg is actually calculated at 14kg!
This makes these very expensive to send outside the UK - a large kit can cost nearly £40 to send to France.
PRODUCT REVIEWS
Having seen this advertised in BMFA News I thought it would be a great project to do during the Covid Lockdown, and so it proved. It is an excellent kit and makes up into a nice little model which flies very well - congratulations to VMC for producing this. What I liked: the design is simple, the construction is straightforward. The wood is reasonable if a little on the brittle side, the laser cutting is exquisite - everything fitted perfectly. The resulting model is quite good looking and flies well with no vices.. What I didn't like: (1) the construction is stringers over which covering is stretched. This leads to a very curious spitfire more like a old timer biplane whereas it should have smooth surfaces. I covered the leading edge and fuselage topdeck in 2mm balsa sheet and the appearance improved dramatically. (2) My main complaint is that the nose if too boxy - I extended it with 6mm block which allowed much better fairing to the shape of the spinner. (3) the model is designed to hand launch and belly land, but I fly off a concrete runway and this is not good for belly landings. I fitted very light main legs and wheels - not very good scale, but you can't see them when the model is in the air, and it does allow brilliant take-offs and landings (if you are careful to keep the nose up and the tail down on touchdown). Overall, a very good little model, now had lots of flights. I chose the colours of the Silver Spitfire Longest Flight as a change from air force camouflage. Well done VMC and I look forward to more (bigger) models of this type in the future !
Easy to build and flys really well only downside rear stringer behind cockpit could be stronger or better supported by ribs
Inovative design perfect for first time builders! Flies nice and docile for a Spit which makes it enjoyable and stress-free. Fab! Now for the Hurricane...