Scratch Building at TEMAC, an update.

[Papa]

Morphine: 8 + 4
RedEagle: 10
Skywriter: 9


What do these numbers mean?


8 Builders will be attending the Morphine Build Class, while 4 more will build Morphines or derivatives at home.


10 Builders will start the e-Glider, RedEagle. The order was placed today so I expect they will be here in plenty of time for the class.


9 Skywriters are being built, class will begin with the upper wing for most. Frank and I will help everyone get up to speed before the first meeting.


Hopefully that will result in 31 new scratch built models in 2015 and a bunch of modellers starting out on a life long addiction to balsa. Scratch building used to mean starting with a plan, reading it and making a list of the sizes of balsa you needed followed by a trip to a local hobby shop. The excitement of that first step along a path that would, hopefully, end in a successful maiden was tangible. You could feel it, taste it and savour it for days. Then came the endless cutting and sanding and making your own kit before you could dream of building.


Nowadays with the multitude of demands on our time the wood kit has become the new scratch build and I suppose that's OK. Somewhere along the way when you have built a few models and your skill levels improve you will find an old plan that cries out to you to be built. That is when the skills you have learned will stand you in good stead. Learn as much as you can from accomplished builders like Robert, Frank, Michael and Ken Coleman. Years down the road you will want to pass on these skills to others.


I don't know of any other club attempting such an ambitious programme. But it is important that we do it. It is important for the club as it sets us apart and it's important for the hobby as it develops a live long love of the hobby by exposing some of its more creative elements. It builds confidence and encourages experimentation.