Unitized Building Board

Unitized Building Board

Pinning a structure to a balsa building board is the easiest way to build a model airplane. Pins will hold their place in balsa even at oblique angles and when the pins are removed the balsa wood closes the pin holes and is ready for the next project. If the board should warp you can moisten the concave side and the board will flatten. Each "unit" consists of a balsa wood building board which is 39" long, 9.8" wide, and 3/4" thick with a 1/4" slot cut into all four edges, plus 2 plywood joiner strips which are about 1/4" thick. Using the joiner strips you can connect a second unit to produce a building board which is either twice as wide or twice as long as a single unit. Or, you can connect 3 units, or 4 or as many as you want. You could pin a 13 foot long sailplane wing onto 4 end-joined building units. Printed on the balsa board is a precise grid pattern which is helpful for maintaining the alignment of constructed parts.