hi Folks, Glad to see that GWS war birds kits bring fun to you. GWS airplane kits are still availble in the US., please send your inquiry to Kuan@gwsus.com. We welcome your inquiry, you can also contact me at: roger@gws.com.tw if there is any inquiry I can be of assistance to you. Soft landings

GWS is what got me into this hobby for the second time. Saw a Pico Stik and bought one. Then a Pico Moth,GWS Zero, Corsair, C-47, E-Starter, P-40, Tiger Moth 400, and a Slow Stik. I only have the P-40, and Pico Moth now. But tomorrow I am getting a Formosa, and another Corsair. The Zero and Corsair were the best flying, most fun planes I ever had. Can't wait to get em up in the air. I know I will be flying alot more.

Originally Posted by semperfi1970

I gave up on Filadelfos as I placed the order 21 days ago, left two e-mails and called many times with zero response from them.

Ironic enough, Filadelfos just posted a rant in this forum about how GWS has been unresponsive

Phoam, I feel Filadelfos pain with no response from GWS. I waited 16 days after ordering and paying with paypal to even contact Filadelfos about my order not showing up. After two emails and countless calls to them with zero response I had to have paypal reverse transaction after like 21 days of no response. Items showed in stock, sounds like they must drop ship from elsewhere. To bad for all involved because we are all out what we were looking for, me a GWS Spit and Zero and them my money. Sad thing is I try to keep my money local and they are at least in the same state as I. Headsuprc on the other hand loves my money, I know because they ship within four days to my door from 1,200 miles away and respond to all emails within a few hours of I sending. Looks to me like Filadelfos passes on what they get to there customers including zero response

Figured you folks would get a kick out of this silly little tidbit. I got suckered into a airsoft outing where I work (the worlds foremost airgun manufacture) and figured I would bring some air superiority to the game. I took my blue GWS Corsair to join in the fight. For fun I flew out of this tiny field, mind you the guy taking the picture has his back to trees so I had to dive in and climb out and dodge the wires as well. All of the folks you see had fully automatic airsoft guns with a cyclic rate of 400 plus rounds per minute at around 450fps velocity using 36 gram bb's. I figure the presentation time of the Corsair was around 4 seconds per pass and it was taking at least 100 hits per pass. It took 5 passes for a lucky gunman to shoot a prop blade off sending me into the trees. The EPO had little 6mm peck marks on it, well all over it. The EPO within an hour healed itself and the marks all but went away. I find it funny that a bunch of engineers and sales folks armed with $15,000 worth of high end hopped up airsoft guns could not knock her down without a lucky prop shot. The trees did minor harm to her, broke the rudder control horn. If I had room to really fly I doubt they would have scored many hits at all. I tend to not put my toys in harms way but it just added to the fun for all. The guns are all aluminum M4 clones with custom paint jobs, upgraded batteries, machined metal gearbox and sporting real optics complements to one of our very creative engineers. Not your average airsoft gun to say the least because I can effectively place shots on target well past 50 yards. My wife counted 36 welts and gave up counting when I got home, not a old mans game at all.

Caliber Hobbies sells great GWS stuff, I would e-mail them first to see if the item you want is in stock. They also have replacement parts to fix your plane. Between me and my friend we've flown and crashed many GWS planes. Most of the time a little gorrilla glue repair gets us back up in the air. You should post your pics in the GWS gallery forum, a lot of GWS fans post there plus there some great pics of other mod paint jobs. I find the P-40 the best. The P-40 is a well thought out model with different build options of belly lander, retracts, flaps and a large cockpit to install any pilot you want.

Thanks Lynx2727. I frequent Caliber almost every day to check there inventory on EPO kits. The P 40 is a very nice plane, mine came out on the heavy side and flew ok but nothing like the Corsair. I am chomping at the bit to get an EPO Spitfire or Zero.

The GWS Corsair build is coming along. I am waiting for a stick mount, but expect to have the plane finished pretty soon.

In the process of building, I'm often motivated to incorporate modifications that I theorize might enhance the design, and the GWS Corsair was no exception.

I reinforced the full length of the fuselage with 3mm solid carbon fiber rods, oriented along the inside wall of the fuselage, pushed through the front bulkhead where the motor mounts, by using shishkabob skewers to punch a hole from the front of the plane, all the way back to the tail area, then using that routing to guide the carbon fiber rod. I also hollowed out an area for a 1300 mAh battery, and reinforced the floor of the battery compartment with two popsickle sticks to support the battery.


Solid Carbon Fiber Rod on the inside walls of the fuselage


Solid Carbon Fiber Rod pushed through the front of the firewall, all the way back to the tail of the plane, along the inside walls of the fuselage. This image is a frontal view of the firewall area, and you can see the little black dots on each side of the motor mount opening. Those are the solid carbon fiber rods.

I also added a 2mm carbon fiber tube the full width of the wing, using the slot that exists for the installation of separate servos. I elongated the grooves to within about 1" of the ends of the wings. The carbon fiber tube reinforcment is completely burried in the foam along the wing's axis to depths that completely obscure the carbon fiber tube. I covered the groove by filling the groove with lite spackle, taping it with fiber reinforced tape, applying a new process which I will mention later, and painting the area so that the modification is as hidden as possible, revealing just a tape line from one side of the wing to the other.


2mm carbon fiber tube recessed below the groove, then taped, special process, and painted.


Same as above


Same as above

I used some of the left over tubing used for the elevator and rudder control rods to house the aileron control rods. I slipped the aileron control rods/inside the plastic tube, then into the groove, rather than following GWS instructions to use small rubber (heat shrink) to anchor and guide the aileron control rods to the center of the wing. I did have to deepen the pre-installed groove in the wing in order to completely bury the tubing that houses the aileron control rods below the surface of the wing.

I also opted to use a single metal gear servo to actuate the ailerons, instead of seperate servos positioned on the wing. I opted to use a metal geared aileron servo since the ailerons are just ever-so-slightly stiff when actuated. When I hook it up to the servo tester, it cycles perfectly, and I'm getting about 15-20 degrees aileron deflection, and no resistance whatsoever.

One of the commony suggested modifications is to apply tape to the leading edge of the wing in order to protect the wing in the event of a crash. I never really liked the look of taped wings, due to the creases that form, etc...But, that being said, I did apply tape anyway, but I opted to use fiber reinforced tape the full width of the leading edge of the wing, and around the curved ends of the wings. I also covered the leading edge of the rudder, and the leading edges of the horizontal stabilizer with fiber reinforced tape. It looked terrible, but I figured it was good protection. I intended to paint it, but figured it would require sanding of the tape surface, or some kind of primer, in order for the paint to adhere to the surface of the tape. As it turns out, I used a completely different process that ended up working just beautifully.

Fiber reinforced tape, while much more durable, is considerably more unsightly than clear packing tape, and I was motivated to find a way to paint over it, which is very difficult to accomplish because the tape has such a shiny surface, and paint has a very difficult time adhering to the surface of the tape.

So, once the tape was applied, I sat in my hobby room...just thinking, gazing around, contemplating the dilemma. I inadvertently noticed a bottle of "something" in the box where I keep my various kinds of glues. I turned the bottle around, and the label read "Liquid Tape." I have no idea why it was in that box, as it has absolutely nothing to do with my RC project building, and the bottle was quite old. I had literally forgotten that it even existed.

Well, in the spirit of experimentation, I decided to test the liquid tape on some scrap foam I had in the project room. It went on perfectly, and it was completely compatible with the foam...no problems, no melting, quick drying, etc...It was a pretty old bottle of Permatex Brand Liquid Tape, and I have no idea why it was in the glue box, but I'm glad it was. For those who might be interested, Walmart actually has a different brand of Liquid Tape available, which I just purchased the other day, but haven't had a chance to test it out on foam to make sure it's compatible. But, I suspect it will work fine.

Anyway, once it had dried, I experimented with painting the liquid tape with the same Blue Acrylic Paint that I had painted the plane with. I gave it time to dry completely overnight, and once dry, it seemed to cover the liquid tape very well, requiring perhaps a second coat to cover. But, with a second coat, I ended up with pretty decent finish, better than a taped wing for sure! Then, the next step was to test the flexibility of the tape/paint combination. I pushed on the paint/liquid tape painted area with my finger, and looked for any indication of cracking, or separation, etc..., but it was just fine, and it looked perfect. The painted liquid tape seems pretty flexible, and it's very durable as a scuff resistance surface.

Now, I have no practical experience with whether the liquid tape will ultimately provide protection to the leading edge of the wing, but I suspect it will serve the purpose better than packing tape, and it looks significantly better when painted. I suspect that the continuous nature of liquid tape, versus the pieced packing tape, that stresses upon impact, might distribute more evenly upon the foam over the full width of the liquid tape much more efficiently than regular tape. But, crashing it will be the "real world" proof, which I intend to avoid doing with all my ability

Anyway, I liquid taped over the fiber reinforced tape, which helped to keep the fiber reinforced tape tightly, and more permanently held against the leading edge of the wing. I painted over the liquid tape with Blue Acrylic Paint. The liquid tape is black in color, so it needs to be painted maintain acceptible aesthetics. But, the surface of the liquid tape is not nearly as shiny as packing tape, and it seems to take paint much more effectively than packing tape, and without any additional preparation.

If I had it to do over again, I would completely omit the fiber reinforced tape in favor of liquid tape applied to all areas where additional scuff resistance, or edge strength is desired. This would further reduce the weight of the plane slightly by omitting the packing tape completely.

I forecast the plane's weight, with the modifications, will approach 21 ounces. The motor I'm using will produce more than a sufficient amount of thrust, approximatley 26 ounces of thrust. So, I don't anticipate the slightly added weight to adversely affect the ability of the plane to fly well. However, with it being slightly heavier than the published weight by GWS, which is supposed to be around 14-18 ounces I believe, I don't expect it to float in quite as readily as it might have upon landing were the weight slightly less, but it might do just as well.


With fiber reinforced tape first, then liquid tape, then painted


Same as above


Painted with liquid tape, then painted with Blue Acrylic


The rim of the cowl painted with liquid tape, then painted with Blue Acrylic

Looking good Quiz. 21 ounce plane and 26 ounces of thrust sounds a little close on the power dept. Mine fly good with 35 plus ounces thrust and come alive with 55 ounces. I think with 26 ounces you will maintain level flight but be fighting to gain altitude. Flying in any sort of wind may be a little tricky as well. If I were you I would drop a 450 in it, just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it all. Its nice to have a little grunt to get out of trouble.

Could you snap a picture of "liquid tape" for me? Sounds interesting but have never seen it before, good idea.

Yeah, ECalc says that thrust/weight ratio is only around 1.14:1 if I run the 1400 kv, 205W motor, which is probably going to fly pretty docile (ie: weak). I was going to get by with this Turnigy 2826-10 motor because I happened to have it already. But, I'm glad you brought it to my attention; it confirms what I've been thinking the last few weeks.

I obtained the Turnigy 2826-10 motor via Hobby King a number of months ago, and made an inquiry through their website the other day just to see if anyone else was using it on a GWS Corsair. I received a reply from a guy that's actually using the same motor on his GWS Corsair. He says it works fine on his.

But, the more I get into analyzing the stats, I agree that a motor upgrade is probably in order. I had originally thought I would want something that flies pretty docile, but I'm starting to believe that I probably would be happier upgrading the motor to something that has more power.

I have been looking at what was available on the HURC website with an upgrade in mind...I need to order a few other things, so I'll probably order the motor upgrade soon. I'm considering the Emax GF2215/20 motor, 260 Watts, 1300 kv, and with a 9 x 4.5E prop, it should give me around 34 oz. of thrust. The main difference between the Emax motor and the Turnigy is that the Emax is rated at 260 Watts, while the Turnigy has only 205 Watts available. The Emax motor is only $10.95, so I'm going to go ahead an order it for peace of mind.

Here's a photo of the Liquid Tape (below). Keep in mind that the Permatex brand I had was pretty old, and that's the stuff I tested and used on my build. It is old, and may be an older formulation, but it must have an outstanding shelf life because it was still perfectly fine, and it worked great!

I've used a professional grade premium version of "Liquid Tape" in the past (don't recall the brand), in place of black electrical tape for burried electrical connections, and it works great for that too! I have some that I used on some incoming wiring and radio cables that are buried, and come into the home underground, and I did that 15 years ago. It's great for sealing anything that's electrical that's going to be outside in the elements or buried. The phone company uses it routinely for buried cable.

With respect to my RC build, what I was really pleased with was the dull finish once it dried. That dull finish seemed to take paint really well. In my testing, I pushed on the dried layer of liquid tape with dried paint over it, and it seemed really very stable, no cracking, no pealing, or separation, etc...I really like it. But, I haven't tested it yet to know how it's actually going to perform in a crash. I am especially interested to see how it works applied to the front of the cowl area, since that plastic cowl is so flimsy, and it has a reputation for cracking easily on impact.

I picked up a different brand of liquid tape, GB brand, from Walmart the other night is in the electrical department, along side the black electrical tape (see a photo of both brands below). It's probably identical to the Permatex brand, which what I used, and Permatex brand is still probably available somewhere, maybe Lowes or Home Depot. But, whatever brand you do pickup, you might want to test it out on some scrap foam first, before you use it on a build, just to make sure it's not going melt foam or something. Mine worked great, but they might have changed the formulation, or the stuff you find might have a different formulation that could eat foam, or it might dry with a shiny surface and not take paint well, etc...you never know!

Originally Posted by semperfi1970

Looking good Quiz. 21 ounce plane and 26 ounces of thrust sounds a little close on the power dept. Mine fly good with 35 plus ounces thrust and come alive with 55 ounces. I think with 26 ounces you will maintain level flight but be fighting to gain altitude. Flying in any sort of wind may be a little tricky as well. If I were you I would drop a 450 in it, just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it all. Its nice to have a little grunt to get out of trouble.

Could you snap a picture of "liquid tape" for me? Sounds interesting but have never seen it before, good idea.

Here is my latest GWS warbird. A Sack AS-6. It started life as a GWS Pizza. I liked the way it flew but my thing is warbirds so when I saw a picture of a Sack AS-6 I just had to bash the Pizza into one.

I Love it!!!

I was just showing a selection of GWS planes to my little 4 year old grand daughter, the ones they have depicted in the brochure that they send along with the kits...She liked the pizza, the lady bug, the witch, and the angel.

She wanted me to build all four for her to fly.



Where do you get your decals? I have a Hobby King "Indestructable" EPP war bird, an ME109, that I am going to start building in the next few weeks. It has some decals already molded into it, but they have the swastika oriented backwards on the rudder (China )


Hobby King ME109 "Indestructable" EPP Plane


Backwards Swastika on the Rudder


Flag of the Nazi Party 1920-1945

Also, I frequently have problems getting the decals to adhere permanently to painted surfaces. The ones from GWS seem to always curl up/off, and I have to tape them down, which detracts from the look, especially of a German War Bird. What do you do to apply decals so they stay put?

Originally Posted by degreen60

Here is my latest GWS warbird. A Sack AS-6. It started life as a GWS Pizza. I liked the way it flew but my thing is warbirds so when I saw a picture of a Sack AS-6 I just had to bash the Pizza into one.

Originally Posted by QuizCat

Where do you get your decals? I have a Hobby King "Indestructable" EPP war bird, an ME109, that I am going to start building in the next few weeks. It has some decals already molded into it, but they have the swastica oriented backwards on the rudder
Also, I frequently have problems getting the decals to adhere permanently to the painted surfaces. The ones from GWS seem to always curl up/off, and I have to tape them down, which detracts from the look, especially of a Nazi War Bird. What do you do to apply decals so that they stay put?

I print my decals on paper using a laser printer. I use either 3M super 77 spray glue(messy but permanent) or stick glue. When I use stick glue I watch the edges for a few days and run the glue under where it is not sticking. Also stick glue may come loose if it gets wet but I just put more glue on where it has lifted. Also I apply the stick glue to the foam. I found it does not dry as fast on the foam as it does on paper.

Here are some more of my GWS warbirds. A Tiger Moth trainer, SPAD XI, and a Brequet 14. All made from GWS Tiger Moths.

That's a great idea, printing them yourself...and they look outstanding!

I wonder if once you got them to stick, if you sprayed some clear coat Krylon over them, if they would bond permanently to the surface?

I'm going to try to print some out, and try the idea on some scrap foam I have around here one of these days.

Nice collection! I love the war birds!

Originally Posted by degreen60

I print my decals on paper using a laser printer

Degreen60, those moths have to be the nicest I have ever seen. I would be afraid to fly your planes as they look so nice, oh hell send one to me and I will give it a try. Better yet send me all three so I can get over my fear.