Well mother nature decided to dump a foot of snow on us yesterday, so it's officially building season! I plan on building the U.S. Navy NE-1 version of the cub, which is blue/grey. Im using a saito 150 for power and have the Robart scale landing gear. Construction will be with Titebond ll and epoxy. I hardly ever use CA.
I just started it last night and figured I start by getting all the laminated parts of the kit done. Basically the formers, landing gear doublers and wing roots. I have to get some new ceiling tiles for my building board before I start fuselage construction, so I guess I'll do the stabilizer today. Anyone with comments, ideas or critisisms... feel free!

Horizontal stabilizer done.

It looks like you and your helper are off to a good start. !

I did my wing tips a bit different than the instructions stated. Instead of making the separate pieces, I interleaved the different layers. To be honest, it probably doesnt make a difference. Are you doing a straight up build following the instructions, cause there are a few scale inaccuracies you should be aware of. The stab is too far back, the elevator hinge line is even with the rudder hinge line. Scale puts the stab hinge a bit more forward. The ailerons in the kit are hinged on the top, scale is bottom hinged. Those are the obvious ones, but its not going to make a difference in the way it flys. I have two busa 1/4 scale cubs. One is built straight to the kits instructions and the other is modified as above. I also used pull-pull on the ailerons for a bit more scale. Still, mine is more of a sport scale. I'm still working on the busa dummy engine for my NE-1. Its a fun build and either way flys good. I can manage a bit of distance knife edge using a saito 1.20. I would also suggest getting the graphics from Callie, she's much cheaper than other places.
Edwin

Thanks for the compliments.
Edwin, thanks for the heads up on the scale info. I planned to use Callie graphics. Ive used her previously and they were great. One set was for a giant P-51 scheme that she hadn't made yet. They came quick and were exactly what I needed.

I got my ceiling tiles and my building board all together. I started on the fuelage last night. The only drawback to using the wood glue is drying time. But, good things come to those who wait, so I've been told.

For those of you that have built a cub, where did you end up putting the servos? I see in some builds some put them behind the cabin and some put them back in the tail. I do plan on using a pull-pull setup on the rudder. I just don't want to have to add much weight to the nose for balance if the servos are in the back, especially since I won't have the weight of a gas engine.

Heres mine. Both cubs have the servos in the cabin area. The J-3 has a bench seat over the servos. Havent done that on the NE-1 yet. Didnt need any weight using a saito 1.20. Sometime next year these were be converted to 20cc gas engines.
Edwin

The following photos illustrate the servo mount I bashed on my Great Planes .40 J-3 Cub kit (~1/5-scale) that I converted to electric power. Build, here. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1742597

The standard kit places the servos more forward, and angled normal to the centerline. The redesigned mount shortens and straightens the control line runs. And places the mount right at a fuse former, for highest rigidity. The steeper angle allows for easy screwdriver access in an aft-most servo location.

This is what I ment by interleaved. I guess you could also say staggered seams. You can see the seam on the middle layer is in the middle instead of inline with the top and bottom layers. I'm building another busa cub as an L-4. But its waiting for workbench space. Gotta glass and primer a P-47 first.
Edwin

Today I finished up the fuselage sides. The window frame and door are done. When I was doing the right side of the fuselage, I glued the vertical window post incorrectly, not once, but twice! I got confused where you have to use 1/8" strips to raise the fuse side. Oh well....wouldn't be fun without set backs. I also got the landing gear doublers epoxied(30 min) in place. I'll let all this dry overnight then tomorrow is when it all starts coming together and looking like an airplane.

It's a great airplane, probably the nicest flying Cub on the market. Between my Dad and I we've built 5 and still have three of them! Give some thought to using a wing tube. It makes putting the wings on so much easier. The Saito will be plenty of power. We've used OS
120's in all of ours and it makes for very scale like flying. You might also consider a Fiberglass Specialties cowl and look around for a better landing gear. I can't remember what we used but it's not available anymore anyway. I'm not a fan of the stock gear unless you can get it welded together. Looks good!

Rick H.

Thanks rick! I have the Robart scale gear for it already. As far as the cowl goes...I've heard that Santa is stopping by fiberglass specialities on his way to my house

I wondered how you were able to make such fast progress. Then, I see that you not only have one helper, but two !

The three of you are doing some nice work !

You should consider making a rear float mount. Save time later. I did that on my second two for a just in case. Thats 1/4" ply with 1/8" ply gussets for support. Had I thought ahead, I would have extended the floor back as one piece.

Edwin