I have an Invader, built by my father in the 1970's, (with a young me watching his every move ! ) we had many happy times tow line flying it in the field at the back of my Gran's house, It has since been recovered in modern heat shrink plastic film and still fly's beautifully.
I remember making - very badly - very similar Kiel Kraft models as a kid. This was before the time of lasers - the wing sections etc. were just printed on a sheet of balsa, to be cut out. My nosecone would have looked like the half-way finished version of yours. Also I was very bad at doping the tissue. The planes used to last a couple of flights at most before crashing beyond repair. Happy days!
This was one of the first models that I built in England probably around 1957 when I was ten years old. Sixty years later I am still building rc gliders. What a wonderful animation of the construction
It's like watching a part of my childhood. Eddie Keil and his company inspired my love of aeromodelling - a passion that I still have almost 50 years later!
Thank-you. It brought back childhood memories of building rubber band powered balsa and tissue built models. Not necessarily as elegant as your build, but, boy, was I proud of the finished product.
Oh my. oh my.... memories... I built this kit when it was first produced in 1963 (I think) when I was 12 years old. The problem was that we lived in a very small terraced house in Liverpool so a 40" wingspan model was a bit ambitious..... and with no access to a car. towing it aloft, flying was never really an option. Still, I loved building it and it flew a very short distance in the street....looped and nosedived about 10ft from where I threw it. Great memories building it though! Thanks for posting Tom.
Absolutely brilliant video . Great filming. I used to build tow line gliders. It brought it all back to me man , thanks.This may inspire me to do a kit. Classic modeling .
This is one of the best builds I've seen with perfect music while assembly ❤❤❤❤ thank you I can never get tired of seeing this beautifuly done vidio hats off thank you..
@@TomGrigat Really was well done. Reminds me of my younger days 40 years ago building kits. And I appreciate the amount of work that went into the stop motion animation. Lots of work goes into that kind of filming. I really enjoyed it! :-)
I had a Keil Kraft Soarer Baby back in the day. Just bought one of these Invaders and will upgrade it with RC equipment and ailerons. And quite possibly build one twice as big later from scratch.
Wonderful stuff. A bit of a Vision On, Pat Keysell vibe, I thought... I'm sure a lot of aeromodellers watching this will have had a 'traditional' start to the hobby - i.e. RC gear used to cost (and weigh) as much as a family car, so Sundays were a case of lots and lots of free-flight models, towlines and rubber-powered things, chasing and retrieving, and perhaps a few tears when the dethermaliser didn't 'pop' and your pride and joy soared up and away and out of sight on a thermal, never to be seen again. (Sob, sniff...) But things have come full circle. Radio gear is now cheaper than balsa, tissue and dope! It's so small and light that you can build these lovely old designs and fit them with rudder and elevator and never have to worry about chasing and retrieving (or losing a plane in a thermal) ever again. I still love this hobby. The ghastly new drone registration law can be ignored, because free-flight models all weigh well under 250 grammes; you can fly them with impunity. Yay! And now: The Gallery...
I'm glad you like my videos... But to be honest, the process of assembling and getting the pictures is very boring. It's a matter of moving the parts a little, taking a picture, moving again, taking a picture, and so forth... Nothing different to the beautiful animated "brick-videos" you can see on some youtube channels. It's the same old stop motion techniques every animator of this physical tricks is practicing. I presume very boring videos if I had to show the process...
Hi Tom. All I can say is that is so beautiful. All your videos are beautiful, including or maybe especially the most recent one about HMS Terror. I have a lot of questions, but won't ask them. I'll just enjoy the videos. Many thanks from another Tom (also a modeller, if more humble). I expect that you have seen the maxfliart videos - by another Tom, a craftsman also. thanks again. Tom
Schön beruhigend mit der Musik und es erinnert mich an meine Kindheit. Das könnte ich mir Stundenlang anschauen. So einen Segelflieger wollte ich immer haben, hab ihn aber nie bekommen :-(
Muito bom. Também sou construtor. Este vídeo é uma grande lição. Mostrando coisas que já sabemos impressiona pela qualidade e clareza da explicação. Parabéns ao autor.
@@TomGrigat Hi Tom, I’m 69 now and constructed one of the early invader kits in the sixties when I was a small boy and had great fun flying it in the field at the rear of my house. I’m not well at the moment but I’ve got the inclination to have a try building another one after watching your inspirational video, trouble is, I can’t find a stockist, everywhere’s sold out but I’ve been in touch with a hobby shop to see if they can help me find something similar. All thanks to your elegant video. 😁
Awesome video. When I was young I had a few gliders here in Brazil. The local manufacturer instructions state a coat of dope on the plates, some sanding , and another coat before cutting. Then another coat of dope after assembled. The plane would receive paper covering and a final coat of dope would give strength to the entire surface. Does people still use this kind of proceeding? Is it the correct/modern way to protect a balsa wood model from weathering changes?
Beautifully made - both plane and video! I just bought one of these and plan on converting it to RC - maybe even build one twice as big from scratch. One of my first model aircraft back in the day was a Keil Kraft Soarer Baby :) Again; great video!
How many children will have the satisfaction of building a balsa kit like this, nowadays? Cutting all of the longerons and fuselage trusses.. I'm thankful that I am one of (the last) of them.
My uncle built me one of these way back in the 1960s. Sadly, it only managed a couple of flights until a strong gust of wind caught it while being towed and snapped the wings in half.
VVonderful animation , it must've taken you a good deal longer to both film & build this model @ the same time . As someone vvho only grevv up knovving only plastic models & hearing from my older relatives that airplane models in this form vvere the norm for the 1st half of the 20th century I can novv understand both hovv & vvhy so many young model makers grevv up to build & fly aircraft of their ovvn . IMO this should be taught in schools as an elective so vve might get another generation of great aviation designers,mechanics & pilots as building some models like this vvould be better than just putting kids in front of computers vv/some softvvare . TY for posting a vvonderful video
Just discovered your channel Tom, I look forward to delving deep into all your videos, this video is inspirational, thanks for making it. A definite subscribe I think.
Wonder if you could help,struggling with nose pieces "pattern x" it says cut two pieces "x" from postcard or 1/64" balsa to pattern shown, I don't seem to have any flat pieces of balsa in my kit or lazer cut parts. Do you think I'm missing a piece of balsa or did you have to buy a sheet separately? Thanks if you could help.
I know what you mean. I helped myself by gluing some spare parts together to get the needed piece. Just cut some square parts out of the lasercut surrounded material...
@@TomGrigat Many thanks for the reply, thought I was missing the point! Don't seem to have the ply brace for wing bands either. Thanks again for your response.
Tom - just watching the video alone has given me tremendous enjoyment - and I plan to purchase that kit as well. Question: Do you have a US distribution center so I can place an order from here in US or can I still place an order from the website you specify above and still be able to deliver in the US ? Let me know when you can - Thank you
It is a beautiful video dude i have a plane designed by keilkraft and i don't know how to start building it, can you help me, the plane is a CADET by THUNDER Tiger. If you can build it in a video please.
Assembling the model is enough of a job, but getting the covering right is nerve-wracking when you find it's gone wrong and has to be redone: using model-dope to shrink the paper or silk into place was always a gamble, often leading to warping of the underlying structure. I was caught out by that hazard as far back as the late '50s.
How to stretch the pleasure of model building.. make a stop motion video of the build. Goes from a 25 hr project to a 25 days project... You sure like the pain don't you?
