CHRIS CLIFFORD discovers the joys of 3D printing with LACI’s splendid Slingsby T6 Kirby Kite BGA 400 glider kit.
Gliders have become more widely available for modellers in recent years, thankfully, and in different scales. If the subject inspires you, the 1/48 Slingsby Type 6 Kirby Kite BGA 400 (item LAC48003) by Norfolk-based firm LACI is certainly worth considering. It replicates the type based on Slingsby’s previous Grunau Baby 2, whereby changes included a longer mainplane with deeper chord, plus a gull-wing format as opposed to straight. The T6 was, in fact, being constructed before the Type 5 Grunau Baby 2 was completed. A British Gliding Association event at Sutton Bank, Yorkshire in 1935 enabled a T6 prototype to participate, and help Slingsby develop the design even further.
Above: Both fuselage halves are printed on the same base. A fine razor saw is vital for removing the parts from their printing pillars.
LACI’s kit offers 3D-printed resin parts, the quality of which is excellent… ideal examples of this include delicate aileron linkages and proper spacing between the ailerons and wings, small hinges being visible. Locating pins are present, interior structural detail adorns the cockpit area, while there’s also a s…
