FAQ

These are answers to questions that frequently come up.

Q: I placed an order but didn't receive acknowledgement. Why not?
A: Our system automatically sends an email receipt as soon as the order is accepted. Check your email spam folder. If there's no email receipt in the spam folder, then ask your email provider to stop blocking emails from manzanolaser.com.

Q: How much does shipping cost?
A: Just add the product to a shopping cart, and let it determine the shipping cost for you. Non-USA customers will need to enter their entire postal address to get the shipping cost.

Q. Can I order by phone or mail?
A. You can order by mail. Contact us first by email first to get the total dollar amount for your order. Be sure to include the catalog numbers of the items wanted, the quantity desired, and your postal (shipping) address. Sorry, we cannot accept phone orders. 

Q. What is a 'short kit'?
A. We sell short kits only! Our typical short kit includes only those special shaped parts that need to be cut from a sheet of balsa, basswood or plywood as specified by the designer on the cut files provided to us. It may also include vacuum-formed plastic parts such as a canopy or cowl. The builder supplies all sheet, strip, stick, block, wire, rubber, tube, glue, and covering material necessary to finish the model, as well as all electrical and electronic components such as radio, servos, and motor.

If you are unsure about the content of a specific short kit in our catalog, please email us for more information.

We do not have materials lists for many of the short kits.

Q: Where can I find parts for my model?
A: We recommend you try your local hobby shop. If there is no local hobby shop, then try the many online stores such as Tower Hobbies, Hobby King, etc.

Q: Do you ship to my country?
A: We ship to all countries that are members of the Universal Postal Union, currently 192 countries. See the upu.int website for a list of the member countries.

Q: I see xxxx short kit advertised on your website. Is it available?
A: If it's shown as "In Stock", then yes, it is available.

Q: What does "In Stock" or "Out of Stock" mean?
A. Every one of our short kits is custom-cut and packed to order. The term "In Stock" means that we have the raw materials and plastic necessary to make the kit. "Out of Stock" means that we do not have the raw materials and plastic needed to make the kit.

Q: I have a plan of a xxxx. Can you laser-cut it for me?
A: Yes, if you provide us with vector drawings in AutoCAD DXF/DWG or Corel CDR file format. See our "Custom Laser Cutting" page for more details.

Q: Can you enlarge/reduce the kit for me?
A: The short answer is "maybe". Read on...

1. The desired enlargement or reduction should fit the available thicknesses of wood. Otherwise, tabs and notches probably won't fit. Work with a multiple of 50%, such as 50%, 150% or 200% for best results.

2. There is considerable additional expense involved in scaling a design.

a. When we receive a design, we lay out all wood parts in "cut files" sorted by wood type and thickness. Cut files contain tool path, tool speed and power setting instructions for the laser cutter. Cut files are created by manually extracting individual parts from the original CAD design and nesting those parts to fit the raw wood material: typically 4" x 36" balsa and 12" x 24" plywood. When multiple sheets of a particular type and thickness are needed, we put multiple sheets into the cut file, up to a maximum of 36" wide by 24" deep. The outlines of the parts become the tool path that the laser beam will cut. Next, we add tool speed and power setting instructions to the cut file based on the material being cut. The completed cut file is then sent to the laser cutter's job management system.

If you want to enlarge a particular model by 150%, that original 4" x 36" sheet of balsa now is scaled up to 6" x 54". Immediately, there are two problems: 1) 54" wide balsa is not available, and 2) the laser cutter has a maximum cutting width of 36". This means that all the original cut files have to be manually adjusted in CAD to nest the enlarged parts on available wood sizes. Then the tool speed and power level have to be manually adjusted, and finally the new cut file is fed back to the job management system. CAD time is not free; we charge $75/hour for CAD work with a one-hour minimum.

Scaling down is less complicated, as the individual parts usually don't have to be re-nested. However, tool speed and power setting must be manually adjusted for the scaled-down cut files. Cut files must be individually opened in CAD, then sent to the laser cutter. Again, CAD time is not free; we charge $75/hour for CAD work with a one-hour minimum.

b. Many plans are drawn on "E" size sheets (36" x 48"). The maximum printing width of our printer is 36". Scaling an "E" size plan by 150% results in a print size of 54" x 72" - far too large for our printer! This means that we'd need to lay out the enlarged plan to fit on 36" wide paper. Again, that's CAD time at $75/hour. Scaling down a plan is much simpler; the printer is just instructed to print to a specified scale.

3. Lastly, and most important, all the designs we sell are copyrighted by their original designers. We will not change their designs without their specific permission.

Q. Can these kits be flown with gas/glow engines?
A. The short answer is "maybe". Many of the Peter Rake designs can be converted to fly with IC. The limiting factor will be the prop size as most glow engines will not swing a larger enough prop. It looks like a .09 diesel is the minimum for most of the WWI airplanes due to the round cowls. For the 54" SE-5A and SPAD XIII a .52 4 stroke or similar size diesel may work. The forward fuselage probably will need some added strength to withstand the starting load and vibration. The conversion of Adrian Britton's PA-12 to an .06 PAW diesel was really nice. It only took addition of fuel tank, throttle servo and a new firewall (along with fuel proofing where applicable). His C170B and Silvaire would also be good candidates for conversion. The WACO YMF was designed to use either IC or electric and flew very well on a .90 diesel.

Q. Who supplies your wood? What quality balsa wood do you use?
A. We buy wood from several suppliers including Balsa USA, Bud Nosen Models, National Balsa, and Midwest. Note that the wood is not blemish-free.

Q. I want a xxx with ailerons but you only offer one without. Can your kits be converted?
A. Yes. Many of our customers have converted 3 channel planes (rudder/elevator/throttle) to 4 channel (aileron/rudder/elevator/throttle). It does take a bit more modeling skill and time, but, is fairly easy to do. Most of the wing sizes allow a micro or nano servo to fit within the wing, or, links can be used for a central mounted servo.

Q. The xxx kit lists a Speed 400 for power. What kid of brushless motor can I use?
A. First, unless you use an inrunner with a gearbox you may need to modify the motor mount. It is simple to do, but the alternate mount is not included in all the kits. Second, brushless motor nomenclature is confusing at best. A good replacement for the Speed 400 is the EFlite Park 400. There are so many others to choose from that a complete list is not feasible in this space. A typical Speed 400 would put out about 90W, so any brushless motor of that size would work. Be aware that many WWI planes have larger cowls so a large prop is needed to clear them. Typical on the Speed 400 size planes would be a 9" or 10" prop. You can find a replacement for the Speed 300 or Speed 600 in the same way.