Guillow's Cessna 170 Laser Cut Model Kit

This was my second Guillow's Model I have built (after the Guillow's North American P51D Mustang kit). This model kit was much superior to the Mustang. The benefits of laser cut balsa (as opposed to die-cut) are numerous, as the stringer notches (one of the largest annoyances I had with the Mustang) are already cut for you, and the pieces easily drop right out of the sheets of balsa. This kit has a quality feel, and all the required components to build a flying rubber band-powered model are included. Although this is about double the price of the Mustang, it is well-worth it, and I would even recommend this model to someone building their first balsa airplane. I spent about 12 hours building it (with no paint or decals) and I was able to fly it, albeit poorly. Overall, I am pleased with this model and for someone looking to get started with models, I would recommend this kit.

Excellent Kit, premium Balsa wood, good instructions, however must be read thoroughly and carefully. Great challenging entertainment for hours on end for just a little more than the price a meal at McDonalds. Guillow's has been doing business for 100 years here in the U.S., and I can remember attempting to build one of these kits when I was 13 years of age. Some of the bad reviews must be evaluated with some skepticism, like the old saying "its a inadequate craftsman that blames the material, or his tools for his failures".

Directions kind of not easy to follow

Son loved it. Haven't seen it built yet, but son was happy with it.

Good brand and good size. Order it for a friend’s a gift

Laser cut parts

I've worked on stick and tissue model planes my whole life (well since i was about 8 years old). Typically pouring hours and hours into sanding, gluing/holding parts in place and finishing. Making sure that the finished products were museum quality. With this Model airplane kit from Guillows the amount of time having to spend to get this kit finished is literally reduced by about 75%. Laser cutting of the parts versus dye cutting is a huge step in the consistency and ease of use while building. Maybe this seems like a plus, and it is if you're a beginner of a novice without much time to work on a model this would be perfect for YOU. But if you consider yourself a true artisan looking to find a joy that is only received doing painstaking detail work that would truly set your model apart from everyone else's you may want to look for something a little more challenging! Guillows has brought model plane building to parallel that of making a Lego plane.

I needed this! I'm trying my hand at flying models and these are a nice way to get back into the hobby. As a youth I used to put these together with the expectation of many hours of amusement. I remember trying to get the die-cut pieces free of the sheet but they weren't cut all the way through. I'd often wind up with broken pieces that would have to be repaired before installation. Additionally super glues were a far distant dream back then. The dies they used for this kit must have been derived from alien technology because friction is the only force holding these parts on the carrier sheet. Blow hard enough and the pieces will separate from the carrier! Cool! I'll put a few of these basic kits together before going after the R/C kits!