Balsa planes in high humidity places (Singapore)

[Tyrell63]

Hi

Just a short question.....
I am interested to build some of these small Dancing Wings planes (Sopwith Pub, S.E. 5a) in Balsa.

https://sea.banggood.com/Dancing-Wings-Hobby-K6-Sopwith-Pup-378mm-Wingspan-Balsa-Wood-Laser-Cut-Micro-RC-Airplane-Warbird-Biplane-p-1838000.html?cur_warehouse=CN&ID=528924&rmmds=search

Im living in Singapore. And here the humidity is high.
Now it is:

26
°C°F
Precipitation: 57%
Humidity: 89%
Wind: 8 km/h

What will happen to these balsa planes? Will they rotten? Or get soft?
How to protect them (wieght is important)?

Best,
Lutz

[SanExup]

So wood expands and contracts with moisture/humidity levels, thus your concerns. I can't tell you with any certainty what will happen in your environment but I would think if the moisture is a constant that it's not an issue. It's rapid or broad change that causes issues with most materials, especially wood.

Many years ago I moved from California, near the ocean, to Wyoming, ancient dried up ocean. So from semi humid to really dry. My planes that had exposed balsa did not like it. Warped wings, cupping panels, shrinking that opened joints, etc. I ended up tossing quite a few out of frustration. Same with a beautiful piece of furniture I had made for my wife, it had dovetail joints and they all opened up or broke from the shrinking. So that's my two cents on change in humidity levels and wood.

Perhaps where you are the moisture levels don't change rapidly or dramatically, but are consistent. Personally, I would let the kits acclimate for a week or two before assembly. And then I think it wouldn't be an issue. And you can coat them with poly. I haven't built balsa planes in years but when I was I would spray exposed balsa with a light coat of polyurethane. The plane you linked is a micro and might be more sensitive to added weight. So I don't know if that would be the correct thing to do. Also, with the poly, the balsa panel wings might warp with the application of the poly. So, my apologies. I probably just told you everything you already knew, wood moves with moisture.