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The Sig Fieldboss laser-cut flight box kit is designed specifically for modelers who want everything at their fingertips. The Fieldboss offers the most useable space available in any commercial flight box on the market with three (3) large drawers, a huge top center workspace and four compartments, sized to accept either gel-cell or wet acid type batteries and either plastic bottles or metal fuel cans. There is ample remaining compartment space for starters, props and other equipment. The Fieldboss is all laser cut 1/4” birch plywood. A comparison of the fieldboxes available at a local hobby shop resulted in the purchase of the Sig Fieldboss. Of the three (3) different field boxes in stock, only one was built. The whole package itself was much heavier than the other two (2) and the belief that "heavy duty" is better, lead to the decision to purchase the Fieldboss. The materials of this kit appeared to be very nicely cut, by laser. After using three (3) grades of sandpaper and an orbital sander for about 45 minutes, the wood looked good and felt very good to the touch. This kit was packaged with an extra drawer bottom but it lacked the top shelf which delayed initial construction after only three pieces being glued together. The drawer bottoms and the top tray were so similar in construction that this problem was overlooked initially. A call to Sig resulted in a package arriving with the top shelf in it in less than a week. Construction was straightforward with no major surprises other than the missing top shelf. All the pieces fit together easily on pre-assembly. Lack of experience in using different types of glues resulted in a few runs here and there. These were scraped off before the finish was applied. Each drawer consists of five (5) parts; the drawer bottom and four (4) sides. Care was taken to assure that these were assembled properly, yet not one of them fit into the laser cut slots in the front of the box. The orbital sander would not take off enough material even using heavy grit sandpaper to effect a proper fit. Despite using extreme care in the assembly, there were two (2) drawers that needed about 1/16" taken off to gain a proper fit. After sanding with a belt sander, the drawers fit well together. Other than the drawers not fitting properly in height, the drawer sides would not enter any drawer hole without some coaxing. One note on this issue is that clamps were not used during the construction of this box. This may have made some of the joints tighter but the drawer problem probably would not have been alleviated even using proper clamping techniques. It is common for drawers to require some 'tweaking' even in other field boxes. The materials in this kit were very, very good. Instructions and drawings were good, although a little better explanation of glues would have been beneficial to the novice builder. The overall fit and finish were very good, despite requiring the purchase of a heavy sander to complete construction. The tab and groove construction using only glue requiring no nails, screws, etc. makes this box extremely sturdy. Drawer dividers are included sot that compartmented drawers can be fashioned if desired. The field battery compartment is large and deep, and is slotted to give good air circulation to the compartment itself. A convenient finger hole has been precut into the lid, making it very easy to remove. A power panel cutout is already pre-cut into the battery compartment. This can used or the laser cuts can be filled in with wood filler if it is not used. The Hobbico Field Panel was slightly large for the pre-cut opening but a little work with a jig saw and the modification was complete. The Fieldboss was finished using glossy Minwax Polyurethane. Four (4) coats of finish were applied over four evenings, with a light buffing using steel wool between coats and cleaning off residue with a tack cloth. The birchwood 'took' the polyurethane very nicely and its natural grains show through very well. At the field, this box has drawn a lot of admiring attention. Over a period of a month, it has performed very well. The generous capacity of its drawers and storage compartments next to the fuel and battery compartments allows the flier to take everything needed to fly all in one box. Its generous storage capacity may tempt modelers into taking 'it all' with them, making this box potentially quite heavy. The Sig FieldBoss is definitely a 'heavy duty' fieldbox that should cater to the needs of almost any flier. Good looks, very solid construction, more than adequate capacity should serve any modeler very well for quite some time. |
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