CONTROL LINE SCALE
Bill Boss, 77-06 269th St., New Hyde Park, NY 11040
DAVID DULAITIS, a frequent contributor to the Control Line (CL) Scale column, has moved from Chipley, FL to Sun City Center, FL, and is back to building scale models. He has also joined the Tampa Bay Line Flyers CL club. Members fly every Sunday at the club field in St. Petersburg, FL.
The group is short on scale modelers, but David hopes that his membership and many CL scale models will help promote scale building within the club. David sent photos and information about the canopy construction of his latest project—a Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu.
Jane’s Encyclopedia of Aviation states that the Uhu was produced and in service between 1940 and 1944, and was used for short-range reconnaissance. Armament was four 7.9 mm machine guns and two to four 50 kg bombs.
More than 800 Uhus were built; a number of them were made for special purposes, including radio training, communications, and evacuation of wounded. The extensive use of glazing on the pilot’s cockpit and on the nacelle between the twin tailbooms provided excellent vision for the airplane’s crew.
David’s model is one-inch = one-foot scale, with a wingspan of 60 inches, is powered by two Fox .15 RC engines, and weighs 4.2 pounds. David is one of those rare scale modelers who likes to build his models on the light side. The only operating feature is the throttle, which is controlled via a standard three-line bellcrank system.
David tells me the canopies were made in four pieces. His first step was to make the male molds and vacuum-form the major sections of the canopies.
According to David, the glazing framing was easy to make. For the thin framing, he laid several pieces of suitable-length striping tape on a sheet of light cardboard and spray-painted them with the appropriate color. Once dry, the tape was cut to proper length and put in place. For the heavier framework, David spray-painted a sheet of cardstock. When it was dry, he cut out the framing pieces and glued them in place with canopy glue. After David completed the canopies, he sprayed on clear Krylon® to seal them.
David has other projects in the works, and he will tell about them when he’s finished.
Marutaka kits available again
Kits from the past that were suitable for building CL Sport and Precision Scale models are available again. Once imported by Royal, they are now “Marutaka” kits from The Hobby Barn (Box 17856, Tucson, AZ 85731). The kits are sold for RC use, but it wouldn’t take much to convert them to CL. The only installation required is a standard three-line bellcrank system, or servos for use with one of the electronic systems.
- Models of civilian airplanes and many great fighters and bombers of World War II are available.
- Most kits have wingspans of 60 to approximately 72 inches—the right size for CL scale models—and are designed for .45 to .60 engines.
- There is a listing of more than three dozen kits on The Hobby Barn web site: http://hobbybarn.com/airplanes_marutaka_kits.htm.
- The kits are all-balsa (no fiberglass) and are listed by name, scale size, wingspan, and engine size. Some kits come with aluminum spun cowls.
- Retractable landing gear is available for airplanes that require them.
- The Hobby Barn doesn’t handle parts for Marutaka kits or sell the kit plans separately.
- The web site also has listings of retracts, wheels, control linkages, engine mounts, and general accessories.
The availability of these kits provides the scale newcomer (and some old-timers) with a wider selection of projects.
CONTROL LINE SCALE - 2001/03
Workshop Hints
The following was in the Indy Sportliners newsletter, but originated in Plane Talk (Charles Brooks, editor).
If you’re using fiberglass cloth and epoxy for strengthening the center section of a wing and you want the task to be easier, consider this procedure:
- Apply fiberglass cloth to the center of a wing, tacking it down with CyA (cyanoacrylate) glue.
- Put the epoxy mixture on the cloth and work it in.
- Apply a strip of clear kitchen wrap over the freshly applied epoxy.
- Smooth out the epoxy with your fingers, removing all wrinkles. The wrap not only helps smooth the epoxy, but also helps keep your fingers away from the epoxy.
- Wipe off excess epoxy at the cloth edges with a paper towel.
- Leave the wrap in place until the epoxy has cured, then remove it.
The resultant center joint should have fewer bumps and wrinkles and require less sanding during the finishing process.
Simple Weathering
In a recent NASA (National Association of Scale Aeromodellers) newsletter, Roy Vaillancourt wrote about some simple weathering techniques.
He noted that after you’ve finished your latest warbird and stepped back to admire it, you may notice it looks too clean and new. It may need a little dirt and some oil stains, weathering, engine and gun exhaust, and dirt smears on panel lines.
To get some of these effects, obtain gray chalk from your local art-supply store. This chalk is known to artists as a “pastel.” It looks and feels a bit like a crayon—kind of waxy and chalky at the same time.
Steps:
- Put the pastel on with your finger at each vertical and spanwise panel line.
- Take a soft rag and start at the panel line, drawing the pastel toward the rear of the model. Only work from the front to the back.
- As you draw the pastel toward the rear, it will smear and thin out at the same time. Keep working it this way until it looks like an old oil smear on the surface—very faint at the rear and slightly pronounced at the panel line, but only on the rear side. The front side of the panel should look relatively clean.
If you don’t like the results, you can remove the pastel with soap and water. The weathering is usually done by most builders before the clear coat is applied. Roy does not use clear coat, but touches his model up from time to time as it ages naturally.
Give the pastel a try. It won’t hurt the paint and you can wash it off easily if you don’t like the results.
Contest Activity
Art Weber (Brookfield, WI) reports that the Circlemasters Flying Club had a successful 2000 Wisconsin State Stunt and Scale Championships contest on June 18. The weather was fine, with minimal wind—a sunny day that made for great scale-model flying.
Stand-Off Scale results:
- 1st place: Charlie Bauer, 80-inch P-82 Twin Mustang using electronic throttle control.
- 2nd place: Art Weber, 72-inch Citabria with three-line control.
- 3rd place: Dan Tetzlaff, 76-inch PBY-6A.
Dan also flew his 22-year-old Boeing B-50D to a sixth place finish in the 2000 National Championships.
Profile Scale results:
- 1st place: Dan Tetzlaff, 40-inch S.E.5 with a three-line throttle control.
- 2nd place: Charlie Bauer, original 74-inch Boomerang using electronic throttle control.
- 3rd place: Art Weber, original-design B-24 Liberator.
Junior Stand-Off Scale:
- Eric Olson, 36-inch Grumman F6F Hellcat equipped with a 1/2A engine. It weighed two pounds and had two-line control.
Charlie Bauer also provided spectators with a demonstration flight of his extraordinary CL turbine-powered jet. Art Weber noted that the model flew “very well” and that the turbine-powered jet was “great.”
Thanks to Don Adriano and Jim Nielsen for their efforts as judges at the contest. Watch this column for the date of the Circlemasters 2001 contest.
Please send ideas, notices of upcoming CL scale events, contest reports, and photos of CL scale activity to the address at the top of this column.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
