One Man's Thing
Rick Sarpolus
MOST DISPLAY MODEL aircraft today are made from plastic kits. My father told me that when he was a kid the display models were made of wood and all the parts had to be carved to shape. I like working with wood because it is more fun than plastic and you make the whole project yourself. To make display aircraft models I use balsa wood but I call them "profile solids" because the parts are profiles, not all carved. This saves a lot of work and has other advantages. You can pick any aircraft to model, ones that are not available in plastic, and make them any size you want.
The wooden models are left unfinished, not painted. All markings are put on with a good felt-tip pen. This shows the construction and workmanship but still the models are easily identified and look realistic. The pictures show the appearance. I will tell how I make the models.
Pick 3-views of any aircraft from magazines. Most magazines have them in a size right for making display models. You can pick all World War II types, or all fighters or bombers, whatever you like. I get many 3-views in our library where they have a copy machine we can use. Trace the outlines of all parts using tracing paper — be sure to mark where slots or notches are to go. Cut out patterns for the parts and draw them on the wood to be cut out.
All parts are cut from 1/16, 3/32, or 1/8 in. balsa. Sometimes I use 1/4 in. for the larger model fuselages. My father flies a lot of radio-control and control-line so there is plenty of wood around the workshop. Cut out the parts with an X-acto knife or a jig saw. Sand them smooth and round off the edges. Put all the markings on the parts before putting the model together. I used to use five-minute epoxy but the new glues like Zap or Hot Stuff are even better. Be careful — they can glue your fingers together!
It takes about two hours for each model to do the whole thing, longer for more complicated ones. I think this is really a good way to make display models. They don't cost much money and you can make all kinds of airplanes. I took my profile solids to the Monmouth Model Airplane Club meeting and won the prize for the best project of the month. I beat my father. He took the pictures for this article and helped me with it.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
