RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Stan Alexander 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211 E-mail: onawing@mindspring.com
IT'S CHRISTMASTIME AGAIN!
It's time to really think about the new radio, kit, plans, books, tools, or other items you just can't do without. It's the time of year to leave the catalogs out with items marked that you want for Christmas. Our spouses usually want to keep us happy and can find the time to make a trip to the local hobby shop or use the plastic and an 800 number to order the items we want or need.
For the younger crowd, mom and dad might help your quest for radio control (RC) gear and scale-model stuff. Are you just starting in scale modeling? Pick out a simple subject such as a J-3 Cub or a PT-19, and get your mom and dad to put that under the Christmas tree. Let me see the results of your building project and I'll put the photos in the column!
If you're unsure about documentation or a simple color scheme, write to me and we'll help you with that aspect of building the model. Also a good source of documentation is the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Web page at www.scaleaero.com/NASA.htm. This site has articles and other information about documentation and scale modeling. This is just one of the many scale sites that are linked to AMA's and other scale pages.
Baby Ace
I've finally been able to work on my Corben Baby Ace some more, and the fuselage is coming along nicely. Using the materials recommended on the plans wasn't a problem, although I did change some of the formers slightly to fit my preference. The fuselage longerons are 1/4" square hardwood, as are some of the crossmembers.
I used balsa behind the cockpit. This model is of a parasol-wing type home-built aircraft, so you don't have to deal with the wing saddle. However, you do have wires bent down into the bottom of the fuselage, mounted to hardwood gear blocks. These steel wires supply the attachment points for the center section of the wing, to which the outside wing panels are attached.
Building the fuselage and getting it straight at the end of basic assembly is one of the critical steps of building the model and getting everything square and balanced. If you don't get it straight here, you could have a terrible-flying model when it's finished.
I've checked the basic dimensions of the Ace's nose, adding the Du-Bro soft-mount engine mount and the cowl to the firewall for a test fit. This gives me a good idea of how it will finish up later. Now I want to secure the rear of the model so that the structure won't warp after I've added the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. Rudder and elevators will be added later. All of the crossmembers have been installed, along with the wooden diagonal braces. The next step is to add the braces to the 1/4-inch sticks in the rear and the turtledeck.
New Plans
Don Smith Plans has long been an excellent source for many top scale modelers. His latest offering is a Japanese fighter from the 1930s that was used in the war with China and World War II: the Nakajima Ki-27, which the U.S. code-named "Nate." The Ki-27 could be compared to the U.S.'s P-26 Peashooter or other fighters of that era. The Peashooter had fixed gear and an open cockpit, whereas this version of the Nate had an enclosed canopy. Don has a few other Japanese fighters on his list of plans, including the Ki-84 and the Ki-61.
The Ki-27 is designed in 1/4 scale with a wingspan of 111 inches and a wing area of 1,798 square inches. It's 69 inches long, and its expected weight is 39 pounds. Engines used are 2.1–3.8 cubic inches, which is a fairly large range. Don uses a Fuji .64 in his model. Available accessories include:
- Fiberglass cowl
- Fiberglass tail cone
- Fiberglass wheel pants and legs
- Canopy
- Main landing gear and tail wheel
- Scale 7-inch-diameter wheels
The plans come on four sheets, with quite a few details added for the model. Some of these include hinging positions (Robart Hinge Points are recommended), cockpit details, an instrument panel, and some of the panel lines for the fuselage and wing.
With competition in mind, Don sells the three-view scale drawings the Ki-27 was drawn from. I highly suggest that you obtain these if you decide to build the model. Photo documentation came from the book Famous Airplanes of the World, number 29.
Documentation for this model is also available in the book Military Aviation Library: Japanese and Italian Aircraft by Bill Gunston. It has several pages about the Ki-27, drawings, and five color side views. I'm listing these sources since this is an off-the-beaten-path full-scale subject.
Don has a catalog of large scale models ranging from the 66-inch-span Curtiss R3C-2 racer to the 202-inch-span Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. Some of the other designs include:
- Howard DGA-15
- Boeing B-17G
- Douglas A-26
- de Havilland Mosquito
- B-24 Liberator
- Grumman F7F Tigercat
- Dornier Do 335 Arrow
- Cessna T-50 Bobcat (the "Bamboo Bomber")
Wood kits for most of these models are available from several kit-cutting companies. The catalog is $3. Don Smith Plans does not accept credit cards.
Contact: Don Smith Plans, 620 Hastings St., Boca Raton, FL 33487; Tel.: (561) 989-9113; E-mail: dsmithrc@bellsouth.net; Web site: www.donsmithplans.com.
New Products
Glenn Torrance Models is offering five-color World War I lozenge fabric in light and dark schemes for 1/4-scale models. It is printed per the original World War I cloth. It's 100% linen, dyed and roller printed. Panels of the fabric are sold for $18 each and are 16 x 60 inches.
To apply the lozenges to your model, you can use several fabric adhesives such as Balsarite or Sig Stix-It. After you glue the cloth to the model's framework, add two coats of nitrate dope and five coats of butyrate dope. The fabric works well on any World War I German airplane that used the five-color scheme. Be sure that you don't have an aircraft with the seven-color scheme.
Glenn has two museum-quality 1/4-scale World War I kits — the Fokker D.VIII and the Dr.I — and parts for various types of that era. Contact Glenn Torrance Models at 1263 Kylmore Ln., Snellville GA 30078; Tel.: (770) 695-1032; Web site: www.gtmodels.com.
What's Being Built
Bob Tabler sent a photo of his 88-inch-span PT-19 built from the Dynaflite kit. It features a YS 120FS engine and Robart struts. He obtained documentation from Bill on an old photo taken just after World War II. Bob bought a PT-19 for only $500 just after the war and kept it for roughly two years, until he joined the Air Force. I wish you could find a PT-19 that flew for $500 now.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
