RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Stan Alexander 3709 Valley Ridge Dr. Nashville, TN 37211 E-mail: onawing@mindspring.com
SAME OL' STUFF:
Many parts of the country are deep into winter and it's building season. In other areas, such as Southern California and Arizona, the best part of the flying season is just around the corner.
You could build another J-3 Cub; a Cessna single-engine civil aircraft; a warbird such as a P-51 Mustang, a Corsair, an Fw 190, or an Me 109; a World War I fighter such as a Fokker D.VII or a Sopwith Pup; a Fokker Dr.I from one of the many kit manufacturers; or other common choices.
Although these are tried-and-true scale models, many of them are what you hear about at the field as the "same ol' stuff!" You might spend all winter building your new baby, get to the field or a contest in the spring, and have several modelers show up with the same model with the same color scheme. It happens!
Why not try something different for your next scale project? A host of scale designers and kit-cutting businesses offer plans for aircraft that aren't so commonly seen at scale meetings.
Or you could really go out on a limb and build a scale flying boat. Plans are available for the PBY Catalina and the Grumman Goose. But there are also plans available for many other types and sizes of scale models.
Remember the ordinary single-engine Cessna I mentioned? Try a Cessna T-50 Bobcat with, say, a 100-inch span instead. It flies nicely with a pair of Zenoah G-23 engines, and the innovations in electric power may make this a candidate for conversion. Don Smith designs plans for this model; wood kits are available, as are the nacelles and other bits and pieces.
Another one of Don's more obscure aircraft is the Japanese Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate": a 1930s-era fighter with fixed gear. Some other models you don't see every day are the Douglas A-26 Invader, the Junkers Ju 88, the Lavochkin La-7, and the Heinkel He 51 biplane (another 1930s fighter).
Nick Ziroli Plans has been around for as long as I can remember. He has the standard group of fighters and giant-scale models you see in competitions and fly-ins, but he also has plans for kits you don't see too often, such as the Junkers Ju 87B Stuka — the earlier version of the Stuka.
Another of Nick's recent designs is the Erco Ercoupe, a nice low-wing aircraft with tricycle gear and an 80-inch wingspan. It would make a great first airplane for scale competition. He also designed a beautiful Ryan NYP — the Spirit of St. Louis. His company offers semikits, parts, gear, and lots of other great stuff.
If you like World War I aircraft and don't want the usual Pup or Nieuport for your next project, check out Bob Holman Plans. He offers semikits, or just cutting ribs, for his models, and most of the parts are laser-cut. Some of his uncommon model offerings include the Westland Widgeon; the Avro Tutor; the Henschel Hs 126; the Pfalz D.XII; the Boulton Paul Defiant; the Fiat C.R.32; the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann (inline engine); the Albatros C.III observation scout; the twin-boom, twin-tail Fw 189; and the Bristol Beaufort light bomber.
I've given you just a small sampling of what is out there from a few plans companies. I'll have more ideas in the future about building models of rare subjects. Watch — someone will send me a photo of 10 Ryan NYPs lined up at a fly-in!
Included are photos I've taken of some different aircraft. Perhaps you could try a D.H.71 racer. It's a one-off airplane that de Havilland built in the 1930s to win in its class. The pilot had to have a fairly small frame to fit inside the cockpit. Or the Howard DGA-6 "Mister Mulligan" Monocoupe racer from the 1930s would be an interesting choice.
Shown is an inline-Ranger-powered Fairchild 24K from British Columbia, Canada. I photographed it at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a few years ago because I'd never seen one like this with the inline engine. The 24K is pretty, with clean lines; it begs to be modeled.
Van's RV series of experimental homebuilt kits is a popular aircraft line. The RV-4, with the tandem cockpit for pilot and passenger, is intended to be a cross-country and aerobatic airplane with a good cruise rate. The RV-4 shown is gray and white, with a black pinstripe and a yellow spinner. This is a striking color scheme.
The 1940 Culver Cadet is another blast from the past. Manny Sousa has been campaigning his for several years; he represented the USA at the 2004 Scale World Championships with the 1/4-scale model of NC29264, which has a long and striking history. It's sort of an odd aircraft, with retracts but no flaps. It flies great!
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Bookshelf:
The National Association of Scale Aeromodelers has published the NASA Scale Resource Guide for many years. The eighth edition, for 2004, was a great undertaking by NASA member Gary Parenti.
He completed a valuable document for all scale modelers by compiling, updating, and listing a multitude of sources for three-views, aviation-book dealers, documentation, government agencies, kit cutters, libraries, museums, specialized organizations, photos, scale construction plans, websites, etc. The neat thing about this publication is that it's free with a paid NASA membership, which is $15 (USA).
Another must-see is Volume 4 of Dave Platt’s Advanced Building Techniques, the fourth installment covering the Vought Kingfisher that Dave (or "Uncle Dave," as some of us call him) designed and built. This series of DVDs and VHS tapes is valuable for any scale modeler—or any modeler, for that matter.
This latest volume includes the model’s final assembly, cockpit construction, canopy, simulated fabric covering, and the weathering differences on different parts of the aircraft. Dave shows you how to make a gun ring and the machine gun, and he takes you on a tour of his documentation packet and his trip to the Toledo R/C Expo with the Kingfisher.
Check out this installment, and keep this and the other volumes to review for your next scale project. Dave might save you from making some common building mistakes on your scale models.
Sources:
- Don Smith Plans
7445 Texas Tr. Boca Raton, FL 33487 (561) 989-9113 www.donsmithplans.com
- Bob Holman Plans
Box 741 San Bernardino, CA 92404 (909) 885-3959 bhplans@aol.com www.bhplans.com
- Nick Ziroli Plans
29 Edgar St. Smithtown, NY 11787 (631) 467-4765 www.ziroliplans.com
- National Association of Scale Aeromodelers
Bonnie Rediske, secretary/treasurer 128 Darnley Dr. Moon Township, PA 15108 rediskejb@aol.com
- Dave Platt Models
1306 Havre NW Palm Bay, FL 32907 (321) 724-2144 www.daveplattmodels.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
