RADIO CONTROL — SCALE
Jeff Troy 19 East Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Ambler, PA 19002
Toledo
Toledo was an incredibly good time, as always. The Weak Signals hosted a first-class show that drew hundreds of industry exhibitors, hundreds of the world's finest models, and thousands upon thousands of dedicated aircraft modelers. The Weak Signals' Toledo show is often referred to as "Modelers' Mecca" — and rightly so.
On Sunday I left our exhibition booth to photograph many of the scale-related items I thought you'd enjoy seeing. There were an exceptionally large number of exciting products. Photo captions are enough of a tease to whet your appetites; you'll find the addresses of the various manufacturers in the "Advertisers Index" near the back of this magazine. Enjoy the show!
Docu-Search
Second-guessing modelers and aviation buffs is never a good idea. Just when you think someone's aircraft description is a put-on, it turns out to be the real thing. Likewise, some can describe fictitious aircraft so eloquently that only the most knowledgeable aviation historians would know there's a bit of gas bag. Being neither a full-scale aviation professional nor an aviation historian, I'm content to let you determine the validity of this request on your own. If it's for real, perhaps you'll get a chuckle out of someone pulling my leg. Either way, Phillip Epstein claims to need a set of plans for the Vultee–Stinson L1A "high-wing" war plane. He is not specific as to scale or power range, but if you know of this aircraft, please contact Phillip at:
Phillip Epstein 101 Wetherburn Lane Williamsburg, VA 23188
I'm guessing this one's probably for real.
Charles L. Holderried is fascinated with the Polish PZL 104 Wilga and would like to construct a 1/4- or 1/5-scale model of the airplane. Charles writes, "I have seen pictures here and there in the different magazines where several models of the Wilga have been built, but information on the builders was not available. Also I believe there were a couple of kits with fiberglass fuselages around from Europe — I'm a balsa-and-plywood man!" Could any Wilga builders lend Charles a hand? This is a great-looking airplane and a pleasant diversion from the usual high-wing cabin-type model. If you have anything to contribute, contact Mr. Holderried at:
Charles L. Holderried 1801 Brookwood Drive Bensalem, PA 19020
Build-Along
That lovely 81-inch Dynaflite Spitfire kit I received from Mark Smith has been sitting on my kit pile for over a year and it calls to me constantly. This might be a timely project, since Dynaflite Models is news right now and has recently been the subject of many modelers' conversations. Dynaflite was purchased by Great Planes a few months ago, and many of you have wondered whether the models would change. Rest easy: Great Planes will make a few improvements, but these superb kits will not become overpriced. They will retain their practical, original designs with little variance.
So what's in store for the Dynaflite line?
- Greatly improved construction manuals (Great Planes has always been strong in this department).
- Some cutting dies may be cleaned up, resulting in crisper part outlines and fewer rough edges.
- Improved wood selection where necessary.
- A notable change: replacement of wooden-beam engine mounts with Great Planes' glass-filled radial mounts for large-displacement two- and four-stroke engines. The wooden beam mounts reportedly transmitted a large amount of vibration; the radial mount Spitfire should reduce vibration transmission and make the nose assembly easier to fit together. The change will also let builders install a greater variety of engines without drastically altering the firewall beams — it's far simpler to install radial mounts than to modify maple beams.
Would you like to build the Spitfire together? If you're unfamiliar with the Dynaflite kit, here's a general outline.
Dynaflite Spitfire — 81-inch
- 81-inch, scale-up, .40–.60-powered Fun Scale model kit.
- Construction: balsa and plywood Lite Ply intended for .40 to .60 two-stroke and four-stroke engines.
- Accuracy: convincing outline that won't take years to construct. While it may not be an instant Nats Scale Masters Top Gun Invitational winner, you will have an excellent airplane that flies gently with better-than-average aerobatic and slow-flight capabilities. It also breaks down and transports relatively easily for its size.
Fuselage: a Lite Ply slab-sided affair, complete with the now-familiar lightening holes in the tail (these have become the earmark of most similarly constructed airplanes). Wings: built-up with open bays and capstrips. Tail: typical "stick" design; not airfoiled or sheeted. The model's design prohibits the use of glass cloth as a finish base. However, several fabrics could be applied, and it can be painted with most of today's high-quality finishes. I haven't located marking sets for this model, but these can be addressed with paint or dry transfers. Who knows — Great Planes might even consider making appropriate markings for each of their new Dynaflite kits (hint!).
Finishing: consider retracting undercarriage (well, it's a Spitfire — so think carefully!), flaps, minimal cockpit detail, and a good-looking pilot figure. Finishing tasks will be fun and informative regardless of the paint system chosen. We can play around with ink lines, faux hatches and inspection panels, and all kinds of interesting WWII pseudo-metal detailing that might befit an almost-scale airplane of this size.
Some of you have already followed me through a J-3 Anniversary Cub, a Fun-Scale P-51, and part of a Fokker D-VII. Right now I'm leaning toward the Spitfire, primarily due to the higher cost of other projects I have on hand. If you're looking for minimal expense, the Spitfire will do nicely. If you don't mind spending more, there are the Avrojunck S.E.5 and the Ziroli Triplane. If you really want to fly first class, there's a way-cool Dave Platt 1/3-scale FW-190 A8 that was purchased at the 1984 Toledo Show (with all the Dave Platt and Jack Dorman accessories). The choice is yours.
I'll let you know what the majority of readers want to build. Until then, build straight and fly safely. I'll talk with you again.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
