RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Jeff Troy 19 E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Ambler, PA 19002
TOLEDO '96: I have run a few items from this year's show past you already, but there were several left when I ran out of space in the magazine. Better to run them a bit late than not run them at all.
DesignCAD/ModelCAD (Viagrafix)
- Good news for users of ModelCAD, DesignCAD 2-D, and DesignCAD 3-D: new program versions for Windows 95 have been released and are currently available. These versions have been available since the Toledo show, so if you haven't upgraded yet, now is the time.
- DesignCAD's Robert Webster is now marketing his programs under the Viagrafix label. Viagrafix also produces a first-class series of instructional videos on many professional software applications — including guided videos for those just getting acquainted with CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software.
- ModelCAD is a professional yet inexpensive CAD application that features many useful model-aircraft and model-train templates; basic aircraft drawings and plans are no problem. DesignCAD 2-D is more powerful and sophisticated for experienced users working at higher technical levels. DesignCAD 3-D adds the depth dimension and enables work in three fully independent dimensions.
- Free technical support is available for all Viagrafix CAD programs; many people in the operation are experienced RC modelers.
Write for pricing and ordering information on Viagrafix CAD applications for Windows 95 and Viagrafix instructional videotapes to: Viagrafix, One American Way, Pryor, OK 74361.
Correction
- In my original Toledo coverage a few months back I provided an incorrect address for Nick Ziroli Plans. Please make note of the correct (unchanged) address:
Nick Ziroli Plans, 29 Edgar Dr., Smithtown, NY 11787.
Scale Stits Covering (F&M Enterprises)
- Stits Covering has no adhesive coating. A proprietary adhesive called Poly-Tak is brushed onto the airframe in 12- to 24-inch sections around component perimeters and along the trailing edges of constant-chord structures. The covering is pressed into place while the adhesive is still wet so the adhesive works through the covering material.
- After application, the material can be shrunk — but "almost" is the key word. F&M owner Chip Mull strongly instructs users to leave heat guns out of the application picture. Heat guns can spread too much heat (excessive — in the neighborhood of 500°F) over the material; that can actually cause elongation of the fabric instead of shrinkage. Heat makes things expand; proper shrinkage requires a correctly set, consistent-temperature iron.
- Once the covering is shrunk tightly to the structure, the weave is filled with Poly-Brush. Poly-Brush penetrates the fabric and bonds it to the underlying structure, increasing strength and providing greater torsional rigidity. Unlike nitrate over polyester — whose first coat must be thinned heavily and brushed on — Poly-Brush can be brushed or sprayed.
- Poly-Spray can be brushed or sprayed over the fabric to provide proper opacity and a perfect underbase for silver dope on full-scale fabric-covered aircraft. Poly-Tone color coats are available in a wide range of colors.
- Rib tapes are available in plain-edge and pinked-edge, in four widths.
For promotional literature and a thorough explanation of materials and application techniques, write: Chip Mull, Scale Stits Covering, F&M Enterprises, 22522 Auburn Dale, El Toro, CA 92630.
Docu-Search
Docu-Search is a cost-free service that helps readers connect with the scale documentation they need. To use the service, send a letter or postcard letting me know what you need — plans, three-views, five-views, photographs, color-and-marking information, or anything else to get your project moving. I'll submit your request for publication and our readership will do the rest.
If you send a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your request, I'll send you a form letter to let you know in which issue of Model Aviation your request has been submitted. There is a three-month lead time for Model Aviation submissions, so please allow three to five months for your requests to appear in print.
Three simple requests in return:
- Check commercial documentation services before you try Docu-Search. There are first-class operations whose business it is to provide photos, plans, and drawings. The better ones are listed in Model Aviation's "Advertisers' Index."
- Don't ask for information on common subjects. J-3, P-51, P-38, and B-17 information is widely available; Docu-Search is not for the lazy — it's for the stumped.
- If you read of someone in need of something you have, please contact that person and offer to help. Docu-Search is a give-and-take system.
Send Docu-Search requests to: Jeff Troy, 19 E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Ambler, PA 19002.
Docu-Search success stories
- A completed C-124 stands as testimony to the effectiveness of Docu-Search. Don requested information in early 1994 and soon had the items he needed. Beginning with a set of 1950s Japanese control-line plans, Don's RC aircraft will span 82 inches and carry four Fox .25 engines. The model will be constructed with fixed gear but may be converted to retracts if it performs well. Don's aircraft will carry the markings of the 4th Troop Carrier Squadron (stationed at Larson AFB, Moses Lake, Washington).
- Jeff Davis mailed several photos of interesting projects. Jeff has been involved in a full-scale restoration program for the Air Victory Museum at South Jersey Municipal Airport and has done work for the Naval Air Station at Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. His next project is an S.E.5, and he shares a fondness for the Bleriot XI.
- One project featured here is a Tom Cook Messerschmitt 262 semi-kit built by Jeff Davis. The airplane carries two O.S. .91 engines, Dynamax fans and pipes, custom retracts and gear doors, split flaps, and an acrylic lacquer finish. The model weighs 20 pounds and had not yet flown at the time of reporting. It will complement full-scale displays at the Air Victory Museum.
Atlantic R/C Products — In-Flight Mixture Valve
- Atlantic R/C Products markets an in-flight Mixture Valve that allows minor adjustments to the needle valve while the model is airborne. The unit is intended for two-stroke or four-stroke engines that use standard 3/32" O.D. fuel tubing.
- The servo-operated valve pinches the fuel line to reduce fuel flow to the carburetor and lean the fuel/air mixture. It requires approximately ten minutes to assemble and only a short time to install in an airplane.
- The Mixture Valve is available with long- or short-adjustment-screw versions.
Write: Atlantic R/C Products, Inc., Box 523007, Springfield, VA 22152.
JP Products (George Jenkins)
- George Jenkins' JP Products offers adhesive-backed servo-plug labels to suit Airtronics, Futaba, and JR receiver blocks. These high-quality labels help identify servo and battery leads, aileron extensions, and more.
- JP Products also offers photo-reduced scale instrument faces to dress up cockpits. Sets include military, civilian, late-civilian, and jet aircraft styles, available in several sizes. All but the jet style are available in standard or green-illuminate versions. There are also placards, radios, WWII instrument faces, and full-color private instrument faces. Five sets are included in each package, and prices are very reasonable.
- For a product sheet, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:
JP Products, 4411 Bee Ridge Road, Suite 297, Sarasota, FL 34233.
Manufacturers' News
- Motorbooks International has two new titles:
- Superfortress Over Japan by Jack Delano, Ronald E. Ostman, and Royal D. Colle — takes readers along for 24 hours in the life of a B-29.
- Flight's On by Tom Laming — a look into the Aggressor.
To request additional information or a Motorbooks International catalog, write: Motorbooks International, 729 Prospect Avenue, Osceola, WI 54020.
- Roy Vaillancourt's Vailly Aviation has released updated plans and semi-kits of the P-47 Thunderbolt. The model is now available with either fiberglass or all-wood fuselage construction. The airplane spans 92 inches and weighs from 27 to 36 pounds. For information and a listing of available designs, send $1 to:
Vailly Aviation, 18 Oakdale Ave., Farmingdale, NY 11738.
By this time next month I should have received enough cards and letters to make the call on our next build-along subject. I'm betting on the Dynaflite 81-inch Spitfire, but I have the Uravitch/Aeropower Works S.E.5a and a fresh set of Bleriot XI-2 five-views on standby — just in case you surprise me.
Until then, build straight and fly safely. I'll talk with you again.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
