Sm Tall alk W
ell, the Southwest is getting the brunt of the winter season again this year, so we’re getting a lot of bench time in our little corner
of the world while we ride out the storms. And while we’re at it, it might be a good time to look at the possibility of converting one R/C design to another. After all, if you can’t get exactly what you want to build, why not convert that which is already available? What brought this to mind was Rob Gillespie, who has converted the 60-inch PCM DC-6 to a Lockheed Constellation. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I was pret- ty skeptical about just how convincing all this might be since the DC-6 and the Connie are two entirely different airplanes, but I gotta’ tell ya’, Rob pulled this one off in fine fashion. The one major hurdle was the fuselage.
The DC-6 has a straight back, where the Connie has that very distinctive humpback fuselage. Well, all it took was to lower the forward section near the cockpit to create the illusion. Then with the addition of a new tail section and a set of wing tip fuel tanks from the 1:8 scale C-310 wing tip tanks from Park Flyer Plastics
www.park-
flyerplastics.com, the airframe was com- plete. Then, add the colorful red and white TWA scheme, the illusion is complete, and very convincing. In the conversion game it doesn’t have to
be anything as complex as the Connie. To get started you could convert any of the civilian “two-seaters” to their military L- Bird configurations, or visa versa. Or, you could convert a military type airplane to an earlier or later version by adding or remov- ing pertinent details or changing canopy shapes. And by considering this type of con- version, the door will be open to endless possibilities for new and unique building projects.
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
PHOTO: ROB GILLESPIE
Rob Gillespie’s Connie conversion was finished in the well-known red and white TWA color scheme, and equipped with retractable landing gear and powered with 400 outrunner motors to produce a great looking, great flying model of the early airliner.
So where does one begin when converting
one airplane type to another. Well, it has to start with good reference using photos, 3- view line drawings, or a combination of both so you’ll have a clear view of where you’re going. Study the photos and drawings and look for the more notable things that will need modification. Like in the case of con- verting a J-3 to a Super Cub, you can get away with leaving the firewall narrow and building a cowl to compensate, but you’ll need to change the rudder and elevator, and the cabane struts to make it a convincing upgrade. The same applies with something like the DeHavilland Beaver or Pilatus Porter, con- verting from the early piston engine ver- sions to the later turboprop configuration that will require some substantial re-work at the front end to be convincing. That’s where the reference material will be used to mark up the plans for framing the new con-
PHOTO: DAVID PAYNE
figuration. The changes can be made to the plans using simple straight edges, circle templates, and French Curves. These sim- ple drafting tools are still available from most arts and craft stores, and will also come in handy in other areas of modeling, so can be looked upon as an investment in your modeling future as well. But as we can see from the DC-6/Connie conversion, it’s more about illusion than ac- curacy. A little nip and tuck here and there, and a well-known color scheme can be very effective in tricking the eye into seeing something that might not be there, or ac- tually seeing something that’s not. Either way, it’s always fun to try new things and learn new modeling techniques, and a con- version can be found very near the top of the “fun things to do” list. So next time you can’t get exactly what it is you’re looking for, go for something close and see where a little ingenuity might take you.
PHOTO: ROB GILLESPIE
Rob Gillespie converted the DC-6 to a Lockheed Constellation by modifying the forward fuselage and building a new tail group (above). Then by adding the wing tip tanks, and TWA colors, the model took on the very convincing look of one of the most beautiful airplanes to ever grace the skies. David Payne built his lesser known C-118 version of the DC-6 using 250 outrunner motors for power (at right). Flaps were also added for another bit of scale realism, and also made it easy to practice his multi-engine landing techniques.
36 MARCH 2012
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