CUSTOM HANGAR
Hangar rash is non-existent with this easy to build, portable and storable solution!
By Daniel Walton PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIEL WALTON I
f you have ever had a model or project that needed special storage due to ei- ther a fragile nature or awkward size then this article may be of interest to
you. Fellow modeler and engineer, David Aronstein, and I had this very need for just such a model. The model in question is a 1
⁄9 scale model
of a 1947 Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza that was built for the specific purpose of flying in- doors in the Walter Beech Hall in Wichita, Kansas and weighs in at about 10 ounces ready to fly. This model had been construct- ed and then successfully flown at the in- tended venue in the fall of 2000. For years, the model was stored in a specially fabricat- ed storage box made of foam core cardboard which had served well up to a point. That point was reached in late 2008 when the box began to become seriously warped and show signs of external damage. The model within was still perfectly safe for the time being, but the question now was for how much longer. The search for a new hangar was begun,
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and, unfortunately, no containers of the suit- able size and light enough to easily transport came to light in a search of ready made con- tainers. So it became evident that something would have to be custom built much like the existing foam core cardboard container. But we needed something more durable this time. Even if it might be a little heavier. A trip to the local home improvement em-
porium turned up several potential materi- als, but the final choice was based purely on light weight, durability and inexpensive cost of acquisition. The product is wood veneer wall paneling and is about 1
⁄8 inch thick. The
particular one chosen was labeled “rustic pine” and comes in sheets about 4 feet by 8 feet and cost about $16.00 with enough ma- terial to make the container from one single sheet. Once the main material had been cho- sen, the search concentrated on a suitable material for the framework to hold it to- gether and the necessary hardware for hinges and latching and fastening of the face sheets to the framework. The items seen in the Material List box are what was eventu-
ally put into the project. The list of materi- als was probably no more than $40. The first job was to strip the paneling into
three strips about 16 inches wide and 8 feet long. This would provide the raw stock for the faces of the container and would also make the whole thing easier to handle. I was able to use a jig saw, cutting along the “joint” lines of the paneling. Just take it slow and easy and you will have a lot less final trim- ming to do in the long run. The next job was to make scarf cuts on the
½-inch square poplar sticks. I did this in pairs by stacking one on top of the other, clamping and making the rough cut and then final sanding. Use a roofers square or some similar de-
vice to mark the cuts to make ends and trim the front and back elements. This will leave you with two half elements to be used to form the bottom of the container. You can then start attaching some of the framework to the back of the container to form a foun- dation that panels can be attached to. This is where the layout and making sure every-
MARCH 2012
Building A
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