thing is square pays big dividends. If you have done your homework right it will al- most seem to fall together. If you don’t own any fancy woodworking equipment, fear not, neither do I. I don’t even own a table saw. Mine was assembled in the living room with a pencil, yard stick, tape measure, carpenters square, center punch, “C” clamps, hammer and cordless drill/screw driver. Cutting was done with ei- ther a saber saw or a Dremel type scroll saw. So sophisticated tools are not required to complete this project. All glue joints were made with Titebond II carpenters glue. The corners are executed with a tendon
type joint and the cuts were made on the Dremel type scroll saw. Careful measuring and cutting technique are required here, but the result is a strong, lightweight structure that will provide excellent protection for just about any type of model for years to come. The spacing used for the #4 flush head
wood screws along the long dimension for this project was about 10 inches on centers for attachment of the poplar framework. The spacing on the smaller ends was about 3 inches on centers with consideration made for the drawer pull lifting handles and along the greatest length with consideration for placement for the hinges and safety hasps.
Make sure that the spacings are offset about 1
⁄4 inch for adjacent edges so that the screws
will not run into each other when installed into the poplar framework. These are mere- ly guidelines as the exact spacings will be determined by the dimensional require- ments of your particular project. Once the back and the two ends are joined
the top and bottom facing sheets can now be added. I pre-drilled these sheets after clamping them in place and checking that everything was square, then added the Tite Bond glue around the edges and finally screwed them into place and allowed the ad- hesive to cure. Once this was accomplished, the last major job remaining was the hing- ing of the door. You will need to place a strip of the 1
⁄8 -inch paneling material along the
bottom edge of the box as a spacer for the hinge that will hold the door to the Custom Hangar and provide that final element of structural integrity when the box is closed and latched. Note that the poplar framework on the
door is offset from the edge of the top and sides of the door panel itself by about 5
⁄8 inch
so that it will fit within the framework sup- porting the rest of the box. Once the door is fabricated and check fit all that you will need to do is install the hinge with the hard-
Close up photo showing fuselage support detail (above). Detail of wing support system on door assembly of the Custom Hangar project (below). Note the use of rubber bands for securing the wing.
ware that the hinge comes with and also fit the hasps to the door and the box itself. You will see that this particular project used three hasps due to its long length (about 56 inches overall). If your planned project is shorter, only two hasps should be necessary. The Custom Hangar project is now essen-
tially done except for one final detail. That is the mounting of the model in the hangar itself. Due to the fact that all models are dif- ferent, only general guidelines will work here. Some form of rigid mount with some foam wing cushion padding seems to work best. You will be best served if you try to grab certain strategic hard points like land-
Material List
Frame material ½-inch square poplar stock (36 inches long) Bottom spreader and splice ¾-inch square poplar (36 inches long) #4 × ½-inch flush head wood screws (package of 100) Hinges (30 inches long × 11
⁄16 wide piano wire type)
1¾-inch Safety Hasp (¾ inch wide small plain) Lifting handles (4¾ inches plain drawer pull) ⁄8
7 diameter nylon “furniture glide”
18 at $1.44 each 1 at $2.44 each
2 packs at $3.57 each 2 at $7.00 each 3 at $1.97 each 2 at $2.00 each 4 at $1.59/pkg
Matched luggage locks (optional—for discouraging sneaky grandchild) FLYING MODELS
ing gear, wing mounting provisions, prop or engine mountings, etc. As you can see from the pictures, the fuselage mounting picked up the exhaust stacks (actually the landing skids) and the rear wing mounting dowel on the fuselage. The wing was then strapped to the door using small eye hooks and rubber bands to secure in place. You will have to use your imagination to develop the “perfect” mounting for your par- ticular model. The important thing is to not just lay the model (or models) inside the box for transport. The model needs to be secured against moving excessively or loosely inside the Custom Hangar. This will prevent need- less damage to the model from inadvertent movement during the transport process. I’ve used similar principles over the years
to ship models to proxy contests as far away as Japan and Europe with great success and hardly any damage. The important thing is to restrain the model. Just as seat belts save lives by securing you in the structure of the vehicle so does securing the model inside the Custom Hangar project. It is proven and it works. You can learn many lessons on what to do in looking at the packaging methods used for most of today’s consumer product packaging for high end items like electron- ics and computers. Best of luck to you with your own hangar project.
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