PHOTOS: PAT TRITLE
The old Top Flite P-40 (above left) was built in the 1950s, and was badly damaged in an unfortunate fall from the ceiling. The P-40 restoration (above right) was done to maintain as much of the original model as possible, so only
chased at a sale along with a bunch of old engines, was ultimately offered to Roy Ced- erstam, who as it turns out, saved it from the fate of the dumpster. Good catch! The silk cover was crumbling, the tail sec-
tion was badly damaged, and many of the glue joints had come undone over the years. The model required a lot of work to bring it back to its original condition, and took near- ly a pint of dope thinner to clean up the frames. Ultimately, the model was re-cov- ered with silk and dope. An HP .21 4-stroke engine was mounted up front, and a Futaba radio installed to bring the model back to airworthy condition. The model was never flown, and is now a hangar queen at the WAAAM Museum in Hood River, OR. This Speedster sits proudly under a full scale Rearwin Sportster in the museum. WAAAM has one of only three Speedsters that are still in existence in this country.
the damaged areas were repaired, re-covered, and re-painted. Since the original dope color used on the model is no longer available, the paint was custom mixed at the local Lowe’s home supply store.
And finally, there were a couple of restorations that I had the opportunity to work on recently. The first was an old Top Flite P-40 built in the early ’50s by Dawn Tarman’s husband’s father and grandfa- ther. The model fell from the ceiling recent- ly, inflicting some severe damage. The idea was to put the model back into as near its original condition as possible. So, only the actual damage was repaired and the affect- ed areas re-covered with the original silkspan and dope finish. The rest was sim- ply cleaned up, and since the OD green dope that the model was painted with is no longer available, the color coat was done using la- tex house paint, custom mixed to match the original colors. The result was a fresh mod- el that looks exactly like the original build. The other is a Baby V-Shark from the Vic-
tor Stanzel Company, first introduced in January of 1945. The kit featured the “G-
Line” control system, with the earlier Tiger Shark being the world’s first control line model ever to be kitted. Bill Sheets framed the model in the 1950s, but never finished it. It came to me in bones, and in very rough shape. The model was finished in silkspan and dope, half covered and finished in the box art color scheme, and half uncovered, to show the original structure as Bill had framed it, as well as the internal workings of the very unique control system. In all, fin- ishing the Baby V-Shark was a very unique and enjoyable modeling opportunity. And that’s going to do it for this month. So
till next time, take a look at some of those old models I know we all have in our stable and give some thought to resurrecting some of those old relics we’re all so fond of. It’ll be a terrific modeling exercise, and will no doubt bring back the opportunity to once again fly some of those grand old favorites.
PHOTOS: PAT TRITLE
The Baby V-Shark(above left) was offered in early 1945 and was framed in the early ’50s. The model features a very unique G-Line control system, and was among the first U-Control kits offered worldwide. It was left uncovered (above right) on the left side of the fuselage to show the inner structure built in the 1950s, as well as the inner workings of the unique G-Line control system. The V-Shark(below left) was then covered with the original tissue and finished
in nitrate and butyrate dope in the box colors to show the look of the finished model. It was reported to be capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph. Rapheal Leao did a terrific job building his C-172 Skyhawk (below right). The model features hand cut trim and includes a Fowler flap mod, hand carved wheel pants to replace the vac-formed pants supplied with the short kit, and operating nav lights.
PHOTO: RAPHEAL LEAO
FLYING MODELS
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