PHOTO: JERRY SMITH
PHOTO: KEITH SPRIGGS
Keith Spriggs built his 20-inch span Fokker D-VII (above) using a homemade fixture to keep things aligned while a modified drill bit was used to align and drill all of the holes for the struts. Jerry Smith discovered that by brushing on a couple coats of Elmer’s Wood Filler (above right), his covering jobs turn out much better by giving his finished models a much smoother finish where the covering contacts the frame. Gretchen Schafer (at right) uses a homemade cork over Styrofoam building board mounted on an artist’s easel to frame her smaller models. The same idea can be used on larger ones too.
a look at Phillip Agnoletto’s 35-inch span Nieuport 28 built from the Dumas kit. All- up flying weight is 11.1 ounces using an 800 mAh 2S Li-Po battery, or can step up to the 1300 mAh battery for those longer missions with just a 1 ounce weight penalty. The model is covered with silver Microlite with the trim done by Callie
Graphics. The
Washout Jig mentioned a couple of columns back also aided nicely in getting the model set up and properly rigged. Like so many others, snow and winds have hampered the test flights, but there’s no doubt she’ll fly just fine.
Building on a theme
You know it just occurred to me that we are on a roll with the WW I stuff this month. As luck would have it, Keith Spriggs also checked in with his Fokker D-VII, though not so much with the model, but rather, with a terrific way to accurately set up a biplane. Once again, mention of the Washout Jig came in handy in scratchbuilding the 20- inch span model. But here’s where it gets good: the homemade fixture supported the
wings while a 1⁄32-inch drill bit, silver brazed to a 6-inch extension in a pin vice, was used to align and drill the holes for the carbon fiber cabane and interplane struts in just one motion. Drilled in this fashion, all of the holes are perfectly aligned when the struts are slipped in place
Nice job Keith, to take a simple thing like the holding fixture and then add to it a ter- rific method for drilling pre-aligned holes that would otherwise be a real challenge to locate properly and share it with us is exact- ly what modeling, and this column is all about.
Breaking from the theme, another regular contributor here is Len Rozamus who’s back this month with his Herr Engineering Aqua Star. Len converted the 40-inch seaplane to an amphibian by adding the removable landing gear. Finish is Sig Coverall and Minwax Polycyclic and KlassKote color on the fuselage and OraCover on the wings and tail section. An AP .065, 2-stroke engine pro- vides power, with guidance provided by sub- micro servos for the throttle and flight con- trols. Flight trimming met a couple of
PHOTO: GRETCHEN SCHAFER
challenges by way of wing warps, but that can be easily repaired to make for a terrific little flyer.
Before we close this up, I also wanted to offer a suggestion sent over by Jerry Smith. Jer found that pre-treating the wood prior to covering with Elmer’s Wood Filler greatly enhances the appearance of the finished model. The idea is to mix up about an ounce of wood filler with an ounce of water and brush a coat or two onto the contact surfaces as needed to fill the grain. Sand between coats to remove the fuzz and then tack the surface to remove the dust residue left after sanding. The wood filler is water based, sands easily and makes for a much smoother surface under the cover, providing a much cleaner finish.
Well, it looks like that’s going to just about wrap things up for this month. Thanks to all who contributed with some great looking models, and superb suggestions to make the task of modeling easier and more enjoyable for all of us. So till next month, do keep the good stuff coming; it’s always fun to see what you’ve been up to.
PHOTO: LEN ROZAMUS
Len Rozamus built the Herr Aqua Star seaplane (above left), but modified it to an amphibian. To keep the water out of the hull, the fuselage was sealed with Sig Coverall, Minwax varnish and KlassKote catalyzed enamel. Bill Bosco built
FLYING MODELS
PHOTO: BILL BOSCO
his beautiful little 28-inch Bellanca CD Tractor biplane (above right) from an R/N kit and converted it to 3-channel R/C using conventional sub-micro off the shelf components.
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