Sm Tall alk A
t the moment we’re sitting right in the middle of that time be- tween building and flying sea- sons where it’s a little too nice to stay in but sometimes a little too not so nice to go out. And that’s where the social side of modeling really comes in handy. I fly with a group of builders and flyers that share several different hobbies, not al- ways modeling related, though always in a way that calls for some level of ingenuity or skill that also relates to modeling in some form or fashion. The good news is that we’ll even gather up on those mornings when we’re not likely to even take the models out of the car and simply chew the fat and swap ideas on a number of subjects, not the least of which is modeling. Same goes on boating day, though weath- er is far less a factor in whether the boats go in the water vs. committing an airplane to the wild blue yonder, but you can stop a boat when closer attention is required to any giv- en conversation.
And on that subject, one thing I know for sure is that you can only build so many mod- els of any type before it starts to become per- haps a little too “routine” and begins to lose its luster. That’s where variety really comes into play.
I’ve been modeling for right at 55 years now, and still enjoy lifting the lid off the box and starting a new project. Over the years I’ve built literally thousands of models, though through the years the type of models have varied greatly ranging from plastics to freeflight, architectural, U/C, R/C, and with- in those boundaries just about anything goes. More often than not, there’s something in process from at least a couple of various types at any given time—and that’s what keeps the fun in it for me.
The best part though is that within each of those veins is a plethora of disciplines that will keep your spare time occupied with just about anything that you can dream of.
PHOTO: SIMON HARLETT
Simon Harlett built the 60-inch span Pilatus Porter and finished it in US Army colors. The 5-channel R/C model features not only working flaps, but also a functional sprung landing gear arrangement to lighten those landing loads a bit.
In the plastics realm I’ve had the opportu- nity to dabble in just about everything there is to offer from cars to boats and airplanes to spaceships, motorcycles or just plain fan- tasy items that range from simple kits that can be built in just a few hours to scratch- built models that took hundreds of hours to complete.
Among them have also been a number of static display boats, some converted to R/C as well, creating a whole new element by combining the two disciplines. Same goes for airplanes, too; many a freeflight model has been converted to R/C, and even a couple of R/Cs converted to freeflight.
But the best part of all this is that there is
so much crossover from one discipline to an- other that each will enhance the other. And after building models ranging from “Top Gun” scale to simple solid carved wood desk top models, and virtually all points in be- tween, there is that time when pulling a simple 20-year-old Monogram plastic kit off the shelf and building it straight from the box over a chilly weekend has an unshaken- able appeal. Oh, and did I mention kit col- lecting as a hobby in itself? I never intended to become a “kit collec- tor”, but somehow a relatively large number of kits have been amassed over the years, having intended to build each and every one at the moment of purchase. Problem was,
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
PHOTO: DAVE WAGNER
To call Dave Wagner’s modeling skill exceptional would be a gross understatement as you can see with his Found Centennial (above left) built from enlarged Walt Mooney Peanut plans. The model was enlarged to a 24-inch span and finished in tissue and acrylic colors. The model was built as a tribute
42
PHOTO: JOHN PAKIZ
to the first one built 30 years earlier. John Pakiz stepped back in time to the early years of modeling with his Donier DO-27 (above right). The model was re- worked by the magic hand of Paul Bradley to take us back to the roots of our balsa modeling days.
NOVEMBER 2013
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