F/FSport T
by david mitchell You can reach David Mitchellat 230 Walnut St. NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20012, or via e-mail at
davedge@me.com
raveling light: If you are a fan of classical music, you may have heard the work of Enrique Maltz, who is a cellist with the Israel Phil- harmonic Orchestra. Enrique’s work with the IPO has him traveling quite a bit, which can make it difficult for him to pursue his fa- vorite hobby—you guessed it—building freeflight model airplanes!
Enrique specializes in beautifully detailed indoor models, and generally favors smaller designs, not least so that he can carry boxed- up sub-assemblies in his luggage and get some work done in his hotel room. Recently, he sent some photos of a dummy Gnome en- gine that he built using blue foam insulation board, and I thought you would all enjoy see- ing how he went about it. Here are his com- ments, which I have edited just a bit: “The whole idea came to my mind when I started the construction of a Bleriot XXV; being a canard the motor is placed at the very end of the model so it had to be very light. I decided to try the blue foam which I got while on tour, no more no less in Vienna! I saw a construction site and saw some worker throwing away some pieces. My sup- ply is very limited, I hope I can find more on coming tours! Here are the self explanatory photos of how to make the dummy motor. “I must say that experimenting and trying make me [a] better [modeler], like cello prac- ticing. The blue foam is very light, but I still try to hollow out as much as I can. Building for indoor models makes me maybe obsess with weight. Probably my models are too frag- ile! Even though the foam is quite sturdy it is soft and a little difficult to hold with the fin- gers without crushing it a bit; I find that hold- ing the part with a dried-out wet wipe grabs the foam and protects it a little bit, causing less damage while working on a small part. At least it works for me—I have very big hands. “I would call the method very, very basic and approximate. I try to be as accurate as I can but I am sure that it can be made better. Tom [Hallman] made me laugh when he asked me about the tools and jigs that I may be using....well the most sophisticated tool is
PHOTOGRAPHY: ENRIQUE MALTZ
Using white or yellow glue, Enrique attaches a round toothpick post to each cylinder blank (background). The cylinder in the foreground has been finished. Note that it starts overlong, and looks to have been cut to length while still on the toothpick.
the cap of the hair conditioner bottle…used to sand the base of the cylinders, which by the way is the most delicate process. But looking for the right diameter cap! That was really difficult...
“I use plastic (aliphatic?) glue, white or yellow doesn’t matter, but I learned that I have to leave it to dry at least 24 hours to be solid enough to be able to rotate the foam without tearing it apart. I use a simple drill to rotate the foam; the Proxxon tool that I have is way too fast and it will tear the foam—I did it many times…. also the fric- tion with the sandpaper will heat the foam melting the surface, so back to square one. I did this also many times! This is more or less my very little knowledge and experience, I hope it helps anyone model making.” What I love about Enrique’s work is that there is nothing fancy about it; he uses com- mon materials and tools and achieves excep- tional results simply by developing, through trial and error, a method that works for him. It would appear the key ingredient in his recipe for modeling excellence is patience!
Bleriot/blearyeyed
-inch plywood, and pins are driven through these templates to hold them down to a sheet of balsa on a cork or homasote- backed cutting mat.
Speaking of patience, Bleriots, and Tom Hallman…. Tom has been plugging away on a nifty model of the 1911 Bleriot XXVI, a ca- nard triplane of which only one was built and probably never flown. Along with the lovely shot of his sub-assemblies, he sent a picture detailing his wing-rib cutting process, which is simple and effective. Templates for each different rib form, in- cluding all required spar notches, are cut from 1
⁄64
Trim around the template with your X- Acto knife, clean up any little overhangs with a nail-file sanding pad, and hey presto, on to the next one. And the next one. And the next. And… phew! Boy, have we gotten lazy in these days of laser-cut kits?!
On a project like this, where repetition is the name of the game, Tom helps his cause by keeping the structure simple, almost dime-scale-like. But, like Enrique Maltz, he
Here is a dummy cylinder chucked in the drill (above left), before the fins have been formed. A variety of sanding tools are used to shape the cylinder as needed.
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A close-up view (above right) of Enrique’s Gnome crankcase. Blue foam shapes very well—note the crisp edges—but you must work it slowly and carefully.
FEBRUARY 2014
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