134 MODEL AVIATION
What makes a great Scale model?
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Radio Control Scale Stan Alexander
Also included in this column:
• Bookshelf: F6F Hellcat in Action
• Tom Pastore’s Stearman biplane
• Two new Scale Web sites
• Scale documentation for the P-51B
Left and below: Tom Pastore’s 1/4-scale
PT-17 Stearman built from Tom Dietrich
plans. All rigging and struts have been
included.
Dave Voglund scratch-built his Ki-43 Oscar using Dave Platt’s
video on designing scratch-built aircraft. Note lack of aileron
hinges hanging out under the wing.
Mick Reeves’ scratch-built 1/3-scale Sopwith 11/2-Strutter weighs
less than 30 pounds. It flies nicely even in wind.
Top Gun, Scale Nats, and Scale Masters Championships winners.
Then there are scratch builders or plans builders who have outof-
the-box taste and want to build something nobody has seen at the
local field. Some modelers can find kits of this type, such as a
straight-wing Stinson civil aircraft or a Stinson trimotor. Or they
might find the plans, but nobody has kits for sale.
Other reasons for selecting a certain Scale model are its handling
characteristics on the ground or in the air. Some aircraft aren’t made
WHAT MAKES a great Scale model for one person doesn’t
necessarily make a great Scale model for another. Some people have
sentimental attachments to a certain aircraft because of a past
experience or family tie-in. Maybe someone’s grandfather flew in a
B-17 in World War II or his or her father flew in an A-4 Skyhawk in
Vietnam.
Other modelers like certain eras of aircraft, such as World War I,
the Golden Age of Aviation, or the Jet Age. It may be the aircraft
they grew up seeing every day at the local airport when they came
home from school. This might send them off to build a Lockheed
Super Constellation in TWA colors or the aircraft in which they
made their first flight.
Other modelers are more competition-driven and want to build
models that have a chance to win in Scale competition. Some
have an idea that turbine-powered jets are
the best chance to win. However,
that’s a myth as evidenced by past
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to taxi on the ground, much less land with two- or three-point
landings, such as the Fokker Dr.I triplane.
If you can get it back down without flipping it onto its back,
you’ve done a good job. If you manage to land it on pavement,
you should probably receive a medal.
Ground handling is difficult for some aircraft because of their
physical layouts. Several of these airplanes have a narrow-track
landing gear such as the Supermarine Spitfire, the Messerschmitt
Me 109, many biplanes including the Stearman, and many of the
1930s-era aircraft.
Keep extra paint handy that is the color of the lower wingtips;
you’ll need it. Ground looping this type of aircraft is common, but
the larger the model, the better chance you’ll have with narrowtrack
landing gear.
If you go to a Scale contest, a fly-in, or the local field, there is
usually a crosswind. I’ve seen few fields that didn’t have one all
the time or part of the time.
Bookshelf: F6F Hellcat in Action by Jim Sullivan and illustrated by
Don Greer, ISBN 0-89747-088-5, is available from many sources
and hobby shops. The “In Action” series gives you a brief history of
the airplane’s development, three-views, scale drawings, and a color
side-view page of different aircraft, or in this case 10 different color
schemes.
Operational photos from aircraft carriers give you an idea of what
the pilots had to do to get their aircraft into the air and, more
important, back onto the carrier deck. Some made it and some
didn’t, which is obvious from the photos. More Hellcats were
produced in one plant than any other aircraft type in history.
Grumman built a new aircraft in a short period of time. Many
thought the Hellcat was an improved version of the Wildcat, but if
you see the two parked side by side you will see how much larger
the Hellcat is.
For the Scale modeler this aircraft provides retracts, flaps, usually
a centerline drop tank, and, if you really want to be creative, folding
wings. Color schemes differ if you don’t want the dark blue, which
is hard to see in the air. Why not give the Hellcat a second look?
Around Scale—Stearman Biplanes Across the Country: Tom
Pastore of East Aurora, New York, built the 1/4-scale model shown
from Tom Dietrich’s plans of Guelph, Ontario. Tom Dietrich is an
authority on full-scale de Havilland Tiger Moths.
The 35.75-pound model’s upper wing spans 96.5 inches, the
lower wing spans 93.5 inches, and the length is 75 inches. It is
powered by a Sachs-Dolmar gas engine.
Tom Pastore used a number of three-views and the book
Stearman by Jim Avis and Martin Bowman for documentation. He
also had a stash of photos of the aircraft that were taken at the 1941
Historical Aircraft Group Air Show in Geneseo, New York.
He covered the model with Ceconite and then doped the airframe.
It has functional oleo struts, an LE stall strip on the lower wing, and
1/2° negative incidence on the upper to lower wing, as on the
original, to improve landings.
Web Sites: This month I’ll feature two Web sites for Scale clubs in the
West, the first of which is from Randy Wilbur with the Scale Squadron
of Southern California. This club has been around for many years and
was the founding club of the U.S. Scale Masters Championships.
The Scale Squadron of Southern California is extremely active in
Southern California and in Arizona. For more information about it and
its events, go to www.scalesquadron.com.
A Scale group that has a great time with its annual Scale fly-ins,
Scale Masters qualifiers, and other Scale events is the One Eighth Air
Force based in Southern Arizona. It took the name of the 1/8th Air
Force to honor the men who flew the missions in World War II, but the
club’s name looks different.
Southern Arizona is home to a couple fields that are some of my
favorite places to visit. If you want to fly Scale models and have a great
time, the One Eighth Air Force members are great to be around. I do
still miss the F Troop, though. Visit the club at www.oneeighth
airforce.org.
Scale Documentation: Another
documentation source for the P-51B
model of the North American Mustang is
now available. The P-51B and C models
aren’t as widely covered as the D model
with the bubble canopy.
This CD contains photos taken at the
Fantasy of Flight Museum in Florida.
The P-51 is painted to match one of the
“Red Tail” aircraft of the famous
Tuskegee Airmen. The 332nd Fighter
Group never lost a bomber its members
escorted. The armor plate behind the
pilot’s seat is signed by Ace Lieutenant
Lee “Buddy” Archer, with a big thank
you to Kermit.This P-51B is highly polished and
probably in better shape than it was when it
was new. Come to think of it, Top Flite had a
1/5-scale kit of the P-51B model several years
ago as a YBI (you build it) kit.
There is a complete walk-around of the
aircraft and cockpit photos showing all the
instruments, etc. Even the rivets look new
inside the cockpit!
There are also pictures of the aircraft
when it was being restored or rebuilt. This
allows you to see a unique perspective of the
unfinished aircraft and the thousands of
details that must be restored, finished, and
assembled to complete the work on a project
this extensive.
There is one marking on the port side of
the fuselage that isn’t documented well in
this set of photos. I’m not sure if it’s a
personal marking or for the squadron, but the
painting depicts an African-American in a
suit. The nose markings on the aircraft have
the name “Macon Belle.”
The photos with the airplane taken apart
and then put together are a great study in
hinges, flaps, ailerons, and rudder assemblies
of a typical World War II fighter. This is a
beautiful set of photos; they are great for
documentation.
Contact Model Activity Press Ltd., 63-65
Woodside Rd., Amersham, Bucks, HP6
6AA, United Kingdom. Great Britain is
roughly eight hours ahead of us, depending
on the time zone you are in. Call 011-1494-
433453 or visit the Web site at www.model
activitypress.com.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA