CL Scale
The club charter with the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).
The goal? To get back to some model flying, and to be able to work with Ocean County Park and Recreation officials to obtain proper permits and a new flying site.
The new flying site is located in Jackson, NJ on Bowman Road, and is part of the Patriots County Park complex located north of Lakehurst Naval Air Station. The site is said to be 800 x 800 feet with a well-kept grass surface, and will accommodate CL flying as well as small FF models.
Dennis is extending an invitation to all CL modelers in the area to join the club in the use of the field. The club is there most weekends, so access won't be a problem. However, the site is under lock-and-key when the club is not present.
Anyone who wants to use the field when the club is not present should contact Dennis at <REDACTED> or club member Bill Gelsehart at <REDACTED>.
Directions to the field can be obtained from Dennis or Bill, or by accessing one of the Internet mapping services and entering "Bowman Rd., Jackson NJ." The resulting map should show Bowman Road and Patriots County Park.
Dennis noted that the new club is growing, and is hopeful that there will be enough interest among members and support from other CL fliers and the local community to try some contest activity.
It would be great to see contests—especially Scale events—flown in this southern part of New Jersey again.
I wish the Ocean County Flyers club much success in its new endeavor.
Book Review
When you're starting out on a Scale project, do you give much thought to looking for something different in the color-and-markings you're going to apply to the new model?
In many cases, the model kit (if that is what you're building from) contains information on a color scheme that would be used by many people building the same model. Perhaps it is the easiest path to follow, but why be like all the others?
All it takes is a little extra time and effort to locate something that is new and completely different from all that you have seen in the past.
I found a book on the P-51 Mustang by John M. and Donna Campbell titled P-51 Mustang Color and Markings. The book contains more than 340 photographs—20 in color—showing original markings and some not used by many pilots during World War II and the Korean War.
The nose art was different from one airplane to another, as were the pilots and crews that applied Disney characters, Varga Girls, cartoon drawings, and, in many cases, personal markings that featured the names of loved ones or friends at home.
Many of the book's photo captions contain the names of the pilots who flew individual airplanes, as well as the fighter squadron and group to which the airplane was assigned.
The book contains an alphabetical index of the aircraft name and the page on which it can be found.
This book is a good starting place for P-51 lovers who are looking for something different in a color scheme.
In comparing the alphabetical index of P-51s above, I referred to Bob Banks' FotoPaks. I found a number of the airplanes listed in the book for which Bob can provide FotoPaks.
I found a fine side-view color photo in the book of the P-51 "Minneman" that was flown in the Texas Air National Guard. Bob has a FotoPak containing 38 pictures of the airplane, including shots of its interior and instrumentation.
Although I have referred specifically to the P-51, the basic idea is to research one-aircraft books, then compare what you find to what's available from documentation or reference suppliers to choose the color scheme of any model, whether it is military, commercial, or civilian.
The nose-art book shows many airplanes and is a great source for finding that one picture you might need of the original aircraft for Scale documentation purposes.
P-51 Mustang Color and Markings can be obtained from Classic Motorbooks, Box 1, Osceola, WI 54020. Tel.: (800) 826-6600.
Bob Banks' FotoPaks are available at 3114 Yukon Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; Tel.: (714) 979-8058.
Workshop Hint
One of this month's photos shows some tools that might be helpful to some Scale modelers.
The items (left to right) are:
- a sculptor's tool,
- two spatulas used by artists for mixing paints on their palettes,
- an ordinary stainless-steel kitchen knife—well used and dull.
These are tools I have used for many years in building my models, and I use them for applying or smoothing fiberglass resin, epoxy glue, or the various types of filler and compounds used for filling balsa grain and forming wing and tail assembly fillets.
The various shapes and differing degrees of flexibility lend the tools nicely to the different tasks.
The kitchen knife is easy to find. Take an old knife from the kitchen (with permission). The sculptor's tool and artist's spatulas can be found in almost any well-stocked art & craft supply shop.
The cost of the sculpting tool and spatulas may seem high at $8 to $10 each, but taking reasonable care in their use and keeping them will provide you with many years of service.
Profile Model
The other profile we are showing this month is a Profile model of the Spitfire XIV, built by David Dukitis (Sun City Center, FL).
Dave tells me that the model was built for competition in the Tampa Bay Line Flyers CL club's Quadrathon for scale profiles. Based on contest rules, the model is powered with a Fox .35 and has a two-line control system.
Please send ideas, notice of upcoming CL Scale events, contest reports, and photos of CL Scale activity to me at the address at the top of this column.
MM
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
