CL Scale
Bill Boss, 77-06 269th St., New Hyde Park NY 11040
The LOCKHEED C-130 Hercules was perhaps one of the most widely used cargo/transport airplanes and is said to have replaced the old workhorse C-47.
According to Rand McNally's Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, by March 13, 1978 the 1,500th Hercules—a C-130H—was delivered to Sudan; on that date, 998 aircraft in the United States, and 433 in other countries, were in service.
The Hercules—a four-engine, turboprop-driven aircraft—was used for many operational functions, including photo and weather reconnaissance, air-sea rescue, flight refueling, and RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle) launch and recovery. However, its major role was as a cargo/transport aircraft.
In the November 1999 Model Aviation, I featured a B-29 built by Dennis Slater (Chicago IL). He also sent information and pictures about three other airplanes he had built: a C-130 Hercules, a B-17G, and an A-10 Warthog.
This month I'll provide information about the Hercules C-130 and the unique method of fuselage construction he used on this model. I'll cover the B-17G and A-10 Warthog in future columns.
Dennis is a member of the Chicagoland Circle Cutters club, which is involved in Stunt, Racing, and general sport-flying. District VI AMA Vice President Charlie Bauer, club President Roy Mathieson, and Dennis are the only members participating in Scale at the present time.
While talking to Dennis about his Scale projects, I couldn't help asking if he knew about the Chicago Scalemasters club that was so dominant in Scale events during the 1970s. He wasn't aware of the club, but he said he wished they were around today.
The Chicago Scalemasters was probably the best Scale club of that era. It had an outstanding all-Scale newsletter and was the first to produce a paint-color-chip book specifically for Scale modelers, titled Scalemasters Color Guide.
The book contained 159 color chips relating to World War II aircraft and was the project of club member Keith Ward. It was produced in 1973 and cost $9.50 plus $.50 postage. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy (book #16) in November 1973.
The great-looking Hercules C-130 in one of this month's photos was scratch-built by Dennis at roughly a 50% reduction from Air Age Giant Scale plans FSP12811. The reduction gave him a set of plans with a wingspan of approximately 65 inches.
Although the plans were specific about how the model should be built, Dennis used an innovative approach to the fuselage construction. The wing and tail-surface construction is standard balsa/plywood framing and is balsa sheeted.
However, the fuselage is quite different from the plans; it's made from Styrofoam™. Dennis made plywood bulkheads as shown on the plans for the nose and the front and rear of the wing saddle, then he traced and cut bulkheads from one-foot-thick Styrofoam™ sheets, making as many as needed to match the fuselage length.
The plywood and foam bulkhead centers were cut out and notched to accept top and bottom basswood fuselage spars. The upper spar is the full length of the fuselage, while the lower spar goes back only to the location of the operating cargo door.
Foam bulkheads beyond the cargo door do not have their centers cut out, nor are they bottom-notched.
Dennis noted that using the upper and lower basswood spars made it easy to white-glue the bulkheads in a straight line, like a row of doughnuts. Plywood bulkheads A, B, and C are simply inserted at their proper positions in the row. (See sketch.)
After assembling all the bulkheads, foam nose blocks were added and shaped, and the rear of the fuselage beyond the cargo door was trimmed and shaped, making a fine-looking Hercules fuselage.
Finishing was completed with spackle, wet-sanding, fiberglass cloth, and Z-Poxy. The paint is Formula-U with some color mixing to obtain the right shades. The finished model, including engines, weighs 5.5 pounds.
In an effort to reduce engine-running headaches, only two O.S. .35 inboard engines provide the model's power. The two outboard engines are electric motors, and they spin the propellers only for appearance during flight.
The motors are powered by onboard nine-volt batteries and can be shut down by applying full down-elevator after ground maneuvers are complete.
The motors were found in a chain store called American Science & Surplus; Dennis says the store is a neat-junk-and-stuff-hunter's heaven.
Throttles on the O.S. .35s are controlled via a standard three-line bellcrank system. The rear cargo door, Jeep®, and five-man parachute drop are controlled by a battery-powered handle and insulated lines.
The electric servo system Dennis used was explored in my November 2001 column.
The combination of the model's wingspan, engines, and weight makes it an excellent flying machine. Dennis says the "shock-absorbing nose gear makes it taxi, take off, and land as smooth as a baby carriage, and [it] has a very realistic front-to-rear rocking motion during taxi."
Many airplanes built today have foam-based flying surfaces, but Dennis's approach to the fuselage construction might be something you want to experiment with.
The use of properly strengthened foam not only provides a very strong structure but will give the benefit of reduced weight and the need for less engine power.
Contest Activity: The Fellowship of Christian Modelers (FCM) held an AAA meet August 4-5, 2001 at the AMA flying site in Muncie IN.
FCM is a nonprofit organization of modelers who desire to enjoy modeling while maintaining their faith as their first priority.
The organization notes that it can be easy to become involved in our hobby and lose sight of the obligations to our faith and family; it was established to help each other maintain proper relationships while still enjoying modeling.
The Control Line (CL) contest included Stunt, Carrier, Combat, Racing, and Sport, Profile, and Fun Scale events. Contest Director Alan Goff reported that Chuck Snyder (Cincinnati OH) dominated Scale by placing first in all events.
Chuck flew a P-40E, a de Havilland Hornet, and a Hawker Typhoon in the three events. His models have been featured in previous columns.
Jack Sheets was second in Sport, flying a Hellcat. Lynn Green flew a Black Widow and placed second in Profile, and Jeff Hitchcock took second place in the Fun Scale event with a Spad.
For his outstanding performance at the contest, Chuck was awarded the NASA (National Association of Scale Aeromodelers) Flight Achievement Award.
George Kite of the Indy Sportliners club did a fine job of Scale judging, and Jack provided modelers with a fine presentation: "Getting Started in Scale." Some of Jack's comments will be included in a future column.
Odds and Ends: The following was found in the Orange County RC club newsletter but originated in the AMA National Newsletter.
Sandbag weights can be made by filling plastic Ziploc™ bags of various sizes approximately three-quarters full of very fine sand and sealing each well. Use the bags to hold down large parts, such as wings. They also work well when gluing sheeting.
Using the bags would reduce the need for many pins or other devices to hold sheeting in place.
The next time you're at the auto-supply store, look at the pin-striping tape. It comes in many more colors than the tape available at the hobby shop and is roughly half the price. It's also said to be fuelproof if left to cure for a while.
Please send ideas, notices of upcoming CL Scale events, contest reports, and photos of CL Scale activity to me at the address at the top of this column.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
