April 2001 111
The SnoW is falling, the temperature is too cold to fly, and night
comes early. It truly puts me in the building mood, and occasionally
the writing mood.
We are deep into the winter building season in Northeast Ohio.
The past year was a blast. The 2001 season will have begun by the
time you read this, as we travel south for some great seasonal jet
meets—excuses to beat the winter with trips to Florida.
The first two big meets are Jets Over Deland and Florida Jets—
both ideally timed to bring us down from the North.
Attendance at the jet meets has been growing in the last few
years, and last year truly showed the strong interest in turbine and
ducted-fan models. We have more contests than ever on the list of
“must attends,” and these events are getting larger.
The 10th annual Heart of Ohio meet in Columbus, Ohio last year
was one of the largest in the event’s history, with some awesome
flying weather to add to the overall enjoyment.
The Superman jet fly continues to grow and to start earlier in the
week. The field at the airport started with 30 pilots Monday and
numbers grew each day, finally reaching a total of 231 registered
pilots and more than 400 models.
This massive growth has caused Jerry Caudle to consider
setting the official start day of the 2001 Superman as Monday,
with a progressive entry fee based on the day of arrival. Watch for
Jerry’s press releases about this meet for details. “Superman Jet
Week” has a nice ring.
This growth is not limited to the Midwest; almost all jet meets have
been reporting similar expansion.
Turbines have been leading the way at most meets; they have been
proven by their durability, and their availability has finally started to
keep up with the demand.
Turbine growth in the future will likely be in two prime areas:
the addition of new electronics bringing forth additional features and
the variety of available thrust-size turbines.
Public displays of prototype turbines in the 11- to 12-poundthrust
range are showing proof of modelers’ interest. These turbines
will bring some wonderful ducted-fan models back as turbinepowered
models.
The 17- to 18-pound-thrust turbines have become an established
norm, with the advent of the 25- to 28-pound-thrust versions
bridging the gap to the 30-pound-thrust turbine airframes.
We should see many large turbine models this year, with new
airframes available for this building season.
The prototype F-100 Super Sabre from Bob Violett Models (BVM)
was flown at Superman, and it brought back memories of the fullscale
Super Sabres of my younger days.
Bob’s model flew extremely well, showing the speed range
expected from a Scale Super Sabre. His prototype was equipped with
drop tanks, yet it hauled around the sky with awesome authority. Lowspeed
flight displayed no bad handling characteristics as Bob slowed
the aircraft during landing approach and final flare.
BVM F-100 Super Sabre kits should have been shipped to eager
modelers by now.
Crow Aviation, Inc. (CAI) rolled out the new Predator for flight
demonstration at Superman, and what a beauty it is in flight. This
model is the third in CAI’s ever-increasing sizes of sport jets,
following the Razor and the Raptor.
Scotty Bolduc has brought us the first Giant Scale-size sport jet,
creating a wonderful increase in visibility in the air compared to the
Jim Hiller, 6090 Downs Rd., Champion OH 44481
RADIO CONTROL JETS
The Firebird is Tom Cook’s latest sport jet. Jet Model Products’
aircraft is designed for 25- to 30-pound-thrust turbines.
If you like ’em big, Shailesh Patel’s eight feet of fire-breathing
turbine-powered F-86 should get you going.
Bill Harris at Superman 2000 with his Number 1 Blue Angel
Bandit. It does get cold in Metropolis IL in October.
smaller hot rods we’ve been flying. Don’t
believe this model is slow; it hauled around
the sky with the fastest of the speedsters.
The jet’s landing speed is gentle
relative to its size. This model should fill
the bill nicely for those who seek the more
gentle flying characteristics provided by
larger models.
The Jet Model Products Firebird made
it to Superman for its first public flight
demonstrations, and what a showing
Tom Cook gave us! This is a large sport
jet, designed for the 25- to 30-poundthrust
turbines.
The Pattern flier in Tom shows in this
design; it is a midwing model, obviously
designed for smooth precision flying. The
Firebird is a beautiful jet with many unique
design features, including a flying stabilizer
and inlets located in the wing root.
The Firebird is not just another airplane;
it is a sculpted piece of art.
Century Jets has been flying its
Cougar throughout the Midwest this
year, and it looks to be another big jet
with good handling characteristics.
Another model I saw for the first time at
Superman was the Hot Flash, imported by
Golden West Models. This is a sport jet
similar to the Kangaroo, but with more
aggressive looks and a clear canopy.
The Hot Flash’s turbine is mounted down
within the wing, creating a much sleeker
appearance. This lower mounting location
eliminates annoying pitch-down with throttle
application and pitch-up when the throttle is
pulled back. It flies on the wire.
Shailesh Palesh Patel stunned everyone
at Superman with his incredible F-86 Sabre.
This is a large model, scaled at 4.78 to 1
with a 953⁄4-inch wingspan and 943⁄4-inch
overall length. The size alone is stunning,
but the craftsmanship is impeccable.
A model this size provides ample
opportunity for detailing, and Shailesh did it
all. This model’s detail, fit, and overall
appearance will make it a winner, should he
decide to compete with it.
Shailesh designed and built this
model by himself, complete with all
fiberglass work. He did not quite have it
ready for flight as displayed, but that day
is coming soon.
The best thing about all of these jets is
the beautiful finishes so many modelers
apply to them. This is one of the reasons I
enjoy jet modeling; our paint jobs rival some
the best anywhere, be it on custom cars,
motorcycles, or airplanes. This has led us to
keep up with some of the latest paint
technologies.
i painted my CAI Razor with the new PPG
Harlequin paint. It has a dramatic color
change, depending on the angle viewed and
the angle of the light source.
I went with the dark blue-to-red color
change. It actually goes from dark blue
when viewed directly, to purple, to reddish
bronze, then to a total bronze when viewed
at extreme angles. It’s a cool effect.
This was my first attempt at using this
paint. The Harlequin is a basecoat, clearcoat
system that I had not sprayed up to this time. I
used a PPG urethane clear as the transparent
coat to protect the Harlequin base.
If you decide to try this paint, consider
yourself forewarned: follow the directions.
PPG has detailed instructions for this paint
and provides warnings about which products
to use, from the primer through the
clearcoat. Failure to use the right products
can lead to adhesion problems.
Ask your supplier for the manufacturer’s
paint information sheet when you buy
automotive-type paints. The manufacturers
provide excellent instructions on the sheets
to keep us out of trouble; we just need to ask
for them and abide by them.
Most of my models painted in the last 30+
years have been done with acrylic enamel
paints—a system I’ve felt comfortable with.
My choice to use the Harlequin basecoat paint
moved me outside my comfort zone.
One of the restrictions of this basecoat
paint is that the clearcoat must be applied
within 24 hours of painting the base color.
This meant I would not have enough time to
mask and paint the three trim colors I
planned to use. My decisions on trim
application were as follows.
The clear is a urethane clear, compatible
over enamel, allowing me to use acrylic
enamel paints I had in stock for trim colors.
All the trim was masked and painted in
acrylic enamels. It is important to mask the
primer so that the base color is applied over it
only; the base color will have adhesion
problems when applied over enamel paints.
I sanded the trim colors with 1000-grit
sandpaper to remove orange peel and dirt,
then I masked the trim off prior to basecolor
application.
The PPG Harlequin paint is intimidating
to spray until you’ve done it the first time. It
lays on easy, similar to any metallic paint.
The manufacturer recommended two coats,
and it did look wonderful under the paintbooth
lights.
Be careful though, and take the model out
into the sunshine to check your coverage
before applying the clearcoat. I could see
through the paint down to the primer with two
coats; I had to apply a third to get complete
coverage in bright sunlight. Take your time.
Since I finished all my trim colors prior to
applying the base color and I didn’t intend to
apply rivet and panel-line detailing, all I had
to do was remove the masking and apply the
final color—all in one morning.
The clear can follow the base paint
anytime after 15 minutes, but in no longer
than 24 hours.
I cannot stress enough to get the
manufacturer’s paint information sheets and
follow them. The paint store where I got my
system was not familiar with the Harlequin
paint, and I couldn’t find anyone in the area
who had experience with it. The instructions
got me through the whole process without
any problems.
If you are ready to try some of these trick
paints, go for it. The last few years with jets
have provided me with an opportunity to get
into many areas of finishing. The composite
construction of most jet models makes an
excellent, hard surface for any type of
detailing you want to do.
The jet is the best type of model to
trick out as wild as you can dream. Look
at the aircraft at any jet meet, and you
will see all types of finishes. I got most of
my paint and detailing knowledge from
fellow modelers, and just played with it
on each new model.
Time to get back to building the next dream
machine; gotta have it ready to turn and
burn this summer. MA
112 M ODEL AVIATION
