Radio Control Scale - 2008/02

130 MODEL AVIATION
ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I: Last month I wrote about the Fokker
Dr.I triplane and the changes I’ve been making to the airframe.
Covering is completed, and I’ve selected Testors modeling paint
to finish the model. This paint provided a
good selection of colors, and spray paint
was available in the same colors.
I took my documentation from the book
Fokker Dr I Aces of World War 1 (Osprey
Aircraft of the Aces #40) to the hobby shop
to try to match the colors on the Dr.I of
Lothar Von Richthofen: the Red Baron’s
lesser-known brother. I’ve thought about a
couple other color schemes, but I finally
settled on this one. It isn’t that well
documented, and I won’t be using this
model for competition.
I have a color side view of the aircraft as well as two photos of
the crashed triplane. Several of them had structural failures with
the wing, but Lothar was shot down.
Triplanes were painted with the standard Fokker color scheme
of a streaky green color over the light blue on all the side and
AS I WRITE this in early November, the US FAI Scale team has
been selected for the Scale World Championships that will take
place July 10-19 in Poland. This year the RC, or F4C, team will
be Dave Johnson, Jack Buckley, and Al
Kretz.
If you have ever thought of going to
Europe, or Poland specifically, for a
vacation, this would be the chance of a
lifetime for a Scale modeler. Contact Lisa
Johnson at AMA Headquarters for more
information about the team, team manager,
etc.
The US Scale Masters Championships was
contested October 11-14. I’ll have more
information about this competition next
month, but the big winner, once again, was veteran Scale
competitor Dennis Crooks with his big Yellow Aircraft P-38
“California Cutie.”
This is probably the longest-surviving competition P-38 I can
remember. Congratulations, Dennis!
Also included in this column:
• US F4C world team
• 2007 Scale Masters
• Mike Gretz’s DH-4
Refinishing the Great Planes ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Scale Stan Alexander
Side view of the ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I’s painted airframe.
The Dr.I’s cowling, which is held in place by magnets, is covered
with the new red paint.
The strut mounts were lightly sanded before final assembly and
gluing to make sure they would stick.
The Fokker Dr.I’s wheels and tires are light and sturdy for this
type of model.
02sig5.QXD 12/20/07 1:07 PM Page 130February 2008 131
Below: Steve Buso (L) and Mike Gretz ready the DH-4 for its next
flight.
Right: Mike Gretz’s kit-bashed DH-4. He studies the history of US
Air Mail.
upper surfaces. The undersides of most
aircraft of the time were left a light blue or
sky blue. The crew and pilots personalized
the airplanes when they were sent to the
front.
Those markings were used as much for
individual identification as for anything,
from what I can gather. The Red Baron’s
Jasta 11 was called the Flying Circus
because of the group’s bright, multicolored
aircraft. Depending on what you read,
theories about the name vary. Some say
that Jasta 11 was called the Flying Circus
because German command moved the unit
to whatever hot spot received the most
action.
Baron Von Richthofen’s own aircraft
were not all red. Several had red on them,
Host/Hostess Program
Keeping watch over the 1,100-acre National Flying Site in Muncie, Indiana, is a formidable task. Borrowing a page from the National
Park Service and many successful state-park programs, the Academy is seeking retired volunteers to become flying-site hosts.
Requirements for this position are simple. They are:
• Must possess a love of all aspects of model aviation
• Must own an RV suitable for 30-day stays
• Must have outstanding people skills and a willingness to represent AMA in a positive manner to fellow members and guests
• Must be willing to live on-site for one month during the flying season—April-September
• Must follow all flying-site rules and guidelines
• Must have a familiarity with model-aviation flying sites (norms and customs a plus)
AMA will provide these volunteers with the following:
• A camping site with full hookups
• Transportation for use on-site
• Caps and golf shirts with an “AMA host” designation
Duties will include:
• Helping members and guests who visit the flying site
• Helping ensure that the AMA Safety Code is observed on the flightlines
• Helping check in members and visitors at the camping sites
• Communicating with AMA staff concerning conditions of the flying site
We are seeking couples for each month of the flying season. If you would like to apply to become an AMA host and hostess,
contact Mary Hurn at [email protected] or (765) 287-1256, extension 260.
Come Join Us at the International Aeromodeling Center
www.modelaircraft.org/news/seekinghost.aspx
02sig5.QXD 12/20/07 1:47 PM Page 131February 2008 133
but the entire aircraft wasn’t that color. He
had several triplanes—not just the one we
see in all the photos or drawings.
Why did I choose this color
combination? It’s multicolored and shows
up better in the air than an all-red airplane
or an all streaky green model.
To start the painting process, use a tack
rag to clean off the part you are about to
paint. Locate all the holes in the wing and
other surfaces, and punch them through;
they will be hard to locate after the model is
painted, and guessing won’t be good to do.
Start by painting the bottom of the wing
and all the control surfaces light blue. Make
nice, even passes across the surface. Don’t
squeeze the button at the point where you
are about to paint; do so roughly a foot
before it. After the wings (all three of them)
and the other surfaces are coated, paint the
fuselage with the light blue.
I thought about a way to duplicate the
streaky-paint look for sometime. I’ve only
seen a couple Dr.Is that have had good
paint schemes with that effect. Although
this was just an exercise, I still wanted to
make the appearance as close to scale as
possible.
Using a rag entered my mind, but I
decided against it. Then I decided to try
using foam insulation packing from an
electronic product. It’s a good idea to keep
stuff like that in case you find a use for it
later.
I cut the foam to a square shape that
was approximately 1/2 inch wide and 2
inches long. That would provide a similar
stroke to the brush that was used to paint
the full-scale aircraft. If you were painting
a 1/4-scale model you could use a 2-inch
paintbrush.
Painting began with the streaky green
color at the LE. I poured the paint into a
epoxy-mixing cup so it would be easier to
apply. I applied paint to the square tip of
the foam and then pressed most of it out.
Too much paint can make a fun time in the
shop a hassle or a downright pain. I dabbed
the foam to the LE to make a starting point
for the upper surface of the streaky paint.
I took my time and did only one section
of the wing; the paint dries quickly. Again
I dabbed some paint onto the foam and
pressed most of it out. I made full strokes
from the front of the wing to the TE in
each pass.
If you start in the middle of the rib, the
paint will look like you did. The full-scale
Fokker’s paint went from the LE all the
way to the TE, apparently in one long
stroke.
After the paint dried I noticed that the
covering had crinkled on all the open bays
on the fuselage and flying surfaces! I
wasn’t sure if the fabric would take a heat
gun or not, but it did. Applying the heat
sparingly corrected what could have caused
me to start over.
Don’t use masking tape or any other
kind of tape on this covering with the
Testors enamel. The tape will pull the paint
off. To mask the different surfaces I used
sheets of notebook paper. I wore a latex
glove on the hand that would otherwise be
painted and held the paper down to the
surface.
This technique has worked well for the
Dr.I so far. If you’re not sure it will work,
try it on something else first. When
experimenting it’s a good idea to test an
idea on something that will not mess up the
covering job.
After adding yellow to the fuselage, top
wing, and tail surfaces, it was time to add
the red paint for which Jasta 11 was
known. The cowling, struts, wheels, and
landing gear were red on most of that
unit’s airplanes. Personal markings were
varied and colorful.
I didn’t follow the instructions for this
model because I needed to paint most of it
before starting the assembly. I’ll add the
markings before beginning the final
assembly. There is a bit more painting to
be done before that process can begin.
I did use the stock or recommended
motor and parts for the Dr.I that Great
Planes recommended on its Web site. I
purchased the items at the local hobby
shop.
This is a small model, with a 29-inch
wingspan. Since it has short-coupled
moments, it will most likely be better to
hand launch the Dr.I.
The foam tires were not glued to the
wheels. These tires should have some give,
but they may come off the wheel and get
lost somewhere, so I’ll glue them to the
wheels.
Next month I’ll add markings and start
to detail the Dr.I. Great Planes included the
Spandau machine guns and a pilot figure
with the model. You could add many other
details to an airplane such as this. The only
part I don’t like are the servo hatches for
the bottom of the upper wing, but I’ll work
on that.
Around Scale: Mike Gretz has been
involved in all phases of Scale
competition, as well as designing kits,
ARFs, and other unique products for
modelers for the past 25 years or so. So
what does he do for fun?
I have included a photo of a kit-bashed
de Havilland DH-4 Mike built. He used
the wings from a Sig Jenny kit and
scratch-built the fuselage and tail surfaces.
The fuselage is 1/64 balsa with a few
formers inside. Mike made the cabanes
and other details, and the lettering came
from graphics created on a computer.
The neat thing is that this DH-4 flies as
great as it looks. MA
Sources:
Lisa Johnson (AMA)
[email protected]
(765) 287-1256, extension 231
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02sig5.QXD 12/20/07 12:45 PM Page 133