SCALE MODELERS traveled to Hemet, California, from across the
country to compete in the 28th annual US Scale Masters Championships,
held October 11-14, 2007. A qualification system held each year at
regional Scale contests makes modelers eligible to participate in this
competition.
The opening ceremony was held Saturday morning after all static
judging was completed. The Hemet Civil Air Patrol presented the
colors, and Rob Lindquest sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Other
dignitaries who attended included Hemet’s vice mayor and a team from
The Discovery Channel.
Past champion Dennis Crooks of Rockville, Indiana, won Expert
Class and was named Grand Champion with his Lockheed P-38
Lightning. This is the longest-surviving P-38 I’ve seen in competition.
Bernie Boland and Bill Ensley of Phoenix, Arizona, took Team
Scale with their Stinson SR-10. Robert Blake of Newbury Park,
California, won Open Class with his Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.
Special thanks to the city of Hemet and the Soboba Band of Luiseño
Indians for their exceptionally generous support of the event. TheHemet Model Masters worked long and hard as the host club to
make the Championships a success. Any club that takes on a project
such as this or any national event should receive all the praise we
can give it. Help from One Eighth Air Force and Scale Squadron
members also made it happen.
See the end of this column and look for more in future columns
about the Scale Masters Championships. Thanks to Mitchell Baker
for sharing this information!
Fokker Dr.I Update: After painting the airframe and adding the
streaky green, yellow, and red colors, I started looking at the
markings; this triplane has several. A set of stencils on the left side
of the fuselage is mostly covered with the yellow, which is Lothar
von Richthofen’s personal marking.
The areas of the wing and fuselage that had been white on the
original paint scheme and were painted with yellow didn’t look the
same as the rest of the yellow-painted portion of the airframe.
Testors Zinc Chromate Yellow replicates the tint more closely.
Use the method of painting with a sponge to apply the Testors
yellow to the fuselage sides and upper wing in the correct positions.
Be careful not to go outside the areas you want to paint with this
color. A small mark with an art marker on the top and bottom of
each area will help in this process.Save the crosses that you stripped off the
rudder, fuselage, and wings. You can use
them as stencils for placing your markings
later. With a fine-tip magic marker, carefully
outline the cross on whichever surface to
which you are adding it. Do this before
permanently attaching the control surfaces
or wings to the fuselage. It makes it much
easier to add markings to the airframe.
The fuselage side markings on Lothar’s
Dr.I were smaller than the markings on the
original color scheme that came with the
model. Reducing these markings at the copy
store to 80% of the original worked fine.
The markings on the new color scheme are
much farther back on the fuselage than on
the original.
After you have added the outline, use a
fine-tip modeler’s paintbrush to add the
black coloring to each cross. Stay inside the
black line you added with the fine-tip magic
marker. This will give you room to add the
white outline to each cross, and the
markings should come out close to correct.
There are four different-size crosses on this
airframe, including on the lower wing, upper
wing, fuselage sides, and rudder.
Holding my breath as I make a stroke
with the brush seems to help me. Starting
from the center of the marking and working
out is another trick I use. Practice on a
surface that isn’t on the model to gain
proficiency.
The pilot figure included with the Dr.I is
nice, but he sits way too high in the fuselage
for a pilot in a World War I scout. He may
as well have a target on his back. Cut the
figure down and add a soft-balsa base to the
figure to get him farther down in the
cockpit.
You can add the leather cockpit combing
around the cockpit using the Testors
“Leather” color. There was more combing
on the front half of the cockpit than on the
back because the pilot was more likely to hit
the front half of the combing in the air or as
he tried to land.
A nice set of Spandau machine guns was
included with the model. I didn’t like the
base for them; it broke into several pieces
while I was trying to assemble the guns.
I sanded down the bottom of each
machine gun and added a 1/16 plywood base
to it. It’s flexible, which will help attach the
gun to the curved fuselage section forward
of the cockpit. I added Floquil’s Grimy
Black paint and a little silver color to the
guns to add realism.
The dummy engine cylinders were
painted gloss black. To add character to the
engine, I added some Grimy Black paint to
the cylinders in different places. The Floquil
Rust on the engine exhaust works well.
All those little touches make a more
interesting model, and it looks more
realistic. Instead of the cyanoacrylate that is
suggested for attaching the cylinders to the
cowl, I drilled holes in the dummy-cylinder
back and used five-minute epoxy.
After final assembly it’s almost time to
go fly. After flying the S.E.5a belonging to
the same ElectriFly series, I’m looking
forward to it!
I used the following items to finish the
Great Planes ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I.
• Coverite MicroLite to re-cover the
airframe
• Great Planes 11.1-volt, 1250 mAh 3S Li-
Poly
• Great Planes Collet Prop Adapter 3.0mm
to 5mm
• Great Planes 10x4.5 Power Flow Slo-Flyer
Elec Prop
• Great Planes Rimfire 28-30-950 Out-
Runner motor
• JR 6-inch Y harness
• JR R610M microreceiver
• Four Hitec S-55 microservos
• JR 6-inch servo extension
• Thin and thick Zap CA glue
• Hangar 9 six-minute epoxy
All paints were applied with a sponge,
spray can, or fine-art brush, depending on
the application. The following Testors paints
were used.
• 1/2-ounce Zinc Chromatic Yellow
• 1/4-ounce Leather
• 1/4-ounce Flesh
• 1/2-ounce Black
• 1208 Gloss Light Blue (spray can)
• 1214 Gloss Yellow (spray can)
• 1913 Medium Green (spray can)
• 1203 Gloss Red (spray can)
• Rust Floquil
• Grimy Black Floquil
New Products: Balsa USA was kind
enough to send samples of the two different
types of its 1/4-scale, five-color lozenge
fabric. I’ve seen several lozenge fabrics
through the years. Most are so thin you can
see through them, thus I doubt their
strength—especially for 1/4-scale models.
After finishing a model with this fabric, you
should be able to depend on its strength in
the air. The Balsa USA covering seems to be
a bit stronger and you can’t see through it.
Since Balsa USA has several World War
I aircraft that are 1/4 scale, as do other
manufacturers, this fabric seems to be a
natural fit for the company. Each roll is
imported from England and modified at
Balsa USA. I’m guessing it’s printed there.
Each 2-meter roll will retail for
approximately $67.99.
I’m looking forward to using this fabric
on a 1/4-scale Fokker D.VII. Check out this
covering on Balsa USA’s Web site.
Around Scale: This news does not directly
affect our modeling efforts, but full scale is
very much a part of Scale modeling. The
Schwan Food Company has announced the
retirement of the Red Baron Pizza Squadron.
A press release read:
“The retail grocery industry has
experienced considerable change over the
past few years. And, as a result, we have
decided to refocus our Red Baron marketing
program and to discontinue the Red Baron
Squadron.”
Through the years the full-scale team has
performed more than 2,000 formation
aerobatic air-show performances, flown
more than 80,000 passengers (my wife and I
are two), and traveled more than 6 million
miles—all in restored 1941 Boeing
Stearman primary training aircraft, which
were modified for high-stress aerobatics. I’ll
miss the whole group!
Upcoming Contests: Contestants will
gather at the Lakeland Linder Regional
Airport in Lakeland, Florida, April 23-27 for
the 20th annual Top Gun Invitational. This
international Scale competition is one of the
largest events in the world for RC Scale
models. Even being a spectator at Top Gunis spectacular. For information from
Frank Tiano, “Mr. Top Gun,” please
check out his Web site.
The Southern Indiana R/C Modelers
will host the Mint Julep Scale Meet May
16-18 at the Rough River Dam State
Resort Park at Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
All AMA Scale classes will be contested,
along with a few extras!
The Scale Nats will be held August 8-
10 at the Muncie, Indiana, AMA
International Aeromodeling Center. All
AMA Scale classes will be flown for both
RC and CL Scale; the only exceptions will
be noted on the entry forms.
The National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) will host the Nats,
with Jim Rediske as the RC Scale CD and
Mike Slaughter as the CL Scale CD. The
Scale portion of the Nats, as is every other
category at the contest, is open to all
AMA members, regardless of skill level.
To learn more about this event, check
out the “First Nats” article by Michael
Ramsey; it was published on page 18 in
the December 2007 MA. Visit the NASA
Web site for scoresheets and other
information about the Scale Nats.
According to Bill Hart, the 2008 US
Scale Masters Championships will be held
at the site of many Scale Masters
qualifiers: Sarasota, Florida. The dates
will be October 9-12, and the event
director will be Jon Hay. He and the group
in Sarasota are a great bunch of Scale
modelers.
I’ll give you more details as I receive
them. Contact Bill Hart for more
information.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Sources:
Balsa USA
(906) 863-6421
www.balsausa.com
Bill Hart
(714) 894-2747
[email protected]
Frank Tiano (Top Gun)
(863) 607-6611
www.franktiano.com
NASA
www.nasascale.org
US Scale Masters Championships
www.scalemasters.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128,129
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128,129
SCALE MODELERS traveled to Hemet, California, from across the
country to compete in the 28th annual US Scale Masters Championships,
held October 11-14, 2007. A qualification system held each year at
regional Scale contests makes modelers eligible to participate in this
competition.
The opening ceremony was held Saturday morning after all static
judging was completed. The Hemet Civil Air Patrol presented the
colors, and Rob Lindquest sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Other
dignitaries who attended included Hemet’s vice mayor and a team from
The Discovery Channel.
Past champion Dennis Crooks of Rockville, Indiana, won Expert
Class and was named Grand Champion with his Lockheed P-38
Lightning. This is the longest-surviving P-38 I’ve seen in competition.
Bernie Boland and Bill Ensley of Phoenix, Arizona, took Team
Scale with their Stinson SR-10. Robert Blake of Newbury Park,
California, won Open Class with his Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.
Special thanks to the city of Hemet and the Soboba Band of Luiseño
Indians for their exceptionally generous support of the event. TheHemet Model Masters worked long and hard as the host club to
make the Championships a success. Any club that takes on a project
such as this or any national event should receive all the praise we
can give it. Help from One Eighth Air Force and Scale Squadron
members also made it happen.
See the end of this column and look for more in future columns
about the Scale Masters Championships. Thanks to Mitchell Baker
for sharing this information!
Fokker Dr.I Update: After painting the airframe and adding the
streaky green, yellow, and red colors, I started looking at the
markings; this triplane has several. A set of stencils on the left side
of the fuselage is mostly covered with the yellow, which is Lothar
von Richthofen’s personal marking.
The areas of the wing and fuselage that had been white on the
original paint scheme and were painted with yellow didn’t look the
same as the rest of the yellow-painted portion of the airframe.
Testors Zinc Chromate Yellow replicates the tint more closely.
Use the method of painting with a sponge to apply the Testors
yellow to the fuselage sides and upper wing in the correct positions.
Be careful not to go outside the areas you want to paint with this
color. A small mark with an art marker on the top and bottom of
each area will help in this process.Save the crosses that you stripped off the
rudder, fuselage, and wings. You can use
them as stencils for placing your markings
later. With a fine-tip magic marker, carefully
outline the cross on whichever surface to
which you are adding it. Do this before
permanently attaching the control surfaces
or wings to the fuselage. It makes it much
easier to add markings to the airframe.
The fuselage side markings on Lothar’s
Dr.I were smaller than the markings on the
original color scheme that came with the
model. Reducing these markings at the copy
store to 80% of the original worked fine.
The markings on the new color scheme are
much farther back on the fuselage than on
the original.
After you have added the outline, use a
fine-tip modeler’s paintbrush to add the
black coloring to each cross. Stay inside the
black line you added with the fine-tip magic
marker. This will give you room to add the
white outline to each cross, and the
markings should come out close to correct.
There are four different-size crosses on this
airframe, including on the lower wing, upper
wing, fuselage sides, and rudder.
Holding my breath as I make a stroke
with the brush seems to help me. Starting
from the center of the marking and working
out is another trick I use. Practice on a
surface that isn’t on the model to gain
proficiency.
The pilot figure included with the Dr.I is
nice, but he sits way too high in the fuselage
for a pilot in a World War I scout. He may
as well have a target on his back. Cut the
figure down and add a soft-balsa base to the
figure to get him farther down in the
cockpit.
You can add the leather cockpit combing
around the cockpit using the Testors
“Leather” color. There was more combing
on the front half of the cockpit than on the
back because the pilot was more likely to hit
the front half of the combing in the air or as
he tried to land.
A nice set of Spandau machine guns was
included with the model. I didn’t like the
base for them; it broke into several pieces
while I was trying to assemble the guns.
I sanded down the bottom of each
machine gun and added a 1/16 plywood base
to it. It’s flexible, which will help attach the
gun to the curved fuselage section forward
of the cockpit. I added Floquil’s Grimy
Black paint and a little silver color to the
guns to add realism.
The dummy engine cylinders were
painted gloss black. To add character to the
engine, I added some Grimy Black paint to
the cylinders in different places. The Floquil
Rust on the engine exhaust works well.
All those little touches make a more
interesting model, and it looks more
realistic. Instead of the cyanoacrylate that is
suggested for attaching the cylinders to the
cowl, I drilled holes in the dummy-cylinder
back and used five-minute epoxy.
After final assembly it’s almost time to
go fly. After flying the S.E.5a belonging to
the same ElectriFly series, I’m looking
forward to it!
I used the following items to finish the
Great Planes ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I.
• Coverite MicroLite to re-cover the
airframe
• Great Planes 11.1-volt, 1250 mAh 3S Li-
Poly
• Great Planes Collet Prop Adapter 3.0mm
to 5mm
• Great Planes 10x4.5 Power Flow Slo-Flyer
Elec Prop
• Great Planes Rimfire 28-30-950 Out-
Runner motor
• JR 6-inch Y harness
• JR R610M microreceiver
• Four Hitec S-55 microservos
• JR 6-inch servo extension
• Thin and thick Zap CA glue
• Hangar 9 six-minute epoxy
All paints were applied with a sponge,
spray can, or fine-art brush, depending on
the application. The following Testors paints
were used.
• 1/2-ounce Zinc Chromatic Yellow
• 1/4-ounce Leather
• 1/4-ounce Flesh
• 1/2-ounce Black
• 1208 Gloss Light Blue (spray can)
• 1214 Gloss Yellow (spray can)
• 1913 Medium Green (spray can)
• 1203 Gloss Red (spray can)
• Rust Floquil
• Grimy Black Floquil
New Products: Balsa USA was kind
enough to send samples of the two different
types of its 1/4-scale, five-color lozenge
fabric. I’ve seen several lozenge fabrics
through the years. Most are so thin you can
see through them, thus I doubt their
strength—especially for 1/4-scale models.
After finishing a model with this fabric, you
should be able to depend on its strength in
the air. The Balsa USA covering seems to be
a bit stronger and you can’t see through it.
Since Balsa USA has several World War
I aircraft that are 1/4 scale, as do other
manufacturers, this fabric seems to be a
natural fit for the company. Each roll is
imported from England and modified at
Balsa USA. I’m guessing it’s printed there.
Each 2-meter roll will retail for
approximately $67.99.
I’m looking forward to using this fabric
on a 1/4-scale Fokker D.VII. Check out this
covering on Balsa USA’s Web site.
Around Scale: This news does not directly
affect our modeling efforts, but full scale is
very much a part of Scale modeling. The
Schwan Food Company has announced the
retirement of the Red Baron Pizza Squadron.
A press release read:
“The retail grocery industry has
experienced considerable change over the
past few years. And, as a result, we have
decided to refocus our Red Baron marketing
program and to discontinue the Red Baron
Squadron.”
Through the years the full-scale team has
performed more than 2,000 formation
aerobatic air-show performances, flown
more than 80,000 passengers (my wife and I
are two), and traveled more than 6 million
miles—all in restored 1941 Boeing
Stearman primary training aircraft, which
were modified for high-stress aerobatics. I’ll
miss the whole group!
Upcoming Contests: Contestants will
gather at the Lakeland Linder Regional
Airport in Lakeland, Florida, April 23-27 for
the 20th annual Top Gun Invitational. This
international Scale competition is one of the
largest events in the world for RC Scale
models. Even being a spectator at Top Gunis spectacular. For information from
Frank Tiano, “Mr. Top Gun,” please
check out his Web site.
The Southern Indiana R/C Modelers
will host the Mint Julep Scale Meet May
16-18 at the Rough River Dam State
Resort Park at Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
All AMA Scale classes will be contested,
along with a few extras!
The Scale Nats will be held August 8-
10 at the Muncie, Indiana, AMA
International Aeromodeling Center. All
AMA Scale classes will be flown for both
RC and CL Scale; the only exceptions will
be noted on the entry forms.
The National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) will host the Nats,
with Jim Rediske as the RC Scale CD and
Mike Slaughter as the CL Scale CD. The
Scale portion of the Nats, as is every other
category at the contest, is open to all
AMA members, regardless of skill level.
To learn more about this event, check
out the “First Nats” article by Michael
Ramsey; it was published on page 18 in
the December 2007 MA. Visit the NASA
Web site for scoresheets and other
information about the Scale Nats.
According to Bill Hart, the 2008 US
Scale Masters Championships will be held
at the site of many Scale Masters
qualifiers: Sarasota, Florida. The dates
will be October 9-12, and the event
director will be Jon Hay. He and the group
in Sarasota are a great bunch of Scale
modelers.
I’ll give you more details as I receive
them. Contact Bill Hart for more
information.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Sources:
Balsa USA
(906) 863-6421
www.balsausa.com
Bill Hart
(714) 894-2747
[email protected]
Frank Tiano (Top Gun)
(863) 607-6611
www.franktiano.com
NASA
www.nasascale.org
US Scale Masters Championships
www.scalemasters.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128,129
SCALE MODELERS traveled to Hemet, California, from across the
country to compete in the 28th annual US Scale Masters Championships,
held October 11-14, 2007. A qualification system held each year at
regional Scale contests makes modelers eligible to participate in this
competition.
The opening ceremony was held Saturday morning after all static
judging was completed. The Hemet Civil Air Patrol presented the
colors, and Rob Lindquest sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Other
dignitaries who attended included Hemet’s vice mayor and a team from
The Discovery Channel.
Past champion Dennis Crooks of Rockville, Indiana, won Expert
Class and was named Grand Champion with his Lockheed P-38
Lightning. This is the longest-surviving P-38 I’ve seen in competition.
Bernie Boland and Bill Ensley of Phoenix, Arizona, took Team
Scale with their Stinson SR-10. Robert Blake of Newbury Park,
California, won Open Class with his Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.
Special thanks to the city of Hemet and the Soboba Band of Luiseño
Indians for their exceptionally generous support of the event. TheHemet Model Masters worked long and hard as the host club to
make the Championships a success. Any club that takes on a project
such as this or any national event should receive all the praise we
can give it. Help from One Eighth Air Force and Scale Squadron
members also made it happen.
See the end of this column and look for more in future columns
about the Scale Masters Championships. Thanks to Mitchell Baker
for sharing this information!
Fokker Dr.I Update: After painting the airframe and adding the
streaky green, yellow, and red colors, I started looking at the
markings; this triplane has several. A set of stencils on the left side
of the fuselage is mostly covered with the yellow, which is Lothar
von Richthofen’s personal marking.
The areas of the wing and fuselage that had been white on the
original paint scheme and were painted with yellow didn’t look the
same as the rest of the yellow-painted portion of the airframe.
Testors Zinc Chromate Yellow replicates the tint more closely.
Use the method of painting with a sponge to apply the Testors
yellow to the fuselage sides and upper wing in the correct positions.
Be careful not to go outside the areas you want to paint with this
color. A small mark with an art marker on the top and bottom of
each area will help in this process.Save the crosses that you stripped off the
rudder, fuselage, and wings. You can use
them as stencils for placing your markings
later. With a fine-tip magic marker, carefully
outline the cross on whichever surface to
which you are adding it. Do this before
permanently attaching the control surfaces
or wings to the fuselage. It makes it much
easier to add markings to the airframe.
The fuselage side markings on Lothar’s
Dr.I were smaller than the markings on the
original color scheme that came with the
model. Reducing these markings at the copy
store to 80% of the original worked fine.
The markings on the new color scheme are
much farther back on the fuselage than on
the original.
After you have added the outline, use a
fine-tip modeler’s paintbrush to add the
black coloring to each cross. Stay inside the
black line you added with the fine-tip magic
marker. This will give you room to add the
white outline to each cross, and the
markings should come out close to correct.
There are four different-size crosses on this
airframe, including on the lower wing, upper
wing, fuselage sides, and rudder.
Holding my breath as I make a stroke
with the brush seems to help me. Starting
from the center of the marking and working
out is another trick I use. Practice on a
surface that isn’t on the model to gain
proficiency.
The pilot figure included with the Dr.I is
nice, but he sits way too high in the fuselage
for a pilot in a World War I scout. He may
as well have a target on his back. Cut the
figure down and add a soft-balsa base to the
figure to get him farther down in the
cockpit.
You can add the leather cockpit combing
around the cockpit using the Testors
“Leather” color. There was more combing
on the front half of the cockpit than on the
back because the pilot was more likely to hit
the front half of the combing in the air or as
he tried to land.
A nice set of Spandau machine guns was
included with the model. I didn’t like the
base for them; it broke into several pieces
while I was trying to assemble the guns.
I sanded down the bottom of each
machine gun and added a 1/16 plywood base
to it. It’s flexible, which will help attach the
gun to the curved fuselage section forward
of the cockpit. I added Floquil’s Grimy
Black paint and a little silver color to the
guns to add realism.
The dummy engine cylinders were
painted gloss black. To add character to the
engine, I added some Grimy Black paint to
the cylinders in different places. The Floquil
Rust on the engine exhaust works well.
All those little touches make a more
interesting model, and it looks more
realistic. Instead of the cyanoacrylate that is
suggested for attaching the cylinders to the
cowl, I drilled holes in the dummy-cylinder
back and used five-minute epoxy.
After final assembly it’s almost time to
go fly. After flying the S.E.5a belonging to
the same ElectriFly series, I’m looking
forward to it!
I used the following items to finish the
Great Planes ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I.
• Coverite MicroLite to re-cover the
airframe
• Great Planes 11.1-volt, 1250 mAh 3S Li-
Poly
• Great Planes Collet Prop Adapter 3.0mm
to 5mm
• Great Planes 10x4.5 Power Flow Slo-Flyer
Elec Prop
• Great Planes Rimfire 28-30-950 Out-
Runner motor
• JR 6-inch Y harness
• JR R610M microreceiver
• Four Hitec S-55 microservos
• JR 6-inch servo extension
• Thin and thick Zap CA glue
• Hangar 9 six-minute epoxy
All paints were applied with a sponge,
spray can, or fine-art brush, depending on
the application. The following Testors paints
were used.
• 1/2-ounce Zinc Chromatic Yellow
• 1/4-ounce Leather
• 1/4-ounce Flesh
• 1/2-ounce Black
• 1208 Gloss Light Blue (spray can)
• 1214 Gloss Yellow (spray can)
• 1913 Medium Green (spray can)
• 1203 Gloss Red (spray can)
• Rust Floquil
• Grimy Black Floquil
New Products: Balsa USA was kind
enough to send samples of the two different
types of its 1/4-scale, five-color lozenge
fabric. I’ve seen several lozenge fabrics
through the years. Most are so thin you can
see through them, thus I doubt their
strength—especially for 1/4-scale models.
After finishing a model with this fabric, you
should be able to depend on its strength in
the air. The Balsa USA covering seems to be
a bit stronger and you can’t see through it.
Since Balsa USA has several World War
I aircraft that are 1/4 scale, as do other
manufacturers, this fabric seems to be a
natural fit for the company. Each roll is
imported from England and modified at
Balsa USA. I’m guessing it’s printed there.
Each 2-meter roll will retail for
approximately $67.99.
I’m looking forward to using this fabric
on a 1/4-scale Fokker D.VII. Check out this
covering on Balsa USA’s Web site.
Around Scale: This news does not directly
affect our modeling efforts, but full scale is
very much a part of Scale modeling. The
Schwan Food Company has announced the
retirement of the Red Baron Pizza Squadron.
A press release read:
“The retail grocery industry has
experienced considerable change over the
past few years. And, as a result, we have
decided to refocus our Red Baron marketing
program and to discontinue the Red Baron
Squadron.”
Through the years the full-scale team has
performed more than 2,000 formation
aerobatic air-show performances, flown
more than 80,000 passengers (my wife and I
are two), and traveled more than 6 million
miles—all in restored 1941 Boeing
Stearman primary training aircraft, which
were modified for high-stress aerobatics. I’ll
miss the whole group!
Upcoming Contests: Contestants will
gather at the Lakeland Linder Regional
Airport in Lakeland, Florida, April 23-27 for
the 20th annual Top Gun Invitational. This
international Scale competition is one of the
largest events in the world for RC Scale
models. Even being a spectator at Top Gunis spectacular. For information from
Frank Tiano, “Mr. Top Gun,” please
check out his Web site.
The Southern Indiana R/C Modelers
will host the Mint Julep Scale Meet May
16-18 at the Rough River Dam State
Resort Park at Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
All AMA Scale classes will be contested,
along with a few extras!
The Scale Nats will be held August 8-
10 at the Muncie, Indiana, AMA
International Aeromodeling Center. All
AMA Scale classes will be flown for both
RC and CL Scale; the only exceptions will
be noted on the entry forms.
The National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) will host the Nats,
with Jim Rediske as the RC Scale CD and
Mike Slaughter as the CL Scale CD. The
Scale portion of the Nats, as is every other
category at the contest, is open to all
AMA members, regardless of skill level.
To learn more about this event, check
out the “First Nats” article by Michael
Ramsey; it was published on page 18 in
the December 2007 MA. Visit the NASA
Web site for scoresheets and other
information about the Scale Nats.
According to Bill Hart, the 2008 US
Scale Masters Championships will be held
at the site of many Scale Masters
qualifiers: Sarasota, Florida. The dates
will be October 9-12, and the event
director will be Jon Hay. He and the group
in Sarasota are a great bunch of Scale
modelers.
I’ll give you more details as I receive
them. Contact Bill Hart for more
information.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Sources:
Balsa USA
(906) 863-6421
www.balsausa.com
Bill Hart
(714) 894-2747
[email protected]
Frank Tiano (Top Gun)
(863) 607-6611
www.franktiano.com
NASA
www.nasascale.org
US Scale Masters Championships
www.scalemasters.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128,129
SCALE MODELERS traveled to Hemet, California, from across the
country to compete in the 28th annual US Scale Masters Championships,
held October 11-14, 2007. A qualification system held each year at
regional Scale contests makes modelers eligible to participate in this
competition.
The opening ceremony was held Saturday morning after all static
judging was completed. The Hemet Civil Air Patrol presented the
colors, and Rob Lindquest sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Other
dignitaries who attended included Hemet’s vice mayor and a team from
The Discovery Channel.
Past champion Dennis Crooks of Rockville, Indiana, won Expert
Class and was named Grand Champion with his Lockheed P-38
Lightning. This is the longest-surviving P-38 I’ve seen in competition.
Bernie Boland and Bill Ensley of Phoenix, Arizona, took Team
Scale with their Stinson SR-10. Robert Blake of Newbury Park,
California, won Open Class with his Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.
Special thanks to the city of Hemet and the Soboba Band of Luiseño
Indians for their exceptionally generous support of the event. TheHemet Model Masters worked long and hard as the host club to
make the Championships a success. Any club that takes on a project
such as this or any national event should receive all the praise we
can give it. Help from One Eighth Air Force and Scale Squadron
members also made it happen.
See the end of this column and look for more in future columns
about the Scale Masters Championships. Thanks to Mitchell Baker
for sharing this information!
Fokker Dr.I Update: After painting the airframe and adding the
streaky green, yellow, and red colors, I started looking at the
markings; this triplane has several. A set of stencils on the left side
of the fuselage is mostly covered with the yellow, which is Lothar
von Richthofen’s personal marking.
The areas of the wing and fuselage that had been white on the
original paint scheme and were painted with yellow didn’t look the
same as the rest of the yellow-painted portion of the airframe.
Testors Zinc Chromate Yellow replicates the tint more closely.
Use the method of painting with a sponge to apply the Testors
yellow to the fuselage sides and upper wing in the correct positions.
Be careful not to go outside the areas you want to paint with this
color. A small mark with an art marker on the top and bottom of
each area will help in this process.Save the crosses that you stripped off the
rudder, fuselage, and wings. You can use
them as stencils for placing your markings
later. With a fine-tip magic marker, carefully
outline the cross on whichever surface to
which you are adding it. Do this before
permanently attaching the control surfaces
or wings to the fuselage. It makes it much
easier to add markings to the airframe.
The fuselage side markings on Lothar’s
Dr.I were smaller than the markings on the
original color scheme that came with the
model. Reducing these markings at the copy
store to 80% of the original worked fine.
The markings on the new color scheme are
much farther back on the fuselage than on
the original.
After you have added the outline, use a
fine-tip modeler’s paintbrush to add the
black coloring to each cross. Stay inside the
black line you added with the fine-tip magic
marker. This will give you room to add the
white outline to each cross, and the
markings should come out close to correct.
There are four different-size crosses on this
airframe, including on the lower wing, upper
wing, fuselage sides, and rudder.
Holding my breath as I make a stroke
with the brush seems to help me. Starting
from the center of the marking and working
out is another trick I use. Practice on a
surface that isn’t on the model to gain
proficiency.
The pilot figure included with the Dr.I is
nice, but he sits way too high in the fuselage
for a pilot in a World War I scout. He may
as well have a target on his back. Cut the
figure down and add a soft-balsa base to the
figure to get him farther down in the
cockpit.
You can add the leather cockpit combing
around the cockpit using the Testors
“Leather” color. There was more combing
on the front half of the cockpit than on the
back because the pilot was more likely to hit
the front half of the combing in the air or as
he tried to land.
A nice set of Spandau machine guns was
included with the model. I didn’t like the
base for them; it broke into several pieces
while I was trying to assemble the guns.
I sanded down the bottom of each
machine gun and added a 1/16 plywood base
to it. It’s flexible, which will help attach the
gun to the curved fuselage section forward
of the cockpit. I added Floquil’s Grimy
Black paint and a little silver color to the
guns to add realism.
The dummy engine cylinders were
painted gloss black. To add character to the
engine, I added some Grimy Black paint to
the cylinders in different places. The Floquil
Rust on the engine exhaust works well.
All those little touches make a more
interesting model, and it looks more
realistic. Instead of the cyanoacrylate that is
suggested for attaching the cylinders to the
cowl, I drilled holes in the dummy-cylinder
back and used five-minute epoxy.
After final assembly it’s almost time to
go fly. After flying the S.E.5a belonging to
the same ElectriFly series, I’m looking
forward to it!
I used the following items to finish the
Great Planes ElectriFly Fokker Dr.I.
• Coverite MicroLite to re-cover the
airframe
• Great Planes 11.1-volt, 1250 mAh 3S Li-
Poly
• Great Planes Collet Prop Adapter 3.0mm
to 5mm
• Great Planes 10x4.5 Power Flow Slo-Flyer
Elec Prop
• Great Planes Rimfire 28-30-950 Out-
Runner motor
• JR 6-inch Y harness
• JR R610M microreceiver
• Four Hitec S-55 microservos
• JR 6-inch servo extension
• Thin and thick Zap CA glue
• Hangar 9 six-minute epoxy
All paints were applied with a sponge,
spray can, or fine-art brush, depending on
the application. The following Testors paints
were used.
• 1/2-ounce Zinc Chromatic Yellow
• 1/4-ounce Leather
• 1/4-ounce Flesh
• 1/2-ounce Black
• 1208 Gloss Light Blue (spray can)
• 1214 Gloss Yellow (spray can)
• 1913 Medium Green (spray can)
• 1203 Gloss Red (spray can)
• Rust Floquil
• Grimy Black Floquil
New Products: Balsa USA was kind
enough to send samples of the two different
types of its 1/4-scale, five-color lozenge
fabric. I’ve seen several lozenge fabrics
through the years. Most are so thin you can
see through them, thus I doubt their
strength—especially for 1/4-scale models.
After finishing a model with this fabric, you
should be able to depend on its strength in
the air. The Balsa USA covering seems to be
a bit stronger and you can’t see through it.
Since Balsa USA has several World War
I aircraft that are 1/4 scale, as do other
manufacturers, this fabric seems to be a
natural fit for the company. Each roll is
imported from England and modified at
Balsa USA. I’m guessing it’s printed there.
Each 2-meter roll will retail for
approximately $67.99.
I’m looking forward to using this fabric
on a 1/4-scale Fokker D.VII. Check out this
covering on Balsa USA’s Web site.
Around Scale: This news does not directly
affect our modeling efforts, but full scale is
very much a part of Scale modeling. The
Schwan Food Company has announced the
retirement of the Red Baron Pizza Squadron.
A press release read:
“The retail grocery industry has
experienced considerable change over the
past few years. And, as a result, we have
decided to refocus our Red Baron marketing
program and to discontinue the Red Baron
Squadron.”
Through the years the full-scale team has
performed more than 2,000 formation
aerobatic air-show performances, flown
more than 80,000 passengers (my wife and I
are two), and traveled more than 6 million
miles—all in restored 1941 Boeing
Stearman primary training aircraft, which
were modified for high-stress aerobatics. I’ll
miss the whole group!
Upcoming Contests: Contestants will
gather at the Lakeland Linder Regional
Airport in Lakeland, Florida, April 23-27 for
the 20th annual Top Gun Invitational. This
international Scale competition is one of the
largest events in the world for RC Scale
models. Even being a spectator at Top Gunis spectacular. For information from
Frank Tiano, “Mr. Top Gun,” please
check out his Web site.
The Southern Indiana R/C Modelers
will host the Mint Julep Scale Meet May
16-18 at the Rough River Dam State
Resort Park at Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
All AMA Scale classes will be contested,
along with a few extras!
The Scale Nats will be held August 8-
10 at the Muncie, Indiana, AMA
International Aeromodeling Center. All
AMA Scale classes will be flown for both
RC and CL Scale; the only exceptions will
be noted on the entry forms.
The National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) will host the Nats,
with Jim Rediske as the RC Scale CD and
Mike Slaughter as the CL Scale CD. The
Scale portion of the Nats, as is every other
category at the contest, is open to all
AMA members, regardless of skill level.
To learn more about this event, check
out the “First Nats” article by Michael
Ramsey; it was published on page 18 in
the December 2007 MA. Visit the NASA
Web site for scoresheets and other
information about the Scale Nats.
According to Bill Hart, the 2008 US
Scale Masters Championships will be held
at the site of many Scale Masters
qualifiers: Sarasota, Florida. The dates
will be October 9-12, and the event
director will be Jon Hay. He and the group
in Sarasota are a great bunch of Scale
modelers.
I’ll give you more details as I receive
them. Contact Bill Hart for more
information.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Sources:
Balsa USA
(906) 863-6421
www.balsausa.com
Bill Hart
(714) 894-2747
[email protected]
Frank Tiano (Top Gun)
(863) 607-6611
www.franktiano.com
NASA
www.nasascale.org
US Scale Masters Championships
www.scalemasters.org
