RC Scale
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
TRADE SHOWS mean different things to everyone who attends them. This year's Toledo show had one of the largest turnouts I've seen.
Manufacturers show the latest kits and accessories for Radio Control (RC) modelers, and they have products that can be easily adapted to other model types. Swap shops on the top floor offer discounted merchandise and goodies from sales, and you might even find that last batch of K&B epoxy paint. The Saturday-night auction is something of a tradition, and many aircraft are bought and sold there.
There is static competition for a variety of classes of Scale and sport models, including aircraft, boats, and helicopters. For many people in the eastern half of the US, the Toledo show is the first modeling event of the year.
But what we don't see sometimes in the magazine reports are the people behind the companies whose products we use. Without these people, many of the products we look forward to seeing on the hobby-shop shelves or delivered by UPS® wouldn't be there. Most of us know the company names, but can't put names with the faces behind the companies. I'll go through a few of those who cater specifically to Scale modelers.
Bob Holman Plans
Bob Holman Plans has been selling plans to Scale modelers, as the sign says, "for over 30 years" now. Bob has expanded his line throughout the years and has imported Brian Taylor and Dennis Bryant plans for many years.
Some of the plans are not the norm for what’s usually available in the US, such as the Hawker Fury biplane, the Westland Widgeon, the Comper Swift, the Avro Tutor, the FW 189 Owl, the Eastbourne Monoplane, the Berliner-Joyce OJ-2, and the Waterman Arrowbile (the flying car). Those are just a few of the hundreds of plans available, and Bob offers other services.
- Example: If you want to build a 1/4-scale Fokker E.III, Bob has plans for a 99½-inch-span model that should fly very well on a strong .120 four-stroke.
- Laser-cut parts: Bob has added laser-cut wing ribs for the E.III and many other plans in recent years.
- Semikits: World War II fighters are offered as epoxy/fiberglass semikits, including the F6F Hellcat, Fw 190A5–A8, F4U-1 Corsair, Fw 190D-9, and the Grumman Avenger. These kits provide formed parts and an epoxy/fiberglass fuselage. Landing gear and other parts are also available.
Contact: Bob Holman Plans, Box 741, San Bernardino CA 92402; Tel.: (909) 885-3959; [email protected].
Nick Ziroli Plans
Nick Ziroli Plans offers large Scale plans for WWII fighters, bombers, and transports such as the DC-3/C-47. Nick also has civil designs, including the 138-inch-span Spirit of St. Louis, the 80-inch-span Ercoupe, and the Ole Tiger racer with a 75-inch span.
One favorite is the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet biplane with a 77-inch span, which can be finished in either a civil or military scheme. Robart makes a radial engine mount that fits neatly onto the Stearman’s engine firewall.
This catalog and the information about plans, wood kits, and parts are a great addition to any Scale source folder.
Contact: Nick Ziroli Plans, 29 Edgar Dr., Smithtown NY 11787; Tel.: (631) 467-4765.
House of Balsa — Spacewalker and small-scale kits
The 3/4-scale Sig Spacewalker kit has spawned several other kits and a few Almost Ready to Flys (ARFs). Most have been for large Scale equipment, but the new House of Balsa Spacewalker kit is for small RC Scale equipment:
- Wingspan: 47 inches
- Area: 329 square inches
- Power: .074–.10 engine or a Speed 400 electric motor with a Mini Olympus gearbox
- Kit includes: Du-Bro hardware and a full-color instruction manual
- Wing attachment: held on with rubber bands (easily modified to hardwood dowels and a wing bolt)
House of Balsa also offers several designs suitable for Electric or Electric Indoor R/C: the PT-19 and the J-3 Cub (park/indoor flyer with a 35-inch span and 160 square inches of wing area).
Contact your local hobby shop or call House of Balsa at (760) 246-6462.
Scale Plans and Photo Service (Anne Pepino)
Some companies offer plans and others offer photo documentation, but Scale Plans and Photo Service offers both for their plans and for others. Anne Pepino carries on her husband’s business, which continues to grow with different plans and photo packs for modelers.
One notable group is Stephen A. Lambert’s “One Inch to the Foot Plans” series. There are 24 offered, all with wingspans under 40 inches—ideal for Indoor Electric R/C Scale models or for enlarging to build bigger Electric models.
Examples in the series include:
- Fokker D.VIII
- Gull-E
- D.H. 80 Puss Moth
- Dornojy Bathtub
- Gracie Laks T2-1
- Corben Baby Ace Model C
- Evans Volksplane
- Steve Whitman’s Buttercup
- de Havilland D.H.2
- Monocoupe 110
- Berliner-Joyce P-16
- and several others
Contact: Anne Pepino at (336) 292-5239.
Mike Gretz (Indoor Electric Scale R/C work)
Mike Gretz, associated with Sig Manufacturing, Inc., is a prolific modeler and designer interested in Indoor Electric Scale R/C. He designed the popular 1/4-scale J-3 Cub kits and, living in Montezuma, Iowa with limited outdoor flying time, has focused on Indoor Electric R/C Scale modeling.
- Example project: a successful Antoinette with a 50-inch wingspan and an area of 506 1/4 square inches.
- Powertrain: GWS UPU7 motor geared 7:1, seven cells at 350 mAh, and a 10 x 5 GWS propeller.
Hopefully photos will be available in the near future.
Requests and resources
- Wanted: Lance is looking for a Comet Piper Cherokee 235 kit to convert to small Scale R/C. Contact him at [email protected] or call (818) 766-8201.
- Three-views requests: Complete three-views from the “Why Not Model?” articles are available through Wind Canyon Books Inc.
- Order: call (800) 952-7007 or E-mail [email protected]
- Website: www.windcanyon.com
- Note: The three-views printed in the magazine are used by permission of Wind Canyon Books, which also offers many aviation books and products for modelers and publishes several civil-aviation titles.
Cliff Tacie’s Aeronca L-16 (Champ military version)
The photos of Cliff Tacie’s Aeronca L-16 in the May column brought attention to this military version of the Champ. Cliff is a former Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Scale team member and a model designer who prefers simple, accurate models.
Cliff wanted a model that was simple and accurate, with no retracts. He accomplished this with the L-16 and described his approach in an e-mail to a modeler interested in building a Champ variant:
- Wing/fuselage: Instead of making the wing center-section removable, Cliff built it onto the top of the cabin. He brought the bolts for the wing tubes up from the bottom into blind nuts on the top. With the large cabin door functional, access is easy. The pilot figure is held in place with Velcro™.
- Modifications: Changes to the cabin side windows were done after framing it as a “Champ.” A saber saw was used to convert it to an L-16.
- Structure: All tube framework inside the wing and fuselage is simply wood doweling. The “metal” framework around the greenhouse is plastic sheet. Cliff dusted the inside of the top windows with an airbrush and black dope to hide tubing and blind nuts. Nothing exotic.
- Cowl: From Fiberglass Specialties in Michigan, slightly modified intake openings, scribed panel lines, and added clearance bumps on top.
- Performance: The model is a rudder airplane and weighs around 14 pounds with the OS FT-160 engine, so it’s a floater. Cliff noted that a full-scale yellow L-16 he saw at Sun ’N’ Fun had the same wobbly, realistic flight characteristics.
For more information from Cliff about the Aeronca L-16 or Champ, contact him at [email protected].
Fair skies and tail winds. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
