Worth a Closer Look
GWS Me 109 and Spitfire
GWS has added the new Spitfire and Me 109 ARF (Almost Ready-to-Fly) electric kits to its ever-growing lineup of park flyers. Both are built using the same tried-and-true techniques found in all GWS kits: molded foam fuselage halves with molded foam wings and stabilizers.
Power comes from a geared EPS300C motor drive system (included), driven by a 7.2- to 8.4-volt 270–600 mAh Ni-Cd battery pack. Both kits come complete with propeller, spinner, landing gear, wheels, and control-linkage hardware. As in other GWS kits, a tube of glue is included.
The adhesive is the GWS line’s only downside. Although it can hold well, it does take a long time to cure. Offsetting the glue is the fact that both models come prepainted in the color schemes shown, drastically reducing the time needed to get a great-looking model into the air.
The models have 35.4-inch wingspans, making them ideal for most small fields. Each airplane has a street price of $59.99 (painted) or $49.99 (unpainted).
- Horizon Hobby Distributors, 4105 Fieldstone Rd., Champaign, IL 61822
- Tel.: (800) 338-4639
- Web site: www.horizonhobby.com
Super Fil
If you are looking for a lightweight, sandable, epoxy-base filler, Super Fil is excellent and will not shrink after application. It is a two-part mix with a ratio of two parts A component to one part B component by weight or volume.
Super Fil weighs only 3.68 pounds per gallon mixed, so the small amounts usually required for any one model will not show up significantly on the balance.
The cure time for Super Fil is eight hours at 77°F, and the cure-to-sand time is 12 hours. The mixed material’s pot life is one hour, so you don’t have to rush your work. The shelf life for unopened Super Fil is two years.
Super Fil adheres to most clean surfaces, including aluminum, steel, composites, and bare or varnished wood. It's best to clean up unwanted Super Fil with MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) before it cures.
We have tried Super Fil on fillets and other routine areas where filler is required, and it is easy to apply, form, and sand. It accepts butyrate dope, F&M’s Polytone finishing system, and other modeling finishing materials very well.
Super Fil is $16.45 plus shipping for two tubs that make one quart of mixed material.
- F&M Enterprises, 9910 Airpark Dr., Granbury, TX 76049
- Tel.: (817) 279-8045
"Inside R/C"
Just as this edition of “Worth a Closer Look” was being finished, Du-Bro Products sent word that The Outdoor Channel television network executive vice president Wade Sherman has committed to bringing the “Inside R/C” program up to a year-round schedule. It will be on the air three times every week. This is great exposure for the modeling industry.
The Outdoor Channel has been experiencing one of the largest growth-rate patterns in the cable/satellite industry; more than 23 million homes receive the channel, and thousands of households are added on a regular basis. “Inside R/C” has received an amazing response from newcomers and viewers who are already in the hobby.
“With ‘Inside R/C’ we are reaching the existing modeler, but what is even more exciting is the response we continue to receive from people new to the hobby,” said Jim Broberg, president of Du-Bro Products and the premiere sponsor of “Inside R/C.”
With the second season beginning in October, the production team is hard at work preparing the new episodes, and things are coming together nicely.
- Aired on The Outdoor Channel (DirecTV channel 608)
- Web site: www.insiderc.com
Channel Xpander
Do you need an extra channel but not a new radio? The new JR Channel Xpander lets modelers control as many as four servos from a single channel.
Scale modelers can use it to activate lights and wheel brakes or open canopies. Sport and aerobatics modelers will find it useful for activating smoke systems and deploying flaps. While it is nonproportional, the Channel Xpander allows modelers to adjust the activation and endpoints of each servo individually, as well as reverse direction.
The unit is powered through the regular receiver pack, but it can be powered separately with its own battery pack to keep current drain on the receiver pack to a minimum. The Xpander is small (1.54 x 0.75 x 1.50 inches) and weighs 0.32 ounces. It has a current draw of 8 mAh and requires a voltage of 4.8–6.0 volts.
PVC Build-Its
Think of Eureka Hobbies' Build-Its as Tinkertoys for your workshop. Using these 10.75 x 1.50 x 1.25-inch building blocks, you can create a wide variety of racks to hold almost any model you own.
Each block is molded from tough, structural foam. Five holes are evenly spaced (2 inches apart) along its length, sized to accept 1/2-inch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. These blocks mount to walls or the ceiling with Sheetrock screws; then the PVC pipe is cut to length and pounded into the holes.
Probably the most common use for Build-Its is as a wing rack. However, modelers have come up with a wide range of uses you can see in the literature or by visiting Eureka Hobbies' web site.
- Single PVC Build-It: $3
- Pack of 12: $35
- Eureka Hobbies, Inc., 501 S.W. 9th St., Suite E, Oklahoma City, OK 73109
- Tel.: (405) 239-2688
- Web site: www.eurekahobby.com
Drill Machine TBM 115
No shop is complete without a drill press. It makes life easier for drilling straight, accurate holes for engine mounts, retracts, etc.
When you think of drill presses, you might picture large floor models that take up a lot of space. However, this version from Proxxon is made to fit in even the smallest shop.
The TBM 115 features a machined 8½ x 4½-inch worktable made from ribbed die-cast aluminum. Extending from the base is a solid, hard-chromed steel column that is 11 inches high and 3/4 inch in diameter. This shaft supports the die-cast head, which incorporates a quiet-running 110–120-volt, 85-watt motor.
Removing the top of the head reveals a power transmission using a belt drive between two three-step aluminum pulleys. This system allows for adjustable speeds (1,800; 4,700; and 8,500 rpm) by moving the belt.
The TBM 115 comes with six triple-slit Micromot precision steel collets for shaft sizes:
- 1/32 inch (1.0 mm)
- 1/16 inch (1.5 mm)
- 5/64 inch (2.0 mm)
- 3/32 inch (2.4 mm)
- 7/64 inch (3.0 mm)
- 1/8 inch (3.2 mm)
Optional accessories are available, such as:
- MS4 machine vise
- Roehm chuck for drill bits up to 1/4 inch
The Drill Machine TBM 115's street price is approximately $170.
- Proxxon, 2555 Tate Blvd. S.E., Hickory, NC 28603
- Tel.: (828) 326-0326
- Fax: (828) 326-0325
- Web site: www.proxxon.com/us
Profile P-38 Lightning
When you think of profile models, control-line probably comes to mind. However, Great Planes has a new radio-control profile version of the popular P-38 World War II fighter.
This ready-to-assemble kit is built from balsa and plywood CAD-drawn parts which interlock for quick and accurate construction. The model is powered by two engines and has tricycle landing gear with a steerable nose gear driven by its own servo in the center pod.
Each engine has its own fuel tank and fuel lines, which makes maintenance easy. However, both throttle linkages work off one standard servo (the same with the rudder).
The Profile P-38 spans 50 inches, has a wing area of 416 square inches, and weighs 4½ pounds (ready to fly). It requires two-stroke .15- to .25-cubic-inch-displacement (2.5- to 4.0-cubic-centimeter) engines, a four-channel radio with six standard servos, and has a street price of $99.99.
- Great Planes Model Distributors, Box 9021, Champaign, IL 61826
- Tel.: (800) 682-8948
- Web site: www.hobbico.com
In each installment of "Worth a Closer Look" we do our best to bring you new and exciting products from our industry. These write-ups are not press releases, but are minireviews written by the Model Aviation staff. In each instance the product or service is actually built, tested, flown, used, etc., to give you a firsthand account of how it performs.
We have found some of these items on our own, but many have been brought to our attention from outside sources. If you have a product or service that you feel might be "worth a closer look," contact Model Aviation Aeromodeling Editor Bob Hunt at (610) 614-1747, or send an E-mail to [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
