HPA

Hmmmmm..... all very interesting. I admit to being traditional in my approach to aero modelling.  But that has not prevented me from using materials such as foam for the core of floats on occasions and plastic sheet for say moulded wheel spats as examples.  I rarely if ever fly competitively but I still need to have my models as light as possible for the usual reasons.

That FAC prefer to maintain a traditional approach is fine and is welcomed by me. But perhaps they should (if they already do not) make it clear to people applying for membership that is what is expected of members.  There can be no purpose whatsoever in rudeness. Or being dismissive of others preferred practices.

Balsa was unheard of in the early days. and I recall I think it was Pelly Fry or maybe the Colonel who visited a model shop in Oxford Street (Jones?) and were shown a block of balsa wood.  The proprietor said it would never catch on and handed it over free of charge.

I like the idea of keeping traditions alive in all respects.  But I am not sure why some are obsessed with the idea. I recall at a vintage meet (again years ago) a chap proudly boasting he had never held a transmitter ins life and did not intend to.  Fine but nothing to be proud of surely?  The Colonel and Bert Judge did.

Why I wonder do some folk want to control the rest of us - in so many respects.  Is it a form of insecurity.

Not much of a contribution I admit but just wanted to post something as I have just rejoined and have not done anything aeromodellingwise worthy of posting.

Wow, that is insane! In a good way
I will never be able to pull of something that detailed!
Excellent!

I picked up an inexpensive electric motor and prop from Banggood after after seeing a 16" span model flown with that motor, and it went up like a rocket. Bill Walton, the designer, suggested that it can power a larger model. I selected the Korker designed by Keith Storey and Ken Willard in 1951. It was intended for 1/4 to 1/2 A engines with a wing span of 35". I reduced it to 20' wing span. Banggood "Gearbox  0720 coreless motor cw and prop" and is on sale for $2.81. The circuit board is from Luke Napier, with motor run set by choosing a resister. The battery is 80mah.

Does it fly? Yes, and now that I got it out of a tree it will fly again.

Effective? Yep...


Forgot to add, after covering the fuselage sides, the holes for the control cable exits were cut and reenforced with tiny paper loops and the thread was passed through from the inside.

It would be impossible to go from the outside in, unless one had 1/20 scale workers doing the job, a joke that was discussed a bit back in 2023...

Skiped photographing the last stage, the rods were trimmed closer to the base and sanded almost to the height of the thread thickness.

When satisfied with  the appearance, it wa stime to remove the paper patern from the base. This was done carefully, by cutting with a sharp razorblade all the rods under the patern, that were now glued to the balsa block.

Final preparation step, to cut the pattern outline, getting rid of the excess paper.

and, at last, to glue the resulting part onto the fuselage covering (doped by now).

Crazy? Yep...

The drawings were printed on thin paper and the paterns were cut.

Each paper patern was secured with scotch tape on a balsa block / base.

Next, 0,3mm holes were drilled at the proper position and angle.

Then, short lengths of 0,3mm polystyrene rods were inserted into the holes and glued to the paper patern with dope. For the moment protruding much more than needed.

Fine thread, to simulate the actual lacing material was passed through and glued to the rods with 2-3 coats of thinned dope.

Sounds like a good plan, I'll give it a try next time

So, that would mean the fuselage is finished. Normally. But there is some debate as to what normal is. Or how normal the builder was when he was building this...

Another surface texture detail that stuck to my head was the fuselage lacing. Having a clear 3D texture, I was not satisfied with simply simulating it by paint or leaving it out altogether.

So (the madness begins) first I measured from photogrqaphs the aproximate pitch of the lacing pins and drew the lacing paterns.

Open cockpit means the wood structure is visible through the cockpits, so this area was given some brown varnish too.

Next came the covering of the sides, the rear top fuselage and the bottom

to achieve a uniform overhang distance from the top decking, a balsa spacer was used to trim/sand the excess foam.

Next it was sanded round and pressed where the coaming stitching would be.

Finally it was sealed with thinned down white glue to a smooth finish for painting.