Hints, tips, and How-to's
Hints, tips, and How-to's
In this section, I am going to mention some hints and tips and how-to's which I happened to discover or develop over the years I spent building and flying model aircraft.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Hints and tips
1. In our hobby we need lots of nicknacks with which to build our models, and some things are not often found in model shops. For example, do not throw away broken Tx aerials, or any other extendible antenna which comes with portable radios. This contraption offers an excellent variety of thin brass tubes which are very useful for bushes, small pushrods, tubing, guides, etc.
2. If any of you build models from scratch or from a plan, you will know how tedious it is to copy ribs, formers, etc on to wood. I found an excellent way of doing this. You make a photocopy of the part you want to copy, dampen the paper with some cellulose thinner, place the paper on the wood facing down and iron it with an electric iron and hey presto, the ink from the photocopy is transferred to the wood.
3. Nowadays it is common practice to seal our balsa covered models with laminating epoxy only (without any cloth) before painting. A lot of elbow grease is needed, however, to smoothen down the resultant surface, and most of the time a second coat would also be necessary. For flat surfaces or straight curves (not compound curves) I have solved this problem and eased the process. After applying the epoxy place a smooth piece of plastic large enough to cover the whole area and without any creases over the surface, and smoothen it out so that no creases appear. This may be a bit tedious, but you will get used to do it quickly. Remove any surplus epoxy that oozes out from the ends and leave overnight. When cured, remove the plastic sheet and you have a very smooth surface which needs a minimum of sanding. Needless to say, you can only do, for example, one surface of a wing at a time. While acknowledging the fact that there are other more sophisticated ways of achieving a smooth finish without too much sweat, I think this method is cheap and easy. What is actually happening is that the surface tension of the epoxy keeps it on the surface of the wood and as a result does not seep into the grain, leaving a glassy cover over the wood - just what you need! Again, attention must previously be given to producing a very smooth surface, otherwise the results will not be good.
4. A lot has been said in the magazines on how to produce miniature rivets on scale models. One method which I have never seen is the use of those subminiature circular pieces of paper that fall out from a telex machine!! I am aware that telex machines are rapidly going out of existence, but if you ever saw one, you will note that it has a yellow and narrow strip of paper in the form of a roll which is punched with miniature holes (two sizes) while the machine is working - the tiny pieces of paper are perfect as scale rivets on normal sized scale models. Putting them on the model is another matter, as it needs quite a bit of patience - I use a small modelling pin to get hold of each of them, and dip each one of them in diluted PVA glue - thirty rivets is the maximum I could manage in one session!!!!
5. When you rig up your fuel tank in your model, the usual practice is to use three outlets, one for the feed, one for filling and emptying (which end must be at the bottom of the tank) and another to act as a vent (which end must be at the top of the tank). Although when using two outlets only this idea is not so useful, it can also be used. Instead of bending the brass tubes so that their end is at the top or bottom (making it very awkward to insert the rubber plug) just bend them slightly up and down and use a short piece of silicone tubing to carry on to the top or bottom - it makes life easier!!!
6. Broken or old and unwanted mains plugs and sockets, connectors, etc can come in quite handy in our hobby. The British type of three pin 13 amp plugs and sockets are particularly useful when you need any sort of collet for holding wheels in place or spacing your engine out from the firewall. The smaller two pin ones, even those sockets for bayonet type bulbs have small brass fittings which can be utilised for many things in our hobby. I have also come across large broken mains switches which have large diameter collets and large screws - I have used a couple of these to restrict air flow in my pneumatic retracts - a small piece of sheet brass or alum between the screw and the pipe will minimise the risk of puncturing the air pipe.
7. When aligning wings with fuselage, all kit instructions emphasise accurate measurements generally from the wing tips to the end of the fuselage, but fail to suggest how. I found a very handy tool to do this job - your transmitter aerial!! Just extend it to the required length on one sie and see if the measurement of the other side tallies without varying the length, of course.
More to come....stay tuned!!!!
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