Building Techniques

Here's what we're aiming to achieve…. A mate of mine was looking at one of my battered home-brew models in the pits. After a pause, he asked me where I’d bought the unusually long sprung nose leg. When I told him I didn’t buy it, but bent it up in the shed, he looked at…

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This article was first published in 2005. Designing a scale model such my Cessna Bobcat is an ongoing process. Generating a set of working plans, enabling the major parts of the airframe (wings, fuselage and tailplane) to be constructed, is just the beginning. As work progresses and the model evolves, the designer’s hat has to…

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I’d been itching to get some paint on my Cessna Bobcat, which was adorned with rib stitching and pinking tapes. But what paint to use? Regular readers may recall my review (February 2006 RCM&E) of Klass Kote, a very durable, fuelproof 2-pack epoxy system from the USA that’s imported to the UK by Baron Paints.…

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If you've ever wonder how to go about creating your own decals then Chris, aka Big Bandit on the forum has just the answer. His new forum tutorial explores the step-by-step process and well worth perusing. Click here to go there.            

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  Tools for the job – Robart centre finder for pin hinges and drill, the other is a Dubro hinge slotting kit. The 3mm spruce is a most useful tool for slotting (see text). Presently (as you may be aware from my build blogs) I have three models ready for fitting out – an Evolution…

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* It is your responsibility to have proper virus scanners and firewalls in place before downloading and opening files from the internet, there are some mean people out there who hide viruses (and worse) inside downloaded files.   There are 4 main types of file format you will most likely come across:   Raster (jpg,…

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This is Dave's new Ultimate bipe – it'll be a free plan in RCM&E very soon. We're grateful to Dave Royds for supplying a list (below) of the material sources he uses for his fantastic models, many of which have been published in RCM&E.   Don't miss Dave's new article 'Soft Stuff' published in the…

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Fig.1 Welcome back. In part.1 we looked at preparation so let’s get covering.  PANEL GAMES The wings, tail surfaces, and the fuselage can be covered using large sections of film, applied following the sequences shown in Fig.1&2. Start by covering the underside of the wing with half-panels, followed by similar panels on the upper surface.…

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Available in a whole range of colours, Solarfilm is easy to apply once you’ve mastered a few basics. Over the last 30 years, Solarfilm has revolutionised the way in which we cover our models, making it possible to achieve light, durable and spectacularly colourful finishes. Unfortunately, like everything that involves a certain dexterity (and attention…

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There’s life beyond the Li-Po as these cell types continue to prove In part.1 we looked at the popular and versatile lithium polymer cell and this time we’re going to discuss most other types of battery. Firstly, let’s examine some of the many other types of cell available to us while explaining the rationale behind…

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