The first model airplane I built to be a no-excuses electric-powered entry for the US Scale Master’s competition was this ¼ scale 1941 Taylorcraft BC-12D. It took me two years to build the model, which first flew in 1997. This photo was taken on the RC Scale event ramp at Muncie, IN in that year. […]
Last time we devoted a lot of attention to “plastic stuff”…windows and turrets. Those details are now in place and securely masked off, ready for painting (which is coming soon). Several series back I also mentioned getting some covering onto the control surfaces…elevator, rudder and ailerons…which are indeed the only “open” structure on a B-17. […]
Last time I showed you a pair of simulated-but-real-looking landing lights. Do you remember my discussion at the beginning of that installment about the ever-present need to weight the value of added detail against the value of the weight savings that doing without them offers? Those landing lights are a good example…I chose to include […]
The last time you saw Bob Benjamin’s Master’s Workshop it was part of FLY RC Magazine and this home page had a different look. As most of you probably know by now, FLY RC is gone. I spent the better part of a year working behind the scenes with the handful of creative people, writing […]
Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F-F – Part 21 Hey, this stuff is starting to get interesting! Getting this B-17 ready for that first flight is pretty much down to “detail work” now. As I mentioned once or twice before, I could pretty well just add some control surface covering, stick some props on […]
Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 20 It’s time for more detail work…all the “little stuff” that brings out the “scale” in scale aeromodelling. Like other small/fine details that represent actual structure (as opposed to markings which exist only on the surface) all these things need to be completed before I can […]
Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 19 I’m going to pick up right where we left off the last time we got to work on the B-17. You may remember that I explained why I felt that those really lightweight plastic cowls needed some stiffening so they’d stand up well over time […]
Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 18 As it turned out I decided to finish-sand those overlap-joint-buildups later, as part of another big sanding task that’s coming up soon. Instead, we are starting off this time with some of the final details of the flap and aileron installations. There’s going to be […]
Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 17 It has been a while since we did any work on the B-17. Several months ago I hinted that there might be some changes in the works, and left it at that. In fact I have been busier than you want to know with some […]
Restoring A Classic PT-19 (Model) Airplane – Part 4 JULY 17, 2016… A NOTE TO ALL MY READERS: As you may have noticed I have not been posting material as often as in the past. Over the past year my wife and I have been involved 24/7 as the only caregivers for an elderly family […]