Playtron kits
08-02-2011, 03:33 PM
#3
RE: Playtron kits
yes they do call for a Gmark 03. i found a guy that had a 03 but didnt want to sell it. I have several td 020 and one with a throttle that i know make more power. I was working on a TD 020 with small belt drive ut gave up when the total weight added about 3/4 ounce to the engine.
It is a very nice kit. If you took the Great planes wood kit for the Cap 21 put it in a shrink machine that is what you have with this kit.
I will make copy's of parts one day. Just looking to see if anyone has pics of what they built.
It is a very nice kit. If you took the Great planes wood kit for the Cap 21 put it in a shrink machine that is what you have with this kit.
I will make copy's of parts one day. Just looking to see if anyone has pics of what they built.
08-03-2011, 08:43 AM
#4
My Feedback: (4)
RE: Playtron kits
I have one or more of all four micro Playtron kits: CAP 21, Dalotel, F-15 pusher jet and the Citabria.....color me a little obsessed..
I have a flyable CAP that was assembled in the early 1980s. With primitive .6 to .75 oz servos of the time and a Dorffler micro rx. It was marginal but still fun on a TD .020. Since it needed a couple of small sinkers on the firewall for balance, I converted it to a plastic back .049 with a throttle sleeve cylinder using the stock tank. Prop was 5x3 or 5x4. Balance worked out perfectly.
Performance was simply incredible.
These days, with the radio gear being a number of oz lighter, a well tuned TD .020 will probably work decently and the model ought to balance better with it. I would still consider a plastic back .049 for the vertical performance, though.
Twist a GENEROUS amount of washout into the wingtips. I think I ended up with 6-8 degrees. (would still snap instantly on command and flew perfectly, even with this huge amount of washout.)
I flew the Dalotel with the GMark .030 and it was pretty nice, but I eventually converted it to a throttle sleeved plastic backed /049, as well. The G-Mark throttle work out rather quickly and was leaking a termendous amount of air. The Dalotel died at one of the Pumpkin Patch SMALLS when the aileron servo quit...my fault...accidently used a long servo screw on the futaba micro servo output arm instead of a short one...always screws them up. Still have the parts to the Dalotel and it is rebuildable.
Flew the F-15 on a plastic back .049 (no sleeve) from the beginning and it worked well. Flew it at SMALL in 2000: picture in the SMALL history thread in the Flying models coverage. converted it to a hot electric and it is still flyable...need a tail glued back on
The Citabria is still new in box. I have two more Dalotels I picked up at swap meets that had been started and are going to be built some day. I have two CAP kits, with one promised to a friend.
Love the Playtron models. I also have the larger .25 size Dalotel built and flyable.
I would consider selling the G-Mark.030, if anyone is interested. a crafty person could probably fix the carb air leak (thottle barrel got sloppy to the throttle body.)
I have a flyable CAP that was assembled in the early 1980s. With primitive .6 to .75 oz servos of the time and a Dorffler micro rx. It was marginal but still fun on a TD .020. Since it needed a couple of small sinkers on the firewall for balance, I converted it to a plastic back .049 with a throttle sleeve cylinder using the stock tank. Prop was 5x3 or 5x4. Balance worked out perfectly.
Performance was simply incredible.
These days, with the radio gear being a number of oz lighter, a well tuned TD .020 will probably work decently and the model ought to balance better with it. I would still consider a plastic back .049 for the vertical performance, though.
Twist a GENEROUS amount of washout into the wingtips. I think I ended up with 6-8 degrees. (would still snap instantly on command and flew perfectly, even with this huge amount of washout.)
I flew the Dalotel with the GMark .030 and it was pretty nice, but I eventually converted it to a throttle sleeved plastic backed /049, as well. The G-Mark throttle work out rather quickly and was leaking a termendous amount of air. The Dalotel died at one of the Pumpkin Patch SMALLS when the aileron servo quit...my fault...accidently used a long servo screw on the futaba micro servo output arm instead of a short one...always screws them up. Still have the parts to the Dalotel and it is rebuildable.
Flew the F-15 on a plastic back .049 (no sleeve) from the beginning and it worked well. Flew it at SMALL in 2000: picture in the SMALL history thread in the Flying models coverage. converted it to a hot electric and it is still flyable...need a tail glued back on
The Citabria is still new in box. I have two more Dalotels I picked up at swap meets that had been started and are going to be built some day. I have two CAP kits, with one promised to a friend.
Love the Playtron models. I also have the larger .25 size Dalotel built and flyable.
I would consider selling the G-Mark.030, if anyone is interested. a crafty person could probably fix the carb air leak (thottle barrel got sloppy to the throttle body.)
08-03-2011, 10:37 AM
#5
RE: Playtron kits
They are awesome kits. I too want to copy mine and build it. With so many parts it's fairly complicated and the vacuformed parts are numerous. I was just thinking the kits really aren't worth that much however. These don't even show up on thEbay often, what are they worth? Mine has a price tag of $34.95. I remember seeing them in the shops in the mid 80's. So that's like $70 today. I don't think they bring much more than that. Radio gear today makes it much more interesting.
I began building an Extra 300 of my own design ~24" span around 2000 or so. The wings and tail are in a box somewhere. It was going to be electric, I should reconsider.
I began building an Extra 300 of my own design ~24" span around 2000 or so. The wings and tail are in a box somewhere. It was going to be electric, I should reconsider.
08-03-2011, 10:49 AM
#6
RE: Playtron kits
I know the Gmark is weak but if its new send me an email with a price.
I didnt know they had a F15 that would be awesome. I have two 40mm fans that put out around 14 ounces of thrust total which I think I could make work in that F-15.
I didnt know they had a F15 that would be awesome. I have two 40mm fans that put out around 14 ounces of thrust total which I think I could make work in that F-15.
08-03-2011, 03:56 PM
#8
My Feedback: (4)
RE: Playtron kits
ORIGINAL: airraptor
.......
I didnt know they had a F15 that would be awesome. I have two 40mm fans that put out around 14 ounces of thrust total which I think I could make work in that F-15.
.......
I didnt know they had a F15 that would be awesome. I have two 40mm fans that put out around 14 ounces of thrust total which I think I could make work in that F-15.
Here is a old picture of the Playtron F-15 from SMALL 2000 coverage in FM. Very small, as you can see. The kit came with a very nice set of decals for the Bi-Centennial F-15 Eagle in the red/white blue scheme.
08-03-2011, 04:11 PM
#9
My Feedback: (4)
RE: Playtron kits
ORIGINAL: gkamysz
They are awesome kits. I too want to copy mine and build it. With so many parts it's fairly complicated and the vacuformed parts are numerous. I was just thinking the kits really aren't worth that much however. These don't even show up on thEbay often, what are they worth? Mine has a price tag of $34.95. I remember seeing them in the shops in the mid 80's. So that's like $70 today. I don't think they bring much more than that. Radio gear today makes it much more interesting.
I began building an Extra 300 of my own design ~24'' span around 2000 or so. The wings and tail are in a box somewhere. It was going to be electric, I should reconsider.
They are awesome kits. I too want to copy mine and build it. With so many parts it's fairly complicated and the vacuformed parts are numerous. I was just thinking the kits really aren't worth that much however. These don't even show up on thEbay often, what are they worth? Mine has a price tag of $34.95. I remember seeing them in the shops in the mid 80's. So that's like $70 today. I don't think they bring much more than that. Radio gear today makes it much more interesting.
I began building an Extra 300 of my own design ~24'' span around 2000 or so. The wings and tail are in a box somewhere. It was going to be electric, I should reconsider.
Old United Hobby distributors (several branches around, including one in DFW) bought a large supply of these kits on some kind of a deal from China and started selling them at a huge discount from the normal wholesale list price. Local toy/hobby stores like Toys by Roy and such started selling them. There were not too common in real hobby shops. The rumor was that United did not really notice how tiny the kits actually were until they arrived in the US.
The Playtron CAP-21 was wholesaled so that a shop could actually make money selling them for about 36 bucks, but the list price in the early 1980s was a very expensive $75 or thereabouts. The Dalotel was even more...I think mine was 40-45 with a list price of 80-90.
The kit line pretty much died out not all that long after the big sale to United Hobby. Playtron also did some R/C car stuff, but it too went away.
Their super micro contro linkages, horns and other hardware would still sell well today, with the advent of micro electric models.
