What Kit would you like to see brought back?
12-02-2016, 03:00 PM
#176
I have noticed a trend with the RTFs and ARFs even the larger size airplanes are going to all molded foam or as close as they can get. The foam does away with most of the building mistakes by the cheap labor and makes the airplane even more of a disposable airplane.
12-02-2016, 06:21 PM
#177
Good Lord, this forum is making me want so many. How about a scale kit series, intended originally for CL, but frequently converted to RC as the radios became smaller and more reliable. They were originally sold as Eureka, Kayeff, K-O, Kyosho, Aristo, and many others, They had a line of CL jets for the Tiger Pulse Jet engine they sold, a slightly larger line of jets for the Dyna Jet, some 33" scale civilian and military for engines .19 to .29,multi engine jobs like a Japanese Betty twin, a C-119, a B-29 with an 82.5" span, and the monster B-36 D, 113", often flown with anything from 6 .15s to 6 .40s with 4 Jetex 150s. I had a number of old Air Trails, Young men, and such showing them being flown at various NATs, rc and cl, with weight into the near 30 pound range. I actually have their 54" P/F-61 Black Widow kit with sprung shock absorbing tricycle gear. Maybe some day with a pair of rc .25s, CL for elevator, and a side radio for throttle and operating light, maybe a sound system for the quad 20 mm ventral and quad .50 dorsal turret.
So many models to build, so little time (and money!)
So many models to build, so little time (and money!)
12-05-2016, 05:53 AM
#178
Good Lord, this forum is making me want so many. How about a scale kit series, intended originally for CL, but frequently converted to RC as the radios became smaller and more reliable. They were originally sold as Eureka, Kayeff, K-O, Kyosho, Aristo, and many others, They had a line of CL jets for the Tiger Pulse Jet engine they sold, a slightly larger line of jets for the Dyna Jet, some 33" scale civilian and military for engines .19 to .29,multi engine jobs like a Japanese Betty twin, a C-119, a B-29 with an 82.5" span, and the monster B-36 D, 113", often flown with anything from 6 .15s to 6 .40s with 4 Jetex 150s. I had a number of old Air Trails, Young men, and such showing them being flown at various NATs, rc and cl, with weight into the near 30 pound range. I actually have their 54" P/F-61 Black Widow kit with sprung shock absorbing tricycle gear. Maybe some day with a pair of rc .25s, CL for elevator, and a side radio for throttle and operating light, maybe a sound system for the quad 20 mm ventral and quad .50 dorsal turret.
So many models to build, so little time (and money!)
So many models to build, so little time (and money!)
How about posting a picture of that P-61 kit? Even unbuilt it would be worth seeing!
12-05-2016, 06:22 AM
#179
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You folks are all right on the mark. Our hobby has changed from late night building after home work was done. The clock was well past 2:00am many nights trying to get the ribs glued in with ambroid. Stacked balsa nose pieces or wing tips had to be dry before you could work them with a razor and sand paper. My first "multi-tasking" I think. We have given generations games like "Pong" "play station" and cellphones. We didn't know that we were poisoning the well of imagination. As a child I would visit relatives in other states. Give me a corner and a tv tray and I was out of the way. My grand kids visit us by the lake and mope because there is "nothing to do." I am afraid we let the Genie out of the bottle. I don't know a single person that has an interest in my old kits or built models. Lets just enjoy what we have and keep copying plans and building as long as we can. I must insert a negative opinion. I don't care for multi bladed hover craft with cameras. I guess that is why I keep my old fouling piece. Just one old guy's opinion, not very important.
12-05-2016, 11:09 AM
#180
I was talking with the owner of the LHS about all these quads with cameras. He was telling me the prices have been in a free fall for about a year. He said it seems like the cheaper they get and the easier they are to fly, the less interest he sees from customers interested in buying them. They are becoming more like the little trow away foamy RTF and BNF airplanes. The small helicopters seemed to me to have followed the same path. For a while they were all the rage you couldn't go to a mall without seeing at least one kiosk selling them. Now those same kiosks are selling all quads with cameras. I can't help but wonder what the long term damage will be to the hobby.
12-05-2016, 01:42 PM
#181
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If I could make a wish come true, there are lots of .40 and .60 kits I would love to see back but I still have to digress to my early attempts to build anything without following the instructions. Patients was not my virtue for a long time. Unless you had a willing and knowledgeable mentor (I used to envy kids that had dads or brothers to guide them.) many kits ended up badly built and badly broken. The ceilings of hobby shops were my inspiration they were wing tip to wing tip with Sterling CL models, Comet rubber power. Oh gosh the beautiful finishes. So you save pop bottles, mow neighbor's lawns and just about anything to bring home a Comet WWII fighter, tube of Ambroid and dope. It was literally years for me to learn about CG and building light. i am saddened that my own grand children do not exhibit the tenacity or patients. They sit like robots exercising the "apps" on their cell phones. I sometimes wonder what became of the occasional idiot that wanted to light a model on fire to look like a crashed fighter. I broke out my balsa stripper and other scratch tools. Berkeley and Comet..Sterling..and Topflite. Oh well.
12-05-2016, 02:08 PM
#184
12-05-2016, 02:25 PM
#185
There are so many partially built projects like that around now, going for little or nothing, or planes built from kits that once flew, haven't in years, but look tempting to fix up. I've fixed up quite a few of those. Sometimes it's hard to tell at the outset if it's really worth it or not. Some of mine have been successes that I've enjoyed, but then I realize I've gotten away from my own top priorities.
That one looks like a VK Fokker triplane. I can tell you it's not an easy kit from the start, so maybe you're doing better than it feels like right now. I hope it works out well for you in the end. It's a great looking model when finished; some fly very well, some not so much. I think a lot depends on how heavy it comes out.
Jim
That one looks like a VK Fokker triplane. I can tell you it's not an easy kit from the start, so maybe you're doing better than it feels like right now. I hope it works out well for you in the end. It's a great looking model when finished; some fly very well, some not so much. I think a lot depends on how heavy it comes out.
Jim
12-05-2016, 02:59 PM
#186
There are so many partially built projects like that around now, going for little or nothing, or planes built from kits that once flew, haven't in years, but look tempting to fix up. I've fixed up quite a few of those. Sometimes it's hard to tell at the outset if it's really worth it or not. Some of mine have been successes that I've enjoyed, but then I realize I've gotten away from my own top priorities.
That one looks like a VK Fokker triplane. I can tell you it's not an easy kit from the start, so maybe you're doing better than it feels like right now. I hope it works out well for you in the end. It's a great looking model when finished; some fly very well, some not so much. I think a lot depends on how heavy it comes out.
Jim
That one looks like a VK Fokker triplane. I can tell you it's not an easy kit from the start, so maybe you're doing better than it feels like right now. I hope it works out well for you in the end. It's a great looking model when finished; some fly very well, some not so much. I think a lot depends on how heavy it comes out.
Jim
12-05-2016, 03:11 PM
#187
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Did he use an aromatic adhesive like ambroid or white glue a loooong time ago. No matter. You look like you are on your way. Got the plans? If so start at step 1 and make corrections till you are caught up. One of the reasons I love wood planes is because you can scarff and re-cut almost from scratch. She will sniff out the sky with a proud pilot below! To stay with the thread I'll through in a curve. I was 13 and fell in love with a Sterling c9 Kit of an f4u1 Corsair (CL) It hung in a hobby shop all dark Navy Blue. The builder had marked all panel lines and detail in white ink then clear coated and buffed it. Hand carved 3 blade prop on a Torp 29. Pretty, oh so pretty. Wanted to build it but the kits are over $100.00 now and I no longer do CL. Any Greenhouse canopy blue/black gull wing set off with white ink stole my heart near 60 years ago.
12-05-2016, 06:36 PM
#188
That doesn't seem to work either. They are also available on the outerzone.co.uk site, with maybe 10,000 or 15,000 other preserved plans and articles. Here's the spun cowlings and the sprung tricycle LG, anyway.
12-06-2016, 07:13 AM
#190
That doesn't seem to work either. They are also available on the outerzone.co.uk site, with maybe 10,000 or 15,000 other preserved plans and articles. Here's the spun cowlings and the sprung tricycle LG, anyway.
