Zero scale?
 

Can someone explain to me how to figure the scale of my CMP Zero? It has a wingspan of 53.5" and length of 44.5"
The original A6M5 had a wingspan of 39' 4" and length of 29' 9". I am trying to get a pilot for this plane and need to get close to the scale size. Thanks WDH

RE: Zero scale?
 

The wing would have a span of 472". Divide that by the span of the model, 53.5" and you'd get 8.8, so the CMP zero is about a 1:9 scale.

RE: Zero scale?
 

Of course, the Zero fuselage is 357" long and that divided by 44.5" would give 8.0, so a pilot of scale 1/8 or 1/9 would work.

RE: Zero scale?
 

It's almost a given that the semi-scale models will work out with one scale for the wing and another for the fuselage. Guess the Chinese manufacture more for their mfg process than to be consistent to scale.

RE: Zero scale?
 

Thanks guys. I got a CMP Zero .50 today. Has anybody installed the mechanical retracts on this thing. I'm kinda new to retracts but these are pretty far out of alignment. Note that the retract in the pic is not pushed all the way into the wing, but its is aligned with the slot so I could get some idea of the fit. Do I bend the landing gear wire or modify the wing mount slot to get the correct angle? I got these sent with the plane from AK-models so I thought they would be OK. Alex told me they were the retracts for this zero. I have attached a pic so any help will greatly be appreciated. Don

RE: Zero scale?
 

Ok first off the blocks that they supply you with for the fixed gear have to be split and epoxied in almost fulsh with the wing surface , second you have to bend the wire of the gear forward about 5 degrees this will allow the gear to fall into the wheel well when it retracts it (makes sense when you look at it and see that it has to be this way ) also it will prevent you from nosing over on landings

RE: Zero scale?
 

You drew all over your tiger II plans?

RE: Zero scale?
 

As da Rck stated, the model is semi-scale. Almost all ARF "scale" models are strictly just more look-a-likes than scale models. The wings are designed for FLYING and therefore are larger and thicker than any true scale model. That is good because up in the air it looks fine, looks like the real airplane and you have fun which is what it is all about.

Now the subject Pilot? Just my opinion, however having spent some life-time in cockpits, which are normally very cramped, I suggest you go with a larger pilot than the advertised scale. I have seen so many warbirds with small pilots that totally distract from realism yet they are advertised to the same scale. (Measuring works.) It is the head and shoulders that make the real looks in the cockpit. If you have access to some Warbird pictures, you can see that a Zero canopy was filled with the head and top of shoulders of the average person. In this case size does matter. :)

RE: Zero scale?
 

Yes and keep in mind, back then, most jap pilots were small, so a regular pilot in 1/8th scale will look big in the cockpit, I had the 120 size one but sold it before finishing it, I had pictures on how to do scale gear doors but lost them all due to giving the old PC to the ex girlfriend when I split with her. The pic's are here on RCU with a bunch of scale documentation on the zero, color schemes and different outfittings of the plane.
I think it was "GSP Zero" for a thread.

RE: Zero scale?
 

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RE: Zero scale?
 

As already indicated by some of the guys. Figuring pilot size from measured scale is hopeless and usually ends up almost humorus looking. This is especially so for many Arfs. You are far better off going strictly by Eye and what looks good to you, That will be the correct size.

A pet peeve with me is many of the supplied pilots or molded in pilots from CMP as well as some other china products are hugh and as far removed from scale as possible. They look more like cartoon characters.

Canopys used by many of the CMP airplanes tend to be far too big. This is caused by fat fuselages. Fat fuses are used to make it easier to install servos and what not. If you look at every Spitfire arf avaliable today for example you will see not the slender true scale fuselage but instead a fat blunt object thats easy to put servos into.

RE: Zero scale?
 

Very true, most spitfire pilots died because when being shot down, they couldn't get out of the plane, it was very tight inside, they had to slide the canopy and then flip the access door down in order to get out, try doing that while the planes going down fast and in a death spiral.

RE: Zero scale?
 

Good ideas about sizing but keep in mind that some planes like the Me109 and Spitfire were quite small in relationship to their pilots, but then there were the P47s and Hellcats etc.

Best thing to do is look for pictures of your particular subject and try for a pilot figure that'd give the proportion you see in a couple of pictures.

RE: Zero scale?
 

Yes my TF p-47 swallows my pilot, but it's scale, so it's suppose to be bigger than the pilots shoulders across the canopy rails.