Large scale interest

[JohnFitz]

William, how about functional 1/4 and 1/3 exhaust for inline engines like the Hisso. and Mercedes? I'd be interested to see what kind of price you would come up with for cnc'd alum. rims and brass hubs to make wire wheels also. I think a good scale kit in 1/4 and 1/3 scale of the Spad VII and XIII would also be in demand. No one else has one. Cheers!
JohnFitz

[FlyingRazor]

Hey John... I've been asked several times for a Spad XIII, lovely, subject. I looked into it years ago and it's one busy little airplane and that thin airfoil really makes things interesting. I thought Proctor was importing the one in from Germany, I have not seen the kit. I saw a Spad at Top Gun years back it looked and flew really well, although, it was too small, don't remember the scale. Mr. Spad and Jim Keiger just finished up 5 years of effort on the plan set Jim released a while back. Just lovely plans full of detail and oodles of parts to make. I know a couple of European modelers are building one for the World competition held every other year.

William - I am in North Carolina near Duke, NCstate and UNC as you probably know the area. Raised in Florida, came here because of my real 8-5 job as a CAD engineer. Sounds like you fellas have a decent amount of documentation as you know documentation is troubling to get now and then but generally someone has something out there that can help. I have the turnbuckle info. It's just a matter of getting it done. Here's a short shopping list that I would love to see filled (Xmas in August)

1. Exhaust chutes for Spandau guns.
2. Magneto switch.
3. Altimeter or air speed housings (cockpit gauge housings)
4. Pulsometer
5. Dummy engines - crankcase, cylinders, etc. for LeRhone and in-lines

I think metal pieces escape a lot of modelers which typical can be done CNC or casted. And naturally you need to compliment these pieces with suitable planes. Right now there are a lot of German planes flying around as well as a decent amount of English planes. So, from that pool of aircraft a handfull of scale accessories could be developed to help the R/C modeler.

For years now, WW1 has lacked the "wow" factor. The Jet jockeys and heavy metal pilots seem to be making great headway on details, gadgets, etc. I came out with the lozenge fabric a while back that helped bring WW1 back into the fold a little bit but now we need to kick it up a notch with some really neat scale features. One thing marvelous about WW1, you can basically recreate certain features as the other eras have trouble with that.
Right now I'm working on recreating the Continental tire exactly and coming out with 1/3 scale 5 color lozenge fabric. This will help, but we could sure use some more details.

- Glenn

[JohnFitz]

Mr. Spad and Jim Keiger just finished up 5 years of effort on the plan set Jim released a while back. Just lovely plans full of detail and oodles of parts to make.

Glenn, Thanks for the info. Do you know how I could get a set of these plans? I would like to build a good "scale" Spad XIII or VII down the road. My VII is not true 1/4 scale. It is oversize. I built it from a French XIII plan I got from Arizona models.

John

[William]

John,
Jim Kiger's website is below. Jim is a super guy and you won't be disappointed with any of his plan-sets.
http://www.replicraft.us.fm/pricelist.html
Glenn,
Lucy (the engineering and U.K. half of C.F.E.) used to work for G.K.N. in Roxboro/Mebane. Who do you design for and what sort of software do you use? We use ProE.
We have CAD models completed for much of what you mentioned except the Spandau chutes and dummy engines although we have modeled significants parts of the Le Rhone as we restore ours. We work closely with a local foundry for castings from our prototypes so should be able to minimize cost there. I've sent you an e-mail with attachments of some of what has been completed so far. It will be interesting to see if they scale well. We will need to rely on more experienced folks for ideas about dummy engines. Any suggestions for a Le Rhone 110/120 layout as a dummy would be appreciated.
Thanks again to everyone for their input and encouragement. We will make a trial run of hardware for a 1/4 British cockpit and keep you posted on how they turn out .
Regards,
William & Lucy

[Taz]

William- Steve Anderson (artist and modeler with gallery here on Forum) did a 1/4 scale Le Rhone for me for a wall mounting of a Fokker F.I 103/17 cowling, engine and propeller. He still has the molds he made for the LeRhone and can provide copies. http://www.anderson-art.com/

Send me an e-mail at tphillips@schaferalb.com and I can send you photos of the cowling, engine, and propeller. No sense reinventing the wheel since Steve has already done the work down to spark plugs and wires. In case you did not know, Steve won an Emmy for a submarine model he did for the old Winds of War tv movie.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[JohnFitz]

William, Thanks. I didn't realize we were talking about Replicraft. Glenn, so get to work on a 1/4 scale Spad! Please. But I do prefer the VII. I also see that the plan is in 1/5 scale. William, if I buy the plans and send them to you will you enlarge them? Cheers!

Hi William,
Since you are already producing 1/1 scale items, I believe you will find marketing easily produced smaller scale items, as a byproduct, will be successful to help cover expenses.
Some of the hardware & fittings would have to be tested to see if they are suitable for flight loads if you are targeting R/C aeroplanes.
I am very interested in what you come up with in 1/4th scale so please keep in touch with us.
Cheers,
Reg

[Brown Baron]

William,
I expect my 1/4 scale Fokker Dr 1 kit to arrive tomorrow and I have been considering how I will reperesent the spinning rotary engine. It will be electric powered with either an Astro Cobalt 60 geared or a big AXI (outrunner) motor turning a large prop of 22" to 24" diameter. The actual RPM with the geared Astro will be in the range of 3600 to 4100 rpm with virtually no vibration.
Yasou,
Michael

I'm new here, but this thread caught my eye, as it sounds like the answer to a longstanding problem since the demise of Williams Brothers (who are coming back under new ownership, but it's painfully slow).

Along with a sore need for WWI scale dummy engines, guns, wheels in 1/8, 1/6, 1/5 (my own personal need at the moment), 1/4, and 1/3, there is an absolute absence of dummy radial engines for Golden Era aircraft, e.g Stearman, Fleet, Waco, etc. It's always puzzled me why there has never been any attempt by anyone to commercially (and convincingly) model the ubiquitous Continental 225 7-cylinder radial for scale models of the venerable and increasingly popular PT-17.

As a longtime devoted Stearman lover and modeler, I have no fewer than seven Stearmans in various scales from 1/5 to 1/12--some built, some not--all needing a dummy engine more representative of the type than the quite poor vacuum formed effort most Stearman kits get. It's akin to painting a Rolls-Royce with housepaint from a brush to hang these cheesy featureless vacuum-formed engines on a well executed model.

How about considering a robust plastic or resin rendition of a Conti 225 to help us poor Stearman guys out? I fly strictly electric (the electric side of R/C is gaining ground rapidly on gas and glow), so vibration resistance is of only mild concern. Additionally, electric powerplants make mounting of dummy radials over them an order of magnitude easier and better looking than mounting over a glow engine, so electric scale models of radial-powered aircraft are booming in popularity. The single glitch is the absolute unavailability of full dummy radial engines!

My Great Planes 1/5 scale N2S-3/PT-17 model is in dire need--I am looking at having to scratch-build one, with no alternatives available. My old Sterling PT-17 kit will need a 1/6 scale radial as well.

I've written to a few commercial manufacturers of small scale dummy engines, and have been basically told they had no interest, or to go to Williams Bros. for my parts.

Obviously that's not an option. I would expect to pay a price commensurate with the quality and uniqueness of such pieces, seeing as how they are utterly unavailable now.

Just a thought...okay, a plea.

Rick