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THIS IS WHERE you can try your hand at a bit of journalism if you feel like writing up the construction of a kit or reviewing some new gadget that you've tried and tested. It doesn't have to be hi-tech stuff either, but good, practical and easy-to-understand items that will be of interest and value to the majority of us!

If you are busy on a project, don't wait until it's finished before considering telling us about it - you may never get round to it! Instead, tell us about it now, and keep us informed of your progress - and don't be shy about the failures 'cos we can all learn from each other's mistakes!

Articles about any aspect of model-making, accessories or general interest relating to the model flight world will be welcome.

This issue:

a combination model stand and wing balancer

A DECENT model stand is something which you will constantly use, of course, but you need to reckon on building a good number of models to really justify the purchase of one of the commercially-available wing balancers at around £32. Here's a very straightforward design combining the two functions which I recently built and which I assure you works an absolute treat.

I believe the illustrations will obviate the need to spell out a blow-by-blow set of instructions; instead I will just mention the materials used and give some idea of the dimensions, although those suggest themselves from the dimensions of the sort of models which most of us fly. To save initial down-load time, I've inserted the pictures as thumbnails - just click on any picture for a full-screen view and then your Back button to return to this page.

  
1 Picture 1 shows the finished stand with the wing-balancing and distance-setting rods not inserted. The main end-pieces are constructed from 6mm ply, overall size 300mm x 190mm with a 130mm deep V-shaped cutout to take the model's fuselage. The end-pieces are screwed and glued to 32mm square lengths of softwood and joined by two 600mm lengths of 19mm diameter chromed tube (shower curtain rail). The holes for the tubes go right through one of the end-pieces to allow it to slide along the tubes to adjust for differing fuselage lengths. The edges of the V-shaped cutouts could be protected with foam or rubber strip, although I just lay a piece of foam in (or even drying-up cloths if Dorothy isn't looking!) to protect the fuselage if considered necessary.

2 Picture 2 illustrates the way the main wing-balancing rods are fixed to the outside of each of the two end-pieces. The rod is 6mm steel, cut to length and bent at a right-angle. I found it helpful to heat up the rod to red-hot at the bending point and allow it to cool to enable it to be bent more easily in the vice. The rod is inserted in two of those plastic corner blocks used for self-assembly furniture, with the single, central hole enlarged to 6mm to take the rod. I've bolted these rod holders to the end-pieces with 4mm bolts which nicely fit the double holes which pass through the other face of the plastic block. The rod is easily removed and can be turned inwards or outwards, of course.

 3 Picture 3 shows the balancing rods and the two smaller balance-point distance-setting rods in place. The distance-setting rods are 2.25mm (3/32 in) steel, bent at right angles. They are fitted through one of those little electrical wire-joining blocks cut from the strip to include one of the fixing holes in order to fix the block to the end-piece with a suitably-sized bolt. The steel rod was bought in my local model shop - good old Neville!

4 Picture 4 gives more detail of the distance-setting rods.

Clearly this rod can be inserted through the block in either direction and this will ensure that the upright can be set at any required distance from the balancing rod so that when the front edge of the wing rests against it, the balancing rod is at the correct centre of gravity point back from the wing edge as indicated by the kit plans. If you insert the rod as pictured above, the terminal block actually produces a 'dead' spot, and this is why you must ensure the long arm of this rod is long enough to allow you to set the upright left or right of the V-shaped cutout of the end-pieces, as you will see I had to do at picture 6. When the rods are adjusted to their required setting as measured from the balancing rod, tighten the terminal block screws to hold them there.

So, here's the gadget in action:

 5   6    7

Picture 5 - the model stand mode, no padding in place. 

Picture 6 - the balancing rod and distance-setting rods in use.

Picture 7 - one nicely balanced model!

 
[Feb 26, 2000]

no need to give up smoking . . .

HERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL for the large-scale model flyer - a brand new smoke unit recently announced by Megasmoke. This easy-to-fit unit has been designed by Simon Brudenell for large glow+petrol engines. The kit consists of a long-life high volume gear pump together with the electronics that will not only stop/start the unit but are also a volume control. This means that you can adjust the actual amount of fuel that is pumped to the engine exhaust to obtain maximum burn, giving no wasted fuel and more smoke for longer.

The all-up weight of the kit is 4oz, the maximum current drain is 1A and fuel flow is 1ltr in 10 minutes at full flow at 4.8v.

For your £67.00 you will get the MegaSmoke unit, fuel pipe and one-way valve. There's a link to the MegaSmoke website on the links page, where you can see piccies of the unit itself and find contacts for ordering.

By the way, the banner picture is a Sukkhoi 26 80in. model taken at 100ft.

[Feb 26, 2000]

Now, I'm looking for more editorial style items to include here, so how about some of you sharing some of your knowledge with the rest of us? E-mail me with text and pictures, if possible, of anything you think might interest your fellow model flight enthusiasts and it can go world-wide!