I recently returned to building models 2 months ago after having not done any in probably 10-14 years. I recently started working from home and my wife works a lot of night shifts, so I was finding a couple nights of week where I had nothing to do. Video games and TV weren't cutting so I started to brain storm for some ideas. Back in July I decided to drive to my local hobby store and have a look around (hadn't been to a hobby store in probably 10 years). I saw on the wall one of the "Visible V-8 Engines" plastic models that Revell makes and was reminded of back when I was in 4th grade and my older brother had that model. I also remembered that he never finished it due to getting glue in the wrong spots and then plastic engine not work. I ended up picking up the model and worked on it during all my free time for a couple weeks, turned out pretty nice, really happy with it.
So that started me down the “what’s me next model going to be” path, a vicious cycle... I went back to the hobby store and looked through everything they had, and none of the plastic models would cut it for me. I kept being drawn over to the F-14 Tomcat from Guillows. I remembered doing that one back in early high school and enjoying it, thought it would be fun so picked it up, finished it up a couple weeks ago. At the time I didn’t want to tissue cover it, I was afraid it would be too fragile and I didn’t like the idea of the finish being ruined by something as thin as what my wife wraps presents with… Of course from reading on this forum and lots of other internet stuff, that is not necessarily the case, as the dope that you apply to the tissue helps reduce the risk of rips and punctures. But at the time I worked on the F-14 I didn’t know any better. So I thought it would be cool to keep the balsa look while still paint the model. So I ended up spray painting the model, I think it turned out pretty cool.
Last week I picked up the Fokker DR1 Triplane, it was the next model I felt the “calling” with. This time around I’ve decided I want to do the model the “proper” way and do the tissue or silkspan, dope, etc. From reading on these forums, I’ve really been inspired by some of the work of David Duckett and some of the other users that do the balsa inlay. I feel at times like I’m stalking David by constantly looking at all his pictures on the virtualaerodome.com website… I’m planning on trying my best to match David’s triplane in which the balsa inlay is only done on the front 2 formers and on the top section of the plane, that way the tissue paper matches more correctly to the original plane. Plus that way I can get a taste for the balsa inlay without having to cover the entire model.
My plan for now is just to make static display pieces. I might someday decide to get into making nice flying models, but to be honest, I don’t know that I would have much time to go out and fly them and would be too nervous of ruining all my hard work. So, for now, going to just concentrate on the display / static model side.
Not sure yet what my next model will be, but looking forward to whatever this hobby has in store for me this time around!
Thanks everyone for your discussions on this forum, really enjoying it! I’m finding that I spend at least an hour each night before bed reading various topics on here.
Visible V-8 Engine:
F-14 Tomcat:
Fokker DR1 Triplane:
