Anything To Do With 500 Series Kits.

[Mitch]

Love that Yellow Nose and Tail... M

[WIDDOG]

http://youtu.be/wKZzp_IfNX8

This is a Youtube of a No Cal built by the No-Cal Guillow’s plans. I am not Stuka Dave nor do I know him. This video did have a “Share” tab. Looks like I real nice flyer.

[WIDDOG]

BTW thanks Mitch and everyone your input is appreciated!

[WIDDOG]

Well this 1954 Corsair plan is super nice. The only problem with it is (and the one problem that probably got it discontinued) is having to cut all the parts out. They are small and are a tough cut. This plan is definitely ahead of it’s time. If they had “Laser” cut kits back in the day I’m sure this kit would still be around.

It was a tough decision on me but I decided to take a break from the Corsair and make The ole discontinued Guillow’s No Cal Stuka. Hopefully the Stuka will only take a couple of days to make.

[kittyfritters]

Keith,

I suspect that the 1954 copyright date on that plan indicates a renewal of the copyright, necessary under the old copyright laws. The plan probably dates to 1940 since the plane represented is the Corsair prototype. The later revisions to the plan were the plastic nose and the updated Corsair photo on the plan. Many of the older Guillow's kits were extremely light and considered difficult for inexperienced modelers to build. Consider the complexity of the structure you are building compared to a current 500 series kit.

In the late 1950's they changed their design standards to include more plastic parts , have better scale outlines, and to make the models easier to build. I started building models in the late 1940s with Comet kits which, after a few years, I could make fly quite well. Comet kits always had better scale outlines and were easier to build. It was the mid 50s before I could build the earlier Guillow's kits straight and make them fly, but by that time they had started to change their designs to what we are used to now. At the time I questioned the change, but note that Guillow, not Comet, is still in business. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Howard

[WIDDOG]

Hello Howard,
Thanks for that great post! It was very interesting. Do you know any history or interesting facts about what Guillow’s called “DC” series of profile WW2 planes? I found the plans for DC Series kit #35 the Stuka Copyrighted 1957. The only thing I know is it sure is fun to build and it looks like it will fly well.

The Guillow's DC series kits were 12 small profile-rubber freeflight models of WWII fighters. They had sheet balsa fuselages and built-up wings. Last seen in hobby shops several decades ago, these days they are collector's items. Most enthusiasts have never seen one of the DC kits in person! The series includes a P-40, Corsair, P-47, F6F, ME-109, FW-190, Stuka, Hurricane, Spitfire, Zero, Stormovic, and Mustang. Landing gear is shown on the plans but these little models will fly better with the wheels "retracted".

[kittyfritters]

The Blacksheep Squadron had a "Battle of Britain" competition for the DC series Spitfire, Hurricane, Stuka and Bf-109 last year. The average flight was about 25 seconds, but the winning Bf-109 flew for 51 seconds. As I recall, the best flier of the old series was the Sturmovik and the Corsair was the most difficult to get to fly. Plans are available for download at the Minute Models group on Yahoo.


The RAF outnumbered the Luftwaffe here.


Yes, they do fly better without the landing gear.

[WIDDOG]

Hello Howard,

Wow another great post, thanks much for posting it here. I was looking the pictures over very closely. In the group shot I believe they used a modern roundish Thrust Button. On the ME 109 the Thrust Button looks kind of flattened. Do you know if the ME 109’s Thrust Button is Original (at one time came with a DC series Kit) or is it a home made one? Also do you suppose that had any reason why the ME 109 flew a little bit better? And since you’re here is there a built in “Thrust Angle” adjuster in these kits. Thanks much.

[kittyfritters]

The thrust button on the Bf-109 in the photo, mine not the winning one, is home made. It is plywood with a brass tube bearing running through it. The winning model, the other white Bf-109 in the group photo, was built by Jim Sprenger.

Howard

[simpleflyer]

A few years ago we built a Guillows 500 series P-40. It was our first rubber powered Guillows kit after nearly 50 years prior, when we had built some Gu sheet wood models and CL models and had good success flying them. Our rubber flying skills had not improved over the years and the P-40 did not succeed as a backyard rubber powered flyer.

SnTGuP40c.jpg

Last year we revisited the P-40 and decided to turn it into a swing controlled profile model for backyard flying. We removed the wing and got a copy of the DC series P-40 fuselage.

p-40_profile_sm.JPG

This profile was edited in MSpaint and made into a sheet wood profile which was combined with the 500 series P-40 wing and resulted in this model.

GuZnocal075.JPG

More details of this build can be found on the Guillows Forum at:
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1646&start=45
More info about the DC series may be found on the bottom of the previous page of the above thread at:
http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1646&start=30
still more info about DC series and "root canal" no-cals at:
http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaBB.pl?num=1172577843/0

Enjoy,

Al

[WIDDOG]

Hi Al,
Great post thanks much for the input. It took me a while to go over the info. Very interesting stuff.

[simpleflyer]

Glad that you found the info useful, Keith. Hope that you were able to find the DC drawings over at Minute Models, thanks for joining the group over there. Here are some inflight pix of the profile P-40.

GuZnocal083.JPG

GuZnocal098.JPG

GuZnocal107.JPG

I'll have some stuff about our 500 series Avenger next time.

Al

[WIDDOG]

Hi Al,

Thanks much for the info about “Minute Models” The DC series kit Stuka plans I was able to find did not have the elevator shown. I assume it was a one piece of cut out Balsa.
Anyway the site you suggested shows the full plan. Excellent! Plans! thanks again for posting the info.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the Avenger.

Keith

[simpleflyer]

OK, Keith, here is a picture of our 500 series TBM on a flight late this past afternoon.

SC_04-05-13-asm.JPG

We had started building this model several years ago and finally finished work on it in the fall of 2010.

SC_09-13-10arSm.JPG

A few mods were made to the TBM to make it durable for swing control flight and portable for transportation and storage. For strength the forward fuselage was sheeted.

SC_09-13-10a2r.JPG

[simpleflyer]

The tail assembly was made to be removable. The red A's are toothpicks glued to the tail assemble and slide into slots built into the rear of the fuselage.

SC_09-13-10brMsm.JPG

The completed structure of the TBM, ready for cover. The leading edge was sheeted for additional strength in this area.

SC_09-22-10br2.JPG

The components of the model being covered with tissue and thinned white glue. This picture shows how the model comes apart for storage and transportation.

SC_09-24-10aSm.JPG