Scale

From sport scale to museum masterpieces


Terrific Tempest

Terrific Tempest

Built from Vailly Aviation plans, this giant scale 1/5-scale Hawker Tempest V has a 98-inch wingspan and weighs in at 43 pounds. Power is provided by a Desert Aircraft 85cc engine spinning a Menz 26×10 prop. Builder and pilot Andy Wynn notes that the warbird also sports homemade retracts and exhaust stacks from Fighter Aces. […]
Giant Stunning Stearman

Giant Stunning Stearman

Pedro Sanchez is a master scale modeler and a member of the Georgia Model Aviators in Ballground. He has many large scale models in his hanger and prides himself with absolute detail on his models.  His latest, as seen here, is a Balsa USA Stearman. Pedro is relentless when it comes to detail and realism.  […]
Scale WW I Finishing Techniques — Applying Plywood Panels

Scale WW I Finishing Techniques — Applying Plywood Panels

When it comes to any model of a Sopwith Camel (and some WW I German aircraft), there are some plywood panels that give the aeroplane its characteristic look. It was always part of my over all finish scheme to include these side and top panels. Since they are added after the model has been covered […]
Painting RC Pilot Figures

Painting RC Pilot Figures

I put a huge amount of detail in the helmets of my Best Pilots pilot figures because its the topmost thing that’s viewed when your pilot is sitting in the cockpit. Most flight helmets are leather and that’s what’s shown here. The following technique works like magic in replicating leather of all kinds, but it […]
Wing-to-Fuselage Fillets

Wing-to-Fuselage Fillets

Advice from expert scale designer and builder Nick Ziroli: Instead of adding the fillet after the wing and fuselage are built, I make the shape of the fillet areas as part of the fuselage formers themselves. This requires having at least the wing center section built and attached to the fuselage, but to make sure […]
EZ Build WW1 SE5a Scout

EZ Build WW1 SE5a Scout

MAN contributor and prolific model airplane designer Pat Tritle has another great construction article coming. This time it is the famous British dogfighter the RAF SE5a Scout. Electric powered, this parkflyer size WW1 biplane will be in the next issue of MAN and plans will soon be available at the AirAgeStore.com website. Pat will also […]
Functional Scale Cockpit Hatch RC Airplane Access

Functional Scale Cockpit Hatch RC Airplane Access

When it comes to RC Golden Age racers, no one does  flying models better than the world recognized  guru of scale Gee Bees – Henry Haffke. When I teamed up with Henry to build the 1/3-scale version of his Howard DGA-5 “Ike” Golden Age racer, I added several  details that a racer this size needed to look right. One […]
How to: Scale Retractable Landing Lights

How to: Scale Retractable Landing Lights

Tim Cardin’s operating landing lights are beautiful on the Beechcraft Staggerwing he built from Ziroli plans. Since then, Tim has installed them on a P-47 and they could be modified and applied to almost any World War II aircraft. The exact lights that Tim used for this aircraft are now only available out of Europe. […]
Fantastic Ford Trimotor

Fantastic Ford Trimotor

Scratch-built by Joachim Damrath, this 160-inch-span Trimotor weighs in at just 53 pounds. The beautifully detailed radial engines are hiding Zenoah powerplants (two 20cc and one 26cc in the center). Thanks to ScaleJetFred for sharing his terrific video from the Airlinertreffen meet in Oppingen, Germany.  
RC F-14 Swing-Wing Tomcat

RC F-14 Swing-Wing Tomcat

This remarkable swing-wing F-14 is the handiwork of German modeler Rudolf Winter, who built it from the Fly Eagle Jet Model Factory kit. During the flight, the model’s wings sweep back for faster speeds and then move forward for slower flight and landing. The bright “flares” that are launched during flight are scale (the full-size used […]
Bücker Jungmeister — A Really Big RC Biplane

Bücker Jungmeister — A Really Big RC Biplane

Helmut Müller’s 85% scratch-built Bücker looks like it could carry a small person! The 17.5-foot-span model weighs in at 286 pounds and is powered by a Hirth 521cc 2-stroke (intended for an ultralight!) turning a Fiala 60 x 20 wood propeller. The model uses industrial-quality Tonegawa Seiko servos, a redundant radio system and a dual-ignition starter. Helmut glued and sewed the Seconite covering […]
Fitting a Scale RC Fan/Spinner Combo to a 3-Blade Prop

Fitting a Scale RC Fan/Spinner Combo to a 3-Blade Prop

Ziroli Giant Scale Plans offers a very cool accessory for FW-190A enthusiasts. It’s a scale fan/spinner combo that the full scale FW-190A featured. It comes as a “blank canvas” and work of art considering the machining required to manufacture. It is a blank canvas as the spinner can be cut to fit a 2- or […]
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