Workshop Build-Alongs Archives - Page 3 of 7

New Build Project — 85-inch Douglas Skyraider — Reduced Ziroli Design

It has been a while so I decided to get a little more serious about a new workshop project. My new build is going to be an 85 inch span version of Nick Ziroli’s 100-inch 1/6-scale Douglas Skyraider. Reduced 15%, the 85 inch version will be about the same size as the popular giant scale […]

Top Gun Free Flight Scale — A new competition category!

Well, we all have come to expect surprises from Frank Tiano, AKA the Father of the Top Gun Scale Invitational held each year at Lakeland, FL, and this year is no exception. For the 2016 event, Frank has added a serious Free Flight competition for anyone attending the event. These aren’t your every day Free […]

1/3-scale Fokker Triplane Flight Report — Sneak Peek

Soon to be published in our upcoming February 2016 issue of MAN, here’s a sneak peak of Balsa USA giant scale Fokker Triplane kit review, by editor, Gerry Yarrish. Video Courtesy of Ron Prestin One of my all-time favorite airplanes is the Fokker triplane. First seeing action in 1917, the Fokker Dr.1 (tridecker), was a […]

Installing a Dummy Rotary Engine — Dressing up my Camel — Part 3

So, I finished up the dummy rotary engine for the Sopwith Camel this weekend. The over all project took only about 10 hours and spread over a few days, that’s no time at all. I finally decided to attach the molded engine to the inside of the engine cowling. This is the typical way to […]

Installing a Dummy Rotary Engine — Dressing up my Camel — Part 2

Work always get in the way of fun time so it takes a little longer than normal when I work on a project during the work week. I have broken this Technique into three parts and here is the rest of the painting and finishing portion. Part 3 will deal with attaching and securing the […]

Engine Swap for the Camel

Well, it has been an active flying season so far and I have flown the Sopwith Camel several times including at the big Fun Fly on Father’s Day in Kingston, Ontario in June, at the recent Warbirds over Delaware in July, at our home field in Farmington, CT and at the Dawn Patrol event at the Long […]

Exclusive — Top Flite Gold Edition Giant Scale P-47 Thunderbolt Razorback — Sneak Peek

MAN is now working on the newest Giant Scale Warbird ARF from Hobbico the long awaited P-47 Thunderbolt. This Razorback version has the same great quality and design engineering as the rest of the giant warbirds in the series and our contributor Rick Bell is busy at work assembling the Jug! Here are a few […]

Patching up a Camel — Wing Repairs

While flying the Sopwith Camel featured in our Build-Along series, I made a bad piloting decision. While at the Warbirds over Delaware event, I made a few successful flights in between taking photos and covering the event for MAN. Anyway, I came in for a landing and allowed the Camel to drift off the runway […]

Sopwith Camel Update — Build-Along Part 31

So, after an exciting, yet informative test flight, I found that we had a very nose-heavy condition, even though from the plans, I had the model balanced at the 25% MAC position. So much for the theory. With the Camel back safe and sound in the workshop, I have since moved the CG back to the […]

Workshop Build-Along — Sopwith Camel Part 30 — Test Flight with Video

Well after a long and enjoyable build-along series, I finally got the Sopwith Camel test flown at the recent 40th Annual Father’s Day Fun Fly in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. We went early and test flew the plane before the competition started. I should have been less anxious to commit aviation and I think it was […]

Workshop Build-Along — Sopwith Camel — Part 29: Balancing the CG

Well, this is the very last workshop segment from this Sopwith Camel Build-Along. After getting the model balanced, it will all be about how it flies, and that means a trip to the Club’s flying field. To balance the model, I used scuba weight and lead shot installed in the engine compartment. I built a plywood […]

Workshop Build-Along — Sopwith Camel — Part 28: It’s all in the details

After working on this Sopwith Camel for over a year and a half, it is down to the little details that make a model complete. All the building, painting and finishing all produce a 3D canvas to add the miniature details to. Here’s some of the details that did not show up in any of […]