Some folks asked me to post a paper model to Depron Micro RC build on their Paper Modelers site.

So my friend Gene (Speedy01) are doing a joint build on two Nieuport-11's one tissue covered the other will be airbrushed.


http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/a...rt-builds.html

Pete

I'd love to look, but I am not filling out forms nor giving my email address just to see a picture of a plane.

Pete (also)

Pete,

I'm glad you wrote that about that issue. I thought I could just post the web site and the pic's etc would be accessible sorry

Here's some of the build pic's. BTW however the Paper Modelers site is worth looking at those guys do some amazing paper builds as good as plastic.

My friend Gene (Speedy01) and I were asked to do a paper to Depron Micro RC build over at their web site. So we're doing a joint build.

We are doing a 1:48 scale to 1:20.5 scale 14.5" WS Nieuport-11 a foam one & a tissue covered foam one. I get the tissue covered one and Gene will have the foam one. Using std PZ Brick & P-51 motor gearbox.

The model is Escadrille 62, Paul Tarascon's "Zigomar" colors are very good on this paper model and Gene did all the enlarging work.

Attached are the pic's of the builds so far. I'm working on a fake spinning LeRhone for the builds.

I also did a mod to the P-51 motor gearbox shaft I turned it around cut off part of the plastic bushing and ground down and polished the shaft splines to give me more shaft to be able to attach the fake spinning LeRhone.

Note: I started the foam build while Gene made the excellent tissue coverd parts and he also baked the wings airfoils. I will start the build on the tissue coverd one as well I just wanted to get the fake LeRhone working on the PZ P-51 motor first.

Pete

Gene's done an excellent job as usual covering the 2mm Depron. He's the King of Tissue Covering!

Wonderful work. I feel inadequate when I look at it! How the heck did you do that machine gun?

Thanks Gklein,

The Lewis Gun was not hard I did have a slightly smaller 1:24 scale Photo Etched Lewis Gun kit so I used parts of it I also just cut strips of the PE thin brass and used them with scrap Depron foam and CF rods I also looked at a bunch of reference pictures and used the paper model kits paper profile to size and do the foam body.

My fear is it will most likely get ripped off when whacking in my plan is to attach somehow with micro magnets.

I did one for both Gene's & mine I learned from the first one I made and I think the 2nd one came out slightly better.

But again it's not hard to do just takes time anyone can do this stuff.

Pete

One of those would look pretty cool chaseing my Fokker Dr1 around. Nice work guys.

Hi Pete,

Not only is this great looking stuff, but I literally cut my eye teeth on paper airplanes.

When I was five we spent the summer in Rockaway. There was an older kid (probably seven or eight) who had a "Flying Tiger" and I wanted one desperately. You got them by sending a Wheaties box top and twenty-five cents or two box tops and ten cents to Jack Armstrong at General Mills. These were paper airplanes with 3D fuselages.

When we got home that was the first order of business. I could not yet read the instructions so I tried to get my father to build the P-40. He refused, building the Zero instead. It flew and characteristically it lasted me at least a half an hour. The next day I asked him to make the P-40 but he said I saw how it was done and it was my turn to build.

That was my first airplane. Duco cement was the only glue. WWII was still going on and lots of things were in short supply. Bubble Gum was still a legend and ration stamps and tokens still needed for food and gas. (not that we had a car.)

The first plane I built and flew was the P-40 made out of paper and I learned enough to design and build similar planes years later.

Sorry to babble so much.

You can still find the Jack Armstrong airplane drawings on the Internet if you look hard enough. They are sold on eBay, but the actual drawings can be found. Funny, they look so much smaller and less exciting but one of these days I'll print them out and make another.

BTW, I'm seventy-four, haven't changed much but planes do last me longer these days.

Pete

Thanks Pete. My dad also Pete a WWII vet still going strong at 85 lives in VT got me started on stick and tissue.

The some of the folks doing the paper models do a fantastic job and I enjoy their builds.

Pete

Where in VT?

I go up to the Londonderry area a few times a year.

People seem to live long there. My old hiking buddy is nine years older than me and can still outwalk me any day. Two other friends up there are in their nineties!

Check my blog for links to on board videos from my rickety old pico Tiger Moth.

Pete

Sharon VT. My dad has one brother left he was in the ETO WWII B-17 radio man he's 89. My dad was PTO Navy.
He also has two sisters one 98 and one 91. He had 3 other brothers that passed they also served in WWII. They all came home. So my dad just has family longevity....

Pete

Intro

I've had a couple of inquiries about how I print tissue and apply to Depron, so here's the long version:

Pete is covering the actual building/flying, so I'll address preparing the tissue-covered Depron parts, from scaling the paper model, to preparing the tissue for printing, to printing, then mounting the tissue onto foam, and finally forming/bending the foam.

Materials

1. Materials I use: color laser printer , Duro Spray Adhesive (WalMart), everyday tissue used for wrapping gifts (any department store), UHU glue stick, Blue painters tape, Scotch tape, Xacto and the usual paper model tools like steel straight edge, rolling tubes, etc).

1a. As concerns printers, I prefer a laser since the graphics on tissue are brighter than from an inkjet, but more importantly because the output is waterproof - a must if flying these small models in the early morning calm when dew is on the grass. I had an HP CP1525nw which was on its last legs, so got a Dell 1250c replacement - http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewe...3D1,00.asp?p=n. Both are very inexpensive as color lasers go - I bought each at Sam's for around $150. The HP is a laser-laser, while the Dell is an LED, so I was interested to see what the difference is in terms of print quality (the HP output was darker and the color layer seemed"thicker", but the Dell produces a truer color...I like the Dell better).

My next post will cover tissue preparation. Anyone have any specific questions I can answer at this point?

Gene K

Preparing The Tissue, Scaling

2. The model Pete wanted to do is this one: 1/48 Nieuport 11 Zigomar - http://ecardmodels.com/nieuport-zigomar-p-1310.html. Since that model is in 1/48, its 6.2" wingspan needed to be enlarged by a factor of 2.33 to produce Pete's 14.5" desired. The reason for the 14.5" is because Pete's found that wingspan to yield a model perfect for the Radio Control gear he uses (AR6400 and P-51 motor), and it fits into his preferred "around 1/20 scale" (he has accessories like pilots already made up in that scale, as well as other WWI models).

Since the 1:1 Nieuport 11 had/has a wingspan of 24'9" , Pete's model works out to be 1/20.5 scale - luck...or educated guess on Pete's part? (most WWI fighter's wingspans are in this ball park).

Using Paint Shop Pro, I resized and rearranged the paper patterns to fit onto legal size paper since that is the biggest my printer takes (unfortunately, no custom sizing). Detail is still good despite the scaling up.

Next post - Applying Tissue to Carrier Paper

Gene

3. Applying Tissue to Carrier Paper

3a. Iron out wrinkles/folds: Use medium/high heat, no steam. Note that tissue, like balsa, has grain (not a factor for me), and also that it has a shiny and flat side (experiment to see which side your printer likes best). I print on the flat side under the assumption that toner would have more grab on that side.

3b. Tape the tissue onto a flat surface, securing the corners with small pieces of Blue Tape, printing side down, stretching out wrinkles.

3c. Prepare a carrier paper that will hold the tissue while it's run through the printer: Very lightly spray the carrier sheet with spray adhesive. How light is "lightly"? - a couple of dust passes from around a foot from the paper. Note that the spray floats in the air, so do the spraying outside if possible.

3d. Apply the paper to the tissue starting at one end and carefully roll the paper onto the taped-down tissue. Trim, then lift paper/tissue and rub out any creases.

3e. Optional - use a piece of Scotch tape folded over the top of the tissue to secure it to the paper. This additional step is to make sure the tissue doesn't separate while traveling through the printer. Ink Jets are more tissue/carrier friendly since the path is straighter - some lasers have to drag the paper through a fuser which, if jammed with tissue, is a major operation to take apart (Yes, I have). NOTE: my new Dell has a fairly straight through paper path, which eases my concerns about this printer eating tissue and hiding it in its bowels.

Next post will include video links to show how I did the top wing, illustrating what I've covered and more.

Gene K

Making the Wings

4. Raw videos I made for Pete showing how the wings are made, including:

4a. Separating the tissue from the Carrier Sheet:

NP-11 Main Wing 1 Printing .MOV (1 min 26 sec)

4b. Applying tissue to Depron -

NP 11 Main Wing 2 Tissue to Depron 1 (1 min 37 sec)

4c. Applying tissue to Depron - Wing top and bottom:

NP 11 Main Wing 3 Tissue to Depron 2 (1 min 22 sec)

4d. Trimming the Tissue/Depron:

NP 11 Main Wing 4 Trimming (0 min 16 sec)

4e. Finishing & Detailing:

NP 11 Main Wing 5 Finishing (1 min 5 sec)

4f. Finished Wing:

NP 11 Main WIng 6 Done (0 min 48 sec)

4g. Wing Refinements:

Refined wings - Adding Surface features (2 min 27 sec)

Gene K

Excellent Gene, thanks for posting.

I can't tell you how good this tissue covered bird looks so much better than the pic's.

It will be a pretty cool and different bird in the air outside or indoors

This is an easy and good looking paper to 2mm Depron conversion. Anyone can do this and they fly great too.

Thanks,

Pete