I have been totally taken by the work of others where a common aircraft type is exaggerated in details, or outline, and looks like a flying cartoon RC plane. I cannot help but smile when I watch a video on YouTube, or another service that features a cartoon, or phat RC aircraft. At first you would swear the little RC plane is too fat and the wings are too small to keep it in the air, or manage a take off. Low and behold the cute little featherweight foam wonder flies just fine. Well, most of them do until the wind picks up. The cartoon designs tend to be fair weather fliers due to their featherweight construction methods, but they sure are crowd pleasures. Before I start gabbing about a project I have started, I should post a few video to see if you enjoy the work of others as much as I do. In this case, the focus will be on the P-51 Mustang RC flyers in the cartoon style.

0812Q版P 51配樂飛行 (4 min 32 sec)

ey0927399 is the master of cartoon style flyers. I'm not sure were he gets his inspiration, but it may come from a cartoon about airplanes. I must remember to post that video link also. Obviously a few of his cartoon jets seem to be copies inspired from the cartoon available on YouTube. In the mean time, we have one of our own who also builds cartoon RC aircraft of a slightly different look. He also sells short-kits and plans for his creations. I really need to add the RC Groups link for some of his builds and advice. It is tricky to build a thin foam RC flyer and keep the weight down, but it can be done. The more you understand about scale paper airplane construction methods, the easier doing the same in thin foam it will be. Check out this YouTube video of "sparks" P-51 Mustang, cartoon style.

Cartoon war bird test flights (7 min 3 sec)

Somewhere among the YouTube video is more of his work in the cartoon RC airplane niche'. I will look around a bit more and see if I can come up with another video, or two.

Miss America P-51 flight Demo (2 min 39 sec)

OK, now that is another one of his useful video about the Miss America cartoon style P-51 Mustang. Look at his other wonders while you are in this one and no doubt you will be amazed what all he has done in a few years.

J10+J8+J7+F4 VS F22+B52/飞机总动员 (7 min 22 sec)

The above video is very likely one of the cartoons that have influenced a number of caricature aircraft building projects. I think it is a Korean cartoon and I have enjoyed watching it many times, but this is the only one I have been able to find of this nature. There are other cartoons about aircraft, but they tend to be of a serious, adult nature, or for the very young.

PATHS OF HATE long trailer (1 min 2 sec)

The Cockpit #1 (Eng-sub) (1/3) (9 min 19 sec)

1942 WWII Cartoon (9 min 51 sec)

Well, that is enough review for now. I still need to post a few links to the RC Groups threads and do a bit of show and tell. Until next time, enjoy.

I believe it is safe to say just about anyone can buy or build a scale P-51 Mustang and get it to fly, but can you build a caricature of the famous warbird and get it to fly well? Most would say no and probably express some hint of "and I could care less". I do comprehend most RC pilots have less interest in an odd looking P-51 Mustang until someone they want to impress shows interest in the unusual RC aircraft. Take a grand parent that likes to fly RC airplanes who just so happens to have a few grand kids that have shown some interest in the hobby. Maybe they are too young for RC aircraft for now, but they sure do grow up fast. Kids are an odd bunch sometimes and could care less about anything historically representing a famous aircraft, be it a warbird, or something else. On the other hand, they love cartoons and all sorts of things that look "cute". You see examples of this everyday in the toys kids pick out for themselves. Obviously there is a huge message in this fact for those of us who would like to see our grand kids take an interest in our hobby. At least that way we would have someone to give all our big boy and girl toys to, even if the stuff will be very outdated by the time they might get around to using some of it.

Also, notice what might be coming out soon for the kids to watch ...

Disney Pixar: Planes: Official Teaser Trailer (1 min 35 sec)

Clearly this cartoon is a spin off from the "Cars" theme, but to tell the truth, I would love to watch them when they are make public. I might even go twice to the movie just to make sure Disney gets the idea I would like to see more of this sort of thing. No doubt if this kind of entertainment catches on, we might see an explosion in the RC airplane hobby in the years to come. The catch will always be cost of starting and staying in the hobby as it is for us now. In any case, did you notice the cute factor is real high for anything that flies and looks cartoonish? If not, do an image search using the words "cartoon, or caricature" with airplane. If you have a favorite airplane type, it probably has six or more caricatures to see for inspiration. My thinking is since I love the cute airplanes and others have figured out how to make copies that can fly as an RC version, why not make and fly some examples? At some point it seems like a good idea to build and fly to entertain others. Especially the grand kids. What do you think?

I know I will need this space, or the prior post will get a bit long.

A while back I was looking through the RC Groups threads and came across a building method that brought back memories of Florida wood art. Not sure if that was the inspiration for a foam version of laminated layers sanded to shape, but it is the same idea. The wood art was normally laminated wood layers around 1/2" thick of fish, birds, and other natural subjects sanded to perfection with the object frozen in a moment of action. In this case, we just want a lightweight foam fuselage to attach wings, electronics, and paint to look like something we like. It just so happens the building method was focused on the P-51 Mustang. Let me post some pictures from the thread for inspiration.

You already have the Youtube link for ey0927399 video, so the only link that is useful (I am aware of) is the RC Groups thread that starts out featuring some of his projects. Sadly, the thread is no longer visited by the master of cartoon, fattie RC planes, but maybe that will change.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1144798

Here is the link to the cartoon P-51 build by "sparks" of Parkflyerplastics. He offers the short kit that has some preformed, thin plastic parts, to include the canopy, and plans. If you like the size and want to get started as soon as possible, I recommend you contact Keith and arrange a purchase of one of the short kits. You will need to provide your own foam and some bits and pieces to finish the RC flyer.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1506974

The next link is to the build thread of the first cartoon flyers Keith offered as short kits. This offering is for the Mig-15 and the F-86 Sabre as a package deal. At present, you can purchase the double plans separately and the short kits as needed. Keith was betting some builder/pilots might want one, but not the other short kit, so each comes with the thin plastic parts needed for one model, including canopy. As with the other kits, you will need to provide your own foam and bits and pieces.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1441002

The next thread is one of the long discussion and build threads that provide many details about cutting and stacking foam layers. Some examples are not much thicker than the standard profile build using two layers of foam board. Other examples use up to four layers of foam board and the full 3D examples use as many layers of foam board as needed for the required thickness of the fuselage. Note how the layers of foam are glued together so sanding isn't a problem later. Also notice some of the interesting electronic placement schemes and details.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1012551

There are other threads of interest with various construction details one will find useful, but this is a good start. Enjoy.

Since I have a small, foam P-51 Mustang kit, sold as a free-flight model and I used the fuselage half to draw an outline on paper. The next step was to draw a 1 cm x 1 cm grid over the outline of the model. On the double sheet of Blu-Core fan fold I drew a 1 inch x 1 inch grid and reproduced the outline of the P-51 Mustang using a green Sharpie marker. The result was a much larger outline of the P-51 Mustang fuselage. Then I took a purple Sharpie marker and enlarged the width of the outline, but kept it the same length. I was thinking the fuselage will likely end up being 40" long, which is plenty long enough for this first caricature of the famous warbird. Notice the engine front part has yet to be added to the length of the outline and when it is, the fuselage will be 40" long.

I have added some pictures to observe and illustrate the first step of drawing the fuselage wider and giving the cartoonish shape. Using the same construction process as shown in a prior post, the next step would be to cut out the Blu-Core outline (purple) and use it to determine the other layers of foam (as a template), which I will make using 1/2" insulation foam. I also need to outline the 1/4" FFF with hard balsa, and sandwich the wood between the foam so there shouldn't be any problems with the rudder vibrating during a high-speed pass. High-speed pass is a bit of a joke at this point since the objective is to end up with a featherweight P-51 Mustang designed for slow, comfortable flight speeds on calm wind days.

To help keep the information together

I want to do the A-10 and F-22 in that cartoon the paint schems are awsome

Have you been checking out the blogs twice a week? It is a great way to see what others have done and if you subscribe to the build threads, you will soon have a great collection of ideas and methods to ponder and copy. Let me see if I can add a few links to this comment for you to check out.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1720709
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1506974
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1144798
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839957

There are a few others I know about, but these should get you started. You can also do a search for more by using a key word - cartoon, or caricature.