Learning to build in 1/87 scale

Thanks Michael for your expert knowledge! Your last post sums it all up, I guess. Let me just add to the confusion - the only version which fits with the tailwheel modeled would be the SB2C-1 Mod III, bottom left corner.

Perhaps one could make a three-bladed prop and remain reasonably within the limits of an SB2C-1? But then there's your remarks about the rear canopy and the perforated dive brakes. No, it's a -4 as you say. With the tail wheel of a -1.

So we are stuck with a real misch-masch. Perhaps such an aircraft really existed, what with repairs and amendments going on all the time? Perhaps the tailwheel cover was lost? (Wishful thinking here...)

I agree with the need for further markings. I'll see what I can do eventually. Or prospective builders could pick up on the discussion here and add markings they find on the internet themselves.

After all, that is the whole purpose of the thread, to encourage people to try out modifications of and amendments to existing models.

Leif

Attached, you'll find living proof that a version as late as the SB2C-5 could have the "open-structure" tailwheel. So, I guess that strengthens the case for a SB2C-4 version, according to your analysis.

The photo is of the last flying SB2C, nurtured by The West Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.

Finding that picture lead me to read a lot about the Helldiver, which in turn lessened my enthusiasm for a pretty model - the aircraft was appalingly badly designed, dangerous, and worse than the aircraft it was supposed to supersede, the Douglas Dauntless. Yet more than 7.000 were produced, although some commanders flatly refused to substitute the proven Dauntless when they learned of the bad reputation of the Helldiver.

Although I couldn't leave the subject without sharing the second dramatic picture of two SB2C-3s coming in over the USS Hornet in January 1945. Note the tail wheel cover, and the four-bladed (should be) prop with small spinner. (Source: Department of the Navy - Navy Historical Centre, picture of the month gallery 2001, bottom picture.)

It is fun to make your own kits of free download models! Here's another example:

The Piper PA-14 Family Cruiser has been available for a while as a free download model from the "End of the Spear" film promotion site. The 1:48 scale model by J. Cookson bears a certain resemblance to the well-known Fiddler's Green free download, and it is quite attractive. If you wish, here's the download url for a pdf of that version.

I took that three-page version and rescaled it to 1:87 for this thread. In addition, I searched for photos (quite rare; see attached image) of the original aircraft, plus basic data. All that is added into the single page 1:87 kit you can download from below.

In the new kit, I have added a few spare parts and recoloured the original into a slightly warmer yellow tone. Relevant parts of the instructions text have been incorporated. If you study the kit closely, and compare it with the original, you will find that I got rid of the promotional text on one of the ailerons for the movie. That was distinctly not to scale...

A suggestion would be not to use the glueing tabs of the original kit. But I leave that to your own discretion.

Hope you enjoy this pretty model! (And, as usual - don't try to print the image of the kit; it's not to scale and of low resolution; download the attached high-quality pdf instead.)

Thanks, Krzychu! I have been looking at your much smaller models with great admiration. I was wondering how you make the transparent canopies, which I think are great. The canopies make all the difference, and I would really like to be able to make them. Any tips?

Everybody - where can I find a GOOD three-view drawing of the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, or the PA-14 Family Cruiser? I've been googling until my eyes are sore, but not found any. Many very good photos, but no drawings. Any tips?

Just to whet your appetite for these particular Piper aircraft, see the attached photos of a PA-12 three-seater Super Cruiser, and a PA-14 four-seater Family Cruiser. Could you say which is which? And why is that so?

There really is at least two ways of telling the difference - I think - just from these photos (and it's not about the wheel spats - they can be added to either aircraft as an extra accessory).

As you say, Martin, I was surprised to find out how few were both the photos and the drawings of these two aircraft. When I started building models (the balsa kind) the Super Cruiser was something of a standard kit. Some ten years ago I even bought the Keil Kraft model for nostalgic reasons (same model as 40 years earlier, but now with directions on how to install radio control).

Back to the quiz - you should look for something in common with the J3 Cub in one of the models (that would be the earlier PA-12 three-seater Super Cruiser), and something which the J3 definitely did not have (but the PA-14 four-seater Family Cruiser has got it).

The later difference is even more clear in the rescaled Family Cruiser above. Compare it to the Fiddler's Green version, if nothing else. And I'm not referring to the enclosed engine, which both the PA-12 and the PA-14 have in common with the PA-18 - which in turn is a kind of step back to the J3, although the PA-18 has that feature as well.

Now it should be very easy, right?

No drawings anyone?

Leif

Michael:

but that's just what I'm asking, so I won't say if you're right or wrong...

Keep on, you've got some really good clues by now: Find something in one of the photos (of what would be the PA-14) which is conspciuously lacking from both the PA-12 and the good old J3 Cub. This is a fairly fundamental feature of an aircraft, and makes a lot of difference in the handling of it.

More difficult to spot, there is something there in the other photo (of what would be the PA-12), which is common to the J3 Cub, but lacking from the PA-14. Although harder to spot, it marks another fundamental difference (although not aerodynamically), otherwise not clearly seen from the direction both photos were taken (and now I've almost given it away).

Leif

Nah, not the antennas either.

Since the answer is already out over at Cardmodels.net, I'll give it here as well. The differences are (and I learned a new one through this quiz):

+ The blue four-seater PA-14 Family Cruiser has flaps, while the red three seater PA-12 Super Cruiser (and of course the J3) does not.

+ The blue PA-14 has an L-shaped balance area of the elevator, which the red PA-12 (and the J3) lack. (Hadn't noticed that one myself.)

+ The blue PA-14 has full one-piece doors on both sides, while the red PA-12 only has that on the right side and retains a classic J3 closed left side. This is visible through the extra thin window post marking a sliding J3-style window on that side.

So you were right Michael, but you really couldn't say why, could you?

See the attached image below.

As for the drawings, there only seems to be the ones you have to pay for. The standard resource would be the Paul Matt series of drawings. They can also be had on CDs.

There is also a real blue-print style drawing available.

Thanks for taking part, Martin & Michael. The reward to everyone is these two beautiful shots of a PA-12 Super Cruiser in its original paint scheme, plus a peek into an (almost) original cockpit. Have a look at the instrument panel (and try to disregard the modern radios...).

Go back in time, instead, to 1947 and the ad for the new aircraft with its "two-way, two-band radio". That is almost 60 years ago!

Over at Cardmodels.net there was a request for a recoloured version of the original 1:48 free download of the "56 Henry" Piper PA-14 Family Cruiser. That does not properly belong in this 1:87 thread, but since the task involves the recolouring method, here's a quick tutorial on how to recolour the PA-14 model and other similar models. It's easy if you have Photoshop (which I will use for the demonstration) or similar. Many models will benefit greatly from at change of nuances.

Open the downloaded pdf file in Photoshop. I suggest you specify 300 dpi for a suitable resolution, but that's up to you. Save it as a Photoshop, .psd, file.

1. First, use the stamp tool to clean up the promotion text on the right aileron (see attached images below, for an illustration of each step).

2. Next, shift-click with the magic wand tool in all yellow areas to make a combined selection which captures most or all of the yellow parts. I used a sensitivity of 20. It's not the end of the world if you don't get every little yellow part into the selection, since we are just going to overlay the original sheet with a slightly warmer tone of yellow.

3. Now SAVE that selection, in order to be able to bring it up at the next stage.

4. Create a new layer. This is where we are going to add the new nuance, which will be transparent, so we don't lose any of the details and shadings in the original sheet. Bring out the selection you saved, and fill it with a sampled shade of yellow (from a photo, or mixed up on your own). Now FILL the selection with that nuance of yellow, in the new layer. This way we leave the original completely intact.

5. Experiment with the degree of opacity in the new layer, until you are satisfied with the result. I used a yellow which was sampled from the fin, and 25 percent opacity of the overlay.

Now do the same with the second parts sheet. And you are done! (Took me about half an hour). I left the yellow of the instruction part in the original shade, so that you can compare.

This is the quick and dirty method of recolouring, which can be used when you just want to change a nuance or shade of the original colouring.

Translation in German by "somehow" - thanks, Holger!:

Wie die Farbe der PA-14 "56 Henry" geändert wurde:

Auf der Seite "Cardmodels.net" gab es eine Anfrage nach einer farblich geänderten Version des ursprünglich in 1:48 gehaltenen freien Downloads des "56 Henry" der Piper-PA-14. Das passt nicht richtig in diesen 1:87 Bericht, aber da die Farbänderungsmethode passend beschrieben wird, hier ein schnelles Tutorial wie man die Farbe des Modells PA-14 und anderer ähnliche Modelle ändert. Es ist einfach, wenn ihr Photoshop (den ich für die Demonstration verwende) oder ein ähnliches Programm habt. Viele Modelle profitieren sehr von kleinen Änderungen.

Öffnet die herrunter geladene pdf -Datei in Photoshop. Ich schlage 300 dpi als eine gute Auflösung vor, aber welche ihr nehmt ist eure Entscheidung. Speichert es als Photoshop, psd, Datei ab.

1. Zuerst benutzt das Stempelwerkzeug, um die Werbung auf dem rechten Querruder zu entfernen (siehe angehängte Bilder unten, zur Erläuterung jedes Schrittes).

2. Als nächstes ein shift-klick mit dem magischen Wandwerkzeug (magic wall tool) in alle gelben Bereiche, um eine Auswahl aller, oder der meisten gelben Teile zu bilden. Ich verwendete eine Empfindlichkeit von 20. Es ist nicht das Ende der Welt, wenn ihr nicht jedes kleine gelbe Teil in der Auswahl habt, da wir die ursprüngliche Vorlage mit einem etwas wärmeren Gelbton überdecken.

3. Jetzt speichert diese Auswahl, um in der Lage zu sein, sie im nächsten Schritt wieder zu laden.

4. Erstellt einen neuen layer. In den wir die neue Farbe einbringen werden, die transparent sein wird, so dass wir nicht irgendwelche Details und Schatierungen aus derursprünglichen Vorlage verlieren. Fügt jetzt die Auswahl, die gespeichert wurde ein und füllet sie mit einer vorher probierten Farbton (von einem Foto oder im Photoshop selbst gemischt). Füllt jetzt die Auswahl mit der neuen Farbe, in der neuen Schicht (layer). Auf diese Weise bleibt die Vorlage vollständig erhalten.

5. Experimentiert mit dem Grad der Opazität in dem neuen layer, bis ihr mit dem Resultat zufrieden seit. Ich verwendete ein Gelb, das auf dem Leitwerk probiert wurde, und 25 Prozent Opazität des layers.

Tut jetzt das selbe mit den zweiten Blatt. Und ihr habt es! (hat bei mir ungefähr eine halbe Stunde gedauert). Ich hab das Gelb des Anleitung im ursprünglichen Farbton belassen, damit man vergleichen können. Dies ist die schnelle und schmutzige Methode der Farbänderung, die verwendet werden kann, wenn ihr die ursprünglichen Farbte nur um eine Nuance oder einen Farbton ändern möchten.

It all started with a tip over at Cardmodels.net about an Australian who made all of his balsa stick and tissue paper model drawings available for free. Following the lead I got to Derek Buckmasters DB Design Bureau.

It turns out that Derek has drawn a number of Australian designed or produced aircraft, many of them civilian. I particularly noticed several crop duster planes I had never heard of. (Agrarflieger, you should have a look here!)

After having downloaded a number of drawings, I started gathering material for a possible 1:87 card model of the pretty Auster III. Since the process of gathering and processing material is rather instructive, I thought I should give an account of it.

The original drawing

The advantage of using a drawing of a model is that you get a number of formers, often several more than in conventional 3-view drawings (where you are lucky if you get any at all). Derek Buckmaster has made a grand job, since he is actually duplicating both formers and stringers (duplicating the steel tube framework of the original, which is an extremely rare feature to get!).

The original rubber engine drawing came as a 10-page pdf-file. The scale given was "1:18" which I took at face value at this stage. Each of the ten pages therefore was scaled to the appropriate 20.7 percent when opening them in Photoshop (at my standard resolution of 300 dpi). [See attached image 1 below]

Assembling the ten parts of the scaled drawing is rather fun. You get to decide which way you want the different parts arranged. At this scale all ten pages went into half my standard A4, with a little gentle prodding and rearranging parts. That was rather neat - but what to fill the other half with?

Additional 3-view

You certainly want some confirmation about having got the scale accurate. The easiest part is to google for Auster and find some facts page. I finally got a measurement for the span at 36 ft 5 in. Using the nifty html scaling tool, this quickly was converted to 11.1 meters - or, at 1:87 scale, 12.76 cm. [I'll attach the scaling tool below; save it and bring it out as a page in your browser directly from your disc.]

The excellent Richard Ferriere site for 3-view drawings conveniently supplied a drawing for an Auster Autocrat. But what scale was it?

Converting the drawing to 300 dpi, and measuring the span of it, quickly determined the correct percentage to scale it in order to have a true 1:87 3-view. This scaled version was pasted into the empty space as neatly as possible (the top view was turned around, and the front view allowed to superimpose on it slightly).

Comparing the Buckmaster drawing with the now correctly scaled 3-view, I corrected the size of the drawing some 3 percent. (I just trusted the 3-view more than the rather sketchy note of "1:18" scale.)

Finding a nice original

But you would of course also like to have some nice original to model the paint scheme after. Having googled images of "Auster", "Auster III", and "Auster Autocrat" I finally found a photo I immediately fell in love with - so much so, that I included it in the drawing. [You can see it at full size at the bottom; and I'll get back to that beautiful - and Swedish - aircraft in a later post.]

The final touch of this little drawing, or rather collection of material, was to add a frame with sources & scale. [For the finished result, see image 2]

I find it both satisfying and useful to collect material this way. If you want a copy of it, PM me with your email address. (I tried to upload the 2.6 MB high-quality pdf but the upload failed.)

You should of course note that the Auster Mk. III and the Auster Autocrat are two different models. There are differences, particularly in the side views. But sufficiently many features are identical for this collection of material to be useful, in my opinion.

Did I mention how I fell in love with the single photo found on the web of the deep red and yellow Swedish Auster? And there was nothing else to be found on the homepage of the owner, than this single photo. What to do?

In my desperation I started fiddling around with the URL - and, bingo, I arrived at the true starting page of the owner, Bengt Eriksson. Since then, I have sent him many a warm thought - he has collected a virtual gold mine of material on the Auster aircraft. And I'll gladly share it:

The Swedish Auster site of Bengt Eriksson:

+ Homepage with index to other pages
+ The single picture with the starting of the engine
+ Ten hi-res photos, showing the Auster at all angles! [I have attached three of them below]
+ Auster manual with many facsimiles
+ More photos of the interior, the engine, etc. [Two of them attached below]
+ http://hem.passagen.se/beer59/other.htmBasic data[/url] of the aircraft

With a collection like this you are really set up for creating a really good card model, wouldn't you say? (If you have that particular ability, that is...)

Notice for example how the "round the clock" images allow you to determine that the registration text is only painted on the fuselage sides and on the underside of the left wing - nothing on the top of the wings.

Having good photos enables you to do amazing things (besides the paintwork eventually). Just copying the sideview and superimposing that on to the two drawings used in the material quickly made it possible to determine a few important points:

+ The downward bend of the top of the fuselage after the cockpit in the 3-view of the Autocrat is exaggerated. Although the Buckmaster drawing is of a Mk. III, it is quite possible to modify that just a little bit, and you'll get closer to the real Auster Autocrat.

+ The fin in the Buckmaster drawing is perfect as far as I can tell. The 3-view depicts it as much too large.

+ The Buckmaster drawing is better also when it comes to the relative position of the landing gear and the cockpit structure.

Three cheers for Derek Buckmaster and his ability to make a really good drawing, even if it is "just" a rubber model!

And many warm thoughts again to Bengt Eriksson for providing these high-quality photographs of a beautifully restored Auster Autocrat.

"Krzychu74", who is a member of this site, previously has offered the army ambulance "Honker" as a free download in several different scales at his Mikromodele site.

Now he has just published a beautiful vintage Czech glider, the Praha PB-3, as a free download in 1:100 scale. Download it directly here as a compressed pdf-file.

But then you wouldn't have a chance to go through his site and look at the very pretty small-scale models - many of them with transparent cockpits in 1:100 scale, like for example his P-40.

Of course I couldn't resist scaling the freeware Praha PB-3 glider to 1:87, and the result is attached below. If you feel inclined, do not use the attached image (which is low resolution and not to scale); download the attached pdf instead.

A quick search on the net resulted in a very beautiful photo of the original, hanging in a museum in the Prague, plus a rather good three-view drawing from (I think) a Czech site.

The glider modeled looks very much like a Grunau Baby, except that the wing is simplified and of constant chord. I think Krzysztof did a very good job of colouring the model, but anybody wanting to go for a more intricate texture of the fuselage would have great use of the photo below.

A word of warning - if you are a stickler for exact scale, measure and calculate the span of the original (from the drawing) and check the result with your downloaded models, whichever scale you prefer. I found that the centimeter measure that came with the original 1:100 scale indicates a real scale of something like 1:93 instead of 1:100.

I took Krzysztof's word for it that the model indeed was indeed 1:100 and scaled it accordingly. But you may want to check that...

[Edited in 2007: New version available a few posts below]

I took the liberty of checking the scale of the model, compared to the 3-view drawing, and it was as I feared - the original cm measure is correct, and the original model therefore is not 1:100 but something like 1:93.

I can't change that, but I have changed the offered download of the 1:87 version to a correct scale. Which means that the five of you or so who downloaded the 1:87 version above before 16:10 this Saturday afternoon should download it again, if correct scale is important to you.

As you can see from the image below the difference is not large, and you can make the adjustment yourself if you wish. Just rescale the previous version to 94 percent of what you downloaded, and you will get 1:87 scale.

And those of you who may have downloaded the 1:87 version above after 16:10 this Saturday afternoon may rest assured that you have got the correct scale.

Now, this isn't a big thing. But the process of how to get the scale right might be instructive. Here's how to do it in five easy steps (compare for the attached images below):

1. Making a new drawing in 1:87 scale: We are lucky, since we have a good 3-view drawing to start from, with a large 3 m ruler included.

The first step is to change the resolution of the drawing to the same as the model (in my case a change from the downloaded 200 dpi to my own 300 dpi). Do not allow "resampling" when you do this!

Next, we measure the ruler, and calculate what 300 cm would be in a scale of 1:87 (3.45 cm). This is what we would like to end up with. Dividing 3.45 with the cm measure of the 3 m ruler in the drawing gives us the factor to use if we want to get a three-view drawing in 1:87 scale. (For me it turned out to be 0.687 or 68.7 percent.)

Do the rescaling (at this stage "Resampling" must be allowed!) on a copy of the original drawing, so that you can always start over if something goes wrong. While you're at it, clean up your new 1:87 copy with the help of the magic wand tool. The original is pretty dirty, and you will want a transparent structure for later stages.

2. Comparing the correct drawing to the kit: Now we copy one large part from the correctly scaled drawing (a wing is good!), and paste it into the kit (in a new layer, of course). Adjusting the copied part from the drawing over the wing of the kit immediately reveals that the scale of the kit has to be adjusted.

The rough amount of adjustment can be determined by a similar process as above: Measure the correct wing span from the part in the drawing, and divide by the span of the wing in the kit. In my case I got a scaling factor of about 92.5 percent.

3. Scaling the kit: Now we scale the layer where the kit is by 92,5 percent. (The part from the drawing remains the same, since it is in a layer of its own.)

Comparing again, the result is pretty good, but not perfect. Note the discrepancy at the aileron and wing tip. So we try a couple of other factors in the neighbourhood. I finally ended up with a factor of 94 percent.

4. Getting there...: If you work with a software like Photoshop which allows you to start over from a few steps earlier in the process, this makes it very easy to try one rescaling factor after another.

In image 4 below I have flipped the wing part from the drawing vertically and superimposed it on the top wing of the kit (to enable a true comparison). I am happy with my 94 percent. Feel free to adjust it to your own preferences!

5. And we're finished!: I have made a similar image as in the previous post of the finished rescaling. As you can see, the difference is not large, but now you can be sure that the version downloaded from the previous post really is 1:87 scale!

PS. It often helps to have 3-views and photos available. In this case a look at the drawing and the photo will reveal where the wire parts W3 are supposed to go. They are four little extra supports towards the ends of the main wing supports.

Also, you may want to add wire supports for the fin and stab according to the 3-view.

Studying the nice printout of the Praha PB-3, I realize that I was too hasty about the W3-part. That is simply the control column! The small extra wing supports aren't there in the kit. But they'll be easy to put there referring to the 3-view and the photo (see detailed excerpts below).

The fin is supported by the four doubled up 9-10 parts. But the two struts should go on the top side of the stab, not the bottom, as in the instructions. (See detail of 3-view below).

Finally, the tailskid parts are difficult to identify! I have made an attempt on one of the three-view excerpts, but I'm not at all sure that's correct. Compare also for the photo - clearly, there should be a rubber ring (like the Grunau Baby), at least on the back part. What should be done with the middle support, I wonder? Copy parts 18, perhaps.

Analyzing a kit like this is rather fun - and it is a good kit, of an attractive and little known aircraft, although Krzysztof is shy, and keeps saying it's nothing and only his first kit, made a long time ago.

I do have one serious question mark, however, and that is the positioning of the ribs. I can't make out how to position the root ribs in relation to the outer ribs. The markings seem to be quite different. Or else there should be a second spar, like on the full-size aircraft. But that doesn't make sense with the markings either. Have to think about this for a while... any ideas?

I think I've figured out the problem with the spar position, and the markings on the ribs.

The solution is in the aileron spar, "H", which I hadn't noticed before. That is an extra half-spar, corresponding to the markings in the outer ribs, and the aileron half-ribs.

However, there is no marking for the main spar on the outer ribs, and the instruction sketch was positively misleading. That's what threw me. I have now added extra markings on the outer ribs, plus made a note on the 3-D instruction sketch (it ought to have been redrawn, but that's beyond me, I'm afraid).

From the sketch, it was impossible to see the rib spar, and the main spar was placed way too long backwards, in fact it appeared as just a prolongation of the aileron spar. That was the main problem - a faulty instruction sketch more than the kit itself. The main spar could not be distinguished from the aileron spar; they appeared as one and the same, while instead the main spar should be drawn separately a good bit in front of the aileron spar.

With these amendments, I think all outstanding problems with the kit are solved:

+ The root ribs are divided, just like before - one part in front of the undivided spar "I", and one part behind it. The outer ribs are not divided, but glued butt to the spar at the new markings. So is the aileron spar, "H", at the original markings on the outer ribs and the aileron half ribs. (From this you can deduce that the whole spar assembly probably best is built directly on to the bottom of the wing part, for increased stability.)

+ The problem with the small support parts for the landing skid must be solved according to each modeller, I think. My suggestion would be, use the "18" parts at the middle support position (not at the back position as indicated in the instruction sketch), and make a facsimile for the rear rubber ring from a roll of paper (coloured black) or a thin slice of black plastic wire insulation.

+ The stab-fin supports "9" and "10" are mounted on the top instead of the bottom, as already noted.

I have included amended ribs and notes on the instruction in a new version of the download a few posts above. However, with these notes, I think anybody who has already downloaded the kit will do just fine. It is easy to just mark the spar position on the outer ribs with a pencil.

Playing around with kits is fun, and a good way of learning how they are constructed. Here are my latest (and last?) improvements of Krzychu's pretty little Praha PB-3 vintage glider:

1. Don't you sometimes wish that all publishers would group all the parts that are to be doubled on to cardboard in a separate space, preferably with a frame around them? I do, and so I enjoyed myself doing that with Krzychu's kit. Now you can just cut out that part of the sheet and glue it onto thin card, or Bristol board, or whatever is your favourite for these small models.

2. The instructions, and the parts sheet have been amended with some directions in red, which - I hope, I hope - will make the positioning of the main spar clearer. You can cut out these and pin them separately somewhere while building.

3. In a new pdf download, I have collected the 3-view drawing in 300 dpi resolution 1:87 scale, plus the photograph of the original Praha PB-3, all for reference or contemplation while building. (You have seen these already, with sources, a few posts above.) They are nice to have around while building.

The final modifications of the kit itself can be downloaded as a new, complete, version "II" pdf (see below). If you already have downloaded the model, and understood what was unclear in the instructions from previous posts, you don't have to download it again. This is just a prettier layout (to my mind).

[Edited in 2007: New version available a few posts below with extra download for photo and 3-view]

This model of the Thomas Morse S5 Seaplane was recently published by Modele Kartonowe as a freeware download model. It is an excellent addition to the many high-quality freeware models already published by them, and we should all be very grateful.

The original model is in scale 1:33, but it seemed so comparatively simple for a biplane, that I thought it would be an excellent subject for scaling down to 1:87. If you build it like that, it would probably be wise to plan some further simplifications to the rotary Gnome engine and possibly other details.

In my rescaled 1:87 version below I have kept the layout of the parts more or less as published. The only addition is an extra set of part 7b (the linkages to the ailerons). In the model these are placed on the top of the upper wing. In the photo below you can see that there seems to be a similar set on the bottom side of the wing, which is why I added an extra set.

When you get down to building the model, please note that parts with capital letters - for example, 7B as opposed to 7b (both exist) - most likely should be reinforced with another layer or two. (In the 1:33 version they should probably be reinforced with 1 mm card).

I have tried to make the size of the 3-view instruction drawings the same size as the 1:87 model.

Enjoy - and don't forget to send a grateful thought to the designer Maciej Lewan and the generous crew at Modele-Kartonowe! (You will find their 1:33 original model here, where you can also download separate instructions in Polish.)

Leif

If you look a few posts above, you will see that the story of the nice Praha PB-3 glider sort of ebbed out with no conclusive ending. It would be a nice start of the new year to try to untangle some of the unresolved issues.

There were many misunderstandings and mistakes in the process: I did not understand the way Krzychu, the designer, had envisaged the construction of the spar. My sketches above were not what he had intended. But there were still a number of details in the original kit which needed amending or correcting.

Kryzchu very obligingly went to work and quickly published a new version in 1:100 scale at his very nice Mikromodele site (free download; se also his previous "Honker" military ambulance). The new version included two additional 3D instructional sketches, which is very useful.

Below I have attached my rescaled version in 1:87, made from this new original and with reference to available 3-view drawings. (If you download the original, please note that it is not in exactly 1:100 scale; this fault noted in previous posts still remains.)

In the version published here I have tried to correct and amend a few details that still made no sense to me. I have also rearranged the parts in a more logical order (with all the parts that need backing by 0.5 mm card collected into a common area).

The major amendment is the shape of the ribs JL and JR. If the spar is supposed to go where Krzychu wants it to be (glued against the false aileron spar at the back), these ribs simply have to be slotted further back than in the original. (That is, if the spar isn't supposed to run diagonally from the ailerons to the center of the wing, which is what the original parts suggest; from a structural point of view that might actually be attractive, albeit unorthodox, but I can't find any indication of it in the 3D sketches.)

I have corrected some small mistake in the numbering of the instructional sketches, and moved part 16 to the same doubling-up area as part 20. The cockpit part 5 lacked brown colouring on one small strip, which I added.

In the shape republished and rescaled below, I feel confident that the model now is entirely buildable. I want to thank Krzychu for the nice conversations by mail we have had about his attractive glider model, and for his willingness to react quickly to feedback from the cardmodelling community.

If you feel like building the Praha PB-3 glider, you will get inspiration for further detailing from the photo and the 3-view drawing. (For example, if you study the 3-view drawing and the photo you will see that the two parts 10, the bottom stabilizer struts, should not be there at all; however I've left them in the kit and in the instructional sketches - decide for yourself.)

After posting this, I will go back and delete older download files in the previous post on this subject. All downloadable files for the Praha PB-3 (with extra 3-view in 1:87 and photo) now will be found in this post in order not to add to the confusion.

Leif

In a separate thread I introduced the time-limited free download from Fiddler's Green of the home-built "Duster" glider in wood and plywood. The offer is valid until 15 January 2007.

The model is quite instructive for demonstrating how to prepare a 1:87 rescaled version. I cannot share this version for copyright reasons (since the free download has a time limit), but here's an idea how to proceed in all similar cases.

1. Check the actual scale of the model. The scale of the larger version of the Fiddler's Green Duster is stated as 1:14, but measurements proved this to be closer to 1:13.4. How does one measure that?

First, get a correct figure for the span of the original (13.0 meters). Then measure the sum of the parts making up the wings in the kit. This is done along the internal ruler of any good software programme. From there it is just a simple long division.

2. Calculate the rescaling percentage. If the original model is in scale 1:13.4, the required percentage for arriving at a scale of 1:87 is ( 13.4 / 87 ) x 100 = 15.4 percent.

Rescale each sheet to this percentage, copy, and paste into a new parts sheet. Do not save the rescaling of the original sheets, since you may want to use these for other purposes at some other time.

3. Rescale a three-view drawing. This is optional but nice to have around when checking alignment, dihedral, etc. In this case the instructions sheet contains the best available three-view drawing (nothing better was found on the net).

Measuring the wingspan of the three-view drawing in the instructions sheet and performing a similar calculation as above gave a result of 84.3 percent for the instructions. Do this and try to get it into your parts sheet if possible.

4. Rearrange you parts sheet. At these percentages it turned out that the model is so small that the parts more or less fit into the margins of the A4-size parts sheet, while the greater part is taken up by the instructions with the three-view.

In fact, there was so much space left in the margins that both versions of the model (one coloured, and one black-and-white version) could be fitted into the same sheet as the instructions.

The result can be viewed below. I am not sure that this tiny model is suited for everyone, although some of the miniature guys on this site probably would be able to take it to a third of even this small size.

Anyhow, the exercise was well wort the effort, if nothing else for preserving one reference hard copy of the Duster. From the unchanged originals on the computer you can then proceed in other directions in the future.

Leif

George

I remember well the small electric motors for plastic models, and even used a surplus one of my own for a 1/25 Tummelisa card model in the early 1990s. In order to make the rather large prop plus the engine replica spin I mounted the motor together with two 1.2 volt cells from the circuit board of an old TV set.

However, the higher voltage together with the heavy load unfortunately made the motor burn at an early stage of this model's life (or something else went wrong), so I can no longer enjoy this excellent motor. And there seems to be no new ones to be had.

I completely agree that the mechanism was ideal for building into models. You just flipped the prop, and the motor started running. The only thing required for charging up the accus was two small wire stubs somewhere on the model (could be disguised by making the landing gear or some other wire parts serve as connectors).

Unfortunately, digital cameras did not exist at the time I made the model, but here's the now defunct business end of the 1/25 scale card model of the Tummelisa:

At the top of the Kartonbau Index today was a link to "Leuchttürme der Ostseeküste im Maßstab 1:87" (Baltic lighthouses in 1:87 scale). One of them, the Darsser Ort, is in fact available as a complete free download (at the bottom of the download page at the knud.de site).

This is very attractive, and we are all grateful. Potential builders should be aware, however, that the printing may not be so easy, since the parts sheets are all in A3 format. Do not be mislead into letting your print-out dialogue specify "scale to print", since you would then end up with a scale of something like 1:120.

If you are really set on building this lighthouse in 1:87 scale, you will have to rearrange the parts on to A4 printing sheets. This does not seem to be a problem for most of the sheets. For the last sheet, however, you will have to do some clever separation of the big single bottom part of the lighthouse.

If I really feel like it at some time, I'll try to get back to this little task. Even better, if someone else feels like doing the job, post it here!

Meanwhile, here's what the print sheets look like in their original A3 format:

Inspired by Michael's ("zec") build of the Polikarpov I-16, from the Modele Kartonowe free download 1:33 model, I dug out a 1:87 rescaling I had lying around on the computer of their 1:48 Polikarpov I-16 model (also free download).

This is a different model and less complicated (due to the smaller scale). Among the differences you will notice that there are no wheel wells (only black markings), although the landing gear as such is fully detailed.

It is also a different version. The one rescaled here is the one used by Finland (marked in Swastikas, which just happened to be the Finlandian Air Force national insignia; I have masked these in the illustrations below).

An interesting feature about this 1:87 rescaling is that I also recoloured it slightly. Since I have the Halinski model of the I-16 I used their shades (or something close to it) of exterior green, blue, and yellow, plus their interior blue.

You can compare the result below in the two images of the download sheets. The recoloured version is to the left, and the original to the right (the colours you get in 1:48 scale from Modele Kartonowe). I am particularly happy about the much warmer yellow on the nose and wing tips, plus the softer blue of the interior.

Further work includes rearranging parts on the sheet. Some parts have been doubled, for spares which might come in handy. Photos are from the 1:48 version build and taken from the Modele Kartonowe site.

NOTE: The rescaled and recoloured model originally offered as a download in this post contained the Finlandian national insignia of the era. I have since learned (and I should have known better from the start) that you cannot post models with these markings, even if they were standard Finlandian. So for a short while I removed the download.

The little model was too attractive, however, not to put in some extra work. So I got down to it and retouched the national insignia also in the download. The present download is illustrated below (and the retouching of the download is much better than the crude retouching of the photos, I might add).

As you can see, it is now completely unmarked. What you get is thus a kind of "generic" Polikarpov, which may never have existed. But it is still a very attractive little model, perhaps even more so without the offending insignia.

After reading about the fantastic large-scale bandwagon (Kettenfahrzeug) built by "Klebegold" at this site (see start of thread, and last post), I came by chance upon the tiny 1:250 scale model of the Russian bandwagon GAZ-71, made by Michael Kaint ("MichiK") and offered as freeware download at the Papership.de site.

As often is the case, the quality of this very small model is so good, that it stands enlarging to 1:87 very well. By kind permission from the author, MichiK, I went to work rescaling and rearranging the parts. You can see the result below, and download these 1:87 files from the next post below.

A few words about what is offered here: There are three different versions of the bandwagon, in different colour schemes, and with different superstructures. Each version is on a separate sheet.

The instructions in English is a condensed version of the original instructions in German. These are offered as an extra download in the post below, and are to be recommended if you speak German, since the text is more detailed. The sketch, however, is identical in the English version.

Here are the download files for the 1:87 rescaling of MichiK's Russian bandwagon GAZ-71. See previous post for a description and illustrations!

You might also want to download the original 1:250 version from Papership.de, since it includes the original German instructions.

The rescaled and recoloured 1:87 model of the Polikarpov I-16 originally offered as a download a few posts above contained the Finlandian national insignia of the era. I have since learned (and I should have known better from the start) that you cannot post models with these markings, even if they were standard Finlandian. So for a short while I removed the download.

The little model was too attractive, however, not to put in some extra work. So I got down to it and retouched the national insignia also in the download. The present download is illustrated below. As you can see, it is now completely unmarked. What you get is thus a kind of "generic" Polikarpov, which may never have existed. But it is still a very attractive little model, perhaps even more so without the offending insignia.

Download the new version from this post above.

Thanks MichiK!

I don't suppose the pretty helicopter, close to the bandwagon on the aft deck of the Lenin, is available as a separate model (freeware, so you might enlarge and share it)?