Sketchbook - Model Building Tips
August 1954 Air Trails Hobbies for Young Men

August 1954 Air Trails
August 1954 Air Trails Cover - Airplanes and RocketsTable of Contents

These pages from vintage modeling magazines like Flying Aces, Air Trails, American Modeler, American Aircraft Modeler, Young Men, Flying Models, Model Airplane News, R/C Modeler, captured the era. All copyrights acknowledged.

These "Sketchbook" pages appeared for many years in Air Trails Hobbies for Young Men magazine and in its predecessor, Air Trails. "Sketchbook" was a monthly feature where modelers wrote to the magazine with handy ideas for saving time and/or money, and just for offering tips and suggestions on a different way of doing something. Prior to having information on just about every topic readily available on the Internet, modelers had to rely on books, magazines, friends, and personal ingenuity. Also, in those days there was not the plethora of accessories available for building models, so a lot of creativity was involved. Even items as commonplace as bellcranks for control line models and dethermalizers for free flight were fabricated from salvaged parts like metal soup cans and hairpins. I'm guessing no magazine today would dare publish a scheme to attach bottle rockets to a model airplane as is shown here, lest Homeland Security or the FBI show up at the editor's door in the early morning hours with a fully outfitted SWAT team.

Sketchbook

Earl Cayton, Salem, Oregon, employs dural firewall plate - Airplanes and Rockets

Earl Cayton, Salem, Oregon, employs dural firewall plate as firm base for thrust adjustment washers in radially-mounted engine of free flight gassie -

 - Airplanes and Rockets

Have you developed something new in construction, control, or flying? Send a rough sketch - we'll redraw it and pay $5 for each accepted. Contributions should be original ideas; sorry, we cannot enter into any correspondence on submissions.

Ad hoc modeling tools by Arthur Lederle, Southold, New York - Airplanes and Rockets

Inexpensive model "tools" for easier handling of small model parts - Arthur Lederle, Southold, New York.

Fabric covering by Eric Knox, San Francisco, California - Airplanes and Rockets

Fabric covering is easily applied with paste adhesive. Spread over frame with fingertip, it allows 15 min. period for stretching covering before setting. By Eric Knox, San Francisco, California.

Hair com grilles by Phil Boretto, Santa Rosa, California - Airplanes and Rockets

Sections cut from combs make realistic grills for cowl openings. Ideal for team racers, stunt & scale models of all sizes says Phil Boretto, Santa Rosa, California.

Fuel line coupling by L.M. Waldorf, Binghampton, New York - Airplanes and Rockets

L.M. Waldorf, Binghampton, New York, makes small coupling at firewall to facilitate replacing fuel line to "sealed-in" tank.

Nail polish spinner, Keith Red, 12, Union City, Michigan - Airplanes and Rockets

Great variety in shapes of plastic nail polish caps include some suitable for A/2 engine spinners suggests Keith Red, 12, Union City, Michigan.

Richard Chang, Hong Kong, China, rigs realistic rocket - Airplanes and Rockets

Richard Chang, Hong Kong, China, rigs realistic rocket batteries under wing of control-line model -

Click for full size page scans

Sketch-book from August 1954 Air Trails Hobbies for Young Men (p64) - Airplanes and RocketsSketch-book from August 1954 Air Trails Hobbies for Young Men (p65) - Airplanes and Rockets

Sketchbook Editions

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Back when the Sketchbook, Gadgetry, Powerless Pointers, and Engine Info columns were run, there were very few pre-built models, and there simply was not as much available in the way of hardware and specialized modeling tools. We were still a nation of designers and builders. The workforce was full of people who worked on production lines, built houses and buildings with hand tools, and did not have distractions like Nintendos and X-Boxes. Remember that plastics were not common material until the early 50s and the transistor wasn't invented until late 47. Enjoy the tips. Some of you will no doubt wax nostalgic over the methods, since you can remember the days when you did the exact same thing!

 

 

Posted October 5, 2013