Sketchbook
April 1960 American Modeler

April 1960 American Modeler Table 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.

The April 1960 issue of American Modeler magazine provided this octet of handy tricks and tips for model airplane building in its monthly Sketchbook feature. Readers write in with ideas they came up with to solve commonly encountered issues with hardware, framework construction and covering, painting, trimming out a model for good flight characteristics, engine operation, and others. Many might seem obvious, but such is often the case after you see a solution, kind of like in school when working a math or physics problem and looking at the answer in the back of the book. A couple of the suggestions here are things I have done, such as running a nut up on a bolt prior to cutting the bolt so that it can then clean up the threads as it is removed. I also used to put a piece of fuel tubing between the fuel/air nipples on the fuel tanks of Cox Babe Bees to facilitate flying inverted. The homemade long drill bit trick was made in order to make holes through lamps I turned on my lathe. They were made of relatively soft woof (pine) so the process was simple.

Sketchbook

When bolts are cut, threads are usually burred at edge. Roger Rasor, Wadsworth, Ohio, simply runs nut above point where cut is to be made, later unscrews it to remove burrs.

Hollow fiberglass fishing rod blanks (factory discards) are ideal fuselage booms, reports Ray Adkins, Sepulveda, Calif. Tapered tubes are notched to accept pylons, mounts, etc.

Flush hub disc enhances model appearance. Roy Traylor, Austin, Texas, solders retaining washer close to hub, cements rubber ring spacer to wheel hub, adds aluminum disc for neat installation.

Aaron Thornton, Waterloo, Iowa, found simple addition of loop of neoprene made his Cox engine suitable for inverted running. Tubing has vent in bottom; engine runs upright or inverted without loss of fuel.

Unusual liquid adhesive for covering purposes is gum arabic and water, reports Charles Wolff, New Hyde Park, N.Y. Inexpensive and non-flammable, available at most drug stores.

Nylon props slip on shafts in Pakistan just as they sometimes do in the U.S.A. Mohd Farooque, E. Pakistan, cuts washer of thin cork, places it between back washer and prop as cure.

Indoor covering patch technique used with microfilm is adapted to silk by Art Christensen, Elk Grove, Ill. Layers of newspaper makes trimming, handling of wet silk easy.

Special jobs require special tools. For drilling leadout wire holes in completed wing, Jim Cipolla, Long Hill, Conn., made long drill of steel wire for use in speed drill.

Got a new idea for construction, adjustment or operation of model planes, boats or R/C? "AM" pays $10 flor each "hint & kink" used. Send rough sketch and description to Sketchbook, c/o American Modeler, 575 Madison Ave., New York 22, N. Y. Please note that because of the very large number of submissions, none can be returned to the sender.

Posted May 8, 2022