Sketchbook from December 1962 American Modeler Magazine

This Sketchbook was scanned from the December 1962 American Modeler. Most building tips are timeless. Even in this era of ready-to-fly (RTF), almost-ready-to-fly (ARF), bind-and-fly (BAF), etc., there are still many modelers who build their own aircraft. One hint is to use milk rather than water for spraying onto tissue paper. Thomas Hill claims dope will not penetrate the milk solids after it dries, which keeps weight down since the dope cannot saturate the tissue paper. Nearly all top tier competition fliers build their own models, as do aficionados of vintage (aka old-timer) models. Some guys just would rather build than buy a pre-build airplane, whether from a kit or from plans.

Got a new idea for construction, ad-justment, or operation of model planes, boats or R/C? "AM" pays $10 for each "hint & kink" used. Send rough sketch and description to Sketchbook, c/o American Modeler, The Conde Nast Publications Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York 17, N. Y.

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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!

Sketchbook - Model Building TipsDecember 1962 American Modeler

Sketchbook - Model Building Tips
December 1962 American Modeler