TOPIC: New Models for 2022 Flying Season

I have a soft spot for Swifts so thanks for posting, what do they weigh?

I think that I am eccentric in thinking Swifts are better looking than Hunters ... The 535 is 20 gms, the FR5 is 23 gms. I haven't tried to build light.

10g or so lighter than mine all up, they should go well.

The figures I gave were minus the motors, if that makes a difference?

You can add 4g - 5g for a mount and used motor, still good figures for a TSP L2, should be fun.

Concorde

This is my latest modelling effort for TSP L1 or L2 power, just loosely assembled here. It started as a kit profile model of Concorde by Prestige Models www.jperkins.com/products/PRS1002 with laser cut parts and self adhesive printed paper graphics that you have to apply. The kit was a Christmas pressie that I got from Sue and I thought it would be so simple to assemble the kit in a few minutes and it would make a quick Rapier or TSP model.

However, I found so many things wrong and not to my liking that I contrived an entirely new 3D model from the kit by bulking out the fuselage with hollowed Depron laminations either side of the central balsa spine. This caused lots of tricky issues but I think the end result is worth it.

The main problem with the kit is that the die cutting on the paper stickers is out of alignment with the graphic printed images, considerably so on one side, so parts of the image would not appear on the balsa. In light of my experience with the Bill Dean’s Skyray and my indoor rubber models of Concorde (see pic below), I changed the ‘S’ shaped wing profile to a flat wing with reflex and moved it to the bottom of the fuselage. I also re-profiled the forward end of the fuselage as I thought the kit version was a bit Micky Mouse! I used UHU Por on the Depron to give the stickers really good adhesion but it would have been so much easier with repositionable type spray mount, a bit of a nightmare to be honest.

As you can see in the pics I made up the engines from balsa fronts and Depron rears that weigh 1g each and I added a tapered bamboo strengthener to the front of the central spine from the tip of the nose back over the wing.

Luckily the balance seems to have come out pretty close to the CG I expect/hope it to fly at and I will add the motor mount as soon as I finish covering up some of the bloops I made with the stickers which look like Scarface if you look too close.

Incidentally the plans for the smaller indoor rubber model in 2mm polystyrene wall insulation foam were published in Aviation modeller (I think) about 20 years ago.