1/72nd scratchbuilt Elytroplan (From the archives, 2007)

(From the archives, 2007)

Entomology for some reason seems an appropriate tool in dealing with this plane.

The join-venture that gave birth to the Elytroplan took place in France in 1937, between Charles de Rouge, Jacques de Chabrillan and Victor Bouffort. The curious may visit:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Roug%C3%A9

for further info.

So, what is an “elytron”? A pair of hardened front wings on some insects. I guess the French designers were referring to a pair of small vanes that in this case were located at the tip of a super-sized rudder. They were used to further improve control. Or so the legend goes.

In any case the design trend originated a small number of planes, unfortunately all of them destroyed later during war time. There is a plane from another designer preserved at the Musee de L’Air but, although using a similar concept, doesn’t bear a close resemblance to the first Elytroplan, having a horizontal “elytron” instead of vertical ones.

The model:

A tiny strange thing at 1/72 scale, basically simple to build if you are willing to deal with small details. For the record, I spent more time looking for minuscule parts that jumped on the floor than with the building process itself.

The only “foreign” part is a photo-etched propeller boss. Most of the other elements were made of styrene sheet and rod, even the wheels. The wing-tip skids and main mono-wheel undercarriage were made of bent staples. A simple interior was guess-built, the whole thing airbrushed with acrylics, et voila!

Daring job, being a test pilot, uh?

Thanks to modeler Michel Barriere for spurring the creation of the model.

1/72nd scratchbuilt Nemeth Umbrellaplane (from the Archives, 2007)

(From the archives, 2007)

The Nemeth Umbrellaplane, as its name indicates, was created to minimize the weather impact while waiting on the tarmac on rainy airstrips. Or not.

Thanks to one of the very good publications issued by Bill Hannan at Hannan’s Runway, this model could finally see the light of day (under the umbrella, that is).

This beautiful machine was the brainchild of Mr. Nemeth, and was built by students of the University of Miami. The fuselage is from a stretched Alliance Argo, and was powered by a Warner Scarab. Later in its life the wing was altered to another, even stranger, split configuration.

A bit more of information can be found at Aerofiles:  

http://www.aerofiles.com/_n.html

The model, as you can tell by the “in progress” photos, is made basically, as usual, from styrene sheet and rod. Aeroclub engine prop and wheels completed the needed parts.

The forest of struts was dealt with using brass “Strutz”.

Once I got all the parts on the table I gently blew over them and pronounced the powerful word “Shazam!”

And the model came to life.

The truth is out there.

Mikro-Mir 1/72nd NIAI Fanera 2 completed

 
Here is the little Fanera completed.

The review / step-by-step building article is here:

http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/12/mikr-mir-172-niai-1-fanera-2.html

It is no doubt an attractive plane of unusual configuration.

The kit is affordable and has some think-out-of-the-box engineering, but it is a mixed bag:

The good:

a) reasonable number of parts, good surface detail, well appointed for 1/72 (engine, interior)

b) photoetched bits

c) window masks!

The bad:

a) confusing instructions that lack clarity, have too small detail drawings and contain mistakes

b) a few ill-designed parts (wheels bigger than pants' internal space)

c) horrible, unusable, total failure decals (at least in my kit). Scan them in high-res and print your own. It is a drag, but better than deal with decal confetti.

If you are interested in this plane, there is enough on the Net to satisfy your curiosity if you have a modicum of dexterity handling Net searches.