RC Model Flyer 01/2011

Development of the DHC (de Havilland Canada) Twin Otter began in 1964, with the first flight on May 20, 1965. Design features included double slotted trailing edge flaps and ailerons that work in unison with the flaps to boost STOL performance. The availability of the 550 shp (410 kW) Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-20 propeller turbine engine in the early 1960s made the concept of a twin more feasible. According to Wikapeadia, as of August 2006, a total of 584 Twin Otter aircraft (all variants) remained in service worldwide. After production ended, the remaining tooling was purchased by Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia, who manufacture replacement parts for all of the out of production de Havilland Canada aircraft. On February 24, 2006 Viking purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the out of production de Havilland DHC-1 through DHC-7 aircraft. The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new aircraft. On July 17, 2006, at the Farnborough Air Show, Viking Air announced its intention to offer a Series 400 Twin Otter. On April 2, 2007 Viking announced that with 27 orders and options in hand, it was restarting production of the Twin Otter, equipped with a more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34/35 engine. As of November 2007, 40 firm orders and 10 options had been taken and a new assembly plant established in Calgary, Alberta. Zimex Aviation of Switzerland received the first new production aircraft, serial number 845, in July 2010.

download

Scale Military Figure Conversions

Military figure modelling has existed in one form or another, since man learned both to fight, and to create. Beautifully crafted scale figures of soldiers and sailors have been found in burial sites, pyramids and tombs throughout antiquity, charting and commemorating mans struggle against those who would destroy him, his land and his loved ones. The figures in Fig. 1 are of Wellington, his wife Kitty Pakenham, and an infantry guardsman. They were cast in lead recycled from musket balls retrieved from the field at Waterloo. Today, we are blessed indeed that a great diversity of model soldiers, sailors and airmen in all scales, from all of the major combatant nations throughout history, are available from some very notable manufacturers across the world. Military figure modelling is no longer the cottage industry it was back in the 1960s and 70s, and the new-found diversity in type and scale can only be a good thing, ensuring in most cases that only the very best have survived.

download

Modelling Fallschirmjager Figures

From its early beginnings as a battalion in 1936, Germany's paratrooper branch grew to a body comprising several divisions. About 230,000 men served as Fallschirmjäger throughout the Third Reich period, the greater part of them during World War II, when paratrooper units were engaged in every major campaign, earning an elite status, admiration and respect even from their enemies. This image seems to have endured in our own hobby area, and Fallschirmjäger are plentiful in the figure market, making this popular subject an excellent choice for this series of how-to modelling guides. Of the diverse subjects dealt with in this book, painting techniques take the lion's share; given the limitations of space, we reasoned that it would be natural to prioritize this, the most widely followed discipline. We hope that the many modellers who concentrate on painting out-of-the-box figures, as well as those who also indulge in figure conversion, will both profit from some of the techniques explained in the painting tutorials. We have also found that painting techniques are especially well suited for a step-by-step presentation. Our chosen medium is acrylic paint, which has steadily gained popularity in our hobby.

download