Sikorsky S-40, hand drawn

[papermate]

Suggest that you have a look at bobscardmodels.com where he's got one similar plane for your reference.

Papermate

[cdavenport]

C Davenport. My solution for the maze of struts has been to draw them out geometrically, and build them with a little basswood strip within. Alignment and strength mean everything in this design - I am curious to know how you approach it.[/QUOTE]

I use suitably sized brass rod (based on the scale of the model) around which I form either cardstock or copy paper, again based on scale. I rough the rod with a file by rolling the file along the circumference of the rod. A little line of CA adheres the rod to the leading edge of the paper. I trim the paper on either side of the rod to the correct length for the strut. Finally, I push the rod/paper assembly into a premade form (made from strips of balsa or plastic...whatever is at hand) that forces the paper to follow the contour of the rod. It's then just a matter of gluing the trailing edges together with Tacky Glue.

As I type this, the process seems involved, but I can construct all the struts in a matter of minutes if I use a long length of rod and cut each individual strut from the master length.


Oh, yes, for the Hornet engine....make a master from plastic, make a mold and cast the heads from finely ground paper mache. Except for the material, that's how "they" do it for real. For that matter, you can cast the gear box and case.

[THE DC]

I wanted to check on your progress with this.

Its a fine looking project and I'm hoping you make it available.

Great work and hard to believe it was hand drawn,

The DC