Saturday 3 November 2012

El Escuadrón Aereo Primero

Angered by a leaked report about the Tarbooshian armoured artillery tractors El Presidente has taken the following measures.

1. Restriction of direct coal sales to Tarbooshian agents.

2. Increased paperwork and a stronger bureaucracy in the coal industry for greater security.

3. Sourcing of kerosene supplies through El Presidente middlemen.

4. The formation of a aerial bombing squadron to pinpoint and destroy these unholy Tarbooshian creations.

Anahuacan purchasing agents made contact with our good friends in Caribia who assisted in obtaining the aircraft that will surely put paid, once and for all, to the dastardly machinations of that Tarbrush fellow, yes, we insult you!

This is the right piece of equipment in the right place at the right time with the right bombs right on target every time. The pilot is right for the job and is a right-thinking FSA citizen named Wright. Bearing all that in mind it has been decided to name our wonder weapon, quite rightly: The El Presidente!

Pilot Wright at the controls!


Sturdy construction!

Beware, minions of Tarbooshia, El Presidente is upon you!

The aircraft is a scratchbuild with an obvious nod towards The Wright Flyer. Wings, tailplane box and bit the pilot's feet are on all from balsa. Wing struts and rigging all from cocktail sticks. Ailerons are thin card cut to size and glued on. Engine blocks: balsa, propellers from coffee stirrers. I used plastic inserts from a couple of old pens as spacers between the engine and the prop.The propellor hubs are dressmakers pins. The tail is made of long kebab skewers, the bracers are matchsticks cut to fit.. Undercarriage is coffee stirrers, a cocktail stick and two slices from a cork. The pilot has a control stick in each hand to control yaw, height, speed and pitch (possibly). The pilot figure started life as a 54mm cowboy wagon driver. Scarf, goggles and gloves from milliput. Kudos to whoever spots what the scarf's colours refer to!

I need to construct a suitable 'flying' stand for it so any advice and guidance on this will be gratefully received. I'm thinking it will need a fairly large base to remain upright during Garden Wargames.

All the best!

4 comments:

  1. Lovely bit of scratchbuilding!
    Making a flying base. Depending on the weight..a magnet attached to the bottom and another on the top of a clear plasic pole (with stand)
    Another I´ve seen is a pole with a crocodile clip and a small clip attached to the bottom of the plane or you attach the clip to one of the wings or another convenient place.
    Or, a sort of sling. A longer wire pole bent over at the top, with two loops (fishing wire) and you sort of hang the plane in the hoops, one under it´s front end and the other under the tail plane
    Last one...and probably my favouritea pole with a pin on the end and the plane has a tiny hole underneath in the fusealage..you just slot the plane onto the pin
    Cheers
    paul

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  2. Hello Paul,
    Thank you for your kind comments and the super helpful suggestions! I'll give one, or all, of them a spin and report back.

    All the best
    James

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  3. Wonderful scratch built aircrafft.If playing on a lawn why not attach it to a spiky pole or a pole in a old tin can filled with sand to aid movement...

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  4. This is all good stuff, chaps! Thank you for your help and ideas!

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