Northwest Hobby Expo & easy fiberglass parts, The

Model Airplane News, Jun 2001 by Leu, George

A TECHNIQUES

One of my favorite activities is attending the Great Northwest Hobby Exposition in Puyallup, just outside Tacoma, WA. Each year, there are new products and many beautiful models on display, and 2001 was no exception. The quality and sheer number of aircraft on display make the Expo a must-see hobby showcase.

STATIC DISPLAY BEAUTIES

This year, Jeremy Fursman won the Best of Show award with his 1/4-scale de Havilland Tiger Moth. Built from the Duncan Hutson kit, Jeremy's Laser 1.50 4-stroke-powered Tiger Moth had already won the 2000 Canadian Nationals and placed seventh at last year's U.S. Scale Masters Championship in Columbus, OH. I was very impressed by his documentation; it was simple yet thorough-something I have always advocated. What I found even more interesting was that Jeremy brush-- painted his model using the new waterbased System Three paint from Nelson Hobby Specialties. There wasn't a brush mark to be seen, and I think you'll agree that its "Tony the Tiger" paint job is a real eye-catcher.

Another beautiful model was Wendell Ward's version of the A6M 3 Model 32 Zero. Expertly built from an old Bert Baker kit, it had rivets, panel lines, a sliding canopy, detailed cockpit, etc., and was finfished with Perfect Paints. Under the hood is an Enya VT-240 twin.

NEW PRODUCTS

The newest company I found producing sport and scale wooden kits is Hoemcraft Aviation. Merle Hoem, company owner and airplane designer, offers a great-looking 1/5-scale de Havilland Chipmunk through Nelson Hobby Specialties. This balsa-and-ply kit includes some built parts: the sheet plywood doublers and fuselage sides are joined at the factory to maintain the correct fuselage curve; the fuse. lage side sheeting is ready to install. The kit has laser-cut parts and specific guide holes in the fuselage sides to ensure accurate parts alignment. It includes Nelson Hobby Specialties hardware.

Proctor Enterprises displayed a number of its WW 1 kits, and the 1/4-scale Fokker D-VII kit is still the most popular in its inventory. I was pleased to hear that Proctor now offers a prefabricated 1/4-scale SPAD XIII! Manufactured by Flugenmodelbau-the company in Germany that makes the 1/4scale WACO that Proctor offers-the Peter Barth-designed SPAD is a true ARF and comes built and finished in a scale color scheme. This model is also available as a kit.

Jet Hangar Hobbies (JHH) displayed a prototype of the RAM 500 turbine engine and showed how well it fits in its ducted-- fan models. It also displayed other kits designed around S-inch-diameter fan units. This new turbine weighs only 1.5 pounds, and it can be set up at the factory for a specified thrust of up to 11 pounds. JHH offers plans that tell you how to upgrade its kits for turbine power. JHH also offers custom-made scale landing-- gear struts for its kits. These shock-absorbing Oleo-strut units will also work nicely with other kits.

Arizona Model Aircrafters also offers scale WW 1 ARFs. The 1/5-scale Fokker Dr. has a fabric-and-painted finish and will be available with a dummy rotary engine and machine guns. Its out-of-the-box weight is only 4 pounds, so it should be ideal for electric and glow power; and best of all, it costs only $295 plus shipping. Now that's a bargain!

Arizona Model Aircrafters also displayed a 1/3-scale Fokker Eindecker and a Sommers monoplane. The Sommers came from an idea that company owner Jaime Johnson has for the development of vintage pylon racing! When I suggested it sounded like the movie "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," Jaime chuckled and said he had an idea for that, too! I'll keep you posted if his idea gets off the ground.

UHI showed off its F-100 kit, which has been substantially upgraded since it came out. You now have a choice of a ducted fan or a RAM 500 turbine for power. The fuselage comes in two pieces and with two molded hatches that allow for easy equipment and powerplant access. The elevator and flap assemblies have also been redesigned, as have the landing-gear set-up and the air-- intake ducting.

The 3 Sea Bees Models company has seen its business grow immensely. Known for its line of WW I and vintage ARF aircraft, it offers very nicely done, museum-quality aircraft. The models come with wing stitching, wire wheels, leather cockpit edging, dummy engine details, etc. I was impressed by its colorful I's-scale SPAD XIII. It has a 69-inch wingspan and is 47 inches long, so it's easy to transport in one piece.

3 Sea Bees Models, P.O. Box 747, Lake Stevens, WA 98258; (425) 334-6089; fax (425) 397-2126. Arizona Model Aircrafters, 14795 N. 78th Way, Unit 800,

Scottsdale, AZ 85260; (480)

348-3733; fax (480) 348-3773.

Enya; distributed by Altech Marketing, P.O. Box 7182,

Edison, NJ 08818-7182. Hoemcraft Aviation, 1204 S. 4th,

Independence, OR 97123.

let Hangar Hobbies, PO. Box 1607,

Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716; (562) 467-0260, fax (562) 467-0261.

Nelson Hobby Specialties, 394 S. W. 211 th Ave., Aloha, OR 97006; toll-free (877) 263-5766; (503) 259-8899; www.nelsonhobby.com.