Scale Aviator International Magazine Issue 3 | Page 8

Hangar 9 ARF Gets Rivet!

Usually I build from kits, plans and three
view drawings but I’ve wanted to scale
out an ARF for some time now. The new
Hangar 9 P-47D seemed a good candidate for this.

It’s all sheeted, is reasonably close in outline to the
full scale and as it turns out, a number of molded
fiberglass components under the covering.
My goal was to scale it out in every reasonable way

I could think of, finish it in a scale paint scheme
and perhaps even compete with it. Knowing the
airplane is structurally sound and a great flying
model before getting started was an unexpected
comfort.
Right out of the box I taped it all together to see
what I had to work with, determine what needed to
be done and how to go about it. I wanted to paint
this model and don’t care to paint over plastic covering. I much prefer painting over glass or fabric.
So off came the covering with the help
of my selected WWII pilot and the real
work began.
PREP WORK
There was much work to do before
any glassing though. To start hiding
the exposed control connections to
the tail, I pulled all the control tubing
in to the fuselage and re-routed it inside to the tail. To gain access to the
controls I made the rudder removable
with a single hinge pin while making
scale hinges. Then set about making
the elevator hinges scale replacing the
CA type provided. The elevators have

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