Fiddlers Green

Hi!

I bought a CD at just the right time . . . I hadn't finished the first of the bunch I bought when the staggerwing was released. Man, those Magickeys are nifty.
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Anyway, I worked through the staggerwing and what a beauty it is -- I'd forgotten how much I'd admired the design's elegance. It wasn't without difficulty, though.

Here's my notes on the process, most might be addressed in the instructions.

1. I finally figured out how to mount the fillets, but it actually took quite a bit of fitting, forcing and searching online to find "just the right picture" before I found the correct placement and orientation. I finally found a picture of the rear left quadrant, that showed the irregular step, before I could be sure I'd chosen and placed the left one correctly (the other followed naturally). Long story short, the part requires a bit of "encouragement" to get it correctly into place, which doesn't bode well if you're not sure it goes there anyway. a little more orientational text or addition to the diagram would go a LONG way.

2. The engine is a beauty, but the side piece is tightly covered by the cowling. Does the side really need to be painted?

3. After careful inspection of photographs, I've determined where the elevator counterballance goes: on the elevator -- but where and what orientation I still have no idea. I can see it on the front of the 3-view, but not on the side. Dots would be nice for the where. pictures (add detail to 3-view side?) would be nice for the orientation.

4. The gear is indeed beautifully done, but if I add it, it's both up and down. Maybe I'm being picky (ok, so I am) but since the lower wing center section is on the gear page, couldn't both up and down be added as separate alternate configuration pages? Print page A for up, print page B for down? or draw open gear on the piece, and glue on the doors if you choose up?

5. it's nearly impossible to blacken the inside of the tail wheel door after you glue in the tail wheel. Maybe a note to color it before you glue on the tail wheel (I shoulda seen that coming).

Otherwise, it's a simply beautiful model of a simply beautiful plane. An absolutely splendid craft and a great way to spend a weekend!


Dan <><

sounds great craftydan....can ya post some pics too????

_________________
Laterz
Possm_23
Never say anything you wouldnt think out loud!
Take your time leavin.....but hurry back!!!!
Every tub has to sit on its own bottom!!!!

I think your comments on the Beech are good, I can't agree with everything, but the feedback is useful. The gear option is interesting and wouldn't be too hard to draw that way, although this is done in fg style, if you look at the mustang, ect. That being said, I think its a good idea....and it gives me great pleasure to have modelers enjoy the model I worked on for really about a year! (although one break taken to do the S-38, not so easy a build. virtually no instructions for a very complex model, and I hope to have time to do a complete set of instructions for that one, as it is still probably my favorite design I've done)
glenv

glenv,

The model definitely shows your effort. It's a simple build that generates a very elegant model with little effort. Even for a Bip, it went together easily with the only tricky assembly for me being the fillets -- and that just took a little knowledge and "proper encouragement".

I've built the regular model, and probably soon will build a 1/2 regular model (smaller wings just come out nicer for me).

kudos on an excellent model.


possm,

It's taking me a while to take some shots. As the venerable Patrick McManus, describes it:

" . . . the first thing you do is determine the lengthy sequence of activities necessary to even begin the job. Then you realize the sequence of preparatory activities is so long you will never get to the intended task. So you go fishing instead . . . "*

So I didn't go fishing . . . but I have built 4 models since (since I built the staggerwing, not the initial posting. the posting took a week due to the sequence it takes me to post on the forum).

Likely soon I'll have all sorts of pics to show.

Dan <><

* quote from a short article on sequences, published in the grand tome entitled "The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw". Not his best book of stories, but the sequences story is simply classic for it's realism.

Thanks for the compliments on the model, I really have been pleasantly surprised by the response to this one, really a fun model for me. A completely new design like this is really alot of effort, though, and no new ones for me for a bit...

I guess I can't help it, still scratch building for project possibilities...I think I found one more later

while it's not pics of this staggerwing, I've got pics of it's baby brother over in the "look what I built" section under Crafty Dan's Builds.

It is in one of the pictures, but it's kinda poor. It's the red blob near the bottom of the Christmas tree. That model really isn't that photogenic . . . I'll try and get a better pic later.

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Dan da Crafty Man <><