Hear Ye!

January, 2005
No. 452

FROM THE PRESIDENT(S)
~~~~~~~~

By Bob Sudermann

Well, if you have not heard already, you're all stuck with me as president
for another year. Last month's Board of Governors (BOG) was held to elect
the 2005 officers. Larry Scaggs will replace Carl Sutton as Treasurer,
Steve Kolet will stay on for another year as Secretary, Mike Estock will be
Vice President and I return for another term as president. With this crew
and a BOG willing to step up and assist, I expect 2005 to be another great
year.

At the January board meeting we will be reviewing the recommended Bylaws
changes previously presented with no action taken due to a lack of voting
members at the meeting. We will go over the changes again with the
expectation to bring this to the General Membership for ratification at the
January 11th meeting. BOG members - this is important; please plan to
attend the BOG meeting on January 4th.

The Annual VFSS Banquet is being held on a Friday this year, and we are
pleased to have Bob Hunt from Model Aviation as our guest speaker. Please
plan to attend, and bring your projects along for display. This is a Model
Aviation Banquet; it would be great to show Bob Hunt what our members have
been working on and the quality we can achieve.

Steve Kolet and I met with Barbara Pollarine (Deputy Superintendent) for our
regular by-monthly meeting on December 17th. Things are moving forward on
the Master Plan, and we can expect to see the document sometime in the
spring, with public meetings to be scheduled afterwards. The new
superintendent has been selected and will report in January. Our next
meeting is scheduled for March 4th where we will have the opportunity to
meet him.

Remember - Fly Safe and I'll see you at the field.

~~~~~~~~~~

By Russell O'Brien

A review of the year as VFSS President brings to mind several highlights
that were different from being a rank and file member.

Many events are held throughout the year, from routine flying days to large
formal events, indoor and outdoor. Instructors volunteer their time and
skills to train new members. Others volunteer to cut grass, manage fun
flies, maintain equipment, set up tables and cooking equipment, oversee the
transmitter impound area to avoid accidents, lend their own equipment,
collect membership dues, arrange banquet details, arrange bus trips, keep
club records, coordinate club awards, establish club bylaws, perform Field
Marshal duties to assure safety, operate a raffle during winter meetings,
introduce children to the model airplane hobby at area schools and give them
hands-on radio control experience at the field.

The majority of these tasks are performed by members other than the
President. Please keep in mind that, no matter who is President, help is
needed in many forms to keep the Valley Forge Signal Seekers club operating
smoothly and safely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PAINTING SCALE MARKINGS
By Robert J. Caso

A few club members asked how I paint my markings on some of my scale models
so here are all my secrets. As an extra special bonus, I will also discuss
how to apply water transfer and pressure sensitive decals.

I started painting my markings for a number of reasons. First, nothing
looks like paint like paint. Secondly, my models aren't always scaled to a
nice round size (ie: 1/12, 1/6, etc.) and therefore commercially available
decals won't always fit the plane. Third, the decals you can get aren't
always in the right color and proportions. I generally model WWII military
subjects, and all the major powers standardized their markings and sized
them to the aircraft and used specific colors and proportions. You can do
the same with paint.

While painting markings is certainly an exercise in modeling, it gets easier
the more you do of it, and the results are worth the effort. There are
three steps to painting markings: preparing the masks for the markings and
protecting the balance of the model, applying the mask to the surface, and
painting.

Preparing and applying the masks

To prepare the mask, you first must have your insignia proportioned and
scaled to the subject. One mask will be required for each color you are
applying. If you've read my previous piece on CAD drawing, I recommend that
you lay out your markings in CAD - it's probably the easiest thing you can
do in CAD. This way, the marking can be scaled to the model with all the
internal proportions precisely plotted. If you make a mistake in your CAD
drawing, it's easier to fix than in hand-drawn layouts. The most
significant advantage to CAD, however, is the ability to copy and edit the
marking in accordance with the number of colors you are applying and to make
the same marking in different sizes.

For example, let's say you are doing an early WWII US AAF insignia - blue
field, white star and red dot in the middle. You'll need three masks for
this. Also, you need masks for the upper and lower wing and for each side
of the fuselage. Referencing the correct proportional dimensions from a
reliable source, simply draw two circles (blue field, red dot) the right
size and your star. The star is easy - draw a horizontal line in CAD, copy
it, rotate the copy 72 degrees and attach one end to end the first line. Do
this 3 more times. Wrong size? Scale it down so it fits in your circle.
It's easy man!

If you drew everything together so that the marking looks like the finished
product, copy it and scale it to the correct dimensions for the wing and
fuselage. Now separate the components of each and print them out. Spray
some 3M temporary adhesive on your masking material, attach your printout
and cut out each of the components with a sharp blade. Perfect circles can
be cut with an OLFA brand beam compass with a blade on one end, supporting
the center of the mask with a few layers of masking tape. Remove the
remnants of the paper from the mask before applying the mask to the model.
I like clear removable shelf paper for insignia masks but it can be hard to
work with since it wants to stay in its rolled state. The pros are that it
won't pull existing paint off the model, it generally stays put for
painting, and it's easy to get. Artist's frisket paper is an option, but I
have had trouble with it properly adhering to the model.

I protect the rest of the model with aluminum foil and ?" masking tape.
Tape the foil mask to the insignia mask - not to the model - to avoid
pulling up paint already on the model. Aluminum foil is great to work with;
it won't let paint through, it forms around all kinds of protrusions and it'
s cheap!

When you go to apply your masks, properly prepare your work area. Get rid
of dust and building debris, put away tools you don't need have the area
well lit. Get a pair of dividers, scissors (why do they call them a "pair"
?) a flexible ruler and a soft pencil. Masking tape is handy but if you
have to put tape directly on the model, take some of the tack off by putting
the tape on your jeans first. The goal in applying the masks is to align
them properly and to get them to seat properly on the surface. I use tape
to make a datum line on the model from which I measure to the edge of where
my insignia is to go - use the dividers. A reference dot with a pencil on
the area to be painted will help you properly situate your mask.
Side-to-side fuselage/tail markings are the toughest to align, both with the
model and with each other, and there is no magic bullet here. Patience is
the key.

Painting

We have now arrived at the "moment of truth." First a word on equipment.
You'll need a single-action airbrush with a medium tip (a Badger 150 is good
and it's cheap) and a regulated air supply with a water trap. Tank
compressors are the way to go and prices have come way down for these. The
regulator is important - I bought a stand-alone regulator from a good paint
store that I put in line between the brush and the compressor. It was the
best $50 that I spent. I also like braided lines with quick disconnects at
the ends. You will also need an adaptor to fit the small, fine threads of t
he airbrush to the lines. Badger supplies all this stuff. Use Teflon tape
on all the connections.

OK. Starting with light colors first (in our example, white), mix the paint
with the correct reducer so that you have a cream like consistency - or a
little thinner than that. Lay on the mask and lightly burnish the mask
around the edges to get a good seal. Set your pressure to around 10-15 lbs.
and evenly dust - and I mean dust - on the paint from about 6-8 inches away.
Do not attempt full coverage yet. You want the paint to be almost dry as it
hits the surface. Let it dry or use a heat gun to lightly dry the surface.
Step away from the model! Five minutes or so later, dust on another coat,
making sure that your mask has not lifted. The object here is to seal the
edge of the mask to prevent overspray under the mask. A good trick is to
first spay on clear to seal the edge but if your mask is tight, you won't
need to. Hit the area with the heat gun and do your final coat. If you
spray on thin coats each time, you can heat gun the area and go right to
your next mask within minutes with no problem. You will also get no edge to
the paint when you remove the masks.

Lay on the star mask to cover the white area and paint the blue field. If
you're smarter than me, your star mask already had the hole in it for the
red dot, temporarily covered with some scrap mask material while you did the
blue. Mask off the blue with some aluminum foil and thin pieces of tape and
spray the red dot. Immediately remove the mask and let the paint set. That
's it. The key is not getting the paint too wet on the model and using just
enough pressure to atomize the paint so it goes on nice and evenly. If your
airbrush clogs, and it will, have some clean thinner handy and use a stiff
brush to clean out the tip. To clear it, spray into a paper towel and then
go back to the model. I always test spray on an index card before zapping
the model.

Decals

Water based (WB) decals are easy to apply but there are some tricks. If you
are applying WB decals to a matte painted surface, you must first coat the
area that will be under the decal with gloss, preferably sprayed on. WB's
simply won't stick well to a matte surface. Furthermore, the clear carrier
around the edge will show up since it isn't sealed to the surface of the
paint, but is rather sitting on top of peaks in the painted surface. The
key to it all is to squeeze all the water and air out from under the WB and
then apply a decal setting solution while it is still wet. Solvaset is a
good brand. Applied properly, a WB decal will conform right down to the
most minute surface texture, yielding a very convincing appearance. A flat
(or gloss, depending) clear coat will blend in the decal nicely. Bubbles
that you missed can be pierced with a pin and then wetted in with solution.
No problem.

Pressure sensitive (PS) decals are quick and easy but they have their
limitations, especially over compound curves. They are usually thicker than
WB's and are generally much glossier than the surrounding finish. Bubbles
are also an issue. Put a couple of drops of dish detergent in a pint of
water and apply this to where the PS decal is to go.

This will allow you to reposition the decal and will also allow you to
squeeze out bubbles out from under the decal. Let it dry overnight and the
decal will be on for good - it really works.

I hope this takes some of the guesswork out of making your own markings; it'
s really not that hard and will set your models apart!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLUB CALENDAR

Tuesday, January 4
BOG Meeting at the at the Church, 7:00 PM. Topics: 2005 Budget; Club
Bylaws Update.

Tuesday, January 11
General Membership Meeting at the Church, 8:00 PM. Present Bylaws Update
for membership consideration. Guest Speaker: TBD.

Friday, February 4
Annual Awards Banquet at the Camelot in Bridgeport, PA. Guest speaker:
Bob Hunt the Aeromodeling editor of Model Aviation. His topic will be
model construction.

Saturday, February 26
WRAM Show. See Joe Weizer at the January membership meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VFSS AWARD NOMINEES

Achievement awards for 2004 will be given at the annual banquet at the
Camelot on February 4th.

Nominees for the Doug Davidson Memorial Award for outstanding service and
devotion to the hobby and to the club are
Al Marcucci, nominated by Russ O'Brien
Steve Kolet, nominated by Carl Sutton

Nominees for the Technical Achievement Award are
Andrew Berg and Vince Judd, nominated by Steve Kolet
Rob Caso, nominated by Joe Pasquini.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VFSS BOG MEETING
Submitted by Steve Kolet, Secretary

December 7, 2004
Members present:
6 - 2004
9 - 2005
9 - 2006
Meeting opened at 7:00 PM by President Russ O'Brien.

OLD BUSINESS: NONE

NEW BUSINESS: 2005 Officer Elections

Nominations for and election of club officers were held with the following
results:
President - Bob Sudermann
Vice President - Mike Estock
Treasurer - Larry Scaggs
Secretary - Steve Kolet

All business was concluded and the meeting adjourned at 7:10 PM.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A SPECIAL THANKS TO
By Joe Pasquini

I have kept Congressman Gerlach aware of our club's activities and our
efforts to retain our flying field in Valley Forge Park. I have related to
him our entertainment of the public at our fun flies and our efforts to
educate school children about aircraft and the theory of flight. I told him
of members visiting schools and the children in turn being brought to the
field to have hands-on experience with our airplanes.

Congressman Gerlach has taken an interest in our club and has corresponded
with the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent on several occasions. His
letters were very supportive of allowing our club continued use of the
facilities at our flying site in the park.

Therefore, let us offer our sincere appreciation to Congressman Gerlach for
his efforts and congratulate him on his re-election to office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(This last item was phoned in too late for the printed edition of Hear Ye,
so the following is an online exclusive.)

WRAM SHOW
Submitted by Joe Weizer

The annual WRAM Show will take place on Saturday, February 26, 2005. VFSS
is planning to have a bus to take members to the show, but we must know how
many members are interested by the January membership meeting. The cost is
$40 per person, which includes the bus fare, entrance fee, and hoagies and
other food for the trips to and from the show. If you wish to attend,
please pay Joe Weizer at the January membership meeting so that the bus can
be reserved. If you cannot attend the January meeting, send a check to Joe Weizer.

Board of Governors

B.O.G. Term expires end of 2005

Ference (Frank) Bakay
Dennis Di Bonaventura, Field Marshal
Mike Estock, VicePresident, Field Marshal
Tom Greet , Sailplane Instructor
Mel Jones, Helicopter Instructor
Vince Judd
Jim Myers
Russ O'Brien.
Joe Pasquini
Walt Pierzchala

B.O.G. Term expires end of 2006

Warren Barrick
Andrew Berg
Miles Bowman
Al Campana
Rob Caso
John Matt
John Powell
Alex Primas
Bob Sudermann, President
Bill Sunick
Carl Sutton
Alternates
Sean Merle
Larry Scaggs, Treasurer, Field Marshal

Other Club Functions

Tris Colket, Field Marshal
Gerry Keenan, Field Marshal
Steve Kolet, Secretary
Nathan Marks, Chief Field Marshal
Walt Pierzchala, Sunshine Chairman
Art Rothstein, Field Marshal
Ed Snead, Field Marshal
Marilyn Ayres, Editor, Hear Ye!
Michael Myers, Webmaster

Feedback or comments to: Marilyn Ayres , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster

Read another Hear Ye! | Back to Valley Forge Signal Seeker's Page | Back to Radio Control Airplanes