Thanks Dennis...you referenced my youngest son's build!
While I painted it, my son built it. He flew it a few times to appease me, but never dug into the hobby. Same for my oldest boy....built the Scientific FW-190, flew a few times, and backed away quickly.
This all started in 2015/2016 after the boys got tablets..."Dad, what did you do at our age for fun?" "Well, boys..." So I dug out my 35+ year old Cox engines so we could rebuild them, discovered DPC Models from a YouTube video of a Sterling P-38, and got his srk catalog pulled up online. The boys were smitten by the pictures as I cross-referenced Dave's words with online copies of Scientific ads, some were sourced here! The cowls are what drew the boys to the Scientifics. I have pictures of them building wings at the kitchen table.
Sadly, they weren't as drawn to the hobby as I was at their age. While they dropped out, I chose to stay back in it for good...especially as I discovered I can now afford what I couldn't 40 years ago. The harder part during my re-entry was learning most of what I was familiar with no longer exists...AeroGloss, Ambroid, K&S tissue....all gone! Local hobby shops with slotcars, model trains, plastic car kits, Sterling/Carl Goldberg...all gone! Even the Hobby Town two hours away is essentially gutted in that section we all would go to. When I stopped last weekend for a gallon of fuel, the clerk asked what I was feeding it to. "1/2A Cox engines in CL planes," I said. He responded with "What's that?" Now I really feel old! Go back to your drone, kid!
I worked with Dave on several of his kits by providing him with a few older kits, scans, and plaster bucks (Scientific L-19 cowl/Guillow's Mosquito) from my stash. I bought a couple from others just so Dave could have access to them.
Once he gets a hold of a kit, he reverse engineers the kit digitally. That is, the plansheets/build instructions are scanned, any technical drawings are manipulated to improve the build experience, and the parts are scanned, digitally traced/manipulated for CNC production. Then the kit is virtually assembled to check for parts interference. If there appears to be any problem, he makes adjustments before any CNC cutting begins. I have several of his kits now. They are wonderful!
Dave asked me to not tell of any of my input until he marketed the repop kits I provided access to...so I've held my tongue for the last few years. I'm glad he is producing the 21"P-40...I flat-smashed my original to smithereens, and would love another stab at it! Since I have the original scans, I could have scratched one out, but I've been trying to to move up from 1/2A thanks to FredVon4 and his Ukey .35 in Christmas Red!
The Brown Novotnik Mosquito wound up undersize. Original plan is 26", but the kit builds to 23". That may be my fault, since I provided his first copy of the plan (I was still learning how to save re-sized PDFs). As is, prototype #1 has a build log on RCG with a pair of PeeWee .020s sporting the real prototype WWII yellow paint job. The plane looks wonderful with those PeeWees, but I'm doubt a pair of .049s would fit the smaller firewalls.
The Scientific P-40s came through me too. I picked up originals. The big one was purchased from a fellow forum user here liquidating the estate of a friend of his. I sent Dave scans of the wood sheets and plansheet, and a buck of the cowl for the 21" kit. Spring of 2019 I crashed the "big" P-40 and he popped out a fresh cowl, perfect fit. The Red Tiger was purchased on CEF, sent to Dave, and I got the first reproduction kit from the work. Both P-40 builds are featured at CEF. My part was easy...buy the original kits and forward so he could work from them. What amazes me is his short turn around time from concept to product. Keep in mind the Scientific Red Tiger is a rectangular fuselage with a plastic turtle-deck (remember the Zipper?) I think it took him less than a week from having the kit to mailing out the reproduction.
The Super Mustang came from James Dodson, sent to Dave, and then I asked for the original rather than a clone. Again, he had the kit for a week in order to capture what he needed. Another I couldn't mention until now.
Since he has offered those kits I mentioned, I'll see if he wants to tackle the Black Hawk Models clone of the Scientific Challenger. I purchased that one from Dalton Hammett a while back. Now I know I won't build that kit for at least another several months, if Dave wants it.
DPC Models kits are great, and Dave takes great pains to ensure their safe arrival by shrinkwrapping the kit, plansheet, parts ID sheet, and a copy of the original box art to corrugated cardboard backers before placing in sturdy mailing boxes. Again, find the Red Tiger build at CEF to see Dave's packing job, and a breakdown of the kit.
I have No Financial Interest in DPC.Models. I only have a ton of enthusiasm and respect for a guy that fostered my re-entry into a very dear hobby from my youth!
Feel free to ask for pics and details. I offer to speak of my experiences as a happy consumer of his wares.
Topic: 1/2-A Kits (Read 1958 times)
