1/8 scale Cessna L-19/O-1 ceiling hanger
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2024 3:49 pm
A couple years ago, we had a small, rustic cabin built out at our little ranch in the country that we call Brokenoak. We've been outfitting and decorating the cabin since then and recently added a new feature. One of my dear friends owns a cabinet shop by trade but is also a great RC enthusiast. He spends many weekends each year down at the famed Bomber Field RC airfield. He started small but now flies really large models, some with 10–12-foot wingspans or more. I asked him if he had an older RC plane that he no longer flew. Charles is also one of a group of my friends that have been meeting out there for years and when told I wanted to hang it in our cabin, he went to work! Next thing you know, he's bringing over a plane that someone had given him many years earlier that had never been completed or flown.
It had no windows, or engine, but he did have a clear nose-piece for the front. The wings had never been attached either, so I made some locating pins and set them in the mounting nuts to mark the holes. I also cut some clear plastic for windows and sprayed the pieces gloss black. Unfortunately, I them placed them outside to dry in the sun and sure enough, they badly warped in the heat.
Oh well, in they went, glued in place with Alene's Tacky Glue. 
I also had to cut a piece of styrene to fill the radio space in the belly. I had two or three different shades of rattlecan OD around, but none were a close match to the existing paint. I figured a bit of variation wouldn't be too noticeable. More noticeable are the upside-down decals that Charles pointed out to me. 
I don't know if he applied those or not.
I drilled holes through the wing where my "pins" had poked and found some machine screws that would tighten down. I fashioned some crude wire loops where I could attach monofilament lines and took her out to the cabin. In just a little while, she was banking overhead on an important recon mission!
Here's a view of the NW corner and West side window and operable louver above. The plane hangs just out of this frame.
This is how she looked when I got her:
The wingspan is between 42 and 43" and I think that works out to about 1/8 scale:
wing location pins:
After finishing my part:
And now, hanging aloft in the bunkhouse at Brokenoak:
These are all just iPhone pics but you get the idea, I'm sure. It was a fun little project and I'm indebted to my friend, Charles, for his generous donation. As an aside, Charles also handmade the two 3' screen doors from cedar lumber and planed and joined the boards for the countertop in the cabin! Here's a fairly recent, August 29 in fact, shot of the NW corner of the cabin:
It had no windows, or engine, but he did have a clear nose-piece for the front. The wings had never been attached either, so I made some locating pins and set them in the mounting nuts to mark the holes. I also cut some clear plastic for windows and sprayed the pieces gloss black. Unfortunately, I them placed them outside to dry in the sun and sure enough, they badly warped in the heat.
Oh well, in they went, glued in place with Alene's Tacky Glue. I also had to cut a piece of styrene to fill the radio space in the belly. I had two or three different shades of rattlecan OD around, but none were a close match to the existing paint. I figured a bit of variation wouldn't be too noticeable. More noticeable are the upside-down decals that Charles pointed out to me. I don't know if he applied those or not. I drilled holes through the wing where my "pins" had poked and found some machine screws that would tighten down. I fashioned some crude wire loops where I could attach monofilament lines and took her out to the cabin. In just a little while, she was banking overhead on an important recon mission!
Here's a view of the NW corner and West side window and operable louver above. The plane hangs just out of this frame.
This is how she looked when I got her:
The wingspan is between 42 and 43" and I think that works out to about 1/8 scale:
wing location pins:
After finishing my part:
And now, hanging aloft in the bunkhouse at Brokenoak:
These are all just iPhone pics but you get the idea, I'm sure. It was a fun little project and I'm indebted to my friend, Charles, for his generous donation. As an aside, Charles also handmade the two 3' screen doors from cedar lumber and planed and joined the boards for the countertop in the cabin! Here's a fairly recent, August 29 in fact, shot of the NW corner of the cabin:
And for the correction too! I think Charles had just guessed at it but now I know! 
