Riddle4U

I thought I'd start an area for all interested in any Royal/Marutaka kits. Here's mine; a Zero kit I purchased and constructed mainly from '79 to early '80's. I glassed it with .06 oz., did the rivets, and painted with chevron perfect paint. It has Rhom retracts, robart retractable tailwheel and split flaps. Now that I have gotten back into it I just need to mount control surfaces, find a new canopy, mount my radio and I'm thinking about an O.S. or Supertigre .90. I have an unbuilt .60 Royal Corsair kit that I may just hold on to, and order plans, e.t.c. somewhere for the building. Interested in seeing others projects.

scale dail

My Feedback: (8)

That is really nice! I qualified for the Scale Masters open class this year with my trusty old Royal P-38. I have several Royal kits in process, including a Piper Tripacer.

Riddle4U

Thanks (Dail?), yours is the type of response I was hoping for (meaning pics and stories). I like the look of your Lightning! I'm a bit partial to the relatively smaller scale models (.60 size, or so) for now. I always wondered how that Royal P-38 looked when built nicely. I was tracking one on Ebay today incidently (sold for 270 or something). Thanks for the positive comment; any ideas for us all on mufflers for the Zero and other radial types? I have been a bit stuck because of the somewhat atypical engine mounting on Royals (I am leaning toward the O.S. 90fx). Congratulations on your success competing your old kit..I wonder if my Zero would compete very well, I know I need to find a prototype and finish the markings. I have never entered any scale competitions. Oh..and ever have an engine out on that thing?

Best regards

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

you Royal guys are one TUFF breed.....

Riddle4U

That's because we have to be! Now..remember just carve away everything that is not supposed to be the Royal aircraft![&o]

John Baligrodzki

Riddle4U that is a nice plane. Good luck with finishing it. I do have a question. In the photos I see an old Kraft TX. Do you plan to use it with the Zero? I am not familiar with Kraft equipment but I know that TX is pre 1991 and not narrow banded. That is unless you had it updated. I am not even sure if those radios could be updated, though I bet they can be.

Regards,

John B.

Riddle4U

John, that is a new addition to my small but growing vintage radio collection. It is a Kraft Series '71 six channel on AM 72.96 (not a legal channel). Radio South can narrow band the transmitter on these, but the receiver cannot be. I'm working on my Ham license now so I can legally fly it on 53 Mhz channels. Radio South should be able to convert the transmitter and receiver crystals to 53Mhz (Ham) where the narrow band channels don't apply (they'll also put in new NiCads). I'm putting my Fut 7UAPS PCM in the Zero with one of their high speed/high torque coreless aileron servos (I like to use one central aileron servo with bellcranks). Thanks for your interest.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I would like to see if anyone out there has the Royal/Marutaka Staggerwing kit flying. I have the plans for this plane and I'm curious to hear how it flies with such a thin airfoil.

moto-x

Mine flew very scale on first flight until I flipped on what I thought were high rate alirons. Found out real quick that was the flap switch. Needless to say, It nosed in pretty hard. I have it all built back up except for covering. I'm sure I will finish it this winter. I think there is still a picture in my gallary.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I saw the picture in your gallary Moto-X it looked like a great airplane. I have the plans from the Royal but the wing looks too thin to install retracts. looking at the picture I'm guessing yours has fixed gear.

moto-x

Yes, It would be a tight fit for retracts. If you like that bird enough, search Airplanes for sale on RCU, go to biplanes and look at the topflight prototype that is for sale. It is all white, retract ready ARF. The price has dropped several times. It is a 160 size plane though. a power plant and some trim panels, I don't think you would have that many more dollars in it than if you build one. Plus, big birds are easy to see in the air and they draw alot of attention at the field.

cyclops2

I donated my Royal P-61 Widow to the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Penna.. to help people get a idea what the museum was restoring in the shop.

Looks like a 38 on steroids in the black paint and Crescent on the tail.

I still think I should have kept it. Nothing close to the 48" WS now.

US185Damiani

I had the Staggerwing, It was warped but still flew OK. I modified it to take Hobbico Retracts and they worked OK. They were a tight fit in the wing and I had to modify the fairing to make them work. It also compromised the center section, so if you're going to use retracts, you'll need to beef up the wing center section. , It was very light though and was extremely over-powered on an O.S. .61

There are pics of it in my Gallery

Riddle4U

Thanks to all starting to post here; it's really YOUR thread so it is as good as we all make it! lets get a few more pics as we go along. I really like scaledails's P-38. I thank him. Let's make this a fun thread...throw in whatcha got! Thanks to all posting here, again it's yers!

ReaperGrim

This is a refreshing thread for the nostalgia freak! (like me) The 70's was a unique time in RC history, you wanted it you had to build it! I love bell cranks and linkages, just like the full scale WWII iron. I'm thankful for the skills I gained from doing it the "hard way." I've built a few of the Royal kits, but I'll start with a good one I found on the net a few years back, it is a Royal P-38 built by Mr. Holland, if you are on here sir please fill us in!

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

I built the Marutaka Zero 3 or 4 years ago. Like you, I modified it for air retracts and split flaps. This plane can fly incredibly slow with landing flaps deflected. You are going to really enjoy the wide speed envelope this plane is capable of. Mine flies with an O.S. 1.20Surpass III swinging a 15X10 APC prop. I use 30% all synthetic oil "heli-mix" fuel and this engine really growls. I still had to add weight to the nose even with the large 120 size engine.

A couple of years ago, I was able to purchase a brand new canopy for this plane from a gentleman here on RCU who had made a mold from the original one. It is a really nice one! Maybe if he sees this, he will be willing to help you out with one as well.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

Steve...

Yes, there is a fellow who hangs out in the Warbird section here and is a biggie collector of Royal stuff. He was trying to replicate certain easily damaged parts and had many spare originals too. But was missing some things here too.

Was also a fellow at RCSCALEBUILDER who claimed to be the biggest collector. He was missing plans for certain models, but had the remainder of those kits.

I do not personally know either, but got them aquainted with one another again about a year ago. This before RCS began charging for admission.

Wm.

ReaperGrim

I have a brand new canopy for the Zero, it would look great on your plane! I am a collector and maker of Royal parts, although I have not been modeling for about a year now. I am getting ready to move to texas early 08 and have been very busy getting ready for that and stressing over it. My first name on RCU was dionysusbacchus, then I had several others after that, lost count. Not sure how long I’ll keep this one, I just close them to avoid confrontation now. This thread just looked too good to pass up! So the Royal kits brought me back! Riddle4U, I love your Zero, it just looks right if you know what I mean.


I would also like to warn you guys about an ebay guy that I would recommend you avoid, he is calling himself ‘u.s.wing’ now, but had another name when he screwed me over. Basically the auction did not bring the price he was expecting for the Royal Corsair kit, so he tried to back out of the deal by telling me that he broke the cowl and canopy when he was packing the kit. Never mind that he makes reproduction canopies himself, although of very poor quality. I threatened to go to ebay so he sent my kit, when it finally arrived it was not the kit in the auction. It was listed as new and looked untouched in the pictures, what I got though was a kit that had been started, crushed canopy and a crushed aluminum cowl. We all know he destroyed the cowl on purpose to get back at me for winning the auction at a lower price. He immediately closed his account and started the new u.s.wing account so that I could not leave feedback.

Here is my email with his response:
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Luke. If you assume what ever you said is importance to me then your assume is right or else I know who I am. And remember I did refund money but you was whining to pay to get the kit.
Phil

-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Luke"
Phil,

Why did you find it necessary to totally destroy the Corsair cowl? That was a shameful thing you did and very dishonest. I'm very disappointed in you. As R/C flyers we live in a very small community together, word gets around. When you set out to hurt your fellow builders, you will end up hurting yourself. I was ready for a small dent in the cowl, but not total destruction. You're a liar Phil, you did not do that packing the kit. Phil, everything is wrong with this deal, the kit was not new as stated in your auction, it has been started and the plans are cheap copies. The canopy I got is different from what is in the auction picture.

Luke

Riddle4U

Luke, I am truly honored to get a response from you here. I read your Corsair thread well into the night (more than a day to get through all of it). Read my post on a P-38 thread here where I acknowledge you. To all: this is a fine scale modeler (DionysusBachuss) and we'll all do well to have his contributions here. He has an Historic thread on the Royal F4U which I encourage all to find. This is a Royal thread, but also neccesarily a scale thread. Not just show and tell but also scale modeling techniques are welcome (aka the great Dave Platt!)! Luke, thanks. I hope to communicate with you, and hope you'll help this hopefully fun thread along. I appreciate your "it just looks right" comment, Luke. I realize this plane will be a perfect test bed to try some of your chalk weathering techniques, along with the airbrush. I will post pics of the fun experiments to follow!

Riddle4U

Steve, thanks for your response (parts). One thing I know about the Zero is that it has lots of wing area and should fly well. I've always felt a bit guilty enjoying the lines of the A6M5, but it is a bute regardless. You must know there is a story about the Zeke that goes to Howard Hughes H-1 racer (which I have seen at the Smithsonian along with the Zero), I am mainly a Corsair nut, going back to Robert Conrad in Baa Baa Black Sheep! The Zero is attractive to many for the simple reason that it was GOOD! Just to look at it, you know it's gonna fly well. Because we won the war, it is our perogative to model these things with impunity. It may be different feeling for a Japanese to model anything, but I think they'll actually model our aircraft too (obviously). I love the Corsair and am re-reading Tommy Blackburn's book about the "Jolly Rogers". I always think it is neat to put our models in a historic context. I am a full scale pilot, and so can relate always to the thought of losing "life and limb". I bought a 1940 Model Airplane News with a yellow XF4-U on the cover (this might be a subject for you Luke), it was cool to go through MAN's assesment of the fighter before it became the proven work horse that it was. Seriously, MAN was an aviation magazine as well as a modelers forum back then(I'll post a cover pic of that "experimental" Corsair). How different! ..thanks for the ideas on getting a canopy e.t.c. (to all), and Luke I'll git with ya on that(or other generous folks here). I'm sad to here U.S Wing is that way. I was going to order some stuff from him. I can't believe that B.S. he did with your cowl! I guess I need a different source. I noticed from your old source Luke, about blowing up the .60 Royal Corsair to 1/6 th.; 82" is a good size. Can I partake in that? I trust you on your opinions of outline, and was about to order Brian Taylor's plan, but now feel differently (Holman sells his 82"). Sorry to derail my own Royal thread...carry on gentlemen. Thanks for bringin' in those other P-38 pics Luke, and to the others talking about the Stagerwing Beech..I applaud. Beautiful plane, that is, (saw a restored one lumbering over my native Boulder, CO-Beauty!). Oooh this was too long, sorry all.

Riddle4U

Steve Collins..I didn't mean to leave you out. I am glad to get some feedback before I burn 20 bucks on a canopy. I have a 1.20 surpass pumper on my TF Stang (almost done). The four stroke is a good thought always, and the nose weight being usable for power is better than lead. I'll post a pic of my brass manifold and struts for my P-51 TF, although it is outside the "Royal" topic. I can get away with that can't I?

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

Riddle4u,

Luke is the guy I got my replacement canopy from. I just couldn't remember the name. He makes very nice ones. See if you can talk him into making one for you.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Would you have the cowl for thr Royal Staggerwing? I'm a Golden Era Aircraft fan and I mostly build civilian airplanes.

Riddle4U

Luke, I'd like to get that Zero canopy from you, just PM or e-mail me with transaction details. I liked your wheel well parts for the Corsair! Could you reproduce those? Does Earl Aune still provide struts and tailwheel, or maybe you have drawings for your excellent tailwheel and hook for the Corsair..loved that. Is that famous Corsair of yours still alive? I had hoped to see a video of it flying. I'm going to make fiberglass doors for my TF (.60) P-51; what weight glass did you use, and was it just one layer of mat? I've used PVA mold release in the past over the Monokoted section with good results. Lastly, I use the same thinned epoxy glassing overall that You did but used a second coat which I wet sanded with 320 and 400, and sand most of it off. What is that red filler you used (brand if possible). -great to see you pop in here, Eric.

Riddle4U

This is my attempt at a handmade manifold. I will attach it to the flexible O.S. pipe with a short length of high temp silicone tubing and some kind of clamp. It's for my P-51. It was a simple soldering affair but getting all the angles without a jig was a labor of love.