Veco/Dumas "The Little Tom Tom"...65° and the Dope is Flying

Continued Crazyness Out In the Shop:

The Little Tom Tom is pretty much through it's construction phase, just getting clear coats 'till it's masked off for color.

So now, it's sibling "The Scout" is up next for the bench, and getting it's parts punched out and trimmed.

Also, I finally figured out why "J.E. Barr" is listed as the designer for both the Little Tom Tom and this now this version of the Scout (and probably for the rest of the Veco/Dumas line).

I got to meet Joe Wagner back around 2002, and he said that when Dumas started kitting his Scout, some changes were made to it's shape, even though Dumas still used the Scout's original kit photo.  I bought his plan for the original Scout and they differ in wing placement and tail height.  

Figure "J.E.Barr" is the guy who redrew the new die-cut plans.  I somehow thought they'd still give credit to Joe, but guess it really wasn't his plane with the changes that had been made.

Love your music/lyric quoting Kim. You often change it up.. and I look forward to it!

So fortunate are you, to have met Joe Wagner. It's cool VECO intel/history. There's plenty of VECO-love in my family's C/L aeromodelling history.

Several VECO Warriors (.19/.35 2-stroke glow engine full-fuse stunter w/flaps) My Dad's had (has) a VECO .35C. The "C" model engine had it's crankcase tapped for a pressurized fuel-feed. That airplane and engine are hangared here with me.. as is another Warrior that my "Uncle Vin" (Dad's brother in-law) framed-up 30 or 40 years ago..

Dad's Warrior.. (a "VECO" kit)




the VECO .35C




Uncle Vin's Warrior.. (likely a later Dumas kit) also here with me..  sort of ARC.. The cements/glues used are aged. I see what looks like Ambroid throughout the fuse/wing-root area; with most of the remaining wing-framing done in a translucent/white product.



This VECO Renegade is here too (my Uncle Vin's.. had a Super-Tiger .35 on it.. back in the 70's when he was in the USAF stationed at Holloman HMN)

Silk and dope finish..



cool models that I hope to be able to fly someday..  

Yeah, in a family of musicians, I'm the one who plays the radio, but song lyrics mean a lot...inspiring and sometimes hammering me!  "Hard Truths With a Pretty Tune"!!!!

Wow Roddie!  What great collection of classics!  Dude, you GOT to get some of those going!  With the exception of the Scout and Little Tom, we REALLY neglected this line of great planes back in the day (trying to make up for it now).

I've got a thread on here somewhere about my Warrior---a "Swap Meet Orphan" Billy Lang got from an estate sale and gifted to me.  He called it a "Brave", but it's got stunt flaps and a covered rear cockpit.  It's in primer white and waiting for me to "hear the call" to shoot some color at it.

Shown with a McCoy .35, but it now has a Veco Engine, and Veco wheels.





Maybe we can someday meet and do some flying of these classics!

One major drawback of the Veco/Dumas kits were the lack of ply doublers on the fuse. The beams were not always maple as well. Therefore, they can be subjected to a fair amount of vibration especially if old and aliphatic glues were used to glue the beams to the balsa.

Hey Kim! You're a musician in your own right. You know how to tune an engine. That requires good ears.. Sometimes I see music as an engine. It's definitely a force capable of moving us. PM me some time please.. and tell me about your family of musicians. My youngest Brother ("Jeff") plays the radio. You remind me of him; now that I think of it. I wish I.. was a little more like the two of you.

Your Little Tom Tom is a very cool model. I never knew of it until this thread. Are there any engine-brand/propeller-size recommendations in the kit-instructions?

BTW.. I have a lot of silkspan Kim. I'd be happy to share some with you; knowing full-well that you'd use it.

Hey Roddie,
There aren't any "Tune-Up/Performance Tips" engine-wise on the plan sheet, though there are some cool engine installation drawings:

Are there any propeller specs. recommended?

what propeller? PM me Kim.

Probably gonna be a 6x3 to keep it from flying like a combat wing...maybe hang a streamer on it too (per Rusty) to slow it down a bit.

Here's my Lil Tomahawk Norvel powered with a 5.5x2 pitch prop. Flies awesome even though heavy. I pulled the .35 size Tomahawk out. My dad built the larger Tomahawk in 1965. I stepped on it in the 80's and my dad was pretty mad. I had to rebuild it and this is how it's been since 84. I haven't flown it since it was stepped on. My dad had the plane in silk with stars and it was a real work of art, it was a shame to tear it off and put Monokote on it. This is what I did and I brushed on the black Perfect enamel ( Another bad choice). I used Perfect paints a lot, they had durability for a one stage paint like 2 stage epoxy based paints but they weighed a ton. The shine though and durability sets itself apart from anything I ever used. I wish I knew what I knew now and that this product was still available. Chevron took over the paint line and Brodak still offers NOS but the thinner and clear is impossible to locate. Clear is not needed over the colors but many used it as a fuel proofer for non fuel proof enamels.

       

      Showing its age, I built this 37 years ago. I can't say enough good about this plane. Juan F2D Phantom II from the forum inquired about this plane many years ago on Stunt Hangar. I quickly responded with my inputs and he provided me with templates as he built one himself. I believe the model that Galloping Ghostler posted is Juan's model. This is the first plane I ever did over and under hinges using dental floss. They've been installed since "88".

     Sig light blue and cream Monokote, two colors I use quite a bit. I just like it


   

     Monokote trim still holding up well, this baby was covered in dust. I did a pull test seeing I may want to try her again. Unfortunately, I see the spars flexing and the sheeting bulging when I pull the leadouts. Immediate surgery is required as this would result in the bellcrank platform pulling out probably deboning the Tomahawk.

The full size Tomahawk
              This plane flies with almost if not better characteristics as the Flite Streak. I know that's a bold statement but it's true, a very confident flying plane with a lot of maneuverability. This plane to my surprise as it sits right now is weighing 23.79 ounces. I had to check my scale to insure it was working. I was blown away by this weight. The average Ringmaster is in the 28-30 + ounce range when built from Sterling kits. I will be cutting into this plane to replace the platform and control system. This thread has been inspiring. I love it

        The pilots view


       Built in the days of rudder offset practice, I will be removing that. Hard to see but it's probably swept 3/8". Engine choice might be a FP.20 with a tongue muffler.

65° and the paint is flying.

With these temps, it was an ideal chance to throw some color.  Tom Tom's paint was still somewhere on the road, so I turned to a back-burner project, a design that's almost as old:  Walt Musciano's Scientific Model Company "Zipper", another 1/2A control liner.

As usual, this is another flash-back model, having built one back in '69, and literally flying the wings off the thing.

This new one was painted white, but this was also to be it's base color coat, and was waiting for me to try to copy it's red white and blue box art.

After spending a bunch of time masking it off with tape and paper, it got it's red trim.  Everything turned out well by my standards, with very little color creeping under the masking.  It will now get it's blue trim, a canopy, and final assembly before it makes some racket.

I intended to take a break and maybe even wrap things up when I discovered that my stealthy Fed Ex guy had dropped off my Brodak order while I was painting Zipper.

So...the air compressor was cranked up again, and my Badger paint gun was loaded up with what looked like egg nog.  This too turned out nicely, with just the standard blemishes to keep me humble.

Now I got two planes curing up in the shop...which DEFINITELY smells like "Model Airplane".

Good stuff Kim. Love the Zipper look-alike and your nose mounted paint stick. Copied it a couple of years ago. Makes painting easy.

Bob

While the temp is a bit low, it's the best time to dope. There's very little humidity this time of the year. Brodak generally isn't tolerant of spraying in humid conditions. Sig I believe you can spray when it's raining ( kidding of course) . That's the difference between the two, Brodak's thinner is hotter and it dries fast trapping moisture whereas Sig is very slow which is terrific if your brushing.

Thanks Guys! So Far...So Good...

Creamy Man , give it that ole timer flavor ... I like it and the price is right !! Strips came out good Kim