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There Is Radio Controlled Helicopter Model Building And There Is Model Building.Want to construct a radio controlled helicopter? It’s one thing to slowly construct and paint a detailed miniature P-51 Mustang with “real moving propellers”, then gently place it on a pedestal for remote viewing, finally sticking it high on a shelf forever. It’s quite another scenario to pull together your very own radio controlled helicopter, with racing stripes and a flaming skull on the canopy, which actually flies. For casual enthusiasts, it’s possible to just buy a pre-built model, pull it from its cozy little box, plug in some good old A batteries and rock and roll. Personally though, I prefer to take the time to carefully build my models. It seems much for gratifying to watch a helicopter emerge from a mass of gears, struts and Euclidian planes and it’s definitely more thrilling to actually watch it take off. (As opposed to watching it shake itself apart on the ‘tarmac’ which has happened a few times. Of course, the disasters can be pretty exciting to watch as well. You can’t make omelets without breaking some eggs, but I digress.) Once your radio controlled helicopter is put together, the next step is to decide on a color scheme. Now, your purists would have you devote hours to exacting realism: matching up colors and even making sure the aircraft numbers painted on the model match authentic models used in actually combat. History and verisimilitude are extremely important to the hardcore authentic model builder. I am no realist. I’m more into flash and flare (remember the racing strips and flaming skull?) and am more than willing to experiment with colors and accessories. For example, I’ve customized some radio controlled helicopters by painting them purple with polka dots, adding grappling hooks and going out for a clown wig rescue mission. It was for a friend’s birthday party: his parent’s had hired a clown to work the crowd and I decided it would be funny to work the clown. I still remember watching the CRC (Clown Rescue Chopper) swoop down and pick off Bozo’s wig in mid-balloon animal twist. Now that’s a good time. That brings me to my final point: purpose. Don’t make models to make models. Build them to use them. Sometimes that use may be to crash gloriously, like my cherry-bomb laden ‘boomer’ (WARNING: do not try that at home, or any populated area). But always have a purpose. And happy flying!
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