This Editorial is about integration, not the political or philosophical ideas but a way to build card models. I started building models using the frame and connector method, this method is most common in German card models. In the frame and connector method each fuselage section is built with a connecting strip on one end and a frame in the same end to give the fuselage section its shape. When all the fuselage sections are finished then they are glued together using the connecting strips.
The next method of building card models I learned was the Fiddlers Green method. Chip Fyn, the founder and owner of Fiddlers, is a genius. He designs models that are put together with out internal formers or connecting strips. Each fuselage section has tabs on the section that glue into the next fuselage. Chip is an artist and engineer and he can take flat pieces of paper and design them so that when you glue them together the have the shape of the real aircraft. I have always been in awe of chip, how he can design these models is much beyond my comprehension.
When the Polish models became available to us I discovered a third method of building a fuselage, the butt and glue method. In this method each fuselage section is built with a former in each end without any connectors. When the fuselage sections are finished then each one of them is butted and glued to the next fuselage section.
The one common thing that all these methods of construction have is that each part of the aircraft is built separately and then assembled. You build the fuselage, then the wings, then the tail and when finished you glue each part together to make the aircraft. Recently I found a company called P-Model which uses a method I had never seen before. The model is not built in parts but as a whole, I call this method the integrated method.
P-Model's fuselage sections are the same as Fiddlers Green. Each fuselage section has tabs on it that are glued to the next section. Also in the early models no formers were used. The designer has the same engineering skills that Chip has and amazingly enough the fuselage maintains its shape as it is built. The main difference in these models is that you do not build the model in separate parts but as a whole. You start by building the forward section of the fuselage until you reach the point where the wings go and then you attach the wing to the forward part and continue to add fuselage sections above, below and behind the wing.
What this does is give the fuselage and the wing strength that formers would normally give and it helps shape the fuselage and wing. You then continue building the fuselage until you reach the place where the tail goes and then you glue the tail section to the fuselage. The tail section is an integral part of the fuselage and is built while you are building the rear of the fuselage not after the fuselage is finished.
I have built two of his models and am very impressed with the design of these 1/50 scale models and would recommend them to anyone. You can also see the growth in this designers works. As the models become newer he is including connecting strips to make a smoother connection and formers to help maintain the models shape.
Saul
