Re: ANH Hero DL-44 Discussion
I just received what is easily the best thing I've ever bought, opening this was literally like unboxing a dream.. :love
Our favorite little mystery part has been identified!...Finally!!
A huge, tremendous thanks to the members of RCgroups and everyone here on the RPF that posted and helped us out on this project! Especially Kpax for partnering up and working on this project full time. This project wouldn't have happened and these parts wouldn't have been found yet if it wasn't for everyone's wonderful work and help here on the RPF. :cheers
Now on to the info, after looking for a little insight from some RC fans, someone just happened to give some phenomenal suggestions as to what the mystery cylinder might be. So after ordering some parts and tracking down a kit to confirm, it turns out the Grill is actually a plastic Dummy Radial Engine Cylinder made originally for a large model aircraft kit by Veron for their model of the Hawker Tomtit. It seems that the same plastic cylinder set is also included in the Veron Avro 504 kits as well.
The kit I received today seems to be a slightly newer version of the kit, maybe early 80's or so, but I'm pretty sure it's the same exact cylinder parts set that was offered in the 70's version before and during the production of ANH. Here is a photo grabbed from the web showing what appears to be the original 70's version of the kit:
While waiting for the parts and kit to arrive Pat and I were thinking that these cylinders were in halves, basing on photos on the web that showed instructions included with the kit which has drawings of the dummy cylinder assembly. But after inspecting one of the vintage cylinders it appears to me that they're actually injection molded into one solid cylinder rather than halves as the instructions show.
..Now on to the photos!
And it also came with 10 of these little familiar looking things in with the dummy cylinders...Wonder what they could be?
Yep, our mystery 'antennas' are actually part of the dummy cylinder assemblies included in this very same kit, and Pat found out that they are actually called Pushrods. The kit's pushrods are made so that two of them can be glued to each of the five cylinders in the kit to make up the look of the plane's engine.
And there's more good news, if you guys want the best replicas possible of these parts there's a website right now (right under our noses..) run by what appears to be the family of the original machinist/creator of these parts who made them originally for Veron. The site appears to be selling re-manufactured versions of the cylinder kits including the push-rods from the original injection molds!
Reade Models
I haven't received my order from them yet, but I plan to compare them to the originals once they show up.
Thanks again Pat and everyone else that has posted and helped with this project. It's definitely been the greatest project I've ever been part of.. It has certainly been a dream come true for me since the start of all of this, and now it's somehow managed to shift into a
real fantasy come true.
-Carson
