What then was the motivation for the Argus?  Firstly I wanted a replacement for my then, thirteen year old Maule, so a similar size and configuration were called for. The most important consideration being that it would fly well.  Given the effort and investment involved in a large scale model, one needs to be reasonably sure that you will not be creating a bit of a ‘turkey’.  It is often a temptation to stick to a subject that you are familiar with, and therefore happy about.  I have built three assorted sizes of both the Magister and the Turbulent, so it was time to look for inspiration and start compiling a short-list.  In the end this never happened!  By coincidence I came across the full-size Argus at Cosford and made an instant decision to model it.  Looking back the same thing happened with the Maule.  I was visiting a CRCS member at Staverton who happened to be working on one and that was it, I was hooked.  Luck plays a large part.

Construction All ‘built up’ construction. There is no foam anywhere in the airframe! The covering is tissue and nylon. Tissue is firstly applied to the airframe and three coats of dope added. Nylon material is then stuck to the tissue using wall paper adhesive and then painted. This covering method remains permanently taught and is very strong yet light. The under carriage is made from moulded carbon fibre.	THE STORY BEHIND THE ARGUS Mario has requested a few notes on the Argus, to go with his nice new pictures, as a starting point for the new ‘HANGAR’ column. Any model in the club may be selected. Basically it’s the why and the how of the model‘s origins. There are many and varied reasons why any of us choose a particular project, ranging from economic considerations, our preferences for kit, plan or scratch-building, and of course the specific purpose for which the model is required.
The features I look for in an aircraft are generous tail areas, a long enough nose moment to avoid CG problems, no obvious insurmountable structural difficulties and of course, I have to like it. So where did I find the details for the Argus? Again luck came into play. Nexus Publications have a 1/24th scale drawing available, so a quick call to my old friend Bill Birkinshaw had a copy on it’s way to me. As this is a scale project, the outlines and general shape are more or less predetermined, so the actual design work is primarily a question of choosing the scale and therefore the size of the model. I like my models to be around a nine foot wing span, big enough to fly well, without too many problems in the storage and transport departments. At the time in question it had to fit into a Cavalier, so a quarter scale(109 inches) was spot on as was the choice of the Zenoah 38 as the motor.	Once the size was established, I was able to start thinking about the structure. It was at this point that I decided to rebel! Most of you who know me would expect me to knock out a foam wing for starters, but no, this was my project for my own pleasure, and I felt the urge to do the job properly for a change. As a result the structure was entirely built up, mostly from spruce strip with the wing ribs being jig built individually like small fuselage sides. These were then slid onto ply and spruce spars. As an aid to transportation, the motor section was made removable in my usual manner. Covering was the ‘Pete Macdermott’ method of tissue and dope, plus nylon applied with wallpaper paste, a little time consuming but light and very durable.

The only unusual feature is the rather complex undercarriage with its oleo`s and jury struts.  Next time you see the model, have a closer look, the suspension depends entirely on a carbon fibre moulded u/c, the rest is just decoration………That’s scale modelling!!

Sid.