spinning props

There's the ususl clear disca , some people try painting the blur effect on them,some used to don't.  I think there used to be a decal to silulste this and someond came up wih a photoetch prop blur.

I have seen people leave out the propeller blades and that looks good, replicates the look of a spinner when seen for real rather than a photo. But that only really works if the aircraft is in flight. The photo etched prop blurs also look good especially for aircraft as they might be seen in a photo or when on the ground.

This takes a photo editing program, but here is what I do.  I first scan the painted prop(s).  Then, I use what is called a rotating blur function.  Most of the better programs have this function. Now, in most cases, depending on the color, it is not transparent enough for my liking, so I reduce the transparency to suit me.

Then, I make decals of each prop.  Then, I cut a piece of clear plastic to a matching circle, and place the decal on the disk.  Hub treatment will vary, depending on whether the plane has spinners or hubs.  I believe this makes a quite realistic rotating prop.  If it has painted tips, these will be part of the blur.

The amount of blur to use depends on the flight condition. If you are displaying it parked at the ramp, or in taxi, just use a little blur. If in flight, use a lot of blur.

Go to your local electronic supply shop and get some pager motors.   The ones I had were about 1 inch long and 1/4 inch in diameter.  They fit beautifully in the cowl of a 72 scale mustang.   The motor shaft was a press-fit into the back of the prop housing.    Run the motor leads down the gear legs, disguised as brake lines, to brass pads on the bottom of the wheels.  The power is supplied from a single AA battery in the base with the leads running up to a second set of brass pads which align with the pads on the wheels.   Put the A/C on the base so that the pads align - spinning prop.  Move the A/C off the pads - no spin.  No need for a switch.

Alternately you can hide a button battery in the fuselage and wire the motor leads to it.  You may need to engineer a switch for this application

I used the Photoshop spin blur function on the scanned props, but I printed the Photoshopped image of the blurred blades on clear adhesive label stock. Easier to handle than decal. Photo of my B-17G model with spinning props at this link:

http://www.306bg.us/Echoes%20files/summer_fall2013c.pdf

EdGrune

Alternately you can hide a button battery in the fuselage and wire the motor leads to it.  You may need to engineer a switch for this application

 

Something like this, but I used them as low voltage DC switches.

https://www.alliedelec.com/zf-electronics-mp201702/70207645/