Bob Kopski

THE UBIQUITOUS #11 knife and sandpaper are no doubt the most-used tools in an aeromodeler's shop. While the former tool is singular in nature, the latter can take many forms. Anything from a simple piece of hand-held sandpaper to dedicated-shape sanding blocks are common model-building items. Many are available readymade in the hobby marketplace, but often the modeler will make his own. Just as there are many possible block shapes, there are also several choices of the sandpaper attached to these blocks. These choices include economy grades through more costly materials. Generally, the lowest-cost sanding material is simply not worth using. I normally use various "cabinet" grade papers that cut well and wear well. Tungsten-carbide sanding material is the best I've used.

THIS MONTH'S column offers some special battery, charging, and discharging stories. It seems that every couple of years I manage to run my auto battery down while charging my motor packs. This happened again a few weeks ago, but it was not exactly a surprise this time. My car had warned me a few times with some sluggish starting sounds, which I ignored. This was the original battery in my '96 Voyager minivan, and the fact that the battery lasted more than two years, given the way I use it, is something new. Previous OEM batteries failed after just a few months of deep-cycle use-the kind of use a battery is likely to have with lots of motor-pack charging. I do not know if the car maker has upgraded the battery specification, or as follows below.