Electrification and miniature turbines in large part have allowed for a proliferation of aircraft types to be manifested at scale, not least this Harrier ~ by Joel and Melanie Vlashof ~ with nozzles able to swivel to provide for vertical take-off and landing.
As a one-time fan of Airfix models ~ who'd like both Lego's Concorde and Titanic ~ I appreciate the monumental effort and enthusiasm involved.
Nonetheless there's also an argument (inset) that Tamara of Amara puts here, in so far as it may be better to work in reverse order to design models that can be tested so as to produce them at full scale. Lacking patience, and unable to see the point of reiterating the past in miniature, I'm inclined to agree.
And having worked in F1 as an aerodynamicist ~ where racing cars are tested at a scale of 1:3 or larger ~ she'll have had the real-world experience of this that as yet I lack, but not for want of trying. In fairness though the number of people testing proof-of-concept model watercraft in the UK must be less than a half-dozen, mainly because few people would want to waste their lives in such pursuits.
Possibly as a result, Tamara has moved on to bigger things and is trying to raise funding and sponsorship towards pedalling 30,000km in an enclosed e-bike of her own design. Like me you may view this as less sane altogether, but if not you can help launch her project at:
Ed. The New Model Army was formed by Cromwell of revolutionaries in 1645, and hasn't been heard of since outside of this blog.
