Aretaic
New member
So I harbor a love of seaplanes, particularly the Italian racing seaplanes that frequented the Schneider Trophy races. I also enjoy fictional planes in film and animation (ex. the Sea Duck, I wanted this plane as a kid!). Long before getting into RC in a meaningful way, I wanted to at least build a model of the Savoia featured in Studio Ghibli's Porco Rosso. The plane doesn't exist in real life, and though it's called an S.21 in the movie, it doesn't resemble the actual S.21 at all, and instead is closer to a Macchi design. It's described as not being particularly well flying at low speeds, requiring fast takeoff and landing speeds but being fairly maneuverable, matching and exceeding nearly all other planes in the film.
There are a few videos of working RC examples, some flying and floating excellently. I've found some plans here and there, most aren't too detailed or super useful - but one set of plans in particular has caught my eye for a foam board adaptation. I forget how I found them originally, the writing is in Czech (I think), and authored by Marek Bohac - it details a 42.5" wingspan balsa model of the plane with former drawings as well as airfoils and a complete wing drawing, foam construction of engine cowling, and other small details. I've had the PDF since 2013, and just tonight started adapting it to vector drawings and built the wing with WRFB just to mock it up and see how it might work!
Is there much precedence for this particular fictional plane? I'm excited to figure out the hull and step construction, keeping things as light as possible - it looks like it will balance easily and support okay characteristics with C-pack level performance. Let me know what you think, I'll continue working on the mock-up model and hope to try and actually fly it soon! Of course, more iterations will probably follow depending on how things go.


There are a few videos of working RC examples, some flying and floating excellently. I've found some plans here and there, most aren't too detailed or super useful - but one set of plans in particular has caught my eye for a foam board adaptation. I forget how I found them originally, the writing is in Czech (I think), and authored by Marek Bohac - it details a 42.5" wingspan balsa model of the plane with former drawings as well as airfoils and a complete wing drawing, foam construction of engine cowling, and other small details. I've had the PDF since 2013, and just tonight started adapting it to vector drawings and built the wing with WRFB just to mock it up and see how it might work!




Is there much precedence for this particular fictional plane? I'm excited to figure out the hull and step construction, keeping things as light as possible - it looks like it will balance easily and support okay characteristics with C-pack level performance. Let me know what you think, I'll continue working on the mock-up model and hope to try and actually fly it soon! Of course, more iterations will probably follow depending on how things go.
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