The Story of Bandit Models: A Journey from Humble Beginnings to High-Flying Dreams

In the beginning, it was just a man, a vision, and a hands-on approach. The dream wasn’t flashy, and there wasn’t any grand entrance into the world of model-making—just raw passion. It all started with a simple, yet challenging task: blowing up plans, cutting out shapes with a band saw, and piecing together an RC jet plug. It was tedious and often gritty work, but each slice of wood, every cut and every tweak, was a step toward something greater.

This was the early seed of Bandit Models, though at the time, it was more of a passion project than a fully realized brand. Armed with little more than patience and a handful of tools, the first creation took shape. It was rough but full of potential. It wasn’t long before the desire to push the craft further grew.

As the years went by, the techniques modernized. No longer content with just a saw, a CNC machine found its way into the workshop. The manual cuts gave way to precision engineering, and the Outlaw's predecessor, a jet named Sniper, was born. It was sleek, fast, and, most importantly, it was a milestone—a testament to the leap from hands-on crafting to more advanced, computer-aided designs.

The Sniper represented not just a model but a culmination of countless hours of learning, mistakes, and breakthroughs. Building up a plug was no longer a daunting process, but a rewarding one—where each part fit just right, and the designs started to look like the high-performance jets they were meant to emulate.

Meanwhile, the creative itch extended beyond the workshop and onto paper. There were sketches, rough ideas for patches that symbolized the spirit of these creations. One of those designs was the Diamond Back, a jet with the fierce, striking qualities of its namesake. Early ideas for the Diamond Back patches were scattered on paper, waiting for their time to shine. Once the sketches made their way to Illustrator, those rough lines transformed into polished, sharp logos. These symbols embodied the journey of not just one jet, but a growing vision.

It wasn’t just the Diamond Back that left a mark. There was an early version of the Bandit Models patch—an idea for a logo that would come to represent the entire endeavor. Like everything else, it wasn’t an overnight success. It evolved, refined over time, but eventually, it became the symbol that would adorn every model jet that left the workshop.

Looking back, it was a long journey. There were no grand unveilings, no big audiences watching the progress unfold. It was a quiet journey—one of perseverance, skill-building, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Bandit Models may have started without fanfare, but it grew into a name that carried the weight of every hour spent perfecting each jet, each sketch, and each idea. From the Sniper to the Outlaw, and every patch in between, Bandit Models became a symbol of craftsmanship born out of humble beginnings and transformed by a relentless pursuit of the skies.

Now with the future of CAD, our models are precision designed and a solid model is created, digitally wind tunnel tested for flight characteristics and then molds are made. Using the latest is composite sandwich design and quality aircraft ply, a pre-production model is made. The model is then rigorously tested, flown, updated if needed and then pushed to production.