LetLetLet ~ Warplanes
Let Let Let - Warplanes => Aircraft Modeling => Topic started by: Second Air Force on October 05, 2014, 04:31:17 PM
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Here's an old kit I've had in storage for years:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/SquirrelTree102014003_zps7957b3f4.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/SquirrelTree102014003_zps7957b3f4.jpg.html)
This MPM offering is not for the faint-of-heart, but still it is buildable. It's a typical limited-run kit and requires a good bit of work. Also I'll be using other kits and SAC landing gear to enhance the build. I started working on this so many years ago.......
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/SquirrelTree102014004_zpsb483c693.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/SquirrelTree102014004_zpsb483c693.jpg.html)
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Looks good anyway...
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This has nice surface detail, very lightly scribed. It should look alright in natural metal. The only issue is that there will be quite a lot of filler to use, especially around the nose. The profile there seems too narrow and spinner diameter is too small. My fix will be to use a different spinner (I'm looking for an Eduard P-39 right now for the four-blade prop) and build up the nose to properly join the new spinner. The profile of the nose is really why I have not dedicated a lot of time on this before.
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I will see if I have four blade prop in my pile of parts ;)
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Alright, that would be excellent! I'm looking for the Eduard kit since it has the extra parts.
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The wing is now assembled and test-fitting with the fuselage has commenced. I reckon I'll have to get the cockpit assembled and add that to the trial-fit process:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/StukaP-63002_zpsf9db6ba9.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/StukaP-63002_zpsf9db6ba9.jpg.html)
Whilst I'm working on Bell products, I've also drawn out the C.A. Atkins vacuform Kingcobra to begin construction. This isn't a bad kit in its own right, with decent surface detail. It is, however, still a vacuform and will require quite a lot of labor. This one will end up in the orange/red color of an RP-63 Pinball trainer.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/StukaP-63003_zps2548edf2.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/StukaP-63003_zps2548edf2.jpg.html)
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Hi,
Very interesting model. It's a pity there is only the P-63A version, since the French air force used several P-63C...
Your work begins very nicely.
Jicehem :-wave
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very promissing
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Jicehem, it seems to me (just by memory) that someone did do the C model. It may have been Hi-Tech possibly......but I do remember seeing a built-up 1/48 model with the ventral fin in French markings somewhere in the far past.
The old Atkins kit was started by another person many years ago and I purchased it "as is". It'll be a fun vacuform, I think!
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My Eduard P-39 "donor" kit just arrived. :-jump More later...... ;)
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Here is the new Eduard propeller spinner sitting on the P-63 fuselage. You can see here that MPM made the very front of the cowling a bit too small in diameter. This will be fixed with shimming and some filler to fit the airplane to the spinner. When I first bought the P-63 kit I knew the front of the fuselage was too small and I didn't proceed with the project then. Now there isn't any excuse to proceed!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardP-39001_zps16b59c20.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardP-39001_zps16b59c20.jpg.html)
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Looks promising...
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In the last installment it was shown that the nose of the MPM kit is too small in diameter. An easy fix for this exists, by simply building tapered shims to widen the very front of the fuselage. These will go into the split between halves and the top-to-bottom adjustment will come from the nose gear door opening forward:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63continued001_zps751e3ded.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63continued001_zps751e3ded.jpg.html)
After rectifying the nose issue it was time to fit the cockpit/nose well and aft turtledeck panel. Also, because it has been laying out for reference, the old Monogram P-39 is being worked on at the same time:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63continued002_zps2a7093e0.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63continued002_zps2a7093e0.jpg.html)
Next it was time to finally spray some paint on these. Hopefully the cockpits can be finished and fuselage halves assembled this week:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63continued003_zps32f04c3b.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63continued003_zps32f04c3b.jpg.html)
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Like your dual builds :-clap
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I originally wished to build the two P-63s at the same time. It then seemed smart to work on the P-39 so as to help with some of the tricky parts of the MPM kit. The Monogram Airacobra goes together quite easily and it is giving me some hints on areas that don't fit so well on the P-63. Next big step is going to be getting the vacuform canopy parts prepared for the P-63 and fitting these to the fuselage halves. :-danger
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Having the old Atkins vacuform handy has helped with fitting of the canopy parts! Atkins provided a very nice set of drawings with their instructions and I used these, and the Monogram Airacobra, to achieve the proper angle of the forward transparency. This isn't the greatest fit in the world and took quite a lot of trial-fitting to finally get a good shape and fit:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/63canopy001_zps3e11f58d.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/63canopy001_zps3e11f58d.jpg.html)
Still some slight adjustments will be required, but only after the fuselage is glued together and seams filled.
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Excellent transparency just take care of super glue evaporation
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Hello,
Nice progress.
The P-39 is also very interesting and Monogram's one is (seems to me) good enough to be built into an amazing finished kit. I have one in... French markings, indeed ! But another one in US markings too.
My P-39N Airacobra is here :
http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/forum/makete-aviona-aircraft-modeling/bell-p-39n-airacobra/new/#new
Jicehem :-wave
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Excellent! :-clap :-clap
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Excellent!
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Fuselage halves together and filler applied:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63Fuselage001_zps69f5ed3f.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63Fuselage001_zps69f5ed3f.jpg.html)
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And Eduard sponge served perfectly as work stand :))
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Nice!
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Here is the "finished product" when it comes to enlarging the forward bulkhead to the correct diameter. Earlier I showed the shims that spread the fuselage slightly to match the Eduard spinner, and here is the vertical filler I made to finish the process. Simply glued a bit of styrene sheet to the bottom of the fuselage and everything is now the correct scale dimension:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardShipment008_zpsbfe23869.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardShipment008_zpsbfe23869.jpg.html)
Then the wings were added to both to continue these parallel builds:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/EduardShipment009_zps28cbcd2b.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/EduardShipment009_zps28cbcd2b.jpg.html)
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You fit it good, nice work :))
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:-ok
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You may think these have been put back on the shelf, but there is small progress still! The canopy for the P-63 was finally fitted permanently and green framing color applied. Strange, but Bell Aircraft used a dark green on the landing gear struts on many Airacobras and Kingcobras. I've used the SAC landing gear upgrade set for the Eduard P-39 for this project. Also, a small tip was found (made from the end of a Luftwaffe 50 kg bomb) for the prop spinner. The machine I'm building was unarmed and used for B-29 gunnery training:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/SACDecember14015_zps5471558b.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/SACDecember14015_zps5471558b.jpg.html)
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Little but nice progress, Scott! ;)
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Excellent tunning :-clap
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Thanks, friends. Fitting the canopy was something I was not looking forward to so this kept getting pushed to the back of the workbench.
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Finally time was spent applying the neutral grey to the Airacobra. Not much new on the P-63, though--just the anti-glare panel and walkways are painted there.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/D520First001_zps310fc276.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/D520First001_zps310fc276.jpg.html)
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:-ok
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Top surfaces painted on this P-39:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/D520Fuselage003_zps5311ff38.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/D520Fuselage003_zps5311ff38.jpg.html)
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:-ok
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:-clap
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WOW !
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I scrounged about and found the decals I needed to mark this little Airacobra. Like the D.520, this will be weathered and completed in the new year.....
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/ShermanAccessories003_zpse98b2003.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/ShermanAccessories003_zpse98b2003.jpg.html)
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It look great mate!
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Yes, splendid!
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Thanks, friends. Still some dirt to be added......
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The Airacobra is complete, in markings from the 1941 Carolina Maneuvers "war games" before the U.S. entered WWII:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/Finished011_zps6415a43a.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/Finished011_zps6415a43a.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/Finished005_zpsa9f54f55.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/Finished005_zpsa9f54f55.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/Finished007_zps70703273.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/Finished007_zps70703273.jpg.html)
Now I MUST concentrate on the reason for this thread--the P-63.....I had almost forgotten it on my busy desk!
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This one is great and very fast relased :-ok :-clap
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I've always wanted to do one of these with the war-games markings but lacked the 40th Squadron door decal. This I found in the Eduard Airacobra I bought recently and that was the "missing link". I'd also like to do a Grumman Wildcat in the Red Force markings. The Carolina Maneuvers was a joint-services war game in some aspects.
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:-ok
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Very, very nice work. :-clap :-clap :-clap :-ok
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nice work !
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Yesterday I finally got the energy level to prepare this for the natural metal. Some problems occurred during the painting and several areas were redone...... :-wall It is amazing how many flaws show up when spraying NMF finishes!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63NMF002_zpsa67a5e6b.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63NMF002_zpsa67a5e6b.jpg.html)
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What a nice finish!!!
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What do you use for NMF, Scott? excellent result!
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This is sprayed with Testors Metalizer Aluminum shade. I've decided that I need to change some panels to different shades though, as this is too uniform.
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I will give a try to that product. Love the result on your Airacobra...
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very nice indeed
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Thanks, friends.
Most decals are now applied, primarily from the MPM kit. A few stencils came from a Monogram P-38 sheet I've had for thirty years and they still worked great!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20continuation%20002_zps4ynfrn1l.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20continuation%20002_zps4ynfrn1l.jpg.html)
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So cute kit :))
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yes, very nice...
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Last night the Scale Aircraft Conversions landing gear was prepared and installed. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I've used SAC's upgrade white-metal gear for the Eduard P-39 for this one. The main modification that was necessary was to install the nose gear scissor link on front of the strut rather than the rear as on the P-39. This all went together very easily since I'd provided sockets in the wing and nose bay to accept the new gear parts.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20SAC%20gear%20001_zpsxypttrwq.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20SAC%20gear%20001_zpsxypttrwq.jpg.html)
After the struts were dry it was relatively simple to install the resin tires (very nice detail courtesy of MPM in the original kit) and add the gear doors:
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20SAC%20gear%20002_zpsszhjo3yy.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20SAC%20gear%20002_zpsszhjo3yy.jpg.html)
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:-ok
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Great result and it would be nice to inform people from SAC of this conversion :))
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Excellent result! :-clap :-clap :-clap :-clap
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Thanks, friends.
Finally I can consider this one completed, so many years since the time I first purchased the kit!
The model depicts a King Cobra that was one of the relative few not Lend-Leased to the Soviet Union. During the latter stage of the war the P-63s in the U.S. were used primarily for B-29 gunnery training. This particular machine was assigned to a unit that traveled around the 2nd Air Force training bases in Nebraska and Kansas. The fighters would "attack" B-29s during missions to help train the gunners on the CFC turret system in the Superfortress. The CFC gunsights were connected to gun cameras that tabulated the performance of the gunners in tracking and "shooting down" the P-63. Other P-63s were converted into the famous "Pinball" version, but these were not part of the Phase Training in Kansas and Nebraska.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20003_zpsdudwsksf.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20003_zpsdudwsksf.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20004_zpsc3yszzcy.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20004_zpsc3yszzcy.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20008_zpsyfkrq2iw.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20008_zpsyfkrq2iw.jpg.html)
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20007_zpsnlkmwgsv.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/P-63%20and%20Hungarian%20109%20007_zpsnlkmwgsv.jpg.html)
Peggy Ellen was photographed at the Harvard AAF, Nebraska open house in August of 1945. Harvard was heavily involved in B-29 Phase Training and P-63s were often stationed there. The large structure behind the airplane was a CFC trainer that was towed out to an open area of the airfield, then B-29 gunners took up the stations in each blister and practiced "shooting" at L-5 airplanes that flew pursuit curves at them. This trainer was equipped with electric generators to run the CFC gunsights and scoring cameras, and even had an intercom system to help train the gunners in proper cooperation during combat.
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w117/2AF/HAR%20Open%20House%208-45_zps3u5fna1h.jpg) (http://s174.photobucket.com/user/2AF/media/HAR%20Open%20House%208-45_zps3u5fna1h.jpg.html)
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Excellent mate!!!!
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Great build!
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Thanks, friends!
This name on the real airplane has meaning a for me--Peggy was a nickname that some people gave my mother, and Ellen is the name of my lovely wife!
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Excellent