Messages

4246

Aircraft Modeling / Re: PZL P.11c LTD 1/48

« on: August 11, 2011, 04:51:53 AM »

The engine is now ready to install and the airplane can now sit on the gear without the alignment fixture. Next will be some extra detailing on the fuselage and then paint.

4247

Forums Works / Re: Magazine

« on: August 11, 2011, 12:23:16 AM »

Looks great so far, especially that F-84 article!

4248

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Monogram B-25J

« on: August 10, 2011, 11:18:02 PM »

Nice effort you did before with hand painted parrot

Thank you , but I painted the feathers red and they should have been green . It's a good thing I didn't build that airplane for contests!!!!!! Back then I had only a black-and-white picture to go by and I blew it big-time......Incidentally, that paint is so hard that I have given up on stripping it. I'm going to sand the paint and use filler to smooth the surface.

4249

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Monogram B-25J

« on: August 10, 2011, 04:23:09 AM »

Okay, a small update.

First things first was to assemble the weighted nacelles to the wings and apply a bit of filler. This kit has some gaps around the wing/nacelle joints that requires CA glue and then putty to correct. Then I taped the fuselage halves together to make certain that the halves weren't warped from thirty years of being in the box.

Here's the nose before I started removing the old paint. I don't really remember constructing this one, but I used the standard glass nose with a new tip. I think the tip may be a P-61 radome. It then just took some reshaping and filler to get the shape just right. This will be an interesting sub-project to rebuild--the flaws aren't as evident with the parrot head paint scheme.

4250

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Monogram B-25J

« on: August 10, 2011, 12:06:01 AM »

I hear and obey! An update perhaps tomorrow......  

4251

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Monogram B-25J

« on: August 09, 2011, 11:29:11 PM »

Maybe you can pay more attention to this two huge birds. B-17 and B-25 becouse they are so interesting. It is only my oppinion!

I agree with your opinion, Sall--the Fortress has always been my favorite bomber and I've read stories about the B-25 (Doolittle Raid books in the early years of school) since I was a little guy. My only problem with the Mitchell is to figure out where I'm going to put it when it's complete, and the Y1B-17 remains a long-term project.

Perhaps I can make more time for the B-25 if I don't start any others for a few weeks!

4252

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Monogram B-25J

« on: August 09, 2011, 12:18:23 PM »

Yes, it is a large one when finished, and I don't really have a place to display it! My cabinet is full now so I'll have to get creative for storing this and the B-17 if I ever finish it......

4253

Aircraft Modeling / Re: PZL P.11c LTD 1/48

« on: August 09, 2011, 04:12:00 AM »

Wing struts next.

I masked the lower wing and sprayed the top camouflage color in the "crotch" between wing and fuselage. I also sprayed the lift strut upper sections prior to installing them, all this to make masking easier for final painting. The next step was easy, drilling out the locating points and gluing the struts on.

After the struts were dry I tacked the landing gear struts to their location at the base of the wing struts. Once they were aligned I used CA to atttach them and set the airplane in this very home-made fixture to maintain the alignment while the adhesive cures.

Now to finish the engine and then final painting can commence!

4254

Aircraft Modeling / Monogram B-25J--Completed

« on: August 09, 2011, 03:57:18 AM »

I've been sitting on this project for a while now (1981) and seeing the profiles No.1 has been doing in the Artwork forum inspired me to get a start on the kit.

I originally wanted to do a gun-nose J but this kit came with the normal glass nose. I started to scratchbuild a solid nose from green putty and kit pieces but it didn't show much promise. That led me to stuff the whole thing back in the box and it's been there since. Recently I found a gun nose in the parts box from a model I broke up and it got me revitalized. Finally I purchased an Aeromaster 345th Bomb Group decal sheet last month so here is a quick first update.

You can see the red gun nose on the left (I painted it the wrong color on my original model ) and the green putty attempt on the right of the box.

If any of you have built any of the 1/48 Mitchells you know how much weight it takes to keep the nose gear on the ground. A trick I figured out years ago is to seal the engine nacelles forward of the gear and fill the cavities with lead shot. This works well as it transfers some of the weight to the wings, right in front of the gear. There will still be a need for more weight in the nose, but it won't be so hard on the nose gear by distributing the lead this way. Here's one of the nacelles with the white bulkhead glued in place. Everything in front of the bulkhead all the way to the firewall will be filled with lead.

This is a low-priority project but I'll update it when I can.
Scott

4255

Aircraft Modeling / Re: PZL P.11c LTD 1/48

« on: August 09, 2011, 12:22:10 AM »

Every one of us have to find its way and place in this great world

Well stated!

4256

Aircraft Modeling / Re: PZL P.11c LTD 1/48

« on: August 09, 2011, 12:00:13 AM »

Yep, we do it for our own reasons, don't we?  I like building box-stock kits sometimes, especially of the modern quality. It relaxes me to just be able to glue a kit together and paint it. All the scratchbuilding/modifying/weathering/etc. also has rewards even if the "common man" doesn't understand or appreciate some of the lengths we go to for accuracy. It's all a matter of perspective, I suppose.

4257

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Lysander

« on: August 08, 2011, 12:19:19 PM »

Beautiful work, No.1.

4258

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Airacobra Under New Management

« on: August 08, 2011, 05:02:53 AM »

The P-39 refurbishment is complete after finishing up both projects today. Here are a few photos of these old crates after going through the resto-shop.

The Italian P-39N-1 has been "built" three times now, first carrying U.S. colors, then Soviet, and now Co-Belligerent from the 97th Squadriglia. It's fairly possible that this Cobra may have flown missions near my father when he was in Italy with U.S. 1st Armored Division.

The VVS airplane is probably a P-39Q-21 since it had a four-blade propeller. No concrete info exists as to which unit it may have been assigned to, but a picture of it was taken in Poland in 1944. The main source for research on this bird believes it was a training airplane.

4259

Aircraft Modeling / Re: PZL P.11c LTD 1/48

« on: August 08, 2011, 04:49:34 AM »

In between finishing the two Airacobras on another thread I was able to work on the engine and fairings for this project. First was to open up half of the cooling slots in the center fairing by drilling and trimming them to the correct shape. This isn't a lot of fun as the fairing is very thick, so I thinned it from the inside with the trusty Dremel.

I also found a nose case in the spares bin and attached it to the crankcase. This doesn't show after installing the fairing, but we'll know it's in there..... Here are the main components after a bit of fitting and before detailing and painting.

Now it will be fairly quick work to detail, paint, and assemble the whole powerplant package.

4260

Warplane Art / Re: North American B-25 Mitchel

« on: August 07, 2011, 01:55:56 PM »

Another thread I haven't seen before! I need to explore LLL a bit more often. During my time with the CAF I spent a bit of time around Miss Mitchell, an honest-to-goodness combat veteran from the MTO. When I was the inspector at the other museum we had another "J" leasing hangar space and I tinkered around on that airplane, helping her regular crew a tiny bit.

I'll be starting a B-25 build thread in the modeling section one of these days. I have a strafer-nosed Monogram kit that I started 25 years ago and I intend to finish it this fall. I would rather do a Dutch "J" but I haven't got the glass nose version of the kit right now.

Great profiles, No.1!