Topics

106

Aircraft Modeling / F-106 Delta Dart

« on: February 28, 2011, 08:41:42 PM »

Recently I was visiting with a friend at work and we spent some time talking about his time as an F-106 mechanic and crew chief. I decided to build a model of his last 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron Dart, 59-0074, that was his airplane until she was flown to storage in the late eighties. She was eventually refurbished/configured as a QF-106A drone and shot down.

The decals are spot-on for Mike's bird with the exception of the serial number.

More as I get time to work on the project,
Scott

107

Aircraft Modeling / Il 2 Group Build

« on: February 16, 2011, 09:13:26 PM »

To go along with the SBD group build, would anyone like to do an Ilyushin project? I just opened an Accurate Miniatures single-seat Il-2 and will post photos here. If any of y'all want to join in I'd appreciate it!

108

Aircraft Modeling / Fw 189

« on: February 07, 2011, 07:21:03 AM »

I might be showing my age, but I built an original-issue Airfix Fw 189 when I was a youngster. I remember having been quite satisfied with my handiwork at the time but the model ended up ?????? Several years ago I purchased a large number of mostly unbuilt aircraft kits and there was a Fw 189 in the lot.

I'm open to suggestions as to markings. About the only thing missing in the kit when I opened it was the decal sheet, not that it would have been useable anyway.

Scott

109

Ground Forces / M-5 Bomb Trailer

« on: January 24, 2011, 04:10:14 AM »

I started a project today that I've wanted to work on for many years. As many of you know, Monogram/Revell include a bomb trailer in each 1/48 B-17 kit. The parts are a good starting point to work from, but much can be done to make the trailer more accurate. Here's a photo of a pair of trailers servicing Develish Snooks in India:

It so happens that I have one of these trailers at my home that we're restoring. Here is a photo of our trailer. We are missing some parts such as the fuse/fin box that goes on the front and the rails that held the bombs on the trailer, but it is otherwise just as it was issued in WWII. I've got a restoration thread here if you're interested: http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=25585&hilit=bomb+trailer

In this photo you can see the principal parts of the 1/48 trailer. I've removed the rail moldings on the deck, the hitch and front suspension support, the rear axle pieces and the fuse box. The new rear axle, hitch, front suspension mount and box are in white or aluminum color. The rear wheels are pretty accurate right out of the box and the front wheels can be used with some work. I did open up the holes on the rear wheels so you can see the brake drums through them as on the real thing:

And a view of the scratchbuilt box and hitch/suspension, including the new leaf spring made from styrene strips, with the "stock" trailer for comparison.

This is a nice break from working on the Y1B-17 model, and it doesn't take up nearly as much room on the desk!

Scott

110

Aircraft Modeling / SBD/A-24 Group Build

« on: December 24, 2010, 02:09:34 AM »

No.1 originated a very interesting thread in the Combat Warplanes section pertaining to the Douglas A-24: http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/forum/borbene-letelice-combat-warplanes/douglas-a-24-banshee/ He suggested a possibility that we do a group build. If any of you have an unbuilt SBD kit, of any scale or manufacturer, I'd like to invite you to join us in building them. Just reply to this thread any time if you'd like to participate.

I'll be doing an Accurate Miniatures SBD-2 as an A-24 that fought with the 3rd Attack Group in the SWPA.

Scott

111

Aircraft Modeling / Tidal Wave Anniversary

« on: August 01, 2010, 06:58:20 PM »

Someone just mentioned on another forum that it was 67 years ago today (1 August) that the AAF low-level mission to Ploesti occurred. A number of years ago I helped do a group-build of Medal Of Honor recipients' airplanes for the Dallas IPMS Nationals. Two of the B-24s I did flew the Tidal Wave operation.

First is Colonel John Kane's Hail Columbia:

Hells Wench, flown by Lt. Colonel Addison Baker and Major John Jerstad:

The other two recipients of the MOH that day were 2nd Lieutenant Lloyd Hughes and Colonel Leon Johnson.
Hughes, Baker, and Jerstad were awarded the medal posthumously.

Scott

112

Aircraft Modeling / HOW TO: Natural Metal Finishes

« on: March 05, 2010, 04:22:34 PM »

Since several of us have discussed NMF airplanes on Letipapa's Mystere IV A thread, we thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to ideas on how to make bare metal airplanes as realistic as we can. Everyone is invited to contribute all ideas as to preparation, materials, and methods that they use to get a proper finish for such airframes. Hopefully we can all learn from one another and increase the realism we all strive for.

I'll post this photo of a Falcon Vacuform F-89 that I built in the later 1980s as a starting point.

I used Alclad and a product that I can no longer remember  for the finish on this model. The 1/1 airplane I replicated was a rather tired machine and the skin was no longer the bright, polished finish of a new bird, hence the finish I was trying to achieve. I'll post some techniques and a few other photos later, but other duties call!

Scott

113

Aircraft Modeling / Boeing Y1B-17 Project--1/48th Scale

« on: March 02, 2010, 01:02:26 AM »

I have been far too slow to put up my first thread on the Forum.

I started this model over a year ago and am making slow progress. I find most of my weekends taken up with working on a 1/1 scale B-17, 44-8543, known as Chuckie, at the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

I started with a 1/48th scale Monogram B-17G and Koster B-17C/D conversion kit. If you have never built a model using a Koster product I highly recommend his kits. Here are a few photos of the very beginning of the project:
The initial cut of the aft fuselage:

The shortened forward fuselage common to all small-tailed Fortress variants:

This is what comes with the Koster kit. Not only the parts for the "shark fin" C and D model Fortress, but the transparent sheet also include the pieces needed to build a Cheyenne tail turret for the later Gs.

If anyone is interested I'll post more in-progress photos and text.

Scott