Messages

4786

Combat Warplanes / Re: Blimp see everything

« on: February 24, 2011, 05:00:28 PM »

Yes, I wonder that too. It could be just like the airplane versus observation balloon situation in the First World War, except the "sausage" is unmanned now.

4787

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

« on: February 23, 2011, 08:29:06 PM »

My machine is a Mattel Vacuform that I found in an antique shop. It had been used very, very little and still has all the accessories and molds that came with it when it was new in the early 1960s. I bought it for less than $50 U.S., and that turned out to be a bargain as they are collectors items now. The big drawback with the Mattel is that the sheets are only 3x4 inches so you can only form relatively small parts such as canopies.

4788

Aircraft Modeling / Re: SBD/A-24 Group Build

« on: February 23, 2011, 07:38:34 PM »

You'll be done long before I will, No.1! I'm out of gloss and flat clear right now so no decaling for me. I have been painting the small parts. This airplane had the U.S. Navy red/yellow/blue propeller tips and tri-colored wheelcovers so I got that tedious part of the painting done last weekend.

4789

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Fw 189

« on: February 23, 2011, 07:35:21 PM »

Slowly the Fw is becoming an airplane. Having not built one of these in decades, I am impressed with the fit of the major parts. Airfix did a good job on the engineering. The rivets are a bit overdone and the plexiglass could be better, but it really doesn't need a huge amount of filler. Lots of fun to build something I built forty years ago!

4790

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

« on: February 23, 2011, 07:31:41 PM »

I haven't totally ignored the Fortress project--all the other stuff on my bench pushed it into the background. I had the vacuform machine heated up for another item so I pulled several more blisters for later use.

Other than making these I've been scratching my head on how exactly I'll build the assemblies.

4791

Combat Warplanes / Re: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Virtual Tour

« on: February 22, 2011, 07:46:26 PM »

Yes, thanks for the link, Sall.

We spent several days of our honeymoon at the Air Force Museum in 1982. At that time the Cold War hangar didn't exist and we weren't allowed in the two top hangars because of construction. It still took me three days to absorb everything! We've been back several times since but not for a few years now.

4792

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Liberator Beauties

« on: February 22, 2011, 04:53:15 PM »

Excellent build and article, No.1.

4793

Warplane Art / Re: a little restailing...

« on: February 20, 2011, 05:00:43 PM »

Bravo!

4794

Aircraft Modeling / Re: SBD/A-24 Group Build

« on: February 20, 2011, 07:52:03 AM »

The A-24 after camouflaging:

Next will be the detail painting, including the canopy sections.

4795

Ground Forces / Re: M-5 Bomb Trailer

« on: February 19, 2011, 04:27:00 AM »

Now that the trailer is almost finished it needs something to pull it, courtesy of an old Monogram B-24 kit:

I thought the Cletrac was detailed somewhat better than it really is. This is going to be a pretty big project. One nice thing is that the real tug has rubber tracks and the kit parts look pretty close. The chassis and wheelsets are going to be a LOT of work.

4796

Forums Works / Re: Magazine

« on: February 18, 2011, 03:29:49 PM »

Excellent format.

The only possible addition I can think of would be a "How To" column of some kind. Perhaps a reader could ask how to do some particular process and another member could answer with their method in the next edition.

Looking forward to the previews!

4797

Ground Forces / Re: M3

« on: February 17, 2011, 11:32:32 PM »

It's unlikely, but possible, that my dad could have worked on the 1st Armored Division M3 in the profile. He didn't bring back many photos from his time in North Africa and Italy. As far as I know, the only vehicle that my father worked on that is still in existence is the Tiger I that belongs to the U.S. Army. The British and Americans repaired two Tigers in N. Africa for evaluation and dad and his guys did one of them. Now it's in England being restored and I hope to one day spend some time with it.

Thanks for the thread! If dad were still with us he'd really enjoy seeing these machines.

4798

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

« on: February 17, 2011, 07:31:04 AM »

I restarted work on the waist gun blisters this evening. I must get these fitted and design the inside framing of the openings before I can finish the interior work on the aft fuselage.

Here is the first "practice" blister after cutting out the opening. Making the opening is turning out to be tougher than I had thought it would be. After I am satisfied with the shape of the opening I'll use another blister to provide the moving portion of the perspex. The moving part of each blister will be a separate project that should provide me with a headache.

A couple of photos of the blister taped to the fuselage. Notice that the aft crew entry door opening has been cut. This goes into the Monogram fuselage just a little bit but it isn't as tricky as I feared it would be.

4799

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Il 2 Group Build?

« on: February 17, 2011, 01:33:44 AM »

The Bulgarian ships were two-seaters also! I wish I had the Type 3 as there are nearly unlimited choices. I would probably do an Avia B.31 if I had the two-seat kit.

4800

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Il 2 Group Build?

« on: February 17, 2011, 12:58:23 AM »

Sorry, my kit is a single seater and the Yugoslavian example is two-seat. You're on the right track, though!