Messages

4906

Aircraft Modeling / Re: HOW TO: Natural Metal Finishes

« on: December 17, 2010, 03:51:55 AM »

I finally got back to this project yesterday evening. I originally wanted to use both Metalizer and foil on this kit. I practiced with a little foil and found that the very delicate engraving of the Tamiya kit is nearly obscured by the foil. Since I didn't want to hide the beautiful molding I decided to go entirely with Metalizer. Here is a series of shots after applying the aluminum before buffing began. The little sheet of cloth on my hand in photo 1 is the polishing pad I use.

These two are of the masking of the rudder. All of the primary flight controls were masked off before buffing the surfaces so as to get a contrasting sheen on the various parts. The same process is used to get the different shades on the other parts of the airplane.

I'll do some different shaded panels next installment.

Scott

4907

Combat Warplanes / Re: Douglas A-24 Banshee

« on: December 16, 2010, 10:58:45 PM »

Thank you mate for your valuable input  Please tell me, is it unit of your friends father, has been previously equipped with Curtiss Shrike?

Yes, the 3rd Attack (later redesignated as 3rd Bombardment Group) had the A-12 Shrike in the between-wars years.

Again, great photos, and especially the airplanes that were flown by other countries. Here in the U.S. a lot of A-24s were used as utility airplanes and target tow-tugs.

Scott

4908

Combat Warplanes / Re: Douglas A-24 Banshee

« on: December 15, 2010, 02:30:23 AM »

The factory photos in the first batch were taken just a mile or so from where I work. The Douglas/Tulsa plant is still in use, though not for its original purpose, and it looks pretty much the same on the outside today as it did in these pictures. You can see the pilot B-24 line in a couple of the pictures. When the A-24 order of 615 airframes was complete the plant went into full B-24 production, followed by the A-26 in 1944.

Two of the four airworthy SBD-type aircraft are actually A-24s.

The father of a co-worker of mine was a member of the 3rd Attack Group, 8th Squadron during the time when they were flying the A-24s in combat early in the Pacific war.

Great subject!
Scott

4909

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

« on: December 12, 2010, 04:28:04 PM »

Let the force be with you

I WILL NEED IT!

4910

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

« on: December 12, 2010, 04:07:43 PM »

So next step will be most interesting at all

With the help of all the photos, drawings, planviews and the artwork of No.1 I have good reference for contouring the teardrop shapes. It will be somewhat of a headache nevertheless and I suspect it will take several attempts. Once I'm satisfied with the teardrops I'll have to move on to the nose glazing. When these parts are figured out the rest of the build will be relatively easy.

4911

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

« on: December 12, 2010, 04:05:21 AM »

I finished assembling the last of the four oil cooler inlet scoops. Here is a photo of the last one and the parent part from the C-47 kit that I found in the spares box. I cheated a bit and used the mold master for this last scoop. Next I'll have to use a little filler and primer on each scoop.

I'm back to the teardrop gun emplacement now that I've conquered the oil cooler inlets. Here is the master resin piece trial fitted to both the waist and ventral position. Next will come a good bit of material removal in order to get the correct profile. After I'm satisfied with the shape it will be used to make four clear vacuform blisters. The dorsal fairing will be somewhat differently shaped but I hope to be able to use the same form for it as well.

4912

Combat Warplanes / Re: Vist to IAF Museum at Hatzerim, Beer Sheba, Izrael, Nov.21.2010

« on: December 12, 2010, 02:11:05 AM »

Thanks for the link! I can't believe I missed the earlier photos.

Scott

4913

Combat Warplanes / Re: Vist to IAF Museum at Hatzerim, Beer Sheba, Izrael, Nov.21.2010

« on: December 11, 2010, 07:55:07 PM »

I discovered a drawing of a Marine Corps F-21 and it confirmed that the one in Letipapa's picture served at MCAS Yuma. I find it pretty neat that I could travel to Israel to see an airplane that used to fly over my head in Arizona!! Now if I just had some idea of where the pictures went that I took when I lived in Yuma.

As an aside to my Yuma story, the U.S. government leased the Kfirs from the Israelis complete with crews as I recall. Sadly a ground crew member (not certain if he was an Israeli or American) lost his life in the winter of '88/'89 when the ejection seat fired in the F-21 he was working on. It was very somber news and is one of those things that one remembers. The flight line can be a dangerous occupation.

4914

Combat Warplanes / Re: Vist to IAF Museum at Hatzerim, Beer Sheba, Izrael, Nov.21.2010

« on: December 11, 2010, 04:52:59 AM »

Great coverage!

Notice the Kfir in 12 and 13 with "Marines" on the aft fuselage and the tiny red star on the tail? I wonder if this is one of the Kfirs that was stationed in the U.S. back in the late eighties--they were named F-21 in the States. We lived in Yuma, Arizona during part of the time they were stationed at MCAS Yuma for dissimilar combat training. The Israeli crews had individual open-sided sheds to give them shade in their parking areas.

Scott

4915

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

« on: December 05, 2010, 04:08:16 PM »

Here is another box:

It's always fun to dig through this stuff as it is from kits I actually built. I remember building all of them and always get a kick out of some of the painting and decal application I did when I was starting out. There are some pieces in there from the mid-sixties up to the early nineties when I took a hiatus from aircraft modeling.

4916

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

« on: December 05, 2010, 04:53:18 AM »

I mentioned the oil cooler intakes in my last post. Has anyone noticed that sometimes the smallest item can take the most time to figure out? I hadn't given much thought to these little intakes until recently and it turned into quite a struggle to come up with something I think will work. First I tried to build the ducts completely from aluminum tubing but could never get the proper shape at the back part where it tapers into the nacelle. Then I had to dig through the parts boxes for something that might be close:

After digging through three piles of parts I finally came across an intake duct from an old Monogram C-47 that seemed to be about the right size and shape. I cut off the back part of this duct and made a mold of it. Then it was fairly simple to cut and trim aluminum tubing and styrene strip to make the semi-circular intake portion. Here are examples of all the parts involved and an assembled duct at the far end:

Here is a semi-finished product with the real thing for comparison:

Only three more to go!
 

4917

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

« on: December 03, 2010, 01:04:19 PM »

Yes, those ignition harness/pushrod tubes did take a lot of extra work. That was the problem with my hasty moldmaking when I cast those pieces. Since I knew I was only going to pour less than ten sets of the parts I didn't spend a lot of time fine-tuning the molds. Had I planned on producing the parts for sale to others I would have done a much better job of quality control. On the positive side, the flash is pretty easy to remove if you do it within a couple of hours of casting the piece.

Now I am working on the air scoops for the oil coolers that mount at the bottom of the nacelles. They have proven to be harder to replicate than I initially thought they would be. Once I figure out if my current idea will work I will post an update.

Scott

4918

Warplane Art / Re: Vultee BT- 13 Valiant

« on: November 29, 2010, 11:24:45 PM »

Very nice subject!

Check out the "project" BT-13 I've been thinking about rebuilding to static display status. This airplane didn't crash, it was destroyed in a tornado thirty years ago and these are the parts that were saved.

Scott

4919

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

« on: November 28, 2010, 03:01:09 PM »

Those engines are "limited run" castings. I knew I only needed four of them so I didn't spend much time making the molds. There was a bit more flash on the pieces than there should be and it took several attempts to get good copies out of the mold. I was very happy to have been able to find a good master, in this case an Accurate Miniatures SBD-1 kit. The SBD-1 used a R-1820-32 and the YB used a -33, a perfect match!

Scott

4920

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

« on: November 28, 2010, 02:26:08 PM »

As a change of pace I worked on the engines and cowling installations for a time. I had been concerned about how I was going to get the correct gap at the rear of the cowling where it meets the nacelle. On these very early machines there were no cowl flaps, only an aerodynamic opening between the cowl ring and accessory fairings. On the real airplane the engine supports the forward cowling, independent of the rest of the nacelle. This is done by attaching two support rings, one being the aft baffle ring and the other being a plain ring attached to the front of the cylinders. Here is a photo of an engine change on a Y1B-17 from the Amarillo B-17 Mechanic School engine change "classroom". The support ring is easily seen:

I decided to mount the forward ring into the cowling on my model to expedite the process. I used a band of safety wire cut to the right length and made circular, then just inserted it into the cowling so that the engines will be in the correct position. In the final assembly stage I will be able to attach the engines to the firewall and the cowlings will slip onto the engines giving me the gap at the rear of the cowl ring that is needed. In that way you'll be able to see light between the cylinders when looking into the front of the cowling, just like on the real thing:

Now I have to build four airscoops for the oil coolers. I hope I have something in my spares or I'm going to have to scratchbuild them, and I'm not really looking forward to that prospect.

Scott