Lockheed B-30A Galaxy

[Captain Canada]

Nice one Tom ! Love the look of the Connie....and this one even more so ! I really like the last pic from the back. It would be nice to see some guns up front. Maybe a B-17 chin turret ? But then again, that might wreck the classic lines of the Connie....

[The Big Gimper]

Ah nuts!!!! I just got a Heller L749 of Ebay so I could built a B-30 too.    

Awesome job. I was going to use the B-29 turrets as well. Now I can see how good they will look. 

Hmmm got to think of about other bits I can use. 

[TomZ]

Hmmm got to think of about other bits I can use. 

If you get a Revell B-17 you get a spare nose window and spare tail gunners position. There are two of both in the kit for different versions of the B-17.

TomZ

[Army of One]

That is lovely.....what a great finish, love the way the B17/29 parts have been used....I can't see from the pics but is there any tail guns....??

Please can we have a look at the tail gun position?  Incorporating this has always seemed to me to be the most tricky bit of the conversion.

Tail end:




TomZ

That looks awesome........!!! I would have possibly extended the tail one a bit as it looks like a right squeeze with the gunner sitting on his guns. Please don't take this as a criticism as I love the model...,it's just my observation.

[McColm]

Depends on the kit. There is a big difference in the Heller and Airfix models .Common parts are the wings ,engines,wheels and landing gear .Windows ,nose and tail section differ.

[PR19_Kit]

Isn't that the difference between the standard Connie and the Super though? Airfix only sold the Super whereas Heller did both versions IIRC.

[jcf]

Cool rendition of the concept. 

Figured the following, found in Lockheed Code One Magazine Facebook photo album, would be of interest:



Potent Stinger: The XB-30 was the design submitted by Lockheed to a 1939 request from the US Army Air Forces for a very heavy bomber. Competing against Boeing, Douglas, and Consolidated, the XB-30 (Lockheed Model 51) concept was based on the L-49 Constellation airliner then on the drawing boards. This detail drawing from 1940 shows the two .50 caliber machine guns and two 20mm cannon in the XB-30's tail gunner position. Rather than build the XB-30, the AAF directed Lockheed to complete development of the Constellation as the C-69 transport.

[comrade harps]

Beautiful! 

[The Big Gimper]

Hmmm got to think of about other bits I can use. 

If you get a Revell B-17 you get a spare nose window and spare tail gunners position. There are two of both in the kit for different versions of the B-17.

TomZ

Thanks Tom. I'll check it out. I also was thinking of using manned Martin B-25 turrets on top, adding a panier / expanded bomb bay and four bladed props.

[McColm]

Does it have a bomb bay ?
I've tried using the Airfix BAe Nimrod weapon bay as a guide .Now that I have an Airfix B-29 and the Minicraft /Academy B-50D I can use one of those instead. With the rear gun turret .The Heller EC-121doesn't have that many windows so no need to fill those in. The front turret could come from a Liberator or Lancaster .

[albeback]

Looks VEEEERRY nice!!
I had an idea to combine the longer L-1049 with the gun turrets AND bomb bays from the Airfix B-29. With the extended fuselage you'd get a bomb bay fore and aft of the wings.

allan

[McColm]

Great idea, go for it !

[SebastianP]

Snip

Potent Stinger: The XB-30 was the design submitted by Lockheed to a 1939 request from the US Army Air Forces for a very heavy bomber. Competing against Boeing, Douglas, and Consolidated, the XB-30 (Lockheed Model 51) concept was based on the L-49 Constellation airliner then on the drawing boards. This detail drawing from 1940 shows the two .50 caliber machine guns and two 20mm cannon in the XB-30's tail gunner position. Rather than build the XB-30, the AAF directed Lockheed to complete development of the Constellation as the C-69 transport.

Hmm. Tailguns + transports... did anyone ever try putting a tailgun position on a transport aircraft for self defense? And why not, if it never happened?

[Mr.Creak]

Hmm. Tailguns + transports... did anyone ever try putting a tailgun position on a transport aircraft for self defense?

Russian/ Soviet transport aircraft.