Bell F-11B Airacomet

The Big Gimper · September 26, 2011, 06:54:37 AM

Folks:

in·san·i·ty
[in-san-i-tee]

noun, plural in·san·i·ties.

1. The uncorrectable condition of continually buying a MPM or Special Hobby Kit because the subject is very unique but ignoring that fact that will never build like an Academy, Hasegawa or Tamiya kit.
2. Spending untold hours of correcting design flaws, using pints of CA glue and PSR-ing.
3. Once the the kit is completed and admiration by peers take place, a form of amnesia occurs. See No. 1 for additional details.

Here is my WIP of my Special Hobby P-59B conversion to a late 1945 F-11B Recce bird. The wing extensions and nose are from an Academy P-39J. Back story will be told when I finish it.

PR19_Kit · September 26, 2011, 07:26:48 AM

Yeeeeaahhh!

Way to go there!

Stargazer · September 26, 2011, 07:49:15 AM

Nice project!

sequoiaranger · September 26, 2011, 09:12:23 AM

For some reason I have a soft spot in my heart for the dowdy, somewhat-maligned Airacomet. Good on ya for building a version of it. An air museum relatively near to me has a Bell P-59 in its collection.

James · September 26, 2011, 09:27:22 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on September 26, 2011, 07:26:48 AM
Yeeeeaahhh!

Way to go there!

Thought I'd see you here.

Suprised you haven't suggested even longer wings.

The Big Gimper · September 26, 2011, 09:44:19 AM

I wanted to keep the chord line going and luckily the P-38 wing more or less matched up with the Airacomet and when compare to the Ta-152H (the Axis nemesis in my back story), it is a about 22 MM longer per wing.

Once I get my Me 109H and Ta-152H built, it would be interesting to compare them.

Erratum: The P-38 donor kit is my DML F-5E. You get the base P-38L nose and the F-5E nose as an option in this kit.

PR19_Kit · September 26, 2011, 11:20:34 AM

Quote from: James on September 26, 2011, 09:27:22 AM
Thought I'd see you here.
Suprised you haven't suggested longer wings.

They are longer, but just enough to keep it in perspective. Should look great when it's done.

Alvis 3.14159 · September 26, 2011, 11:24:10 AM

Totally awesome idea!

Alvis pi

Pablo1965 · September 26, 2011, 01:38:18 PM

Agreed,

Modelling_Mushi · September 26, 2011, 04:47:26 PM

Looking forward to seeing this one done

bobbo · September 26, 2011, 05:30:34 PM

"Folks:

in·san·i·ty
[in-san-i-tee]

noun, plural in·san·i·ties.

1. The uncorrectable condition of continually buying a MPM or Special Hobby Kit because the subject is very unique but ignoring that fact that will never build like an Academy, Hasegawa or Tamiya kit.
2. Spending untold hours of correcting design flaws, using pints of CA glue and PSR-ing."

Hehe . . . I just took a hammer - literally - to my Special Hobby Yak 17. MOST satisfying!

bobbo

The Big Gimper · October 22, 2011, 01:22:10 PM

Folks:

Finally some progress to share. Decals and detail items are next.

The yellow extremities and black walk areas were strategically painted to hide the wing extension and the wing joints.

Astute observers will notice I broke off the pitot tube and the canopy fits like crap. I will fix it with wire and the gaps with decals and some painted trim.

For Kit: Of course there is a Yin and a Yang so my next PR aircraft will be a clipped wing Spitfire.

Carl

GTX · October 22, 2011, 01:54:55 PM

Spey_Phantom · October 22, 2011, 01:58:37 PM

looks good

PR19_Kit · October 22, 2011, 02:38:39 PM

Quote from: The Big Gimper on October 22, 2011, 01:22:10 PM
For Kit: Of course there is a Yin and a Yang so my next PR aircraft will be a clipped wing Spitfire.

Hehe, can't wait. But HOW clipped? Maybe 15 ft span?

541 Sqdn actually used the Speed Spitfire for a while but apparently it was useless as a PR aircraft just because the wings had been clipped and it carried almost no fuel. It looked great, so the OC used it as his personal hack.