What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Saturday 3rd March 2018

Collected my Veron Super Truescale 1/96 scale Vickers Valiant from the Post Office this morning.
On opening the box you get a fuselage, a pair of wings, two tail fins, a brace, another piece of balsa wood, plastic wheels, clear vacform canopy, two metal rods and a piece of sandpaper. Decals that have seen better days and a line drawing.
The line drawing will need photocopying a few times as I intend to use one copy as a template so I can cut the shape of the fuselage and wings, plus tail.
I have the wings from the Lindberg Valiant kit but I am using them on the Revell 1/144 Boeing 747 100series Jumbo.
It's a case of cutting and shaping the parts with woodwork tools. I haven't used these in years. I might get away with a small power tool on the fuselage and the edge of the wing surfaces, otherwise it's by hand.
I might have a go and get some more wood for the Avro York and carve the fuselage.

[TheChronicOne]

 

Enjoy the time off... 

[McColm]

Been thinking of keeping the B-36 wings on the ' stretched Armstrong freighter'.
The propellers from the Revell Airbus A400M fit but will need to be staggered. On the outer engine however I'm inclined to use the twin jet engines from the Monogram Kit.
Whilst the front end of the Airfix AC-130H is a good fit the rear due to its shape is a no no. I will make good use of the ramps.
The T-tail is also from the Revell Airbus A400M. The landing gear will be a revised version of the Revell kit. In-flight refueling probe is the metal C-130 set as the Revell one will probably be snapped off.
I think that this might be slightly bigger than the 1/48 B-29 that I restored.
Interior detailing, no idea. The Douglas
C-133 might be a good start or the C-130. I'll see if I can get the Super Frelon to fill the gap or something with folded wings.

[McColm]

Tuesday 6th March 2018

I'm not too sure whether the Convair Armstrong would fit in the GB Cold War as its a pure whiff not based on any aircraft.
The nearest would be the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and you wouldn't call it a stretched C-130 with B-36 wings and fuselage with a T-tail.
Progress so far is the new front section from the Airfix AC-130H has been built. The two fuselage halves have the wing span glued in place. The bomb bay doors are also glued in place.
The cockpit and the fuselage have been grafted on . I tried to tapper the C-130 to fit. I will need a bit of filler.
The upper wings have been glued on. The third engine will be converted into a jet engine as some of the parts are missing from this kit.
I have glued up the parts for the ramp. Just need to fit the lower wing sections, raid the Revell Airbus A400M for parts and decide on a paint scheme. Might go for a AEW+tanker version.

[McColm]

Wednesday 7th March 2018

The Convair Armstrong C1 is now a six jet T-tail cargo aircraft.
The propellers from the Revell Airbus A400M kept breaking so I have used the spinners as jet exhaust pipes and added two more from the Monogram Kit. The T-tail is glued in place and the wings are also glued on. Not too sure why there's internal detailing on them as you can't see it from the wheel wells.
Everything looks lined up, which is a first for me. Just need to fit the main landing gear and the loading ramp.
I might have to hang this build from the ceiling

[McColm]

1/72 Convair Armstrong  C1.A
Part 2

I've run into problems with the main landing gear from the Revell Airbus A400M.
The Armstrong is no longer powered by six turboprop engines, 12 J57s in pairs , which means after take off the  Flight Engineer shuts down the two outer engines of  Armstrong . For longer endurance the Armstrong can fly on the two inner engines which would depend on the weight and assignment tasked.
Once I get the landing gear sorted out I will work on the loading ramp and then fill in the gaps.
I found a pair of turbofans from a 1/72 Matchbox A-10 Kit which I will use on the Revell Avro Shackleton AEW.2 Kit.

[McColm]

Sunday 11th March 2018

The day has been spent carefully cutting out the pieces from the 1/72  AirWays vacform Vickers VC 10 concentrating on the engines and engine mounts..
I managed to create a T-tail by using the parts from the 1/72 Heller Boeing E-3A/C AWACS Kit.
I also fitted the cockpit and internal glazing before gluing the two fuselage halves together and glued the new vertical tail fin in place. The left wing is glued and I will start on the right one tomorrow.
After washing the vacform pieces I will glue them in place.

[McColm]

Tuesday 13th March 2018

Update
The 1/72 Heller Boeing E3A/C AWACS kit looks completely different with a few new additions.
At the base of the T-tail are four engines taken from the 1/72 Monogram B-52D set held in place with Gorilla super glue. I have added the rear tail stabilizer included in the kit. The wings are glued in place and a pair of cheek conformal phased-array radar pods are glued either side of the fuselage. Similar to those on the RC-135V/W. One got damaged, so a section has been sawn off but with some filler I should be able to get the shape back. The nose has been replaced with the one from Flight Path
  RB-47H conversion set, I might add a few more parts from the set.
I have renamed this build the de Havilland Condor.

As for the Convair Armstrong C1, the rotodome from the Heller kit has been super glued . I will probably blank over the two outer engines. I still need to add the third row of main landing wheels. I've seen the metal set by SAC on eBay. Extra wheels will be used to prevent a tail sitter.
Memo to self don't use all the two part filler in one place. Thin layers.
Second memo to self don't build any more large aircraft

[McColm]

Thursday 15th March 2018

I've managed to kitbash a 1/72 Lockheed Constellation with a 1/72 Consolidated Catalina.
The Connie sits on top of the Catalina. I've changed the engines as I had a spare set from the Hasegawa Lockheed P-3C Orion. The floats are from the Canadair CL 415 Kit. The nose came from a Lear Jet.
Kind of leans to one side, but when I add the tail wheel I be able to correct it.

[McColm]

Friday 16th March 2018

Well two weeks leave is nearly over, just found out that I don't have to go back until Wednesday. Whether or not I will have something finished to show you guys is debatable.
If you are contemplating building the 1/72 B-36 it's not just the space of the construction, it's where to put it when finished.
Mine looks like a C-130 on steroids, I mean what was I thinking
I'm going to have to fold the wings and lose two engines.
The de Havilland Condor needs a little more work to get it to the paint stage.

[McColm]

Sunday 18th March 2018

The Grumman E-5 Shackleteer

Having mislaid the instruction manual for the Airfix Avro Shackleton MR.2. I've been using the Revell Avro Shackleton AEW.2 instruction sheet along with a copy of Aviation Classics " Avro Shackleton, the grey lady".
Extra round windows have been added along the right side fuselage, along with a cut out section which will form an opened hatch over the wing.
I found the Grumman E-1B vacform Falcon Triple conversion sheet and the teardrop radome with a base from the Hasegawa Grumman E-2 Hawkeye which I will glue in place on the roof of the fuselage. I have used the Matchbox A-10A turbofan engines mounted on the Revell main landing gear housing as I seem to have used this part on another build, but the interior is a mismatch of parts from both the Revell and Airfix kits. The majority being Airfix. I will leave the bomb bay doors in the open position. I did a dry fitting of the Revell bomb bay doors and AEW radome but they don't seem to fit, so hence the stoof on the roof. Or Mushroom as there isn't much room in the back
I've gone for the flat nose and will delete the gunners seat. Another addition is to use the in-flight refueling probe from the
C-27J Spartan kit.
I'm still assembling the cockpit area and glued the left fuselage piece to the floor/deck. The crew entrance door is also glued shut.

[McColm]

Monday 19th March 2018

I've started painting the interior parts of the Avro Shackleteer, they are definitely not the colours recommend by the article in the Airfix Model World issue 60 or on the colour chart issued by Revell but seem to be drying out as a close match.
I'm using the Revell supplied wings as the TF-33 engines are a better fit than the Airfix ones but a little filler will be needed.
I might start on the interior cockpit parts of the Spartacus. I'm changing the landing gear to skis as the wheels keep breaking off. I found the Eeryie antenna so I will be making copies of it and using it on this build. I have seen pictures on Pinterest for the same idea.

[McColm]

Wednesday 21St March 2018

I've had another idea for the 1/72 Italeri
C-27J Spartan or C-127 Spartacus -jet powered.
I found a pair of jet pod engines which I have glued to the underside of the wings. I think that they were reserved for the C-123 Provider, the Chase XC-123A quad jet version.
The landing gear could be similar to the air cushion landing system with a few minor changes and a bit of scratch building. I could use the USCG decals from the 1/72 Italeri HC-130J kit. Plus the Eeryie antenna on top of the fuselage.

The Czech Master resin 1/72 Number 5136 Avro York C.1 "universal conversion set" arrived today. I do have the Airfix Avro Lancaster BII in the stash but I also have the wings from another Revell Shackleton but I might just have enough Griffon engines for a Shackletrian.

[McColm]

Thursday 22nd March 2018

I've had my shift changed again so I won't be doing any whiffery for about two weeks.
Instead it will be background stories. I keep finding kits that I can't remember buying or why I bought them.

[NARSES2]

I keep finding kits that I can't remember buying or why I bought them.

Something that afflicts a lot of us occasionally and it can be quite nice to find a kit you've completely forgotten about. Unless you've just gone out and bought a second (or third etc) copy of it