What's on the workbench!

[PR19_Kit]

That's a two seater that really doesn't work visually, to my eyes anyway.

[McColm]

Thanks Kit.
I see Revell has released 1:25 Thames Panel Truck, that looks more like a worthy Rat Rod.
The 1:32 Teracruzer with missile reminds me of that picture in the cars/trucks topic. Page 7 of Airfix Model World Oct 2014.

[McColm]

The 1/72 Shorts Warrior
Using the Airfix Shorts Sunderland as a base, removing the vertical tail and replacing it with the triple fins from a Heller Constellation. More plasticard needed to blend the two together. Perhaps next time glue the two halves seporate. Blank out the upper turret from the inside. No interior details as you can't see inside as the cockpit area is removed and replaced by the rear radar cone from the BAe Nimrod AEW conversion kit. Need a Vulcan canopy or fighter- F-15B/D.
Undercarriage- could cut the wheels supplied in half and glue to the underside of the fuselage. Ballast for the rear and tail wheel.
Engines replaced with Griffons or PW turboprops.
Entrance doors and side loading ramps.
Sand rivets down on fuselage.

Sandhurst- either Airfix or Italeri Sunderland. Internal detail sets, replace windows, remove turrets. Rear could have MAD boom, front AEW radome from Falcon vacform kit or High Planes.
Same undercarriage layout as the Warrior.
Keep floats in New spares bin.

Academy C-97 AEW & C
The mistake was to replace the engines with the P-3C. Outer engines no problem , inner the cowlings. Use The Orion undercarriage layout. E-2 Hawkeye radome-resin part or off a kit. Might try the E-1B vacform.

BC-97 bomber version using B-29/B-50 parts. Spare parts to build the B-29 transport/cargo version.

KC-121 Constellation tanker.
C-69 bomber using B-50 parts and tail gun.
Amphibian version - out rigger floats, large main float off a Catalina flying boat. Keeping wheels.

Cushion landing system- tried a cut down C-130 with AC-119K twin boom, wings and engine cowlings. Air cushion from the Airfix Hovercraft 1/144 scale. Worked, may build this again using a C-160 instead.

Super Stirling- Airfix kit with B-17 wings. A rethink in the build.
B-17 was to get a pair of Canberra wings.
Canberra transformed in a RB-57.

[McColm]

As for the Shackleton. Played around with the cockpit using resin parts from the Liberator. Jet version will need the engines from a 1/48 Me 262 or pods off something similar. Did flatten the nose and add a pair of cargo doors.
Maybe an old Frog/Novo in blue plastic at a decent price.

Airfix BAe Nimrods are still plentiful prices vary. P-3C Orion prices shooting up, like the Neptune kits.
Br1150 Atlantic and the Airfix Valiant. Didn't get around to build these, nor an

[McColm]

The British had the Spitfire and Hurricane which were flown by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. Both had single and two seaters.
The Germans had the Messerschmitt Bf109, haven't seen any two seater versions. So a conversion would make an interesting build. The Bf109 was also flown by the German Navy. Not too sure if the Focke Wulf FW190. The Hendon Museum has a two seater conversion on display.

[NARSES2]

Me 109 G12 was the two seater. Special Hobby do a kit

Spitfire twin seaters - pretty sure the RAF nor FAA flew them. They were a post WWII conversion ?

Hurricane twin seaters - Not even sure there were any. If so it would have been a post war private conversion ?

Me 109 - Now there was the T variant that was built for the part built carrier but as far as I know it would have been flown by the Luftwaffe, not a separate German Naval Air Arm. Those built were definitely used by the Luftwaffe.

More then happy to be corrected by anyone with more information then is in my rapidly aging brain.

[PR19_Kit]

Either the Czechs or the Spaniards did a nice looking 2 seat Me-109 with an almost bubble-like canopy. KP did a kit of it so it was probably the Czechs and with a Jumo engine too.

The 2 seat Spitfire was a post-war development for sure, and I have a vague idea that the Russians converted some Hurricanes to 2 seaters, with the second out in the OPEN!  

Bags of scope for Whiffing one of course, now there's an idea..........  

[NARSES2]

Well this months MAM has an article on 2 seat Spitfiires. 1 Soviet and 1 RAF in the Middle East. Now both of these were field conversions. The Soviet one doesn't surprise me, but the RAF one does a little bit.

Kit has refreshed my mind as I do now remember a Soviet 2 seat Hurricane and yes it did have an open cockpit, but again a field conversion.

[McColm]

Hawker Hurricane
T MkIIC two-seat training aircraft. Only two built for the Persian Air Force.
Russia under the lend/lease agreement used the Hurricane MkII. Rear seat was an open cockpit for a gunner. Later versions had an enclosed turret.

No two seater Sea Hurricanes built.

Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine developed a two-seater T Mk VIII for training, none ordered but one built N32/G-AIDN.
4 Sqn SAAF MkVb non-dual controls, upper fuel tank replaced by second seat.
Russian lend/lease Mk IX dual controls known as the Mk IX UTI with Greenhouse style canopy instead of the standard bubble style.

Post War ten bubble canopy TR9s built.
No two seater Sea Spitfires built or Seafire, Spitful.

FW 190 A-5/UI two seater training aircraft, FW 190 S-5, S-8.

Me Bf 109T naval variant, can't find any info on a two seater version.

Plenty of Whiff ideas, might try to build these in 1/48 scale.

[NARSES2]

4 Sqn SAAF MkVb non-dual controls, upper fuel tank replaced by second seat.

The MAM build of this is very interesting. The author casts doubt on it belonging to 4 Sqd. The single seater did but he thinks the conversion was done when it had left the Sqd and been returned to an M.U. It still had its codes, whence the 4 Sqd ownership in some publications. As the front cockpit had no controls, just a seat there is a question over what it was for. He postulates that it could have been a hack, used to give jollies to the erks over the sites of Sicily where it was based or even that it may have been a non flyer and simply converted as a training project ? We shall never know I suppose. It's an interesting build article if only to show the problems of conflicting references, even so called official ones 

Regarding the Soviet twin seat Hurricanes. I seem to remember a profile of one with an m.g. mounted in the second cockpit and it being allegedly used for recce work.

[McColm]

Thanks for the info.
Model Aircraft Vol 13 ISS 10 October 2014
Has an article on back seat drivers- Enigma Variations Spitfire.
They are using the Mk IX.

[kitbasher]

There was an article in Aeroplane Monthly a couple of years ago about this particular machine- see http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a539/Ben2BS/Spitfireconversion-page-001_zps20bb8f2e.jpg and http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a539/Ben2BS/Spitfireconversion-page-002_zps0cbfd9a0.jpg

Some unusual two seaters at http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/twin-seat-conversions-40322.html - check out the Hurricane!

[McColm]

At last a two seater Me Bf 109.
I worked on a Airfix F-117 by cutting out the area behind the cockpit and adding two rear facing seats, the idea of an EF-117. Amazing how much room there is.

[PR19_Kit]

That 2-seater Hurricane looks very modelable. 

[McColm]

 
I was thinking the same. Looks like I'll be busy next year!