What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Finally ran out of glue whilst working on the 1/72 Hasegawa Martin SP-5B Marlin. It's not the same build I started and added turboprop engines, KC-130 in-flight refuelling tanks and in-flight refuelling probe to.
This is another one, whilst reading what ideas the San Diego branch of Convair had proposed for the Martin Marlin, an idea to build a jet powered version. No not the P7M, but a four engined using the HP Victor wings.
These lay flat against the fuselage of the Marlin and fill the gap where the kits' wings would have been.
Gluing up is fairly easy with the floor and back wall of the cockpit. I managed to get most of the windows in without smugging them.
I altered the Victor wings, now looking sharper at the wingtips "W-shaped". I need to buy some superglue or Gorilla glue.
Woolwich lacks a model shop, nearest being KitKrazy or Bexley. There's Argos as a last resort. A trip across the Thames to Greenwich, well it does have the Cutty Sark. So you'd think that there would be an art shop nearby. Maybe Blue Water shopping center!
I may have the necessary parts for my version of the Breguet Br.1250 flying boat. I know that a Whiffer has built an example already, but mine will be in 1/72 scale.

[McColm]

It's dangerous giving me a tube of Superglue, a modelers saw and the leftovers from my HP Sea Victor AEW3.
Yes the wings do fit on the fuselage of the Hasegawa Martin SP-5B, having to break and reglue the wings to something recognizable. The rear resin AEW cone had to be trimmed to fit the rear, whilst the front looses a section so the resin nose fits. This is all held together with masking tape. Until the glue sets.
The rear has a problem a square peg in a round hole. Good job that I have plenty of filler.
Can't call this a Marlin or the Sea Victor. "Platypus" , could have been the prototype to the Sea Victor AEW3.

[Captain Canada]

[McColm]

Thanks Captain Canada,
I'll take a few for you.

[McColm]

Two views of the Griffon, with the gear up.

[McColm]

Thanks to Tophe and his designs of twin boomers and multi-hull aircraft concepts.
I too have tried to build a twin hull Airfix Shorts Sunderland but I could never get the two kits to join.
  Then years later I bought the Revell Blohm & Voss BV222 Wiking only to sell it in a stash reduction. The wings are incredibly straight and I have seen pictures of a twin hull build on this forum.
Another idea was to use the Wiking to create a mini- Tradewind and continue with my pursuit on building a Seaplane version of the Lockheed Constellation.
With failed attempts on this blog piling up. I think that I have the necessary parts for one more try. Sticking with the twin hull and suspending the fuselage of the Connie inbetween using the gull-wing off the Martin Marlin. Something similar to what the Cantz aircraft company did.
Prices of the Catalina on eBay are almost the same as the Airfix Sunderland. Size could be an issue but I haven't made up my mind if this should be a military or civil build.Or go down the mixed route with BOAC decals and RAF colours.The engines will be off the Heller Connie kit.

[McColm]

The Martin Mariner has changed from being a turboprop to a four engined jet flying boat.
I've used the twin jet pods from a Frog 1/72 B-47 and glued them over the top of the gull wings. I found a couple of plastic cones to blank off the engine cowlings. The main landing gear from the Shinmeiwa PS-1 and housing for the SS-2. I also changed the resin radome for a tear-shaped radome which now sits over the top of the glazed canopy and tapers off to the top of the main fuselage.
With a slight change in the name from Mariner to Marina.

I'm tempted to add a rotor similar to the Consolidated Corregidor XP4Y-1 Model 31 autogiro.

[Captain Canada]

Do you ever finish a kit or do you keep breaking bits off one kit and gluing them onto another perpetually 

[McColm]

If it is for a friend or family member then yes.
If however a build gets broken by a roommate and is beyond repair but the parts can be salvaged. Then they get recycled on another build.
Sometimes people on Facebook buy them as seen unfinished.
Most of the time I'm adding or changing parts.
I'll be moving into a single bedroom in two weeks time, so I'll be able to finish the current batch.
My finished builds include: 1/72 'Vietnam Neptune' ,1/48 P-51B , 1/72 Spitfire and the 1/144 rear end SR-71 grafted to a the cockpit of a 1/72 F-16B. Which were displayed at the last RAF Hendon model show. Pictures are on my Facebook page.

[Captain Canada]

It'll so nice to have your own room eh !

[McColm]

I've always believed that the Airfix 1/72 Bristol Type 170 Superfreighter  could be whiffed into an AEW.
Previous attempts used the rotor dome from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye kit on top of the stack from the Rotodyne , but you guys know me well enough. If a part or parts are on another build and they are a better fit I'll use that instead.
Therefore the Bristol Beagle AEW2 flies again.
Using a previously built Superfreighter I've glued the resin BAe Nimrod AEW conversion in reverse order as they are a better fit. The front cargo doors have been removed and the tail cut off. There is the stack from the Rotodyne fitted to the top of the wing box section for lift whereas the engines have been replaced with turboprops making this a gyroplane. Other parts from the Airfix and Revell Rotodyne will be added.
I might keep the Silver City paint scheme and decals, as a working prototype/ development aircraft.

Part2
I've removed the rotor stack and added the main undercarriage from a Frog Shackleton kit plus the housing where the permanent landing gear would go. The resin turboprop Dakota engines are a good fit and I shall be using them.

[Captain Canada]

I'd like to see more Freighters and Rotodynes around here 

[McColm]

I've based this on a line drawing of the Breguet Br.1250 flying boat which used many components Br.1150 Atlantic and similarities as the Martin Marlin: the deep hull, gull wings, high tail and weapons bay in the engine nacelles.
There are a few alterations on my build. The 1/72 Hasegawa Martin Marlin kit is the donor . The wings are from the 1/72 Matchbox Handley Page Victor K2. The front part is off the 1/72 Mach2 Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic and so is the rear. I'm going for the T-tail. As the plastic from the Mach2 kit is a couple of mm thick I should be able to blend the two kits together with some puty/filler. The previous owner of the Atlantic kit has polished the cockpit glazing and you can see the control panel. This will need detailing.

[McColm]

Been reading the Chris Gibson 'The Air Staff and AEW'.
It's interesting to learn that in 1965 Denis Healey travelled to America to buy aircraft. Amongst the types on his shopping list was the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star. These were surplus to USAF requirements. Although there isn't any indication that these would have been altered to the Air Staff or the Admiralty spec. The forward and aft scanner system layout similar to the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter AEW of 1945 could have been built. Future whiff, would need a new nose section and Valiant glazing for the bumps.
The four engined Grumman E-2K, got the resin C-2 Greyhound conversion kit by RVHP which could be used instead.
The Lockheed P-3AEW was also proposed for Britain and Japan but lacked the overland capability. I did try fitting the Cammett resin BAe Nimrod AEW3 conversion to the Hasegawa Lockheed P-3 Orion, although the rear is a good fit the front part posed a problem. Didn't have a Br1150 Atlantic to hand to see if this was a better fit. The turbofan option looks promising.

[McColm]

Most of the drawings or artwork in Chris Gibson's book ' The Air Staff and AEW' has already been published on the Webb.
The Hawker Siddeley 748 poses a bit of a problem due to the cost in 1/72 scale. Several suggestions crop up including a four engined Lycoming T-53 turboprops, then the Trent turbofans.
The two main systems are Fore and Aft Scanner System FASS which is great if you have surplus MasterCast/Cammett resin BAe Nimrod AEW3 conversion kits or resin casts. I suppose carving out of soft wood would be an alternative.
The Boeing EC-135E/N, or FlightPath 1/72 resin nose conversion set could be used. (End to end!).
Otherwise its the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye Rotodome or the top from Pringles crisps and a scratch-built base/stand.
S +M Models do a range in 1/144 scale.
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was proposed for the USAF's AWACS programme. Whilst drag seems to be the stumbling block on the rotodome a FASS layout might work with the new Roden 1/144 scale kit. Or even the Multi Role Support Aircraft or Super-tanker.
I don't have a TriStar in the stash but a Trident could be whiffed. Along with the Tu-60 Bear not too sure on the scale as both kits are VEB.

The current builds, won't be used, though I will be using ceiling tiles to replicate water/sea for my flying boats.