What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

The Airfix Super Constellation come with oblong/rectangle windows whereas the Heller Connies have round windows. Most kits come with the option of wingtip fuel tanks. There are resin improvement sets, white metal or copper landing gear. The rare vacform wings for the Starliner.
The is a vacform 1/72 Super Constellation/EC-121 Warning Star by Rare Planes. (I've destroyed 2 so far).
I have tried using the wings from the Airfix and Academy B-29 kits for the Starliner, they didn't work for me but they might for you.
I also had a go at a shoulder mounted C-69 which was to be the AC-69 Gunship. I just need a circular or band saw that cuts plastic. I get one side done and the other won't line up, so frustrating at times! I'm sure that there's a way.
The air refueling tanker can be built either with a flying boom (KP-29P or KC-97) or hose & drogue (KC-130) parts.

[McColm]

Meanwhile the recent 'Spares box' has revealed a part built X-32. Not the most glamorous looking aircraft but I have seen drawings and photos of what the production aircraft might have developed into.
I might change the wings and replace them with those from an Airfix F-22.
Work continues on a slow pace on the 1/48 F/A-18E.

[PR19_Kit]

Meanwhile the recent 'Spares box' has revealed a part built X-32. Not the most glamorous looking aircraft but I have seen drawings and photos of what the production aircraft might have developed into.
I might change the wings and replace them with those from an Airfix F-22.

ANYTHING would be an improvement! 

[McColm]

Picked up a package from the kitchen table and unwrapped it. It is the 1/72 vacform Airmodel Northrop YB-49..
You get 2 vacform sheets and a clear piece that contains the window and canopies. Printed instructions and a 1/144 scale drawing. There's no resin or metal parts with this kit.
There must be some pieces missing as the instructions show the assembly of the cockpit and landing gear. No decals supplied but a colour guide is included.

[McColm]

A closer view of 'Eric the Viking'.




'Eric the Viking' head on view.

Got  idea for the  1/72 Airmodel vacform Blohm and Voss BV22A  (V4), as Eric the Viking's stablemate  The Mighty Thor using the flying wing from another Airmodel the Northrop YB-49.

[TheChronicOne]

Brave soul. I look at my lone vacform kit and it fills me with dread and that's not even mentioning modifications to it!

[McColm]

Brave soul. I look at my lone vacform kit and it fills me with dread and that's not even mentioning modifications to it!

Bite the bullet and don't be afraid. A sharp knife and a thick marker pen. Remember to wash the parts before you cut them and just take your time. Don't sand too hard as you will go through the vacform.

[PR19_Kit]

And preferably DON'T start with an Airmodel. They're the vacform equivalents of Mach 2 kits! 

A Rareplanes kit would be a good start, or a Maintrack X-Craft kit, both of which were mastered by the late Gordon Stevens, who pretty much invented vacforming in the UK.

[McColm]

And preferably DON'T start with an Airmodel. They're the vacform equivalents of Mach 2 kits! 

A Rareplanes kit would be a good start, or a Maintrack X-Craft kit, both of which were mastered by the late Gordon Stevens, who pretty much invented vacforming in the UK.

Thanks Kit

[TheChronicOne]

I have had my eye on a Rareplanes p-59.  I know there's an injection kit of it, too, but I've seen the Rareplanes version going for as little as $6 plus a bit o' shipping. . .. .

[McColm]

Just putting the finishing touches on a commissioned build (straight out of the box) Airfix de Havilland Mosquito NFII RYP.
I know that I should have painted it gloss black and then added the decals and used a Matt finish but my instructions were quite clear from the owner of the kit.
Not much Whiffing going on, accept a few ideas on using the wood effect decals on a few of my 1/24 and 1/25 car kits.
Another idea although not so much as a Whiff as I have seen real world cars based on or around the lifting bodies used by NASA during the Space Race.
I'm slowly getting back into my builds and the 'why did I ever start that' frame of mind.
Still got two weeks leave to take before December. I just might get a couple finished by then.

[McColm]

Another idea that just might work,
To use the Airfix HS 125 with the wings from the Revell 1/144 Space Shuttle, use the Airfix engines above the wings.
Why not use 1/76 tank tracks on my amphibious flying boat builds instead of a wheeled landing gear.. the spare parts can be used on a gunship or for other whiffs.
1/76 Buffalo amphibian would work.

[McColm]

It's good to get a secondhand kit with all the pieces included. The 1/72 Rareplanes Boeing KC-97G arrived today.
I was asked ages ago to build a AEW version with the Hawkeye rotodome but never got around to it and using the flying boom convert a Constellation into an in-flight refueling tanker.
When the Heller 1/72 EC-121 Warning Star arrives I shall start the build.

[McColm]

I'm going to call this build the Avro
Panorama AEW.1 based on the Rareplanes 1/72 vacform Boeing KC-97G.
I have attempted to make this using the Academy KC-97G and K kits but I always changed the engines, the two outer ones work very well but I have problems with the two inner ones. I have tried the Rolls-Royce Tyne engines from the Revell Breguet Atlantic and engines from the Hasegawa Lockheed P-3C Orion.
Since the engines in the kit are a bit crude they also will be replaced with Griffons from the Airfix Avro Shackleton or if I can find the resin engines from the Connie upgrade set. I might even use the wings from the Airfix kit as well.
The KC-97 wings might just fit the EC-121 to create a Starliner.

[McColm]

The spares from a 1/72 AC-130A gunship arrived yesterday.
Looks to me as if the mini-guns and the  40mm & .105mm canon are missing.
I can get replacement guns and lumps plus bumps. Might change the engines.