What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Thursday 28th June 2018

The one thing about working with vacform is that you have to be very careful when sanding otherwise you end up with a hole that you hadn't bargained for. I've managed to find a 1/72 Mach2 Martin SeaMaster kit for under £50. I should be able to salvage some of the parts for further builds.
With the leftover parts from the 1/72 Academy KC-97G , the Boeing Wyton AEW.1 is taking shape. I have found a Rotodome rotodome from a Grumman Hawkeye kit which fits on top of the vertical tail fin. The engines have been modified slightly, although three of them came from the
B-29 and one from an Airfix Boeing B-29A.

[McColm]

Saturday 30th June 2018

I've changed the wings on the Airmodel Martin SeaMaster again and gone with the vacform Avro Vulcan . The T-tail has parts from the Monogram B-1B. I glued up the two fuselage halves and added the new wings. I thought that I had two complete wings but only can find one, found the other one.
I'm still searching for pictures of the weapons bay, sticking with my original plan.
I had a rummage and found that the wings from the Revell HP Victor fit the Hasegawa Boeing B-47 , so that's a possible kitbash.
I also found my previous unfinished work, so I will be finishing these off as well.

[PR19_Kit]

Here's a couple of scans from the book I mentioned.

The exploded side view of the aircraft showing the weapons bay and its loading hatch etc. as well as everything else :-



And a better detailed view of the bay and loading hatch itself :-

[McColm]

Thanks Kit.
Looks very similar to the forward weapons bay of the  Rockwell B-1B. That's got a rotary launcher for the Tomahawk missiles.

[McColm]

Monday 2nd July 2018

The propellers broke off from the Stratoliner, which have now been replaced with 4 engines taken from the 1/72 A-10 Thunderbolt. So the model now looks like a turbofan Constellation. The engines were cut in half and glued in place fore and aft which makes ideal exhaust pipes.
With the new profile the build reverts back to the Starliner.

[McColm]

Thursday 5th July 2018

Light bulb in brain just went on. Whilst I'm struggling with the vacform Martin SeaMaster build I came across the Italeri 1/72 Boeing B-52G Stratofortress No: 1378. It's not the first time I have bought a kit and forgotten that I had it or 'why did I buy that?' In the stash.
I did have an idea to convert the B-52 into a flying boat and this kit does fit the bill. I also found the Anigrand SeaMaster engines which I will use with those from the Airmodel.
The  Majestic Mk VII rises from the depths of my mind, which means I can use some of the parts on my KEB-47M Stratojet.

[McColm]

Saturday 7th July 2018

Hi Guys,
I've been doing some research into campervans and mobile homes in the British and European layouts. The choice is huge. You name it and it has been done in the real world. Van conversions seem to be the cheapest option either D.I.Y. or buying modules straight from the manufacturer.
My brother-in-law has got a mobile home based on the 2014 Ford Transit which got me thinking on using the Corgi Airport Fire Tender as the base model. I have seen well played or in need of restoration on a certain auction website for decent money. At one stage I had two Tenders and managed to restore one with the siren and water hose in working order. It's a pity that I got rid of the spare parts.
Another idea is to put up some shelves along one of the walls and use on as an end-to-end model train layout.

[McColm]

Sunday 8th July 2018

Updates or rebuilds
All in 1/72 scale:

de Havilland Skymaster AEW
Kits used are the donor Heller Boeing
E-3A/B Sentry with AMT  B-52 x 2 pairs fitted to the rear to look like a VC 10. Scratch built T-tail. New resin nose and tail cone. ESM pods fitted from the Airfix HS Nimrod kit.

Boeing KNB-47P
Based on the Hasegawa B-47E kit. Outer engines are turbofans. Rear hose and drogue in-flight refueling module. Flightpath resin bulge in fuselage, Lockheed S-3A cockpit.

Lockheed turbofan powered Starliner
Wings and cowlings are from the Academy KC-97G kit, turbofan engines are cropped A-10A Matchbox

Boeing EC-97T Wyton AEW.1
Donor kit was the Academy KC-97G. B-29 cowlings from various kits with turboprop fronts. Rotodome is from a Hasegawa Grumman Hawkeye

Curtiss EC-46H Commando II AEW
It's the S + M Models  Commando kit with  Frog/Novo Avro Shackleton MR.3 Rolls-Royce Griffons- all four fitted. Cammett resin BAe Nimrod AEW tail with the teardrop radome from the Grumman E-1B, and twin tail fins made from a Constellation. The undercarriage is also from the Shackleton kit.

de Havilland Majestic Mk VII flying boat
Donor kit is the B-52G, T-tail made from parts from the Monogram B-1B Lancer. Landing doors glued in the closed position although they don't fit perfectly. I will use the engines from the SeaMaster kit fitted above the wings. I will use Kits' pictures of the weapons bay and armament loading cranes for the SeaMaster. Depicting the Majestic being loaded with the upper bomb  bay doors open. Spare parts will be added for the beaching gear.

Avro Maverick float plane
Started life as a Frog Avro Shackleton MR3. I added the Shackleton MR.1 nose and twin booms from a C-119. Floats are vacform, inner engines are Griffons with
A-10A turbofans. Forward gun pack is off an A-26 Intruder ,other turrets are from a
B-29. Rear fuselage chopped and the resin cone from a Lancastrain set  radome is fitted. Chin radome is from the AeroClub Avro Shackleton AEW conversion set.

Breguet Br1150A Atlanta AEW
Based on the Mach2 Atlantic with an extended fuselage from the Revell ATL1 Atlantic with the BAe Nimrod cockpit section. Fitted to the vertical tail fin is a rotodome from a Hawkeye. The engines are from a 1/48 Lockheed ES-3A Viking. (No I haven't got the rest of the kit)

Rockwell SeaMistress flying boat
The hull is from the remains of the Mach2
SeaMaster glued to the Monogram Rockwell B-1B Lancer. The tail fin is from the Matchbox/Revell Victor. This seems to work with the engines above the wing junction.

[McColm]

Thursday 12th July 2018

It's amazing what you find when you are looking for that spare part you know you have, but can't remember where you put it.
I came across a large cardboard box full of almost completed 1/72 builds. They all need a bit of restoration work, fortunately I have next week off so I can finally finish one or two off.
The heliplane
Based on a C-130 with the triple tail fins of a Constellation, rotor stack off a Mil-26, stub engines are TF-33s. Nose radome is from a Cammett BAe Nimrod AEW.3 with a rear radome from the Avro Shackleton AEW.2., nose wheel, rotors and doors need replacing.

Ex Aer Lingus Rotodyne
Parts are from a F27 Friendship, E-2 Hawkeye and the stack is a Airfix Rotodyne. Rotor, wheels and hatches are missing.

Martin Marina AEW
My first attempt on building a AEW flying boat based on the Mach2 Martin Mariner with added turbofan engines .
Suitable paint scheme needed.

Grumman Mallard
Rolls-Royce Griffin's. Propellers need replacing.

Lockheed twin boom  Neptune.
General tidy up.

[McColm]

Sunday 15th July 2018

I've got a second chance of building a civilian airliner of the Northrop CB-35 flying wing as I have come across the 1/72 Italeri ex ERTL X/YB-35 for under £30 including postage.
It will be on a similar layout to the RB-35B.
I did experiment with a AEW and tanker versions. However what if was the Shorts Sunderland replacement instead of the Avro Shackleton.
Or a stealth bomber make over by using the engines off the Martin SeaMaster instead of those supplied by the kit-the fourth V bomber 'Van Halen'.

After a rummage around I came across the fuselage of the Airfix Rotodyne and the remains of a Boeing Chinook. The Rotodyne now has the twin stack rotors, quad engines and the tail of the Revell Rotodyne.

I may need to pinch parts from the Super Frelon to complete the Fokker Rotodyne.

[McColm]

Saturday 21st July 2018

Well the week didn't go the way I had planned it. I've been trying to help my girlfriend with her depression.
Beer and whiffing don't go together as I have managed to combine a 1/144 Revell Airbus A380 with the wings and engines of a Revell 1/72 HP Victor K.2.
I glued the two halves of the Victor engines together and slotted the A380 on top. Due to the width of the fuselage it covers the two inner jet exhaust pipes. These act as anchor points when stiffening the fuselage.
It reminds me of a HP airliner project. Just need to find the T-tail and undercarriage. There are gaps to fill. Deciding a paint scheme would be similar to the  Revell 1/144 Boeing 747 with a HP Victor wing. I'm going to use the in-flight refueling pods from the 1/144 IL-76 Midas.

I repainted the Martin Marina AEW.1 in Beige Green. It's similar to that of the Fairey Firefly of No.810 Squadron which flew sorties from the Royal Navy''s carrier HMS Theseus.

I found parts for an Airfix Shorts Stirling so I added the front section of a Wellington.

[NARSES2]

Well the week didn't go the way I had planned it. I've been trying to help my girlfriend with her depression.

Best of luck with that, it's a terrible condition, best treatment is good friends and I speak from experience.

Beer and whiffing don't go together

Yup, there's no way I try and combine the two anymore 

[McColm]

Well the week didn't go the way I had planned it. I've been trying to help my girlfriend with her depression.

Best of luck with that, it's a terrible condition, best treatment is good friends and I speak from experience.

Beer and whiffing don't go together

Yup, there's no way I try and combine the two anymore 

Thanks NARSES2

[TheChronicOne]

I love me some beer with me whif but you gotta hit that sweet spot. After the 4th can of beer doing things like painting canopy frames and around tire rims starts to get wonky.    The key is shift into work that you can sand away later. 

[McColm]

Monday 23rd July 2018

Due to the heat down here in sunny Woolwich I decided to attempt the 1/72 Italeri No.111 Go 242/244 Gotha. There's some really good photos in the 'Aviation Archive' magazine titled German marine and transport aircraft of World War 2.
I opted to put two rocket engines instead of the 700HP  Gnome-Rhone 14M radial engines.
My thoughts behind this is to use the rockets for take off and then glide down to the landing strip or catch a ride with a mothership aircraft whilst in flight. The Gotha would be used in the extraction of agents or downed aircrew.
Although German in design no doubt that the Allies would have captured a few in working order and put them to good use.
I have already glued the rear hatch in place only to find that I have the Lindberg Schwimmwagen and Kettenkrad (amphibious vehicle and semi-track motorcycle) kit in my stash.
I could turn the  Shorts Stilton into the mothership, and have twin tail fins.

Another kitbash based on the Airfix Rotodyne using the Boeing Chinook rotor heads and Revell Rotodyne tail fins. The rear twin engines are off the  Arado jet bomber. The Chinook is almost a perfect fit with the Rotodyne fuselage.

The Fokker Rotodyne now has the Westland-Augusta rotor head from the Merlin  helicopter. I still need to sort out the landing gear to get this finished. Might go down the AEW route and add the swivel dustbin from the Sea King kit.

Just experimenting on the paint scheme for the Martin Marina AEW seaplane. Medium Sea Grey.

I found a couple of  Sud Caravelle kits, one 1/96 and the other 1/100 scale both have parts missing. The larger one could have a pair of engines mounted above the wings, whilst the other one has quad engines at the back.