Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[PR19_Kit]

There were loads of those concrete practice warheads on the scrap dump at Benson when we lived there. Somehow some of them managed to move to the kids playground............. 

[TheChronicOne]

To that end, looking at these prop blade pieces.. man, what a nice design. Despite being extra pieces, and, seemingly more work, it's NOT!!!  The way this stuff is molded they will fit into the spinner nice and level and at the right angle. This is great, because I can paint all this crap separately. Genius, really..  little small things like this make my day. It makes one wonder why certain specific things like this weren't copied or done (more) by other manufacturers.

FROG were quite revolutionary in some areas back then, but that engineering seems to have been lost for a long while. The current Airfix stuff has similar undertones to its construction, little ingenious touches that make you think 'These guys know what they're doing'. 

I've only built one of the new Airfix offerings, the Vampire T.11 (going to get at least one more to build) and it was a dream! Went together so well.  That was the one I painted up as Transylvanian Air Force. 

Generally both rocket tubes and warheads were bronze green.  But they were made and stored separately and so there would possibly be variations in shade of green.
There were coloured bands on the warheads but I deemed it not worth bothering in 1/72.
I got my information from here.
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234938660-colour-of-rockets-fitted-to-hurricane/

Good deal, thanks!! I like the look of the green ones. I'm going to paint them that color instead of risking turning this thing into a tacky decoration.

[Rheged]

The rockets I appreciate most of all are the cast iron "rocket spears" used by ASW Swordfish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RP-3


11 kg (25 lbs)  of cast iron travelling at up to 1200 mph can do serious damage to a submarine pressure hull!

[TheChronicOne]

Cool! I like how they stumbled upon the methodology by accident.      Fascinating stuff and assuredly rockets aren't exactly the first weapon one would think of when considering ASW. 

In airplane land:  Well I ate too much lunch today so no telling how much I'll actually get done as I laze about like a fat walrus, BUT...     the plans are to continue work on the C-Fury. I was going to get back to the other two ongoing projects but the glue is just too gummy. I could force my way through it with the sandpaper but uhhhh..... nah. A good deal of the mistakes I make model building are when I get in too big a hurry or try to force round pegs into square holes.

A big PROBLEM occured, as well. On the Mitsu. What happened is I got carried away with the glue, I suppose, and in two seperate areas a whole bunch pooled together then began to run!!!!     Stupid stupid mistake. Oh well. It's pretty bad, too. It's become part and parcel of the plastic so getting it off takes plastic with it so I'm going to have to not only get this stuff off, but I'm going to have to come back in and fill the areas with putty then skim coat it with some more.

Wouldn't be a Chronic build if I didn't butcher SOMETHING, though, right?!       Luckily, it all ran downhill so the stuff is on the underside of the plane. Less noticeable down there. . . .

But yeah, back to the C-fury... I'm going to proceed with cleaning up the wings and getting them glued together and then likely start painting things. The primered stuff should be dry enough by now that it won't make a problem. 

Place your bets now on whether I paint or nap this afternoon. 

[TheChronicOne]

Hey Brad!!!!!  Glad you made a fly by!       

[TheChronicOne]

Quick update on the C-fury. More gluing of wing pieces was done and a bit of filing on things but not much else work got done. I indeed felt the wrath of a big, healthy lunch taking its toll on me and making me a fat walrus. Oh well, back at it today with the other two projects if the glue is sufficiently dry.

Anyway, what I'm here for now is to log an idea I had last night as I was TRYING to sleep. Why the hell is it I wake up a little bit then think about airplanes and stuff?!

Anyway, I have a Letov two seat trainer plane with floats. Not going to use the floats as the kit comes with the options for the wheeled version as well and that's the one I'm going to make. SO, I have this set of floats and I got to thinking of making a US Navy P-51 Float plane that could be towed behind allied shipping as it passes through the "dead zone" in the Atlantic where the uboats and FW 200 Condors would try to wipe out our supply lines.

Anyway... I'm not sure how viable the idea is but uhhh.... eh?  Storms and rough seas? Would it make sense to tow it the whole way or just sitting on the deck to be craned over the side in the event of attack? Rocket propelled or catapulted straight off the deck??  The idea is a recoverable aircraft, unlike the rocket launched Hurricanes or whatever it was the Royal Navy tried. (or whatever it was... it's early in the morning, bear with me) 

Colors would be the US Navy three color blues over grey with the 1943 red bordered star and bar.

I have the perfect kit in mind already, the Testors quick build stuff. While the props that come with it are garbage, I can buy them all day long for $5, shipping and all. They don't come with any gear and are molded with everything of that nature closed up. Perfect for putting the floats on. 

Just an idea for now but I think it would be cool.

[NARSES2]

Not sure you could tow an aircraft across the Atlantic, even in mid summer doubt if it would get 25 miles ?

A P-51 float-plane "camship" though ? Now there's an idea. Catapult the P-51 and after the intercept it attempts a landing if, and it's a huge if, the sea state is suitable.

[TheChronicOne]

That's my only hang up is the whole rough seas bit. A good way around that is possibly have the floats able to be jettisoned so if the things aren't ideal the pilot can just belly land in the ocean like "normal."

This is typical... I'm more interested in the end product, but trying to make a good back story to suit it winds up being the challenge!  Perhaps I should just build it and not worry about a back story at all.    

[NARSES2]

That's my only hang up is the whole rough seas bit. A good way around that is possibly have the floats able to be jettisoned so if the things aren't ideal the pilot can just belly land in the ocean like "normal."

In all honesty that's not that much more practical in the Atlantic. The Cam Ship Hurricane pilots were told to head for the nearest shoreline and only if that wasn't possible then ditch or bale out. The North Atlantic is not the friendliest of places in the Summer let alone Winter. I've crossed it in the Summer and even on a good day I really couldn't believe anyone would try and ditch in it. The normal distance between the wave crests is sufficient to make it very difficult. Still needs must I suppose.

You're idea though would be great for the Caribbean. Protecting the oil tankers sailing up from Maracaibo to the U.S. Gulf Coast ?

[TheChronicOne]

Hey now there's an idea!  I like the sound of that... one of the lesser heard about areas of the war, and who doesn't like the Carribean?!  As far as all that goes... all of a sudden researching these oil tanker shipping lanes and stuff sounds pretty interesting. Not too shabby an idea at all!

[TheChronicOne]

Back from la-la land to work on what I'm SUPPOSED to be working on...  in other words.. working on the two projects I stopped in the middle of to finish up the two doom projects. With those out of the way, I went back to these two only to stop and start working on the C-Fury.   

It's much easier to start projects than finish them..... but that's a nasty habit!

Anyway.. back at it! Glue is dry enough now to sand so that's the name of the game.



Ferengi ship is done with that phase, but tune in to my build page in the Sci Fi Group Build forum for details on that.

The Mitsu, though..... woo....  quite a bit more work to be done with this one. For one thing, the wing root seams on the bottom with need more putty. The top will, too, but not quite as much I don't think. Main thing on top is to get it sanded on down to a smooth enough appearance:



See there? Not too bad but not that great yet, either. I think It will turn out just fine, though! 

Back around to the bottom, however, and I have this mess:




Going to be some sanding and putty up in heyah! 

That's it for now. The remainder of todays work will center around the Ferengi ship. 

EDIT: OH YEAH, and I need to remember to update my other thread! I keep forgetting!!! 


EDIT: Ah hell, I can't keep my hands off it.  In between coats drying on the Ferengi ship, I may as well paint on the fiddly bits of the C-Fury!   

[zenrat]

Lovely long slender wings on the Nipples-Go.  Not sure about the twin tails though.  I might build mine with a single fin.

[NARSES2]

Lovely long slender wings on the Nipples-Go.  Not sure about the twin tails though.  I might build mine with a single fin.

I think they give it a very 30's look 

[TheChronicOne]

I'd like to see one with a larger single fin! 


My piece:



I need to do more filler but I want to stop and prime it so I have a lil help seeing what I need to work on.

Masking windows.... hmm...    I'm convinced this could be my least favorite aspect of model building. BUNK. You see here what I did. Super sloppy and lazy but this is just for the first bit of primer. I think on the next pass (after finishing off PSR) I'll try to use good ol' PVA as a liquid mask. Should work OK on these little windows then I can just peel it off at the end. Liquid mask. If it doesn't work too well, I may look into buying some purpose made liquid mask but isn't liquid mask just PVA for the most part anyway??

After I prime this thing, I'm going to let it set for a couple days at least. I'll be working on my Ferengi SFGB build after and then probably back around to the C-fury. 

STILL need to go update my finished builds page, too.   

[TheChronicOne]

Primed up the Mitsu and will likely be back to working on it today. Multiple areas need more filler but I'm closer to the goal now, at least!

C-Fury parts.... well, I painted a bunch. Got the tires painted, props painted, first overall green coat on the pilot, got the spinner painted yellow, painted the fin white, just needs a coat of floor polish then I can put fin flash transfers on, glued the fuel tanks together, and filed and sanded on the wing parts. Those are close to being ready for the next phase of gluing at the joint where they fold.

Personally, I don't care for the folded wing look. If I could make this where I could pose them either way at will, that's what I'd do. EXTRA WORK, though, and homie don't play that. So, they'll be glued solid.

Anyway...  it's back to work today on all three projects, I suppose. Probably won't get all too much done on the Mitsu... I might just put the putty on it and leave it to dry for a couple days. I think it dries up pretty quickly but... ehhh... who cares.. it's humid like crazy right now and it's a good excuse to get back to work on the C-Fury