LorenSharp

Finally, though nt finiahed yet, I added most of the internal bracing at the rear cargo area. I dtill have some shelves and bits of equipment and wiring to add. nothing too major just enough to look "busy" Were I to go all out here, it would add sevral more weeks to the build which I don't have. There is still bunches to do, Adding the gear, the decals, all the external antennas, Props, the rear ramp, addng the ECM pods and the additional flare pods to the wings, attaching said wings, and the rest of the equipment already made. The Antennas and flare pods are printing now and I think,or rather I hope, that's the last of that stuff to prep. I SHOULD have everything done well in advance of the end of the build. probably bay Wed or Thurs of week next. Hang in there the ol' girl is almost ready to sash-say down the runway. Stay tuned for More!

Them painted the wing flap area aluminum. I've been on the fence on what actual colour to paint the wheel wells and flaps.the normal White colour from what I've found out didn't become standardized until the very end of the conflict. Otherwize it was a mismash of either aluminum, or zinc chromate or in some cases a mixture of both. For this build I've decided to go with just smple aluminum I did finally add the hardpoints and exhaust pipes.

Then for the camo I began with Squadron Scale Color. starting with Dark Tan, then Medium Green , and finally finishing off with Dark Green. The Squadron colours dry glossy which will help when I go to apply the decals, after I get those on I'll give the camo a couple of coats of Clear Matt to tone down and seal/

Now time for some serious painting. I started with the lower section of the fuselage and tail and the undersides of the wings and horzontal stabilizers. First a coat of Tru-color Weathered Black then highlighing Tamiya Nato Black. I also used the weathered black to do a bit of preshading where the camo will go. Once thata was dry I gave all the black a coat of clear gloss lacquer to even the colour out.I also painted over the leading edges of the wings and tail with black.

Next I made new air deflection plates for the various gun openings. the old kit pieces were too far gone to be reusable. [ And new bypass and intake vents for the engines. filling in were necessary.

Not to mention getting this build into the home stretch, My orginial intention to vac a new windscreen as the original is pretty worn out and highly scratched. So I got a couple of blocks of Sculpy and fashioned a solid backing and took a brand new windscreen from another C-130 in the stash to use as a master. Word of not when moulding Sculpy to fill a cavity, especially one that is clear plastic, either coat with thin oil or use clear plastic wrap to keep the sculpy from really sticking to the plastic. It was a paint to remove and an even bigger pain to clean up and get the plastic clear enough. Unfortunately, I never quite got the part to vac correctly I've come very close, but I didn't realize I didn;t have enough clear vac plastic to make this work. And I can't get enough to finish before the end of the GB. So I've used the "good", meaning newer windscreen as a substitute. ONce I get more plastic in I'll resume getting the manufacturing in of a new windscreen. Actually a couple of them. I discoved in the stash one set had broken in all the moving around and it will also need to be replaced. But anywho, Windscreen attached and a few gaps filled.

Excellent choice Ray. I can't wait to see how "Cocktail Hour" turns out!

Myself I'm leaning towards restoring the Enola Gay I have disassembled, or doing a B-50 Conversion.

I did modify the build parameters to include the Soviet TU-4 Bull and the Chinese Kong Jiang-1 AWACS Just to make it a bit more interesting and diverse

With 5 months left(More or less) I'm hoping we can find more stout hearted and, dare I say, crazy individuals to get this substancial project across the finish line. Any one? Bueller.... Bueller.... Bueller....

Nice Washington!. Then I would say it's about time for another round! May I add you to the list?

Thanks Dave, you won't get to see much, but It's in there!

Then finally I got the fuselage halves joined! Woo Hoo! there was a bit of a gap, but that's to be expected the haves though cleaned of any old glue and sanded down was still rough and not as pristine as a brand new kit I did use the vertical tail assembly from another kit, the original tail was still too rough and uneven to not only get a good join but the gaps were way too much I'll still haveto do some work to the old tail, but I'll tackle that at a later time. then use it on a future Herky bird build. Seams masked off and the hortizontal stabilizers were added as well. I've already filled in the gaps and now I'll let this set for a day or so. In the meantime I'll finish up the work on the wings and get them ready to add. Progress is definitely being made. This now starting to look like a real live genuine imitation,though smaller. AC-130

After a day of getting final interior bits added good progress hasbeen acheived. First the equipment bay next to the forward hatch got added along with the ladder to the flight deck. Added more bracing to the aft end next to the rear cargo door. I'll add more but that will happen once I have the halves together and sealed and sanded. On the inside, added the back half of the APPQ-150 Sensor array. the some "busyness" in the form of a few boxes and wrapped green wire to represent oxygen hoses for the gunner's station.

Thanks James, Ah well, thats the way things run sometimes. I didn't want to just put an empty container in the cargo area . Besides it was a neat thing to try and re-create. Something different. Besides what I ever I come up with on this build I can re-purpose at a later time when/and/or if I get a chance or reason to do an AC-130W.. Heck could probably use some on this stuff on "Fat Albert" , or the Coast Guard Herky bird I have in the stash.