Finally started!!!

The fuslage is very large - about 39 inches or 1 metre long - and so I cut it into thirds to make it manageable. I started with the forward fuselage halves using the traditional sanding method.
Using photos and drawings as a gude I made the cockpit floor and bulkheads using thick cardboard - a cheaper alternative to heavy gauge plasticard. Finer details will be added later using plasticard stock etc.



Darius

Wow, that's going to be some build! Good luck.

Made the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and navigator seats from plastic card (vac-form offcuts plus some thin card stock). The yoke shafts were laminated from plasti card and thin wire used for the yokes themselves. Separate cushions and armrests will be made from card and painted before being added.



Darius

Wow!.

Well, you got my attention.

I believe at one time, it was the largest 1/48 vacuform model kit ever produced.

Will be following this project closely; it certainly offers a huge canvas for (several) bare-metal finishing techniques.

And pardon Anthony's attire in the image above.

Whats the largest kit then? I seen to remember reading somewhere someone made a Spruce Goose but i cant remember what scale that was.

Amazing already, will join the build soon (I hope!) but won't be able to hold a candle against your work, even at this early stage, is there a emoticon for jealousy?!!

OMG!

good luck with this one.

Neat project Darius!

I will certainly be watching your build!!

Re: the Spruce Goose. It's 1/72, but don't let the scale fool you! I held my BV 222 fuselage up to the Goose fuselage and it's only about a third of the size, if that!

Can't wait to see some more progress Darius. I've always liked the Cargomaster!

Ted

Brilliant project Darius!

Iain

Darius,
Man that thing is HUGE,you're going to need a special hanger for it.Excellent work my friend.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

More progress on the cockpit today. I painted the interior using Humbrol enamels and added plastic card cushions and headrests to the seats. I cheated on the instrument panels by using reduced images of photos of the actual panels printed onto paper. Not as good as photoetch but probably OK given the limited view into the cockpit once all is closed in.



Darius

Marvellous Darius!!

Ted

I worked on the central fuselage today, cutting out the main gear doors from the sponsons and boxing out the main gear wells using thick cardboard stock. I detailed the fuselage centre interior using more card stock and plastic card. The plan is to make a box above this that will hold the wing spars and have the wings removeable for storage!!! The sponson gear "boxes" are a snug fit to the central interior rather than glued so as to allow fine adjustment of the fit to each sponson when the fuselage halves are eventually joined together.



Darius

Absolutely awesome work!

Starboard fuselage windows marked, drilled and opened up with small files.





Following the example of some recent 1:48 helicopter kits I decied to add interior ribbing/stringer detail by making seperate lining sheets. Plasticard strip stringers were cemented to a thin sheet of plastic that was cut to fit the starboard interior forward of the wing.





Plasticard strips were cemented to the fuleage interior to which the lining would be cemented.



The interior lining was cemented in place and then thicker plasticard ribs were cemented in place.









Seems to have worked out OK.



Darius

Darius,
Fanstastic built to date.Your scratch building efforts are truely impressive.
Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Nice work by the way.

That's a mighty project, Darius. I shall follow this with interest, given that I have the Welsh Models vacform. I doubt I'll go as far as fitting out its interior. Best of luck.

Joseph

This is looking pretty bloody impressive already.

I like the ribbing there Darius... I'm using a similar technique for riveting on a master I'm doing at the moment

Work recommenced today with the sanding down of the rear starboard fuselage and its attachment to the rest of the fuselage.



I marked the positions of the rear cargo door/ramp and cut them out. This is going to be a C-133A, the B-model had side opening clamshell rear doors.







The interior stringers and ribbing were made as per the rest of the fuselage. This is much easier than applying them directly to the inside of the fuselage.













Darius

Martin

That is great work Darius. I was wondering how much of it would be seen, but withthe ramp open you should see a bit.

I am working on the Anigrand 1/72 C-17 and planned a similar route to add interior detail to that kit. Your effort looks very effective so it looks like I will follow your lead and go down that path.

that ribbing is... well you must have LOTS of patience!

hmm, hope to see this one for real when it is done.

A bit of progress today on the interior, which was sprayed Halfords "reed green". I scratch built the cockpit access ladder using plastic card and steel wire, and added the sidewall bench that runs the length of the cargo compartment, again using plasticard.



Darius

Looking realy nice now. Where did you get the kit from?

Thanks Ollie - I got the kit from eBay.



Darius

Fantastic work there Darius!

Really excellent work, love the additional 'engineering' you're putting in to this. Watching and learning

Andy

that is some model !!!! hats of to you sir !

Having owned this kit and having seen Doug Feeney actually making his masters this is a real tribute to a model maker to which we owe a lot. Doug is a real modeller, a true enthusiast and a friend. I lost touch with him when he moved down south and would love to get back in touch with him (if only cos I've a load of his C5 Galaxy Photos). I have memories of many a happy evening sat in his model room talking bollocks and watching him whittle something awesome from some scraps of off cuts!

Darius you've left me lost for real words. Carry on my friend finish the beast so we can all marvel.

THC

I know its been used before, but.......

Cracking job Darius.
Makes the York look tiny.
This is great to see some propper modelling underway


Colin

Well, I have probably left things a tad too late for a December 2009 completion but I thought I should give it a try and built the starboard wing this afternoon.

Half an hour of sanding...



followed by some panel line scribing...



I used the ends of the vac-formed wing halves as templates to make plastic card ribs to stiffen the wing...





And created a "slot" in the wing for a box section spar that is yet to be built - the idea is that the wings will be removeable to make the completed model easier to store.



Wing halves glued together and taped up for an overnight "cure".



Only 18 days to go...



Darius

Well your progress has been a lot better then mine! My entry went into the bin some time ago!

Nice to see some progress Darius.

Two days off with an annoying cold and then back to the bench. Finished the port wing - thank goodness that sanding is over!!! Assembled the starboard engine nacelles, using some of the vac off-cuts to form mounting attachments to the wing undersurface - seems to work OK although plenty of filling and sanding awaits.













Darius

Wow!! Really looking good.

I'm marvelling now. This is going to be special.

Joseph

Grafted the engine nacelles to the port wing, filled the gaps and sanded. I cut up a spares box drop tank to form the engine exhaust in the rear of each nacelle.



Darius

Starboard tailplane and elevator completed today.



Darius

Port engine nacelles assembled. Engine exhaust openings drilled out and cut up spares box drop tanks used as the exhuast ducts. Nacelles fixed to port wing, joints filled and sanded.



Darius

Buit one of the main undercarriage units today. Loosely based on the real thing but with the gear legs mounted on a pivoting beam to ensure that all wheels will be in contact with the ground when the model is placed on a flat(ish) surface. The resin wheels came with the kit. I used offcut plastic from the vac-formed kit sheets to build the beam etc.



Darius

To get a feel for the overall size of the model I posed the main wing against the starboard fuselage half with a 1:48 F101-C in the foreground for comparison:-







Will have to figure out where to put this when it is finished!!!



Darius

Cracking progress there Darius - those resin wheels look good...

I wish I could develop your 'crack on' attitude - I spend too much time needlessly thinking about stuff (I think!).

Iain

Nicely engineered main under carrieage assembley there Darius. You are progress in nicely

Started work on the port fuselage halves today, connecting the front and central portions and opening up the forward cargo door. I added the interior ribbing using plasticard strips as described earlier in this thread.



Darius

A magnificent model of the C-133. Thanks for the reference to my book, Remembering an Unsung Giant. I deliberately included lots of material that would be useful to model builders. I have five 1:72 vacuform kits from Gene Hooker to build, plus two Welsh Model 1:144 kits. A lifetime of work if I try to approach Darius' standard.

In England, the book is available from Air Britain, Midland Counties or the Aviation Book Centre.

Cal Taylor

Darius

I like very much what I see, your attention to detail and skill are amazing.
I want to follow this thru to the finished model.
Would like to build one myself have the time, but not the skill set you have shown here.
I once was a ground crew member on a C-133A Model at DAFB.
and this has revived memories.
Keep up the fine work I for one will be watching for the completed model.

Robert Houston

Gob smacked! Superb work, really looking forward to seeing the finished article.