Head in the clouds.

Hi folks. Ever since I latched onto @Bertie McBoatface superb HMS Bellerophon build I keep getting this itch to build a sailing ship wooden kit but my knowledge of these superb vessels is very limited, especially in the terminology used in the construction and maintaining of these ships. What I am looking for is a good book that will give me this information without being confusing to the layman, I am familiar with some words but don't know exactly which part of the ship those words are describing, such as 'forcastle'. I know it is towards the front but that is about it. Also we have all the equipment, sails and rigging to name a few others so there really is much to learn and understand to allow me to better understand what I am building. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks for looking. Gary

Sorry to hear of all your woes, when life starts throwing spanners they are usually big ones and they often come at you in formation. Nice work on the Hercules though, you still have your eye for detail and it was good to see the thread moving on a little. When you start looking at C130's close up it is surprising how many rivets and strengthening plates there are which is not surprising when you see how they are flown.

Beautiful....👍

A very clean and tidy C130 and a rarely seen sub variant.

I can remember the sound coming through Peascliffe tunnel as a kid, if I remember correctly were not the engines old gunboat engines or is that just a myth?

Very nicely done if I may say so Bill, that extra detail around the engine and elsewhere really lifts what is a rather small kit.

Nice to see the old Airfix kit in a civvie scheme, well done.

Morning @28ZComeback. I can't see any reason why you could not do what you suggest, as ever research is the key. Having read all the hype pre-release of the 1/48 Airfix kit it has been suggested that they may release an HC4 version in the future so I suppose if you are a patient person then wait and see. As regards what would need to be done new landing U/C and sponson most definitely, check window layout, lumps and bumps on the airframe etc. My builds have basically been HC4X used by A&AEE and using 1/72 HC4 kits from Airfix as a base. I have scratched the U/C sponson support strut in 72nd so I know it is do-able but again, spend many cosy hours on the sofa reserching will pay dividends. Good luck with it and hope to see the finished results.

If platforms will soon have to start collecting this information how will this affect BM, with over 15000+ members this could prove a problem if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction? Or in fact, would the buy/sell section be viable as it is run by a small team with limited resources.

Happy New Year folks, better get it in before it gets too late so I think the 3rd Jan I can get away with. Having spent many hours scribing the only way I can cope with so much scratching and scraping is by doing some side hustles. One of these is one of the side windows on the starboard front fuselage on the Italeri kit, Snoopy had the middle window blanked off and another window fitted about 2 feet directly above. This was to accommodate some test equipment that was fitted as seen below, the function of which I hope to elaborate on later; Yet to do is blank in the forward window of the 3, where the 2 small rectangular plates are, this will be done later. This close up also gives an idea of the various probes and tubes that need to be replicated along with the raised plates they are fixed to the airframe with. I already have an idea for that in my back pocket which I will try when it comes to fitting out this area. The middle window was blanked out earlier in the build, a simple punched disc inserted into the window opening. Next up was to drill the new opening, simple enough to do but what I had to give some thought to was how to make the rebated area in the fuselage to accept the window glazing; as per the existing; After putting the problem to one side for a while it came to me. What I needed was something akin to a slot mill cutter and I came up with these; Compliments of Screwfix, these Brad Point wood drill bits should do the job, having a nice sharp point to aid accuracy and a 'nearly' flat cutting surface. That solved the 'what' now to contemplate the 'how'. I needed to give the Brad point something to bit into otherwise the drill bit will rotate in a manner that will not give an equal sized hole. I found my favourite piece of scrap wood and drilled a hole in it equal to the size of the window opening on the kit, then, using a bit of sprue sanded to size was inserted and glued in the hole in the wood; The fuselage was then sat on the plug thus; This now gave the Brad point something to locate in to keep the drill bit centralised; One thing to remember, the drill bit will eat through plastic as if it is butter so 'slowly, slowly catchy mouse'. With that put to bed I had this ringing in my ears from something @TheyJammedKenny! advised about big kits, due to their size some form of strengthening should be used to stop the fuselage splitting or the wings drooping over time and when transporting to shows etc. I did think about plates of plastic along the fuselage join line, not a problem along the bottom but the top may show up as the cargo bay will be open. Added to that this method offers no support to the wings, which, if you remember from the initial intro to the build are going to have resin engine replacements and mission pods fitted which is more weight. As a species we tend to spend a large part of our life trying to defeat gravity and this is no exception. So I turned to my favourite modelling medium, Brass. My idea is to use brass rods, 2 in number, running through the top of the wing box section and into the wing, this will be fixed in place,(method yet to be worked out) and thus will stop the fuselage splitting and support the wing too. Also, when I build in the internal boxing around the MLG bays(the narrowest point of the cargo bay) this should hide the brass rod running through. First thing to is pilot hole the fuselage where I will drill my two holes, the wing held together with masking tape was slotted into place, luckily a tight fit and pilot holes drilled; I was a bit concerned that the pilot hole was right on the join but the tape held true😰 Next to drill the holes in the fuselage and wings; What I did not do was use a sharp drill bit and this may have given me a problem on the other half of the fuselage, more of which soon. The next bit was the critical part, I need to mirror this on the opposite side so I need a template. This was done by fixing masking tape over the wing root and marking the hole centres; Then I stuck this to another piece of masking tape, sticky side to sticky side; Then I cut around the first template thus giving me an opposite for the other half fuselage. This is the result of a blunt drill bit; Anyway, as they say, the proof is in the pudding so time to see if the brass tube will go through and the wings can attach correctly; Through the fuselage went OK but there is a slight alignment issue in so much as one of the bars is out of parallel, seen better here; It is more narrow at the bottom so how will it mate with the wings? Surprisingly well as it turned out, I think some very minor fettling to close the gap a bit tighter at the wing root will do it. The one thing I do need to alter is the length of the tube; The wings do not close up so in the future I will set the tubes mid point and work out the correct length needed to support the wings, the brass tube can be seen at the top of the engine nacelle opening and are only roughly set. With regard to the other two kits the Zvezda kit should suffice with plastic plates along the join line and not forgetting that this kit is going to be the TP400 FTB and has a strut system on the port side supporting the TP400 engine so hopefully this will give some added support. The Airfix kit in theory should only need plates along the fuselage join but something at the back of my head tells me that the engines on this kit are the shorter earlier versions and may need resin replacements, so please read the small print. " I reserve the right to change or alter any ruddy thing I like". Well, back to scatching and scribing.....oh joy! Thanks for looking.

Always good to see a vacform kit built, they can be basic but then you have a blank canvas. Good job. Gary

For me the ' Strawberry Cream' oh, good work Pete.

This Christmas has been a story of loss and gains, more brain cells lost due to them swimming in alcohol for 3 days and 2 sizes gained on my girth due to too many mince pies being on offer, the side affect being I am now 2 inch's further away from the workbench and cannot figure out how to solve the issue due to brain mass loss. Seriously though, I hope you all had a good and merry Christmas and your stockings were full to the brim of all things modelling. One of the added bonuses this year was that work was slack the week leading up to Christmas so I had two extra days off and made good use of it. Scribing was the order of the day, a lot of it, yet I only did one half of the Italeri fuselage, the monotony being broken by dropping onto other parts of the project. Yes, I am one of those who finds re-scribing boring but strangely I did find this session pleasing, don't know why, but I bet it will not last. Everyone has their own preferred tools for this job, from the myriad of designed tools to the ' Heather Robinson' versions we create ourselves from all manner of old, time expired tools. After trying several I have settled on these 3; As an ever evolving art I have yet to master, I start by drawing in pencil the lines I wish to scribe and use flexible 3mm tape to act as a guide. I have tried that rigid tape that you type letters on ( but it's name escapes me at the moment) but I find it too rigid to conform to the fuselage contours, it is a bit pricey and you get through it rather quickly. The downside to using the softer tape I am settling on is that you have to be more gentle as it can give way. Here's a piccy; Some scribing has already been done to the right and under the wing root can be seen the pencil lines I mentioned. Once the lines have been scribed I use the chisel to remove the burr at the sides of the new panel line then run some extra thin glue down them to sharpen them up a bit. One of the few upshots of doing 3 of the same plane is that you can use some items from the other kits as a template; Notice the white plasticard in the NACA inlet, this was done to decrease the size a little as the Italeri inlet is bigger than both the Zvezda and Airfix item. For completeness the rear ramp area; A little clean up required then I will call this side done, 25% of the fuselage area done but I have not forgotten about the wings and tail control surfaces. I won't post any more pics of lines in plastic, if it bores me it will most certainly bore you. Have a good New Year folks. Gary

Coming together nicely Pete, for once the mince pies were there and that's only because 50% of the great British public don't like them.😁

I understand your sentiments totally and they make much sense, however, as I still work modelling of late seems to be something I do when life allows, with my parents getting older and the constant pull of helping the kids I feel my hobby will always be down the pecking order. As for a holiday of sorts from modelling;no need as I am part time anyway..🤣 but I see the logic of your thinking. Enjoy your break.👍

Very nice build David and nice work on improving the Frog kit.

Wow, you were not wrong, but I do like those pre-war colours of US aircraft. It is a very individual looking plane and looks like it was designed by an artist rather than an engineer but I like it. Nice job @Sabrejet.

F-RSIN kits are what they are to different people but whichever one you picked up you have done a grand job.

That is some beautiful modelling there Steve of the highest order, I now need to visit the parallel universe to see from what and how you made the octagonal body to the panel array.

"Hello my darling" Those feet look like they could be used in a defensive way, almost like a hand would be by grasping something. The donuts have all gone so I have used the suggestion box.......more donuts please.🥯 (not very often you that emoji)

The paint job is stunning and bang on the money, well done.

There is some smart work going on there and even smarter ideas to resolve some potential issues. The etch turned out very nice too and will lift the model.

I have been tinkering with the 3 cockpits a little more of late and starting to re-scribe the Italeri kit so things will maybe go a little quiet or slower for a while with Christmas and 2 kits to re-scribe but I will try to do some smaller updates. With this in mind I thought I would post some info I have researched on the venerable C130 and hopefully you will find some odd fact that is new to you, ranging from it's design, service and anecdotes from those that have served. So the only place to start is the beginning. Here I am building 3 C130 Hercules of one particular airframe, XV208, C/382-4233N out of a total of over 2500 built to date ( not sure on total, google is a let down as usual) but what of the C130 and what is in a name? Hercules(known in Greek mythology as Heracles or Herakles) is one of the best-known heroes in Greek mythology and as is sometimes believed; a god, but he was no god but a mere mortal with more strength than the average person. Like many characters of mythology life was not simple for Hercules and he ended up committing the ultimate sin, being under a spell from his stepmother; killing his wife and two children. Distraught with guilt, Hercules set upon finding Apollo and asked to be punished, Apollo, knowing it not be Hercules fault he nevertheless demanded he (Hercules) be punished and to this end set Hercules 12 labours that he must complete for his absolution. This he did. When Lockheed chose the name for the YC130 they chose very well indeed, during it’s time serving over 70 countries it has more than matched it’s namesakes labours of 12 tasks, indeed, there is very little the C130 has not done as well we all know yet even now there are proposals for an MC130J seaplane variant that if made will be an astounding feat. During it’s life the C130 holds or has held 54 world records, has the longest, continuous military aircraft production run in history and has a family of 70 or more variants. It has landed on an aircraft carrier and at both poles. So good is the design of the airframe it has changed very little from a physical perspective since 1954, to keep it at the forefront of air transport most of the changes are internal or electronic, even the 'J' model looks like any other Herc with the main giveaways being minor airframe details and the 6 bladed Dowty R391 propellers. What is in a name then? Quite a lot really! So how did the C130 come about? During the Korean War all of the US transport types were piston powered and as such these were not able to fulfil the growing need to fly heavy loads into austere strips over greater ranges so in 1951 the US Air Force issued a request for a new medium transport aircraft. Lockheed answered this proposal with the YC130A Hercules, with it’s high wing, sturdy undercarriage, rear cargo ramp and 4 swanky new Allison T56 turboprops to give the C130 all the power needed to answer the Air Force specification. Talking of proposals, the Lockheed proposal stretched to 110 pages, by comparison, the Lockheed Martin F35 proposal was 2500 pages long and from the issuing of the contract on 2nd July to the first flight on August 23rd 1954 took only 3 years and one month. A hop-skip and jump compared to today's protracted development times. But it all could have been so different. The principle designer on the C130 programme was Willis M Hawkins whom had already been heavily involved in the design of the T33/P80 jet fighter and the beautiful Constellation airliner so it is fair to say that being green behind the ears he was not. His design team submitted the design drawings to Hall Hibbard, Lockheed’s Chief Engineer and the man who hired Wallis M Hawkins in 1937, for approval by Clarence”Kelly” Johnson. When asked his opinion of the 15 inch model provided by Hawkins Kelly Johnson replied “If you send that in you’ll destroy Lockheed” Hibbard however must have had faith in Hawkins as the design was submitted and won over bids from Douglas, Boeing and Fairchild. Hawkins may have been the only one who lost money on the deal. “The tactical air commander was a real enthusiast,” he recalls. “ ‘The Air Force is doing this one right,’ he said. We were hoping they’d buy maybe 200. ‘I’ll bet we’ll buy more than 500 of these things.’ I bet him five bucks, and lost.” As an aside, Hawkins also went on to be principle designer on the Polaris missile and was involved in the early days of the M1 Abrahams MBT marking him as a man at the top of his game. As with many new aircraft finding the right name fell to the workers of the Marietta plant and nearly 10000 suggestions were forthcoming with the favourite being ‘Griffin’. However, this was not chosen, instead, with 160 votes, Hercules was chosen, and thank the Lord it was. While the cargo hold has the same dimensions of an American Railroad Boxcar it seems it was probably not designed around this item as is often quoted but instead based around high use army items such as the M5A-3 High Speed Tractor and gun, needing a height of 9ft and width of 10ft. The length was based on the requirements of what a 1.5 ton gun and semi-trailer would need; 41ft as it happens. The Boxcar story is a bit more 'Hollywood' though and sounds better. On August 23rd, 1954 Lockheed test pilots Stan Beltz and Roy Wimmer started to roll down the runway and after only an 855ft run the prototype YC130A sprung into the air to start a dynasty of much loved aircraft that would still be in production in 2023, an amazing continuous run of 68 years. Thank goodness Hibbard saw the merit of Hawkins design, something we take for granted now but in the early 50’s the C130 was like almost no other tactical airlifter but would become the design template for every other military cargo plane design. Thanks Gary.

Sounds like a great idea Martin and one that will surely grow but it is way off what I usually model and I have a big build on at the moment so I don't want to commit and waste anyones time. I can hear the mumblings from here ' it is one and a half years away, what is he on about'. Do you know how slow I build kits?😉 I will keep an eye on it though and if things change then who knows. Cheers Gary

Mine is on Firefox, I am just too idle to change it.