billn53

Best of luck with your kit. It’s really not too difficult of a build, just think ahead, take your time, and make sure everything is lined up and fitting properly before gluing. You’ve just reminded me that I haven’t yet posted an RFI — I’ll have to correct that. Life’s been very busy with school plus recently becoming engaged. 😊

Very nice! I have this kit but haven’t yet summoned the courage to tackle it.

Beautifully done!

Here's a pic of the aux air intake that might be helpful: -Bill

Lovely!

When I’m faced with a potential tail sitter, i install my weight, tape the fuselage parts together (including any engine parts), tape the wings, elevons & vertical fin in place, and see where the model balances on a pencil. If the balance point is behind where the main wheels would be I’m good to do. Otherwise more weight is needed.

Your little yellow bird looks great! Also, that’s a nice collection in your display case.

I tried again a few hours later and the photos were there. Go figure.

Hmmm.... I'm just seeing 'spacer.png', no photos. 🤔

Thanks for the kind words. The kit included a figure (not to my liking) — this much better one is by JPG Models, I found it on eBay.

Nicely done!!! I’ve seen One Man Models’s offerings on the web, but never before one that had been built. Good to know the kits build nicely, I may well buy one now (OMM has some interesting subjects)

Simply gorgeous!!!

These were originally made by IMC in the 1960s, the entire range included the MiG-21D, F-100, F-105, RF-4B, A-1 Skyraider, and A-4 Skyhawk.

With a little loving attention, these could build up into good looking aircraft!

Very cool!

I recently finished building the old Monogram Bugatti in 1/24, and kind of fell in love with this car. So much, that today I ordered the Italeri kit. Now I found your most excellent build, which gives me a target to shoot for. Do you have any advice / suggestions / warnings on the kit? Thanks, Bill

Yes, those interlaced blades give me the willies!

Excellent introductory post! Keep 'em coming!

I did this quick and (relatively) simple diorama as therapy for having finished a month-long Beech Staggerwing build (posted in the aircraft forum). I originally saw something like this on Youtube, so the idea's not original by any means. What I did extra was to include LED lighting. First, some photos of the completed diorama: And (as I failed to post a WIP), some in-process photos (concentrating on the saucer lighting): The kit is Atlantis's re-box of Aurora's old "Invaders" flying saucer: Farm animals are from Tamiya: The saucer includes lots of parts I didn't use. In particular, I didn't include the interior details (I used the space instead for my LED battery): I installed five red LEDs beneath the circular domes around the bottom of the saucer: This little flyspeck is one of the LEDs! For the central 'transporter' beam, I used a 5mm cool white LED which I mounted in a 10mm styrene tube. I installed a 10mm convex-convex lens at the tube opening to focus the beam. The circular disks were punched out from styrene and were used to center the LED in the tube: The saucer is mounted on a 5/16" acrylic rod, which is attached to the saucer via a slip-fit brass tube: The saucer's "top hat" area hosts the 9V battery and an on-off switch. I installed a brass ring to provide stress relief to the wiring: I built the barnyard fence from wood dowls and coffee stirrer sticks: The base is a 10x10 inch wood artist's frame, to which I applied various lengths & colors of static grass: Now for the livestock . . . . This is Bessie, the clueless cow: A pair of sheep keep her company: Finally, the farm's watchdog, who is, well, watching! That's it, folks. Thanks for viewing! - Bill

One of the best 1/72 ‘335s I’ve seen. Great job there with a problematic kit. I’ve not built any of the other Dragon kits you listed, but if they’re anything like the Pfeil, I wish you luck!

As luck would have it, just as I was finishing up the Staggerwing, I discovered a Facebook page dedicated to the U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition, with numerous photos (and a couple videos) of the Staggerwing at the Beech facility prior it to being delivered to the expedition's pilot, Theodore A. Petras (USMC): https://www.facebook.com/tapetras/?locale=fi_FI Here's the video: https://www.facebook.com/tapetras/videos/1597324967240836?locale=fi_FI Now for the photos: A page from Petras's logbook while in the Antarctic: This one we've seen before, but here the quality is better and I was able to zoom in and adjust contrast, etc. to highlight the wing numbers: In this photo, the tail number is just barely visible but there is no evidence of any number on the lower wing: This is the only photo I've found that shows the front cowling, engine and prop clearly! These are stills from a video: This is especially interesting, as (again) there's no evidence of a number on the lower wing: Note the Beechcraft logo on the cowling: After returning from the Antarctic, the Staggerwing was impressed into the Australian air force: Same aircraft after the war, in civilian ownership as a crop-duster. It appears to also have a different engine: Unfortunately, in 1963 the Staggerwing crashed into a tree (killing the pilot) and was abandoned: What a history!

Four weeks and a day since my first post, and I'm calling this one done at last! I installed the landing gear doors: Added the elevator counter-weights, and scratch-built the pitot tube: I used more Infini Models elastic line, but smaller than what I'd used for the rigging, to simulate the antenna wire: I then installed the prop, and my 'punch list' was complete! Here's a quick walkaround of my Antarctic Staggerwing: Untitled by billn1953, on Flickr Many thanks to everyone who followed along and gave me advice & encouragement! I do intend to post an RFI, with better photos, but it probably won't be ready for a few days. Bill

Thank you for the kind words, sir!

Very professional work! My hat's off to you.

I spent this morning working on the landing gear. Here are the piece-parts. The straight tubes at upper-right are part of the retraction mechanism, and I replaced the 'iffy' kit pieces with styrene rod: I wasn't happy with the paint job I did on the wheels, so into the paint remover they went! The two main struts for each wing have little 'nubs' on the end, and the wheel wells have matching 'dimples'. However, the dimples are too small / shallow for the nubs, so I drilled them larger. I was happy to discover that the parts fit nicely in place without any difficulty -- but one must take care that the main struts are positioned square and correct! I added this very thin rod inboard of the main strut, as it shows prominently in photos of the actual aircraft. I'm not exactly sure what its purpose is, all I know is that it's called the 'shock absorber extension tube': I double-checked that the wings are still level with the main gear struts in place. Yep, 30mm to the upper wingtip on both sides 👍 Somewhere in all this I got a bit of superglue on my thumb, which lifted part of this decal. Fortunately, I had printed spare decals so I'll be able to easily fix this. Next, on to the gear doors. Everything you see here was originally one single part on the sprue. I had to cut the individual door pieces apart, and fold the lower half of the main doors 90-degrees: To make the fold, I scribed the inside of the door at the fold line and carefully bent the lower half 90-degrees. I then applied CA glue to fix it in position: I also added the tailwheel assembly, which fit nicely into the mounting post I'd added earlier: And here she is, up on her feet at last!