DMC

I put this Testors U-2C I was building on the "to do later" shelf some two years ago. Can't remember exactly why because I was totally into the whole U-2 theme and had acquired a stack of reference material, read the books, bought two more kits and did everything but get the t-shirt. So, anyway, I see it on the shelf, gathering dust, whenever I go in the room and I say to myself " I'm going to finish that one soon". Well, soon has arrived and I've started working on the last few things that I need to do before I can call it done. Going back over the thread, I see that a few photos have survived the Photobucket cull and I can get an idea of just where I can pick up the thread. I had intended to use the Q-bay hatch on the left in the photo but noted in an overlooked photo that 708, this plane, had a hatch with apertures for the camera so I am going to use one of my "mistakes" instead. That would be the one on the right in the photo. It is a mistake because it has only six windows instead of seven, which is what this particular version of the Q-bay had. the one in the middle is the correct version but I'm saving it for the Powers U-2 that I hope to build in the future. The rest of the bits are pretty straight forward but I am leaving them off until last because I'm pretty sure I'd be knocking them off sooner or later. The colours are from Halfords and the grey might be a little light but I liked it and think it goes quite well with the white and the blue of the decals. The decals must be about 30 or more years old and are pretty fragile (lucky I had two sets). The blue cheat lines broke in a couple of places but I somehow managed to get the one side done okay and later today I'll finish up the decaling. I remade the drift sight but will probably do another as it's a little too big and will interfere with the windshield as is. So, really not that much to do and I might be able to hang this one over my bench in a few weeks. Cheers, and thanks for looking Dennis

Thanks for the heads up, Graeme. Just thought it might be useful in certain applications. Cheers Dennis

Very very nice, (another) one of my favourite airplanes. I have the gun nose/fire bomber kit and hope to someday convert it to a glass nose. I will file away your build tips for future use. Also, Paul Budzik has started a build series on the B-26 on his site. Worth a look if you haven’t already seen it. http://paulbudzik.com/models/monogram-a-26-Invader/monogram-a-26-invader.html Cheers Dennis

Such an iconic airplane and you are doing a great job with the WNW kit. Incidentally, stumbled onto your FW build on ISM. Great job on that one also. Cheers Dennis

Hi Hacker Plans are from Detail and Scale Vol 56 and Modelmania no 9 (A J Press). Both sets are very close in shape and dimensions. Modelmania book is probably the best option. Plans for Birdcage thru -4 in 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Also two complete builds: Tamiya -1a in 1/48 and Trumpeter -4 in 1/32, decals in three scales, colour profiles, walk-arounds, etc. Really good book for Corsair aficionados. Cheers Dennis

Made a little progress over the last couple of weeks. Cockpit finally finished, installed and the fuselage cemented together. I had to trim a little off of the "dishpan" firewall to get the snout of the Quickboost P&W to just clear ring cowl. There is a slight hollow behind the cowl scoop that needs to be filled in. The bottom right photo is of the Otaki F4U-1A with the "firewall" cut off and another Quickboost P&W fitted to the opening. A perfect fit and there is just the right amount of the redactor protruding for the prop to clear the ring cowl. The kit tailwheel needed a little refining so I added a couple of styrene braces and fashioned a strut and fork out of brass for the wheel. Can't see much of the cockpit in this shot be it looks ok. Not as good as an Eduard Zoom set would look but ok. I found the "Magic Fabric" seatbelts easier than the brass ones to work with. And because you can see in there, I added a section of the main wing spar. A little experiment with tape and Mr Surfacer produced satisfactory results for the ribs on one side of the rudder and I will proceed with that method for the remaining control surfaces. This has been an interesting project so far. I am following the plans and reference photos I have very closely, or as close as I can. Overall the kit seems to me to be slightly undersized. Perhaps around 1/50 instead of 1/48th. Cheers Dennis

WOW! That blue looks spot on to me. Excellent. Dennis

Hi Johnny They did get scratched up a bit didn’t they. Have a look at Julien’s Corsair walk around, if you haven’t already done so. Cheers Dennis

Very nice, Roger. I’m hoping to paint my Corsair (sometime this year) so have taken notes on your technique, and others. Dennis

Yes it would. In my early teens one of my favourite kits was the Monogram Speedee Bilt P-40. Balsa, tissue and a couple of plastic bits, if I remember. Shark mouth of course and rubber band powered. Didn't fly very well, too heavy, sort of a controlled crash. I think the John Wayne movie about the Flying Tigers was a big influence. I must see if I can get a copy of that film. Corsair coming right along. Fuselage halves together, etc. Pics in a couple of days. Cheers Dennis

So this morning I’m taking my constitutional (the walking sort) and I pass a nail bar, closed, and notice a sign in the window listing certain items for sale that you’d find in one of these places. Acrylic resin powder was on the list and I wonder whether, mixed with CA, it would serve the same purpose that dental resin powder does, as recommended by Paul Budzik. Dental resin powder is hard to obtain and probably pretty expensive to boot. Anyone tried nail bar acrylic resin powder? Just wondering. Dennis

Nice one, Dennis. I’m currently reading The Flying Tiger-J Samson. Good book about Claire Chennault. No Ns but enough about the P-40 to pique my interest. Maybe after the Corsair(s) and Bearcat. Cheers Dennis

Hello all After spending a ridiculous amount of time attempting to attach the wire to the ring harness first, and having little success, I gave up and, using CA gel, just cemented them into the pre-drilled holes and bent them in. The harness was next and then the scratched magnetos. Took about an hour and a half and I could kick myself for not trying it that way in the first place. Not perfect but it's acceptable as is the paint job. Next one should be an improvement based on what I learned from doing this one. Can't see very much with the cowl and prop in place anyway. The LG looked a bit ropey so had a go at trying to improve them. Not happy with the results, I went ahead and scratched new ones (top). Should look okay painted up and with the Barracuda resin wheels. Cheers Dennis

Good stuff, I do like a bit of scratch building. Dennis

Thanks for that! More to come I hope. Dennis