Michael Morris

HI Dave I'm planning on doing the same thing with an old 1/144 scale Revell Super Guppy kit. It's going to need an awful lot of strips of Plastruct or Evergreen, by my reckoning I will end up using about 20 metres of the stuff in 40 horizontal 0.3mm x 0.3mm strips (the thinnest I can find) and about 40 vertical strips of 0.5mm x 0.5mm. That's nearly £50 worth. I'll have to line up the tops of each vertical strip to match the corresponding strip on the opposite half of the fuselage. We are all completely mad you know 😉

Thanks. That's the stuff I was going to use. However, my question was about how to make a rigid layer of it.

I'm making a small vignette of a 1/144 Learjet flying very high over the sea at night. My idea would be to have a base of a picture of the sea, with a layer of patchy cloud a couple of centimetres above it, then the plane mounted on a clear plastic rod about 5 cm above that. The scene will have a backdrop of the night sky on two sides, so this will provide some support for the cloud layer. So my question is this - How to make a thin layer of patchy cloud that is rigid, but looks sort of realistic? I was thinking about using furniture stuffing for the clouds and soak them in something to make them rigid. If so, what would I use? An alternative would be to make a thin, but very rigid, frame and attach the furniture stuffing to that. I could then mount the frame on the background. If I go for this option, what ideas do [people have for the best material and construction technique for making a frame that wouldn't sag? Thanks

Should read 8.4mm, not 84mm!

I want to model a tarpaulin hanging vertically off a metal frame in 1/72 scale. You will be able to see all around this frame, so the tarpaulin will need to be roughly scale thickness, but look as though it is hanging properly. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to do this? Thanks.

I already have the V1 decal set. I also have an Eastern Express 747SP, but I'll hold off and see if the AMP model is actually produced.

Thanks

Amongst the 1.6 million model projects I have in my head, is a project build models of all three of NASA's airborne infra red observatories. These started off with a Learjet 25 with a small telescope mounted where one window would usually be. A few years later NASA modified a C-141A Starlifter into the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). Later again came SOFIA, a modified Boeing 747SP. My plan is to model all three in flight in 1/144 scale, starting with the Learjet. I've bought a Starnsky Learjet 35, which is having a 84mm section cut out of the fuselage to convert it into a 25. I'm looking for a donor cockpit to fit in it, I think I have some pilots and have a canopy mask on order. I'm going to have to make some custom decals.

Hi I'm after a cockpit for a airliner / side by side aircraft in 1/144 scale. Pretty much anything will do as, at this scale, it will hardly be visible and I'm more than happy to make the necessary adjustments to make it fit.. Can anyone suggest a 3D print file, or an aftermarket set, or even a suitable very cheap kit that includes a suitable cockpit? Thanks.

KV Models have released a mask set for this kit https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/KV14495

Thanks, those have a much more dynamic pose. Only issue is that they are not hard plastic, therefore harder to cut and shunt them to fit the scenario I want to recreate.

Thank you everyone for your input. It has been most interesting. Looking at the videos and pictures, apart from 'VII' painted on the tail, the aircraft used in the tests in 1965 appears to be in it's original livery as used by NASA in 1961. Therefore, I'm going to guess that the actual colour is going to be a bit faded anyway. I've ordered some AK Real colour Signal Red and some of their fluorescent orange to play around with. I'll probably cut them with a little white to lighten them for scale effect as the model is only 1/72 scale. I'll probably end up with a mixture, plus it will be modulated and weathered a bit.

Some more reference pictures

I planning on making a model of an F106B testing the Gemini capsule ejector seat in 1/72 scale. See picture below. I'm planning on using AK Real Color paints. I've worked out that the grey of the fuselage is probably ADC Grey and cockpit interior should be probably Dark Gull Grey. But what colour for the orange/red on the fuselage and tail? I was thinking Real Color RC207 LUMINOUS ORANGE RAL 2005. Comments please?

I'm looking to make a model of an ejection seat being fired from a F106b using Trumpeter's 1/72 scale offering as the base model. I'm looking for inspiration as to high to model the ejection seat being fired. Can anyone point me towards examples of this type of subject being modelled? Thanks