tc2324

Anything large fitted with `winders` is ok with me.....

Really looking forward to this one. Problem is you may get banned from this GB...? After the reports in the news going around the last 24 hours or so, this may not be a WHIF anymore...!!

And so the `easy` bit is over. Now for the `surgery`.......!

Thanks chaps for the comments. They always say there is a fine line between genius and madness. I thinks I`m the latter....! Anyways...., end of day progress. Everything built, painted and weathered. Engines - check! Cockpit sections - check! Main weapons - check!

Managed to grab an hour today and start this bit of `what if`. As you may know already, I`m not really a cockpit person but thought I`d try and make an effort with this one. Also come to the conclusion that I`m going to have to make both kits and then cut them to size and fit. Oh well, who said this was going to be easy....?

My idea is pretty simple, although I`m sure the build wont be...! Lockheed wanted to keep up with the `Jones` mid way through WW2 and fitted jet engines supplied by Britain to their P-38. Lots of dicing and splicing to be done during the build as it`s a kit bash so I`m glad it`s a long GB. Piccie of the two kits....!

Hi Daniel, You can change my entry name from `Project X`........ to......... `Lockheed XP-55 Skunk`. Been spending some time with the backstory to resist the urge of glueing something together..... Cheers.

Dan, I know what I`m building now, but I need to come up with a name for it. So in traditional `skunk works` style can you put me down as `Project X`? Beats having `tc2324 - TBA` on the list. (All I will say is it`s a WW2 secret project and will involve a kitbashing)

Thank you very much guys. The Tiffie didn`t really come out as well as I had hoped, but none the less, it didn`t ruin my whole idea of a model pictorial history of 74 Sqn. I`m afraid to say that 74 will now be confined to the history books, well at least in our life time. Would be nice to see a UAV unit take the name plate though...??

Ok, time to wrap this one up. Here is 74 Sqn aircraft types from 1940 up until my `what if` date of 2020`ish....?!? Used a mixture of plastic and diecast to tell the story so hope you don`t mind? The eagle eyed amoungst you will note that certain types are missing like the Hurricane, Hawk and various T-Birds used by the Sqn, but hey, plenty of time to sort that out later.....! Spitfire - 1939 - 1945 Meteor - 1945 - 1957 Hunter - 1957 - 1960 Lightning - 1960 - 1971 Phantom - 1984 - 1992 Tornado - 2000 - 2007 Typhoon - 2007 - 2013 `Flanker` - 2014 - 2020?????

Cheers Chris. Tonka nearly ready now. Just a few niggles to sort out before the `74 Through The Ages` presentation.............,

Nearly got the Tiffie done. Splicing decals together is no fun at all.....! Tonka tomorrow me thinks....!

Used a very small amount of standard plastic cement. Never had the problem before until now but many thanks for the tips and hints Howard. Was thinking of prising the canopys off and seeing if I can fix them. How ideas??

Cheers Andy. So, painted and varnished both aircraft today and all went well apart from the canopys. Both have a slight misting which I`m not sure why? Possible glue vapour?? Anyway tomorrow is `weathering` time and if possible, decals put on.

Cheers Andy. So tonight I did the reverse of last night and sprayed on the `grey`, but first I tried to correct the vent issue, which didn`t quite work out as well I thought it would............, .... vent issue as mentioned........., .... then masking the tail......., .... and the finished product......., Brush work next, leave to dry, then varnish.

Ok, thought an update was in order. Haven`t done too much recently but here`s what has happened. Everthing got a coat of primer then masked off for the famous 74 Sqn black tail treatment......, ..... after the spraying......., ....... and then the masking was removed to reveal those black tails......, Next job is to mask off the tails in finer detail and spray on the `grey`...!

Oooops, may have made a boo boo on this one. Shhhh! don`t tell anyone and they may not notice...!

You got it! (its already suffered FOD in the shape of a `helicopter`shape setter being dropped on it..., ooops!) Anyway, the usual update, filling and filing then filling again because I forgot a bit...! Then smoothed them off ready for priming. Quite a few gaps and misalignments to `fix`. Would be happy to admit they were my fault, but I don`t think they are?? When I masked off the Tiffie, it had that `I`ve just emerged from the Warton factory` look about it..

Just a quick update on tonights tinkering. Both the kits surprised me. The Tonka kit seems to comprise of around 10 bits and very easy to put together and then you come to the Tiffie and it seems to have 10,000 bits to it...!! I can also see areas in both kits this soon into the build that will need filing and filling but not sure if it`s me or dodgy moulds..?? Also thought I`d use this post to introduce my 7 month old sons first `plastic kit`..., Quite frankly I told him it was a `what if` too far......!

Ok, the title kinda gives it away. After the madness that was the Stuka Jet I have now got round to something I have wanted to do for sometime and is a little more `middle of the road`. Lets imagine that back in 2000 74 `Tiger` Sqn transferred from Hawks to Tonka F.3,s and became a fighter unit again. Then in 2007 they became equipped with Tiffies until the RAF bought those Su-27`s at sometime in my made up future. Confussed? You will be after this episode of...Soap..., errr, I mean `What if` 74.... (Does anyone remember Soap?? Otherwise that gag would have gone right over your head:o ) Anyways, the kits in question.....:cool:

Cheers chaps. 262 on `hold` for now until I get some smaller props.... As requested a few colour shots......

Finished product and backstory...., Enjoy. Junkers Ju 87`S` `Bodenkampfflug Dusenfugzeug` By May 1943 General der Schlachtflieger (General of Close-Support Aviation) Ernst Kupfer had announced that further development of the Junkers Ju 87 would "hardly bring any further tactical value". Due to the age of the design and it`s now apparent vulnerability to more modern fighter types and air defences the `Stuka` production line began to decline to around 200 units a month. In a bid to win new favour with the Luftwaffe and Erhard Milch, Hermann Pohlmann of the Junkers company looked into various ideas of extending the Junkers Ju 87 production life. He first looked at why the Ju 87 had started to suffer heavy losses and after listening to various story`s from aircrew returning from the Eastern Front, speed seemed to be the main contributing factor. Coupled with the fact that `new` jet engines had started to become available to potential designers and the Ju 87 `G` had started to prove an effective `tank buster` on the Eastern Front, Pohlmann contacted the Junkers Jet Engineering division and requested two Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets to be delivered to his `workshop`. On 3rd December 1943 he revealed the Junkers Ju 87 `S` as his latest creation to Milch and other high ranking officials as an alternative to more advanced and complex ground attack redesigns. His argument was simple. Other than some basic modifications, most of the production line already existed for 90% of the new aircraft. Where the `Propeller` Ju 87 failed, the `jet` Ju 87 excelled. Speed was the key. The idea was to `speed cruise` to the target area at an average 450 mph, once on target, reduce the throttle to carry out the attack, then when the attack was over, open the throttles again and use speed to escape. The design, the airframe and jet combination was never built for continued high speed manouvering, but as a means of getting the aircraft to the target in quick time and avoid enemy fighters. The two 37mm canon were taken from the wings and now placed where the propeller engine use to be housed. This made the guns more stable and also the test pilots felt it was easier to `point and shoot` at targets. Each gun could now hold around 90 rounds each and the front intakes were now used to cool the weapons instead of the engine. The crew gunner was removed as rear defence was now deemed irrelevent. One interesting design of note were the engines which were placed on top of the wings. Two reasons for this were that is was noted that Foerign Object Damage was easier to get ingested in to jet engines placed under wings and as the aircraft was designed as a Ground Attack aircraft having the engines on top of the wings provided them with some form of protection. (Forty years later Fairchild Republic would copy and use a similar philosophy when designing their legendary A-10 Warthog). Impressed, (although some reports indicate that it was more out of sympathy for a loyal German aircraft designer), Milch ordered 15 test flights to see how effective this aircraft could be. Unfortunatly, on February 26th 1944 during it`s twelth test flight during a firing test of it`s main weapons, the Ju 87 `S` lost a wing in a shallow dive and crashed with the loss of it`s test pilot. Afterwards it was concluded that the stesses on the wing by the engine and firing of the canons caused what we now know as micro fractures in the main wing spar. Despite many pilots reporting the aircraft to handle well at speed, in a dive, acruate firing aim and a good payload, it had got to that time of the war where Germany could not spare any more Jumo Jet engines and a second Ju 87 `S` was never complted. Below are the only images to remain of this little known chapter of the Junkers Company history. (Colour pics availiable if you want them....)

Dan, you was obviously more awake than I was last night....... Cheers for the comments gents and now I`ve looked at it this morning, it does have a certain `Westland Whirwind` look about it......

Nah, Luftwaffe late 1943. Why did you think it would be RAAF?

Bl00dy well hope not. Checked model in a panic, (cheers for that) , and they are the correct way round. It may be that they are upside down that gives them a weird look??