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Found 8 results

  1. Thought I'd share a work in progress...this is the Heller 1/72 scale Super Constellation; planning to finish this one as a blue window striped KLM "The Flying Dutchman," scheme flown circa 1958, though I have not decided on a specific aircraft reproduction. The project is coming along, and beginning to look like a Connie...but lots more to do. I am using quite a bit of detailing parts not included in the kit: Fisher engines and props, Scale Aircraft Conversions metal landing gear, and Plus Model wheel bays. Enjoy...... Had to do quite a bit of puttying and closing of seams, with tons of sanding. I closed the windows, because I'll use 3D window decals in the final version. Here you can see the pre-prime "chop-job" of the outboard engine nacelle, so that the Fisher engines fit properly to the model. I'm pretty new at sawing and hacking major parts off the original model, and in this process, managed to damage the nacelle...but nothing that more putty and more sanding couldn't solve..... Here's an underbelly pic of the main landing gear bays prior to detail installation. This is the left main landing gear wheel bay, with details installed, prior to priming and painting. Hydraulic and electrical lines added using small gauge wire. Main landing gear detailed and primed..... Nose gear detail.... Main gear detail... Engines, props, and gear all primed.... Prep for Alclad airframe aluminum.... Engines almost completed...need to attach cowl flaps, which I mount slightly open... Fuselage and wings primed, gray wing panels and radome painted....
  2. Transport aircraft design can throw up some of the most dreary and downright ugly aircraft but I think the dolphin-backed Constellation has to be the most elegant and graceful - even with a beer belly and shark fin! This is the naval version of the early-warning Connie, the WV-2 Warning Star. These aircraft ploughed up and down each American coastline for up to 20 hours at a time, usually below 6,000 feet (very much 'in the weather'), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This helped provide a radar barrier or 'picket line' to warn of incoming Soviet bombers or - as was feared at the time - paratroopers. Missiles weren't so much of a bother just yet. These missions could be anything but pedestrian. Take this (actual) flight report from a Willy Victor commander: Proper pilot stuff that - love it. The commander was part of VW-13 - this model represents an example from this squadron. VW-13 was established in 1955 and helped comprise the Atlantic Barrier (BARLANT) force. It was based formally at NAS Patuxent River in the late-1950s and early-1960s, but in reality it often called NAS Argentia in Newfoundland home, and roamed to and fro across the Atlantic fairly frequently (there are some great photographs taken in Glasgow). Weather in Newfoundland was diabolical - the norm in winter was a 600' ceiling and visibility less than 1.5 miles. Argentia itself is very exposed, and colossal near hurricane-force crosswinds could often be expected on landing (many of which were made on instruments almost the whole way down). The accounts of the ice build up are astonishing - on a 15 hour barrier flight, one Connie staggered home with ice on the underside of the wings one foot thick in places! Fascinating, gutsy flyer stuff - shot through with skill and courage. Anyway. This is the Revell kit, kitbashed with a Minicraft Connie picked up for a fiver on eBay. I know some on here have been able to fashion great things from the Minicraft Connie. Alas I did once try to build a Minicraft constellation but found the experience so miserable and unrewarding I promised myself never to do it again. After plundering the parts I needed for this build from the Minicraft kit and using a few spares on other projects, I'm afraid I just binned the rest of it. The Revell kit is superb. The fit is basically really good (wing fuselage join needs a bit of attention) and detail is excellent (yes, panel lines are a little deep, but I'll forgive that given the lack of alternatives). The only problem with the Revell kit is that it is the passenger transport version - so you have to fill, sand and rescribe a fair bit to lose the passenger windows. Not as big a chore as I feared, but the first time I've done this. The Minicraft radomes fit fine with no real problem - the bottom one is a bit tricky to get right. The top radome is actually much too thin in plan, but I didn't amend this. I just won't look at it from directly ahead! Paint was Hataka as usual. I have the Caracal Decals sheet which offers lots of enticing EC-121 and WV-2 schemes. I went for this fairly plain WV-2 scheme as I want ultimately to do all of these schemes (yup - yet another ludicrously ambitious plan). This being the first conversion I'm doing, I wanted a fairly simple and forgiving scheme to learn the pitfalls for something more complex next time. Still, it's pretty handsome, I think, and the scheme is faintly nostalgic for me as the Minicraft kit I did build before was a VW-13 aircraft. Oddly the Caracal decals, which are otherwise excellent, only offer one set of the three white stripes on the nose - but I did manage to find some others from the Minicraft decals. Also the wing walkway is incorrect. I made half an attempt to correct it but it should have another box towards the leading edge between the nacelles. But they behave superbly and couldn't be recommended more highly. These got very worn-looking towards the end of their life in service (see the aerial photo above). I did some weathering with pastels and pencils, but tried to keep myself under control. I don't know what it is about transport aircraft from this period but painting the props is always a royal pain! Anyway - glad I made the effort. (By the way I went for yellow tips for an early WV-2 - in the late-1950s these were repainted with red-white-red tips as you can see on most photos in this post). I also added a multitude of tiny aerials which was quite satisfying actually. Unsurprisingly the radio antenna locations changed quite a lot so it's worth checking your references quite carefully if you're into getting this more or less right. I think what impresses me about the Constellation is its size. It was designed to be high off the ground so that its engines could turn massive propellers at fairly low revs giving it superb range and fuel economy (relatively speaking - it's hardly a Prius...). I've seen one flying at Duxford and they are much bigger than they look from a distance. And finally with something almost completely unrelated - but a transport. Thanks very much for looking. Angus Niche side note: the USN vs. USAF naming is confusing and took me a little while to decypher. The WV-2 (or Willy Victor) was the same as the USAF's EC-121D, but later versions of the WV-2 were fitted with a more sophisticated radar, making them the equivalent of the EC-121K even if the naval name didn't change. Just on the off chance anyone is taking part in an aircraft designation pub quiz over the weekend.
  3. Hi all, A post this evening on using foam with large vac models has prompted the thought that I should post work to date here so that: a. It's more accessible b: I might actually extract a digit and crack on as she has become a bit of a running joke (well - the lack of progress anyway!) Early foto's quite poor I'm afraid - only digital camera I had to hand at the time - but you should get the gist... So - going back to Jan 2000 - in a Galaxy far, far away... Let me introduce you all to Connie - an elegant lady that I'm sure I'll be spending quite some time with ) Connie is the ID Models 1:32nd scale Lockheed EC121 Constellation kit (kit used in the loosest of senses - more a case of a set of reasonably accurate (so it would seem so far!) basic airframe shapes). This aeroplane is one of my all time favourites and when I came across the kit I had to have it. Needless to say, my fiancé Anne and myself are now house hunting - we need more space!! When finished she'll be resplendent in US Navy blue and white colours as an EC121K Warning Star. The moldings are reasonably cleanly formed on two huge sheets of polystyrene, roughly 60 thou thick. The box of Milliput placed next to the lower port mainplane should give you all a sense of size. This is the second of the two sheets. The first step is to fill the larger of the shapes with Polyurethane Foam, on order to provide some strength and rigidity, both during construction and once completed. Here's John Wilkes helping out by mixing up some foam - only use the two pack stuff, as the air drying type can continue expanding for a long period, causing real problems later! This was a big job and it's at times like these you need your friends (not just for the extra pair of hands, but also for the moral support and encouragement you need when starting a project this BIG!) First pour - port fuselage half. Don't use too much, this stuff expands like crazy! Starboard fuselage half - with foam in the process of expanding. All of this was done outside in sub-zero temperatures which slowed the process down and, we think, led to a denser foam. All the major components - fuselage halves, tip tanks, nose and radomes filled and curing. More foam was needed later! Port fuselage half and other bits removed from the backing sheet. Photo taken on my kitchen worktop on Sunday 9th Jan 2000 - UK readers will be able to compare Connie's size with the plug socket on the wall. Iain
  4. Hi all, a late start for me, I'd like to enter this build. Many moons ago I assembled the fuselage and tailplanes, hope it is well under the 25% limit. Just the boxart from Scalemates for now, will follow with images of the box contents as soon as I find a good replacement for my old Photobucket account.. Best regards Fabio
  5. Pics taken by Darwin at the Combat Air Museum in Kansas of an EC-121T 52-3418. The aircraft was delivered to USAF in October 1954 as an RC-121D and redesignated an EC-121D in 1962. It was converted to an EC-121T, but the upper radome has been removed.
  6. Breitling C-121C Super Constellation, registration N73544, pics thanks to Martin.
  7. Lockheed Super Constellation Trans Canada Airlines. 1:144 Minicraft Surely the most graceful of airliners, the Lockheed Constellation is in my top 3 all time favourites.It wore many and varied schemes over its long service, but the TCA one is just about the most attractive. I have a family connection also, as my father flew these in his first airline job after leaving the RCAF. The kit is from Minicraft, and is a trouble free, if a little fiddly, build. The decals are from CanMilAir printed in 2 little sets. I was slightly wary of the 3 part cheatline, but it all worked beautifully and I was suitably impressed. The only thing I altered was the silver cabin (passenger) windows, which I overlayed with some clear decal sheet sprayed with Tamiya 'Smoke' to darken them a little. And a slightly unusual 'with something else' - An actual TCA Miniature of Canadian Club whiskey liberated from the galley of a TCA Connie all those years ago, still with us and holding its contents! Family heirloom I call it Thanks for looking, John
  8. Enjoy A-4 Skyhawks by tony_inkster, on Flickr IMG_9651_done by tony_inkster, on Flickr Constellation by tony_inkster, on Flickr IMG_9648_done by tony_inkster, on Flickr P-2 Neptune by tony_inkster, on Flickr IMG_9646_done by tony_inkster, on Flickr A-4 Skyhawks by tony_inkster, on Flickr A-4 Skyhawks by tony_inkster, on Flickr A-4 Skyhawks by tony_inkster, on Flickr A-4 Skyhawks by tony_inkster, on Flickr
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