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Here's my 1/144 EC-24A, built for the In The Navy group build. The EC-24A was a DC-8-55 converted for use by the US Navy Fleet Electronic Warfare Support Group as an electronic aggressor. It's the Minicraft kit with shortened fuselage, Bra.Z resin engines, and scratch-built conversion parts (mostly 3D-printed). Decals are from various sources, including some I printed myself. Build thread is here. thanks for looking Julian

For a new summer project I chose the Minicraft DC-8, converting it to a -61. This particular kit was ordered from Draw Decals as a bagged kit that contained engines for a -61, a -62/63 aircraft, a set of CFMs to complete a -71/73F, and metal landing gear. When I was but a tot in model building, I finished the old Revell -61 in United livery. Remembering that the old Revell kit was actually a pretty good kit for its day, the Minicraft kit overshadowed it with good fit, accurate detail, and a healthy array of options for liveries and models to choose from. I assembled the Braz JT3Ds that came with the kit, and they proved to be quite nice, but seemed a bit small for the actual scale of the kit. The real problem were the over wing fairings that would not match the under wing pylons without quite a bit of modification, and then in quite small scale. So I opted for the more accurate Authentic Airliners engines, which proved to be perfect for the model in scale and accuracy, though the resin is quite brittle and fragile. Scroll the photos below for a chronicle of the work so far. A lot done, but a lot yet to be done. First steps were to assemble the large parts, such as the fuselage and wings, and get them puttied and prepared for sanding and priming. The fuselage went together quite nicely, though the cockpit nose "cap" is a bit cumbersome and didn't fit perfectly. I discovered this after I had puttied and sanded, then primed, showing dips and troughs requiring more puttying and sanding to get the surfaces even and smooth. I weighted the nose with my usual scientific method of "that looks about right," or "TLAR" for short. inserted just enough weight to keep the nose down. I did, however, tape and pre assemble the entire fuselage to get an idea of the weight required for balance. After sanding and priming and sanding again, the fuselage was painted all white using Tamiya TS-26. At this point, there has been no further progress on the fuselage...the concentration of effort has been on the wings. hoping to shoot the belly of the fuselage sometime this weekend with Alclad Airframe Aluminum. Time to tackle the wings.... First things first...the wings that are in this kit have no "slots," since the engines supplied are for everything BUT the -61. The slots had to be cut through the upper and lower halves, and the only way to accurately do this is to have them together. I used a Dremel tool with a rotary cutting circle, and low RPM so as not to melt away the plastic. Fortunately the cutting circle was the perfect width for the Authentic Airliners engines pylons. with a little sanding and trimming using an Exacto #11 blade, I test fitted the engines, and they fit nicely. And then....the near nightmare. I discovered that both wings (upper and lower halves) were warped terribly, and unfortunately this discovery took place...yep...AFTER assembly. So I did some research by looking through forums and posts of the MC DC-8 build, and found that many, if not most, had experienced the same issue. I have a second kit in my stash; pulled it out, and upon inspection, it too has warped wings, bent in the same fashion as this one. I studied and sought advice as to how to rectify this disaster, receiving suggestions of using hot water, a warm oven, or a hair dryer to straighten them. Hot water didn't seem practical; a warm oven seemed like an accident waiting to happen; so I elected to use a hair dryer. Spent the better part of a couple of days holding a dryer at varying distances from the wings after clamping them down to a piece of glass, then a straight wooden paint mixer. It worked! Patience and persistence paid off! So the wings are as straight as they're gonna get! Then its time for the PE parts.....into the main gear wells, onto the wheels and hubs, and gear struts. I chose to use the kit gear, molded in styrene plastic. they are sufficient to support the weight of the model, since its not heavy at all. The metal gear are nice, but unnecessary. Here are the Braz engines. you can see that they are quite nice..... And the Authentic Airliners JT3Ds. The inlets are larger and more to scale than the Braz engines, and the stators and fan blades are much more detailed and visible. Next, it was time to prime and spray. The primer is Tamiya surface primer. the wings were then sprayed with the Alclad black surface primer, engines were sprayed with Tamiya TS-26 in preparation for at least three different sprays of metallics for different shades along the fan and hot sections. While all these parts were curing, I moved to finish the landing gear. The more I studied, the more I disliked the kit's molded nose gear. The actual airplane did not have such a wide set gear; there was no way the nose gear would have retracted into the gear well. So with a little surgery, I corrected the wide set to a more "normal set" for the airplane. Then finished up the PE parts, painting, and assembly. Now they are awaiting attachment to the model. Completed kit gear..... After corrective surgery.... And the completed gear.....(nose gear pre-surgery): Time for engine work. I taped them up and airbrushed different metallic shades for the fan, hot sections, and exhausts: Then finished up the painting, but the detail work is yet to come. Wings sprayed Alclad airframe aluminum and engines attached: And now its time for detail work to begin on the wings and engines. I'm using a heavy base with clips to hold the wings while I work, since touching the painted wings from here until finished is prohibited...fingerprints just won't make for a nice finish! On the specific airplane I am building, and for the era when it was new, coroguard on the wings was not a "thing;" the wings were all aluminum while the access panels, trim tabs, and some of the hinge covers were painted gray. I'm using different cuts of gray coroguard decals for access panels and trim tabs, and metallic decals from 26 for the variance in aluminum panels on the wings and engines. The real tedious part requires cutting out each and every access panel along the upper and lower surfaces of the wings. Far from finished! Lots more detail work to be accomplished. And this is as far as I have come this summer. More posts as she progresses! Thanks for browsing!

Hi folks my entry will start as soon as i get some progress on my british phantom. Anyone know if this boxing is a real 400 series? Looks long enough.... decals are self made. A mate drew them up for me...hope they work rgds to all brian

Hi Here is a pair of quick weekend builds in my Boxted theme. I used the Minicraft kit which I bought recently from the Hannants Special Offers pages. The decals were by Print Scale and also bought from Hannants. The kits didn't fit together particularly well, with the single piece wing not fitting the fuselage halves at all well. The canopy also didn't very well. There was no interior, in fact not even an opening for a cockpit! The decals were very fragile and over-scale. The grey and green P-47D was one of ace, Colonel David Schilling's seven assigned machines and was declared War Weary in January 1945 after completing 55 combat sorties. Col Schilling was appointed group commander on August 12, 1944, commanding the 56th Fighter Group until January 27 1945. The two-tone blue P-47M was flown by Lt. Thomas W Smith Jr. of the 63rd Fighter Squadron and was named after his wife "Lib"(Elizabeth) who had returned to complete her senior year at "Ole Miss" University of Mississippi. I couldn't resist a group shot with my recently completed Sweet 1/144 Mustangs with their 1/72 cousins! Thanks for looking.

Hi All I have just finished this. Its the Minicraft kit, all the usual problems with the kit of course...... Its all handpainted as i rang out of paint in august and havent gotten round to buying any more lol. This is the new 2012 Monarch Livery, enjoyed the build and it now sits on my shelf. The decals are from RichW. His decals are superb. Tell me what you think. Also look what rolled of the line.... More photos of that one to come. Thanks Bradley

Hi all, A colourful airliner for a freezing 'Spring' night. Brian

Hi all, Minicraft's Boeing 757 built straight from the box. Brian.