1:144 Lockheed L-100-20 conversion to civilian Hercules

[bootneck]

I have always liked the C-130 Hercules and have a few kits in the stash that need building, so one of these will be used in this WiP.

 

This build will hopefully be a conversion to a civilian L-100-20 version, which is a short extension variant of the standard C-130.  Extended sections need to be inserted in front of, and behind, the main wings; with measurements of 5 ft (1.52m) forward and 3ft 4in (1.02m) aft.  These convert to 10.583mm and 7.056mm respectively in 1:144 scale.  The L-100-20 is a shorter extension version than that of the later C-130J-30.  I haven't decided on an airline or livery yet, mainly as I haven't been able to find much on Google except for a Delta Air Lines version.

 

More to follow when I know more and am ready to cut plastic.

 

Mike

[Azgaron]

Looks interesting!

 

Håkan

 

[stringbag]

How about

Pacific Western  or  Pacific Western 2

Chris.

 

 

[bootneck]

That would be a good choice, as it has clear demarcations for colours and decals, and I'll probably go with that.

 

Mike

[Britman]

Alaska International were very smart, white top or natural metal set off with blue and gold. It seems expense or a lot of faffing about to get a decent Herc , all the same l will watch this with interest. 

[bootneck]

That is another decent scheme to attempt.  Don't expect any special detailing on the model, my skills don't go to correcting any shape issues on the kit.  I just want to do some -20's and -30's on a budget.

 

Being new to this civilian aircraft modelling, I am finding the research to be hit and miss due to my lack of knowledge.  Is there a database anywhere that I can find information on the type/design/model and registration of aircraft?  In this case, I would like to find a list of all the L-100-20's and also L-100-30's that were produced/converted.  That way I could do a search on company liveries to paint the model in.

 

Mike

[bootneck]

It is time I got started on this, the first thing is to size the plan to fit and print it out.

 

Next is to make the cuts

 

Next task will be to prepare some plastic rod as extension ribs.

 

Whilst checking the kit parts, it looks as if the main wheels might be too large and narrow.  Anyone know if they are correct, if not then what should the dimensions be?

 

More to follow.

 

Mike

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

3 hours ago, bootneck said:

I would like to find a list of all the L-100-20's and also L-100-30's

I'll scan the list from Lars Olausson's  Hercules production list and e-mail it to you later.It's not the latest edition (1986) but will at least give you a start

I never realised how many civvie Herks there were although I suspect that quite a few are actually military (Egypt and Israel for example)

In the meantime here is a list of 2526 airframes for you to sort through!

http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?typeid=150

[bootneck]

Thanks Richard, I would appreciate that.  I am learning, as I go along, and think I can now differentiate between the civvy and ex-military civvies (hope that's understandable!)  The true civillian versions don't have the lower set of cockpit glazings, whereas the ex-military do.  Apologies for only being able to show links but I don't have any images to scan and show.

 

Mike

[Max Headroom]

Interesting project. I’ll tag along if you don’t mind?

 

One other difference is the lack of JATO capability on the civvie version. I think this manifests itself towards the rear of the main undercarriage fairings.

 

Trevor

[Paul J]

Like the idea of these. I recall seeing Pacific Western ones at Gatwick back in late 60's early 70's.  Plus the RCAF ones.

[perdu]

A great beginning Mike, shame we don't have an ex-driver to help out anymore

 

Oh well, it is what it is

 

😕

[bootneck]

Thanks everyone,  all contributions and advice would be gratefully received; although not necessarily actioned!   It will depend mostly on my abilities of what I can achieve.   

 

I am going to produce some spacers, to go between the separated fuselage sections, and I will need to make them lightweight but sturdy.  I think I have a method to make up a rib and spacer component, which will be glued together. The rib will fit inside the fuselage, and the spacer will keep the fuselage sections apart at the same width (hopefully!).  I'll try to explain what I mean with a few drawings:

 

First, cut some ribs, consisting of 20mm lengths of plastic rod.  Then attach a 10.5mm spacer (the width of the gap for the front fuselage insert) to each rib, forming a sort of T bar.

 

Next, glue the rib to the inside of the fuselage, with the spacer facing outboard and butted up against the fuselage pieces.

 

Continue doing this all around the forward fuselage side, then repeat for the aft section.

 

Do the same for the other fuselage side and set aside to set completely overnight.  The two fuselage halves would then be joined (after sufficient noseweight has been added); following that, gaps between the spacers would be filled and smoothed with Milliput.

 

Well, that's the theory.   Now to start the practical.  Here is a view of the (white) rib piece, with the correctly sized spacer part, ready for gluing together.

 

The ribs and spacers have been assembled and are ready to be glued to the fuselage sections

 

That's it for now and I'm going to "retire to the drawing room" with a nice glass of port.

 

More tomorrow, thanks for looking.

 

Mike

[Terry1954]

I'm tagging along on this one also Mike. There are several very good reasons for this:

 

1. I spent a few happy hours in the back of C-130's in my youth

2. I love 1/144 builds

3. I love to see a good rework like this

 

I must say I especially like your approach to extending the fuselage, it saves you cutting up other precious C-130 kits!

 

Cheers

 

Terry

[ajmm]

Great work Mike. Ingenious approach to extending the fuselage. 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Considering this kit was first tooled in 1956 I don't think the accuracy will be the best MIke. I built one of these OOB and to me, the nose shape looks a bit off. You are not going to see much of the wheels when they are fitted and the doors are on. I would flatten the circumference a little.

 

Nice initial  work with the fuselage plugs

[bootneck]

Time for a catch up.

 

I was about to glue the ribs into place when I noticed the steps on the inside of the cargo hatch piece!  These should have been filed off before the hatch was glued into position but I missed it.

 

 

The ribs, with their spacers, have been glued to the mid-section of the fuselage and the nose section is lined up with a ruler.

 

 

The nose section is moved into position, butting up against the spacers, and is glued to the ribs.

 

 

The same work is done to the other fuselage section and the two brought together for a dry fit alignment test.  I haven't glued them at this time as I still have to repeat the work on the aft sections.

 

 

The front and back joins are completed, the fuselage halves glued together, and the gaps filled with Milliput.   Then followed a period of time sanding to shape with wet and dry sanding paper.

 

 

Here is a view of the L-100-20 mid-extension with a full extension version behind.  The width of the inserts for each type is apparent by comparison.

Note that I made the forward cut in a different positon on longer one, (I didn't have information on the cut lines at that time); it is destined to become an RAF C-130K (C.3) when finished.

 

The next task will be to add the main wings and fill any gaps, then a final sanding before priming.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

 

 

[Turbofan]

On 5/29/2018 at 12:48 AM, stringbag said:

How about

Pacific Western  or  Pacific Western 2

Chris.

 

 

Hi Mike,

If you decide to go with Chris's first suggestion I have some decals you can have. They are for an L-100-10 but with your decal skills it shouldn't be too difficult to print out a longer fuselage stripe and different registration!

Drop me a PM and I'll send them to you.

Cheers,

Ian

Ps good work on the conversion so far by the way!

Edited June 1, 2018 by Turbofan

[bootneck]

Hi Ian,

 

thank you very much for the encouragement.   I would like to borrow those decals please, as you say; I probably could make my own but I don't have any measurements to work to.  Those decals would make a good template and I could then return them undamaged to you.  I shall pm you to discuss further.

 

cheers

Mike

[Azgaron]

Nice work elongating it!

 

Håkan

 

[isaneng]

Hi Mike,

 

With 6500hrs on C130, I will help where I can. Great to see your '30' stretch you have built for a MK3 version. Lower flight deck windows were for spotting for airdrop, hence no need on a civvy aircraft. The coastguard tend to have them for dropping air sea rescue packages. Looking forward to seeing how you build the MK3 AAR probe... or an early version?? Great to see your work, good luck chap!

[SallysDad]

Looks great. 

I can learn from this too.

[Britman]

Nice work,I have one of these kits in the stash that I started some time ago. Might have to have another look now. By the way,what did happen to our lady Herc jockey? 

 

Keith. 

[bootneck]

Hello everybody,

 

another apology I'm afraid but we've had two family bereavements over the last few days and they are taking up our time.  Funerals are in separate counties away from here, plus we have family coming over from Ireland and South Africa, so we're needing to sort out logistics etc., for them.  Until I get everything sorted, which will probably be sometime next week, I'll leave you with some views of where I've got to with the model.

 

Primer on, ready for final checks before painting.

 

The L-100-20 on the left with the L-100-30 beside it.  The angle of the shot makes the L-100-30 on the right appear to be the shorter model.

 

All my C-130 and L-100 builds currently on the go shown together.  The camouflaged RAF Hercules C.3 is a Minicraft kit with the Braz extended fuselage conversion.  The others at the back will be standard C-130's.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

[SallysDad]

My sincere condolances for the death in your family.

My own sister died 2 weeks ago also.

A sad and real part of life, but it is understandable if needs and takes your attention and energy.

Randy