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Lockheed 10 Electra Earhart, Special Hobby conversion, 1/72


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12 hours ago, Courageous said:

Lovely chips.

Lovely detail on the model. Is it too late for a close-up of i/p?

 

Stuart

Hi Stuart

Since all resin details bits were kept by the person that sold the kit to the friend that made it available to me, as explained at the beginning of the thread, fabrication and adaptation ensued.

The ip is an adaptation, it's made to resemble the Electra's one, the detail is just generic.

Work on the interior continues:

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You forgot the belly cameras the Electra was fitted with to photograph the Japanese military installations en route..........at least, according to the conspiracy theorists. Who also claim the US marines found the Electra in a hangar on Saipan in 1944

and promptly burned it on orders from the US government..........😉 

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2 minutes ago, Roger Holden said:

You forgot the belly cameras the Electra was fitted with to photograph the Japanese military installations en route..........at least, according to the conspiracy theorists. Who also claim the US marines found the Electra in a hangar on Saipan in 1944

and promptly burned it on orders from the US government..........😉 

It wouldn't surprise me a bit.

By the way, this Electra and few others had round features at the 4 and 8 o'clock of the nose that look to me as flood lights (camera ports you say? hum...)

Here a link to Getty Images:

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/615316170?family=editorial&phrase=615316170&sort=mostpopular#license

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Moa said:

More views of the same feature

 

 

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Seem to be on a number (not all) L10s and also the L12s.  Thought they might be access panels for the pitots or DF antennas usually fitted there, but they are permanently riveted on. Strange....

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The Small Stuff engines arrived. They are beautiful kits on themselves. For what you get, the price is incredibly fair. You even get tools to help with the assembly!

The level of detail is amazing, and the casting is out-of-this-world precise (riddle me that, Martian!).

I will simplify their build greatly, since most of the detail would remain hidden, but what these engines deserve is to have one of them fully built in an open nacelle "in maintenance", or "in repairs" on a support at the side of the model. I leave that to the next modeler using them. 

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If this isn't the future of modeling, I don't know what could be.

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In less than 10 minutes the main elements (cylinders and oil pan) where in place.

The tweezers provided were not comfortable for me, so I used mine (use a good one, parts slipping here to the Great Beyond are unlikely to ever reappear):

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Oopsy-poopsy! kit's cowls a bit small (as noted by other modelers assembling this kit before:

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The difference is not really big, so you either "shave" the rocker covers or you make new cowls...

IMG_5381+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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But what is a modeler if not a very resourceful person? Looking in the spares bin I found two cowls that were perfect. Notice, by the way, how a cowl should look if you were a kit maker that cares about it. Unfortunately I have no idea where these came from:

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Not fortunate enough to find suitable cowls in the spares bin? do not despair!
The Mattel Psychedelic machine will produce vac copies slightly bigger, enough to fit the engine inside:

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 There you go!

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Problem solved.

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Do not have spares bin or Mattel Psychedelic machine?

No problem either. There is always a way:

A metal tube is used as a pattern to form a tube with two offset layers of plastic sheet glued one on top of the other, thus forming a cylinder from which once truly set you cut the cowls:

11.jpg

 

Glue a round piece of basswood, sand to shape:

12.jpg

 

 And the final result:

13.jpg

 

 

 

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Spark plugs in. You have spares, and you will need them, they are very small and tricky to glue in place:

IMG_5387+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Intake tubes in place. This was easy.
You get one spare cylinder, one spare intake, and some spares for really difficult (spark plug cable, pushrods) or small parts. As said, I won't be using some of them. Here for example I omitted the second plugs and wiring on the back. You may notice that I prepared but didn't glue the accessory pack on the back of the engine either, since the crankcase will be glued to the firewall directly:

IMG_5388+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

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11 hours ago, Vicarage Vee said:

Are you going to make a strategically placed jar of freckle cream and a shoe with a loose heel for the cabin? 😉😁

Nope 😉 but I once made a 1/72 baguette sandwich. If long enough, Noonan could use it to tap Amelia´s head when communication was needed, and they could eat it from both ends.

 

 

 

 

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37 minutes ago, Moa said:

Nope 😉 but I once made a 1/72 baguette sandwich. If long enough, Noonan could use it to tap Amelia´s head when communication was needed, and they could eat it from both ends.

 

 

 

 

Should have provided a few crates of beer for Noonan.  He could only navigate properly when drunk, which his previous employers Pan Am considered unprofessional.....

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Wow, that's really great modelling unfolding here !

Good idea on the crate of beer, after all, I put a bottle of rhum and half eaten sandwich in my Shagbat !

They did'nt find the Electra in a japanese hangar,

It's now on a martian museum, it has disappeared over the Bermuda's triangle 😁

I agree a 100% with your above post about unwanted advices !

Very good job MOA, I really enjoy the thread, how did'nt I saw it earlier !!

Keep it up, 

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

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The engine includes three different gages to measure the length of some parts. Be sure to apply the right one. Their sprue has the numbers, but unfortunately the gages themselves don't, so don't mix them up:

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 Here is how they are positioned to measure the cut:

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After a lot of mistakes I managed to do all spark plugs and leads, if in a sort of sloppy way. The pushrods also gave my eyes a lot of trouble. I do not have the sight for this kind of work anymore, even with magnification, so I am doing a very so-so job.
Younger modelers or the ones with good sight may not have such issues:

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I of course am not familiar with the design and manufacturing implications of this sort of product, but I would have loved the spark plugs to be molded together with the cylinders, which I think offers no problem, and the leads and distribution ring as one whole part to fit on.

I had to use all spares provided, and lost/damaged a very high number of parts.

This is a very detailed and exquisite product, but I humbly think it could be made more practical too by simplifying it a bit.

Again, my eyesight is not what it used to be.

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