1/72 Boeing 314 Clipper (Combat Model) vacu

[KRK4m]

2 hours ago, 72modeler said:

In looking at photos of the Clippers, it appears to me that the oil cooler intakes are located just outboard of each engine just under the centerline of the wing leading edge. I think the oil cooler outlets might be the square ports that are located on the outboard side of each engine nacelle on the wing upper surface, just forward of the wing walkway stripes. I have attached a photo that I think shows the oil cooler outlets. See what you think.

Mike

 

https://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/boeing-314-clipper-flying-boat/

Perhaps you're right - there is only one cooler per engine and the only way for the cooling air to leave it must be these square ports on the uppersurface.

But there's another question to be solved and your photo shows it very good - both port engines have much bigger (longer and higher, compound of two separate ductings each) uppersurface air intakes and the exhaust stubs are further aft than on starboard engines. Any idea about the reason? What were these additional (upper/longer) intakes for and why was the exhaust moved aft?

Cheers

Michael

[JWM]

3 hours ago, 72modeler said:

I think the oil cooler outlets might be the square ports that are located on the outboard side of each engine nacelle on the wing upper surface, just forward of the wing walkway stripes. I have attached a photo that I think shows the oil cooler outlets. See what you think.

Mike

Many thanks! - I have feeling that those squares are windows which gives light to a corridor which is for communication to back of each engine.

The oild coolers should left some dirt but I have not found this place...

Regards

J-W

 

[JWM]

48 minutes ago, KRK4m said:

Perhaps you're right - there is only one cooler per engine and the only way for the cooling air to leave it must be these square ports on the uppersurface.

But there's another question to be solved and your photo shows it very good - both port engines have much bigger (longer and higher, compound of two separate ductings each) uppersurface air intakes and the exhaust stubs are further aft than on starboard engines. Any idea about the reason? What were these additional (upper/longer) intakes for and why was the exhaust moved aft?

Cheers

Michael

Moreover - on the port wing, on bottom side there is a kind of inlet/cooler which is not seen on starboard (right) wing. Maybe this is part of the same installation present only in left wing? A climatization of passanger cabin, perhaps?

Regards

J-W

[AdrianMF]

I didn’t realise there were so many unknowns on these flying boats. Epic modelling, and I hope you have dusted down a suitably big shelf for display!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TallBlondJohn]

7 hours ago, 72modeler said:

In looking at photos of the Clippers, it appears to me that the oil cooler intakes are located just outboard of each engine just under the centerline of the wing leading edge. I think the oil cooler outlets might be the square ports that are located on the outboard side of each engine nacelle on the wing upper surface, just forward of the wing walkway stripes. I have attached a photo that I think shows the oil cooler outlets. See what you think.

Mike

 

https://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/boeing-314-clipper-flying-boat/

 

Makes sense - yes there is an outlet there that I missed 😬. This is California Clipper, Pearl Harbor

 

 

Another unnamed Clipper, Seattle. Same wing unfortunately but the positions seem to be identical for once (sorry picture is in Pinterest so it wont embed):

 

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/89/f4/75/89f475ac6e004f83e8799b9aa3fc3651.jpg

 

FYI the outlets weren't on the prototype Honolulu Clipper before rebuild, but there's no reason to think they weren't on the final production models (this picture isn't embedding either - not my day!):

 

https://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2017/11/Screen-Shot-2017-11-04-at-07.26.48.jpg

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by TallBlondJohn

[JWM]

Thank you!

I want to share with very interesting photo of Dixi Clipper (NC 18605) which I have just found in Net (https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/SC-268000/SC-268449.html) 

This is the same machine which president F.D.Rósvelt used for flight to Casablanca - the "Dixi Clipper" Here the photo taken few nonths earlier, in September 1942 on Bermudas

First - The registration on right  wing is light! - not black as depicted everywhere. But it deas not look bright white. So - some grey perhaps? Second the flag on left wing is clearly seen.  Third: the gradation or shadow paint on a side fin and on central fin! Soft circle lines....

 

Cheers

J-W

 

[Viking]

This is a heroic effort J-W, and what a lot of useful references it is generating. Fabulous work, I'm watching it all with interest.

 

Cheers

 

John

[TallBlondJohn]

17 minutes ago, JWM said:

Thank you!

I want to share with very interesting photo of Dixi Clipper (NC 18605) which I have just found in Net (https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/SC-268000/SC-268449.html) 

This is the same machine which president F.D.Rósvelt used for flight to Casablanca - the "Dixi Clipper" Here the photo taken few nonths earlier, in September 1942 on Bermudas

First - The registration on right  wing is light! - not black as depicted everywhere. But it deas not look bright white. So - some grey perhaps? Second the flag on left wing is clearly seen.  Third: the gradation or shadow paint on a side fin and on central fin! Soft circle lines....

 

Cheers

J-W

 

 

That's the US Navy scheme in various blue/greys - which is what you can see on the central fin. Thus the pale registration. Very useful photo, I've never seen the Navy scheme from this angle. I think the darkest shading on the left fin is shadow, just to complicate things.

Edited March 6, 2019 by TallBlondJohn

[JWM]

10 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

That's the US Navy scheme in various blue/greys - which is what you can see on the central fin. Thus the pale registration. Very useful photo, I've never seen the Navy scheme from this angle. I think the darkest shading on the left fin is shadow, just to complicate things.

Many thanks for comment. Of course this is the seven or even more shade of blue-grey scheme. However - the sun does not  shine at so low angle and directly  perpendicular to central fin to produce such regular shadow right in the middle of gradation of camo. Please have a look on the shadows of people or and vertical elements of trap. The sund is indeed on roght side of photo, but it is rather against sun take, it is leat say at 2 o'clock, and rather high, so there is no element to make this shadow. 

11 hours ago, Viking said:

This is a heroic effort J-W, and what a lot of useful references it is generating. Fabulous work, I'm watching it all with interest.

 

Cheers

 

John

I appreciete very much your comment

 

 

 

Regards

J-W 

[JWM]

I started to prepare decals. Since no ready font by MS (at least I have not found one) I designed it using standard Paint soft form Windows Accesories:

For top of wing

For bottom

 

The tail one will be just scaled down.

 

The US Flag I took from this web page https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1912.html

 

 

note 48 stars, as for WWII

 

J-W

Edited March 9, 2019 by JWM

[JWM]

Just for references: interesting set of photos, including some of from construction works on real Clipper can be found o a Russian web page http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft26665.htm. Among them Nice profile scheme of British Clipper

[JWM]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:53 AM, AdrianMF said:

I didn’t realise there were so many unknowns on these flying boats. Epic modelling, and I hope you have dusted down a suitably big shelf for display!

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thnak you Adrian! The space is waiting for Clipper already some time, just next to B 29  :

 

I was not posting but I did some work on Clipper meanwhile. I made those oil coolers: inlets and outlets

 

 

As you maybe noticed I applied some white collor from Tamiya rattle can

and also as primer on sides of fuselage

 

 

To be cont.

Regards

J-W

 

 

 

[JWM]

I thought thet the early war scheme of Clipper has 7 colours from white to dark blue grey, however on photo below I can distinguish ten if not eleven shades!

 

White is white, the darkest I will do with Humbrol 77, with other colours I am not decided yet

Regards

J-W

 

[JWM]

Hi,

this is raughly how I see those 10 shades

 

I was not happy with troley. The tube floats of trolley were of too small diameter and without any structure. So I romoved them, wrapped around by 14 cm long 0.25 mm plastic sheet on cement. This increased diameter. Then I masked surface lefting some 1 mm between Tamiya tape (6mm) bands - then cover with Tamiya putty. After 2 h I removed tape and circular bands appeared.

So I glued the tube-floats (barrel-lke) to construction of trolley and re-painted.

Now it looks this way:

 

I glued engines, made main part of landing lamps and painted from top with Humbrol 77 - just to see if surface looks OK

 

I prepared and printed decals:

 

To be cont.

Regards

J-W 

Edited March 17, 2019 by JWM
mispelling corrections

[Graeme H]

Just found this one, some great work going on, good luck with painting all those different colours

[KRK4m]

Studying the photos carefully it really shows that perhaps 10 shades were used. It appears 11 because of fading - the bright vivid blue on undernose part continues on hull sides in much faded, greyish hue. Nevertheless it looks that (at least using only the Humbrol range as you are used to) there's some "overload problem" with some 7 shades of greyish blue and similar number of blueish greys fitting between white and Hu77 you have used for the uppersurfaces (BTW a little too dark IMHO). 

The most logical sequence (although nobody knows how closely related to the original one) should be 34-44-89-109-230-124-144-157-96-77. This way it will follow the light to dark gradation with alternating (slightly) greenish and purplish shades of blue grey.

Thanks God - when drawing your insignia set - you have captured the heraldic mistake featured on the real plane. When viewed from above the flag (placed vertically then) on the port wing should feature the Union bluebox in upper left corner whereas on the plane it was painted in upper right corner (closer to the fuselage) - it's clearly seen on the photo of ditching plane you have put there in post # 28. However on the starboard wing underside the flag was painted correctly (as seen on another picture in post #28).

Cheers

Michael

Edited March 17, 2019 by KRK4m

[JWM]

46 minutes ago, KRK4m said:

The most logical sequence (although nobody knows how closely related to the original one) should be 34-44-89-109-230-124-144-157-96-77. This way it will follow the light to dark gradation with alternating (slightly) greenish and purplish shades of blue grey.

Many thanks for suggestion, but I will rather go on with mixed colours - just to keep the palette of similar hue, trying to achieve just the darknest gradation (or not varying too much). First after white I made already from Humbrol 247 (RLM 76) mixed 1:3 with white(34). It is just dirty white...

Regards

J-W

 

[JWM]

Hi,

Some colours applied.

 

The top Blue-Grey (Humbrol 77)  was painted once, it must be repeated. First I have to construct carburator intakes!

 

I have feelings that bottom of fuselage/hull wss not that much white .... But I cannot guest it from photos. 

 

Cheers

J-W

 

[JWM]

Hi,

Today I made some work on astro dome - I painted it with gloss varnish and added frames. The same I did with  main canopy

 

I made al carburator intakes and painted top second time with humbrol 77

Please note landing lapms

 

I added some details to trolley (wheels hubs, painted deck and overall matt varnish)

 

Next black de-icing elemts then decals and varnish!

Regards

J-W

 

 

[TallBlondJohn]

Wow that scheme does look trippy! Are you going to apply the wing/fuselage don't walk markings (or whatever they are)? I've never seen the top of a US Navy Clipper but all the others had them.

 

Also note that the bulb aerial behind the cockpit is offset to starboard. The extra nose aerial could be the same?

 

That trolley looks really good now, I admit I wasn't sure about the tanks either.

 

 

[JWM]

8 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

Wow that scheme does look trippy! Are you going to apply the wing/fuselage don't walk markings (or whatever they are)? I've never seen the top of a US Navy Clipper but all the others had them.

 

Also note that the bulb aerial behind the cockpit is offset to starboard. The extra nose aerial could be the same?

 

That trolley looks really good now, I admit I wasn't sure about the tanks either.

 

Thank you for yuor comment  On the photo in posts #56 and #63 no traces of walk areas markings. However in decals for 1:144 Minicraft Dixie Clipper some of them are present, at least for sponsons (floats) - I am not sure about them. I will rather skip them unless some obvious evidence for them will be found. On the other hand, im fact, the BOAC camouflaged one has it (post #37). So I have to think twice on this... Thank you  fro suggestion.

Thank you also for the info on off-side position of drop-like DF-loop (?) or bulb aerial. I have on my drawings shown it off-side but since I have alredy found some discrepencies with photos in those drawings (regarding details of course) I started to doubt about this asymmetry. Thank you for confirming it. The nose aerial look to me to be exactly in line. I think that shift right of that one behind cockpit on top of fuselage seems to forced by the position of hatch on the on left side of cockpit roof. BTW - I am just doing silicon form for this aerials, copying the part from Italeri C-47.

I was not happy with the too simplified shape of trolley. I had to correct it. So I am glad that you have noticed this!

Best regards

J-W

 

 

 

[AdrianMF]

It looks very striking in the camouflage scheme. Hard to believe it started life as a vac!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

[TallBlondJohn]

14 hours ago, JWM said:

On the photo in posts #56 and #63 no traces of walk areas markings.

 

Well... any lines are going to be hard to see against that grey. In #63 there seems to be a darker line in the right place, just touching the back of the nacelles... glad its not my call!

 

Here's a nice photo showing the location of the bulb aerial - and those lovely lines! . Also the lines on the sponsons can be seen:

 

 

 

 

[JWM]

Thank you John! This photo shows also nicely the exact position of exhaust pipes.

Regards

J-W

 

[TallBlondJohn]

Oooh, here's another good one. Amazing how the same old searches suddenly throw up new pictures. Good look at the flaps and beaching trolley. I'm sure this is the prototype after the tail rebuild, no boots yet. Are those lights in the tail tips? Ain't she a beauty!