Heller EC-121/WV-2 WarningStar 1/72

[hsr]

My current project is the venerable Heller 1/72 EC-121 AKA WV-2 kit. 

 

In another thread it was suggested that I do a WIP for it because of all the after market sets I am using and after some thought I have decided to inflict one on you . This kit has been on my pile for a few years, but early last year a fellow member of my modeling club brought in this magnificent build. 

At the meeting he went through the a litany of errors with the kit and the after market parts that he had gotten for it. After the meeting I sort of went on a buying spree and bought a boat load of them, spending far more then the original cost of the kit. So in addition to the original kit I also have, in no particular order:

The Fisher wheel set

The Plus Models Wheel well interior set. note that it also comes with wheels

The Plus Models tail surfaces

Fisher tip tanks

Fisher nose

 

Fisher radar set

Plus Models engine nacelles 

and to support all of this the Scale Aircraft Conversions' metal landing gear

In addition I got the Caracal decal sheet(s)

with which I will be going for this scheme

Finally I have the Ginter book as reference

Needless to say my work table is covered with parts and and instruction sheet.

 

So, I started by cutting off the Heller nose from the fuselage, painting and installing the Heller interior, joining the fuselage halves and attaching the Fisher nose. When I did that I saw that this band 

   Was much lower then both the fuselage end and the transparency rear edge. I am guessing that mine was slightly warped. I used some sculpting epoxy to fill the depresion in and blended the nose into the fuselage

 

 

I was at this point that I realized that the Plus Models from wheel well was not just an insert but a resin replacement for the kit part also that the front gear should be installed before closing up the fuselage. , There is not much I can do about the wheel well, but I will have to deal with the front gear later. Build in haste repent at leisure, sigh. 

 

The instruction show to add weight to the nose, but are silent about how much. With all the resin their suggestion probably would be off anyway. Using the #6 shot from 2 1/2 disassembled 12 gauge shot gun shells, relics from my unsuccessful attempt to take up trap shooting, I think I have it balanced to sit on its nose .

 

Today I plan on working on the wings, engines, and tip tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

[Procopius]

Very nice! I have almost all of the same aftermarket for mine, and lucky for both of us, since all of the Fisher Resins molds were destroyed in a wildfire this past year and are unlikely to ever be made again.

[hsr]

A tragic loss all around, but we can hope

[busnproplinerfan]

Should have bought my parts a couple years ago, got to busy with everyone's else's projects to stay on Connies. I want a small fleet of these.

[PLC1966]

Blimey how much did all that cost ? 

Looking forward to this,  the Connie was a lovely looking bird.

 

Saw this at Mildenhall Air Fete 1978.  Was fantastic in the flesh.

 

 

 

[Irishgreek]

47 minutes ago, Procopius said:

.... were destroyed in a wildfire this past year and are unlikely to ever be made again.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Procopius]

17 minutes ago, PLC1966 said:

Sorry hsr, I don't think the loss of a supplier of bits for plastic models really counts as tragic.

Well Paul Fisher's home was also completely destroyed...

[hsr]

@PLC1966 not being in the US you are probably not familiar with the Camp Fire, but in addition to us losing a supplier he lost his home and livelihood, the town of Paradise was destroyed and 83 people where killed, so I would call that a tragedy 

[PLC1966]

Sorry chap, I did not get the meaning of the Wildfire bit.  I thought you were referring to the loss of the parts supply as the tragedy.

[dalea]

Have also got a lot of the aftermarket. Missed out on the tip tanks. though. Can anybody be more specific about just precisely what is wrong with the originals since the Fisher replacements appear to be extinct?

[f111guru]

Nice build, built this kit myself quite a few years back. No update sets were available at the time but still came out well. I did have a few books to help along. Great progress thus far. I'll watch with interest.

 

Ron VanDerwarker

[Challenger350Pilot]

Looks really great so far...off to a good start! Keep going...this will be a long, tedious, and rewarding build...took me over a year to complete my Connie, but in the end, I breathed a sigh of relief and pride...it turned out well. Patience my friend...looking forward to following this! 

 

As a note on the Paul Fisher tragedy...yes, the California wildfires were very tragic, and very personal for those of us that have supported Paul for years.  My Connie has Fisher engines and props. After ruining the engines themselves, Paul was kind enough to send me replacements at no charge...before the fire. There was a fund begun for the Fishers with a goal of $10,000. I think at last check it had reach way way more than that. Paul  is a special guy, and his shop contributed much to the world of model building. 

[hsr]

On 3/4/2019 at 4:06 PM, dalea said:

Have also got a lot of the aftermarket. Missed out on the tip tanks. though. Can anybody be more specific about just precisely what is wrong with the originals since the Fisher replacements appear to be extinct?

The Fisher tanks are larger

And it looks like there is some subtle different in shape. Note that the Fisher tanks are only correct for the Navy version. As you can see in this picture

 

the Air Force tanks had prominent ribs that would need to be added.

 

So I did not get as much done as I had hoped to today. I got the wing assembled, rough sanded, and the kit tanks removed;

and I managed to get the new tanks installed

 

These were kind of tricky since the instructions were kind of silent on exact placement so I took my best guess based on drawings I found.

 

I also managed to build on of the engines. 

 

So tomorrow I will work on the other 3 and get them installed on the wing. Then if I am lucky I will get the wing installed.

 

'Til then.

[hsr]

3 hours ago, PLC1966 said:

Sorry chap, I did not get the meaning of the Wildfire bit.  I thought you were referring to the loss of the parts supply as the tragedy

No problem.

[roginoz]

Gonna be hovering around this build, peering over your shoulder and asking silly questions as I pore over the contents of my kit which also contains a copious quantity of after market stuff.

Since the kit is still at the bottom of the stash, which may collapse if I try to get it out, I can't compare the a/m stuff at this stage - a good excuse to reorganise the stash........

 

As an aside, I was recently lucky enough to pick up, for a very reasonable price, the Fisher Model 1/32 Race 232 September Fury. Question to self - Will I build or treat as an investment........? *

 

Rog

 

* Probably build !!  

[hsr]

55 minutes ago, roginoz said:

Gonna be hovering around this build, peering over your shoulder and asking silly questions as I pore over the contents of my kit which also contains a copious quantity of after market stuff.

If you have the Plus Models wheel well remember to install the front well before you close up the fuselage 😉. I have the Fisher engines which I am not going to use. Once this build is complete I'll probably put them up on Ebay  

[roginoz]

Hi, H, thanks for the tip about the front wheel well - duly noted !

 

Your topic prompted me to check the a/m stuff which comes with my Plusmodel kit which, I believe derived from the Heller kit.

Plusmodel supplies all the aftermarket, engines and aerials, flaps, wheels & wheelbays, tail surfaces, not to mention a fair acreage of p.e. covering internals, cockpit, wheel bays, engine firewalls and some stuff I've yet to identify......

I'll also invest in the Caracal decal sheet, although that supplied with the kit looks adequate. The white metal landing gear looks worthwhile, given the weight of resin in the kit.

 

So, with your permission, I'd like to bookmark your thread for [not too far in the ] future reference.

 

Rog

 

[busnproplinerfan]

Talking about Fisher, I wonder if he can borrow a complete set of parts of his own parts from someone he sold to and start recasting? Might save on retooling. I am confused on one thing about the fire, Camp Fire, is that a town or the region? I tried to look it up but just get stuff on the winds etc. Can someone clear that up for me?

Edited March 5, 2019 by busnproplinerfan

[hsr]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:31 AM, roginoz said:

H, thanks for the tip about the front wheel well - duly noted !

Second tip. The control surfaces are not as straight forward as I thought. I thought that I could just cut out the kit control surface and then butt glued them in the space, but in fact they are larger then the kit ones

 

The instructions show that once you cut out the old surface you then have to bevel out a pocket for the new ones to fit into. I tried this on the central rudder and am less then happy with the results

 

 

It might be easier to do before the kit surfaces are glued together, but I am not sure. The central rudder  is the least well defined of the kit surfaces so I am glad I did it, but the other surfaces don't look too bad so I am going to skip them.

 

On 3/5/2019 at 1:31 AM, roginoz said:

I'll also invest in the Caracal decal sheet,

There are 2 Caracal sheets; parts 1 and 2. It looks like part 1 is out of production and is almost impossible to find. Part 2, which I have, is still available.

 

On 3/5/2019 at 1:31 AM, roginoz said:

So, with your permission, I'd like to bookmark your thread for [not too far in the ] future reference.

Happy to have you along

[hsr]

On 3/5/2019 at 3:27 AM, busnproplinerfan said:

Talking about Fisher, I wonder if he can borrow a complete set of parts of his own parts from someone he sold to and start recasting?

I have actually done that in the past. I had a resin kit that I found was missing some decals when I contacted the manufacturer to get another set he replied that the master for this kit had been destroyed in a flood and if I was willing to send him mine back he would use it to remaster it and send me one of the new castings. It took a few months but I got back a freshly cast kit with 2 sets of decals.

 

On 3/5/2019 at 3:27 AM, busnproplinerfan said:

Camp Fire, is that a town or the region? I tried to look it up but just get stuff on the winds etc. Can someone clear that up for me?

In the US major wild fires are named after the closest feature, or town to the starting point, so I think in this case the was a Camp river or stream. This is the most recent article I could find 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/us/pge-camp-fire-responsibility/index.html

 

Your might doing a search for the town of Paradise, CA which was virtually destroyed in the fire.

[kev67]

I have this kit to build, with some of the replacement resin stuff, the Fisher resin is very good

[Rich1730]

Hi, I have most if not all of the aftermarket stuff mentioned above and was intending to apply it to an old boxing of the airliner version I acquired prior to the heller re release of the warning star. Anyone have any knowledge of if anyone else has gone down this route before? Aware of differing windows, layouts and door positions etc etc 

[busnproplinerfan]

3 hours ago, hsr said:

I have actually done that in the past. I had a resin kit that I found was missing some decals when I contacted the manufacturer to get another set he replied that the master for this kit had been destroyed in a flood and if I was willing to send him mine back he would use it to remaster it and send me one of the new castings. It took a few months but I get back a freshly cast kit with 2 sets of decals.

 

In the US major wild fires are named after the closest feature, or town to the starting point, so I guess there was a camp ground near by. This is the most recent article I could find 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/us/pge-camp-fire-responsibility/index.html

 

Your might doing a search for the town of Paradise, CA which was virtually destroyed in the fire.

I think just the name camp fire is what confused me. Thought at first it was a camp fire, now I see it's more with PG&E. I also missed some of the earliest news on it which added to my confusion.

[hsr]

Today I worked on assembling the other 3 engines, filling the seams, attaching them to the wing and filling the new seams.

 

I then taped the radomes, tail and wing on the fuselage to make sure it balanced correctly (it did) and then glued on the wings. That was a lot of work .

 

Ignore the tail I just left them stuck on without glue to give it more of a Connie look.

 

Tomorrow I will fill the wing to fuselage seams and the permanently attach the tail. I may or may not add the radar domes also.

 

 

[busnproplinerfan]

Besides the cockpit roof being higher and the nose radome, how close is the Heller nose shape? Think it could just be modified? Should take the cut off nose and make a ground display to put with the plane wen it's done.