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Lockheed Twins (and a CONNIE ) Civvies


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7 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

 

Also, take a look at this, and can anyone confirm (or otherwise) that the plane is a Hudson, from the engine cowling or some such. 

 

Looks like a Ventura to me. The engines are too big for a Hudson. It also seems it has the longer tail cone. And it lacks the "passenger style" fuselage windows.

 

Nils

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The Hudson definitely has a single piece elevator.

 

If you go to our Walkaround section you will see my photos of the Hendon example. Not only is the elevator one piece, but the fuselage fairing underneath is hinged too.

 

 

Trevor 

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18 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

The small details that sneak up on you. Never knew there was a different tail. Airfix really did a screw up on the elevator hinge line. You're taking down the rivets a bit?

Not so fast, Busn! 

Looks like an ongoing mix up between Hudson and Ventura airframes that's causing errors in various references. 

 

Although, as Julien describes at length in the walkaround intro, the subject is far from a typical Hudson. 

Then again, there were 6 marks of the type. 

Anyway, I have done right by the L14 Tailplanes. 

 

Yes, much rivet removal has taken place! 

With the old silver plastic they tend to remain visible on the surface after they've been flattened. 

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These can be confusing, didn't think the marks were so different, but I also don't know all the marks. Had two of these kits but sold them in favor of the Revell bird, maybe should've kept them. I want to eventually do the Lockheed twins line.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There is progress with the Super Electra :

IMG_20190423_213628

 

IMG_20190423_213723

 

IMG_20190506_213809

 

But there's a new kid on the block, and it's not a Twin....! 

IMG_20190424_221314

It's a Box-scale kit (around 1.125) from 1958 or so. 

The ancient Revell Connie looks like it's constructed by Brunel, but after some considerable abrasion.... 

IMG_20190501_191830

 

As you can see, I'm going for the big Fowler flaps on this. 

IMG_20190501_191941

The crazy thing is, the original decals work perfectly!!! 

I made a scan of the sheet before cutting into it, but there was no need... 

IMG_20190502_232901

 

IMG_20190506_214315

 

IMG_20190507_090641

Not bad for something that's nearly as old as ME!! 

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The Connie has wings! 

IMG_20190514_085220

 

IMG_20190514_085322

 

Walkway lines are made with the decal border lines that feature on the Airfix transfer sheets, and the real tricky bit was getting the foil underside of the fuselage to make the almost-straight delineation with the white paint, just below the red decal stripes. 

And the wing fillets! 

 

The plan is to put her on a piece of runway that I made previously for a Caravelle. 

Mounted on a 3mm clear sprue post,  wheels down, flaps down and swooping in just before the tyres squeal on the tarmac. 

IMG_20190514_210648

 

IMG_20190514_210810

 

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What time I have for plastic bashing.... just not enough!.... I've got a few bits and bobs attached, like the wheels and doors etc. 

Most spent trying to make something of the engine cowlings /nacelles. 

Calling them "poor" is a kindness really. 

Cooling gills are wrong and in the wrong place.. 

No hint of exhausts. 

Bottom intakes look too short, and the top ones wrong at the front. 

Engine boss too small. Etc 

I'm not trying to make a "gold watch" here, but really I got to try and make something with what I have got. 

IMG_20190519_194910

 

 

IMG_20190519_195004

 

Trouble is, everything needs to be done 4 times or more. 

I'm still going with the idea of using the (enlarged) spinners with clear plastic prop discs. 

 

Tsk, it's a game, isn't it....??? 🙄

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This is the basic unit... 

IMG_20190519_222705

 

Gills already removed, and holes drilled for the exhaust stubs. I've done 2 on each side, for want of better information. 

Engine boss blanks are punched... 

IMG_20190519_214658

 

Bit of sanding round the front edge and glued on... 

IMG_20190519_222411

 

That's a strip of Muller Corner pot curled and glued on the lower intake - I'll trim when dry. The side walls of the pot give a nice thin sample of styrene to work with. 

I'm going to leave the top intake and just do a paint job on it. 

I'm getting confusing info on cowling finish.... Either polished metal or the grey paint. 

Having tried the foil on one of them, it wasn't a great look, so I'm trying out with the paint finish. Looks like different airlines had different solutions on this, and I'm thinking if you have the wing top paint panels, you'd probably paint the whole thing. 

🤔

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This is the test run for a clear prop disc. 

IMG_20190521_194241

 

IMG_20190521_194303

 

I have a thicker sheet of clear, but I don't want to make a big deal of the feature. 

I measured off against the kit props and that's the result..... 

Does look quite big, but then she is a mighty plane! 

 

Trying to sort the spinners was a bit of a fiddly job until I realised the shafts could go in the cordless drill and be turned like on a lathe. 

Much better! 

 

Think I'll make 3 more of these and see how they look together. 

Thought about trying to ghost on some coloured bands around the edge of the disc but it's just going to look like painted rings. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Lockheed L14 is coming along step at a time. 

Construction is done 

IMG_20190529_234557

 

IMG_20190529_234632

 

And I've decided on the finish.... 

Lockheed L14

 

I've robbed the decal sheet from the MPM Lodestar kit and I made the reg G-AFGL which is pretty close alphabetically to the airframe pictured. 

IMG_20190606_230151

 

I peeled the foil off the cockpit roof and applied foil strip glazing bars 

The de-icing boots were a bit of a triumph. Having left them so late in the process, I tried a method that I've been pondering.... 

I sprayed a decent sized strip of decal paper with satin finish black rattle can and let it dry. 

Carefully measured up the wing and cut 2 slightly wedge shaped decals, and slid them on. 

Worked perfectly...! 

IMG_20190608_164659

I'll definitely use the method again as a first choice. 

Lovely straight lines that have been cut with a knife, no masking or paint bleeding. 

The curved fins required a bit more effort in that I used a template (the MPM kit fin) to cut appropriately curved strips of decal to go on each side. 

IMG_20190608_215802

 

Looking at more refs, I foiled the prop hub spinner bits and the blade fronts. 

The back of the blades are done in black. 

IMG_20190611_224747

 

A couple of wheel chocks added after the balloon tyres got flat spots, and she's starting to look the part now. 

Can hardly believe she started out as an ancient Airfix Hudson!

IMG_20190611_225049

 

Nearly there.... 😎

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  • 2 weeks later...
IMG_20190618_210609

 

I'm calling that done. 

And I've been having a look through the other Lockheed boxes.... 

The Revell Hudson came to hand. 

IMG_20190618_215212

 

The interesting thing about these planes, for me anyway, is those big Fowler flaps and their characteristic guide runners on the trailing edge of the wing. 

This kit is substantially better than the old Airfix kit, and I think it needs more than just gluing together. 

So I'm setting about the wings and flaps. 

IMG_20190618_214303

 

IMG_20190619_211846

 

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The depth of the rear spar is critical though as the fit of the wing to fuselage could be badly screwed up. 

I'm happy that the main landing gear legs can be slotted in to the nacelles later on, contrary to the instructions. 

The BM walkaround section has the Hendon Museum Hudson airframe with some good references for the flaps. 

I'll put on a link. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Progress report on the Revell /MPM Hudson conversion to a Super Electra! 

I ve been making a bit of progress and posting on the Lockheed Group Build, but that ends on the 4th August and I still have boxes of bits. 

So it's all going to be piling back in here! 

 

 

So I took a run at the parts to sort out any assembly issues. 

No time wasted on an interior - the passenger door remains closed and this cockpit will have a metal roof. 

Foil on the sides and then cut out for the windows, 

IMG_20190713_232414

Fuselage glued along the main seams leaving the nose area to be sorted later 

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The Tailplane ready to go. 

I decided to go for assembly first so any fit problem can be solved before foiling. 

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The elevator has a lot of up deflection and there's a gap underneath, usually filled by the fuselage tail, that needs completing... 

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So the whole airframe went together 

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..... and the Tailplane forced into alignment with the wings before it was too late! 

Since then I've got the front together. 

It wasn't as bad as the picture suggests! 

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That little spacer on the top joint is definitely required to give the one-piece nose any chance of fitting. 

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Some smoothing and blending still required, but it's getting there. 

A last minute panic to fit the instrument panel, a second seat and the control column.... better late than never.... And then on with the roof. 

IMG_20190723_180353

That's a pretty good fit, and the abrasion is about removing the glazing bars in the transparency for a nice smooth metal cover. 

So quite a few compound curves to be dealt with in foiling, but I have an airframe to work on 👍

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We're getting there.... 

IMG_20190725_232058

 

IMG_20190728_004720

 

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The fins are always tricky on a Lockheed! 

But this is definitely a better arrangement of the parts than the old Airfix kit. 

Just the little horizontal end pieces to do. 

Probably worth describing :

For the main horizontal surfaces I went in one piece of foil along the leading edge of each side and worked back across the top and bottom and finished at the hinge line. 

Then the elevator surface was done in the same way starting along the trailing edge and working forwards to the hinge line. 

This avoids having foil edges where they're at the most vulnerable and more likely to peel back. 

I realise that a picture or two would be a better way to describe the process..... 

...... but I didn't take any!! 🤭

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Preparations of the engine parts are underway, with a view to getting the cowlings fitted. 

As I usually do, I'm using Ali tubes so the props are removable. This is useful for cleaning and re-polishing the metal foil if and when required 

Bigger diameter tube bearings in the crankcases, 

IMG_20190728_224214

The trick here is keeping them straight - having the piece on a length of the smaller tube so it can be rotated and spun for a visual check is my method. 

The kit has a choice of spinners and I've picked the standard option, cut the plastic pin off and drilled and fitted a length of the smaller tube. 

This can now go in the chuck of a cordless drill...! 

IMG_20190728_224118

Foil around the spinner can be "dressed" over the front of the curve sort of lathe style and buffed up with a little mechanical vigour. 

This is glued into the propeller and ready to slide into the crankcase bearing tube. 

IMG_20190728_224258

😎

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I seem to have been shirking my home work here, I've a whole heap of Lockheed kits in stock including a 10 & a Lodestar to do a couple of Union Airways ones, very similar scheme to your Super Electra, a pity Union didn't operate them or I'd have one for that too. There is some excellent info in this thread Rob, thanks for taking the time to share those tips & to the others who've chipped in, modelling hold. :) I've had a very pleasant catch up.

Steve.

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Paraphrasing Brody in Jaws, ‘you’re gonna need a bigger clamp’. 

 

Seriously, Rob, everything looking good.  You’ve got that foiling down really well.  Coincidentally, I have been ramping up my interest in civiy stuff and the “Twins” since I happened across this photo. Lovely thing, isn’t it?

 

Dennis

 

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50 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

I believe that this is the same machine

Okay, now what kit, Ventura or Hudson, is the the one to get to convert to a Lodestars?  I’ve read everything in this thread and it looks as though it’s the Ventura. Is that correct? 

 

Great photo, incidentally.

 

Dennis

 

 

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What I've got  still in the "to do" pile is the MPM Special hobby Lodestar. 

Talking 1.72 scale here.... 

What you get is the correct new tool fuselage with Windows and no turrets etc. 

So this is really your best option, I'd say, Dennis. 

The weak point of the kit is the wing, as it's the Hudson wing with add-on etched brass strips to make the Lodestar wing. 

 

The Ventura was the military version and all the kits will be bristling with guns and turrets and no passenger windows. There's a ventral gun position that is a real pain to delete. 

This is the MPM boxing I have... 

MPM Lodestar 1.72

 

As mentioned above, the wing to fuselage joints are very non-positive and will need to be dealt with 

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2 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

this is really your best option, I'd say

Many thanks, Rob.  I was thinking 1/48 actually.  The Revell Ventura is looking pretty good and I don’t mind a little surgery, as you probably know (as if I haven’t got enough on my plate already).   We’ll see.

 

Really enjoying this thread. 

 

Dennis

 

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