Lockheed 12 Electra Junior.

[Paul J]

Chosen the Special Hobby kit pulled from my stash. Undecided which scheme it will be finished in as yet. Pics to come.

[Paul J]

Here  we are. Pics of kit and box followed by progress over the last couple evenings.

 

Kit parts, box and decals.  The nice clear cnopy at top of the parts spread is one I had left over from the Lockheed 10 I built some years ago but looks a bit too big to fit this kit.
  

In theses pics you can see the rather yellowed vac form canopy. Not much I can do with it sadly. On cutting them out I found the plastic had got quite brittle but luckily has remained intact... sort of... as one of them cracked a little from back edge to left side of windscreen. I think I will reinforce this with a piece of scrap plastic card. As I will be doing a civvy one the clear cabin roof is not necessary. 

Above: The resin parts are the stays for the u/cart strut supports

Partly primed and various sub assemblies among these pics can be seen

Above: both of the vac canopies can be seen cut out and ready as too the nacelles and one engine in place.  

Still undecided as to which scheme I will finish it in. As most of these little aeroplanes were in bare metal i am going to have to try hard and get a good finish. Otherwise it may end up in RAF camo, yellow  and roundels from one of the kit options.

[CliffB]

Nice choice Paul.

If you drop Special Hobby an email via their website, they'll probably send you a replacement canopy FOC (they did for me last year). Excellent customer service!

[Paul J]

A few more pics of progress. All that filler isn't as bad as it looks-its just a smear to help conceal the fuselage join to wing and halves.

 

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I've had long hard looks at the images on line and can't find one that appeal yet. But, so far I am down to two options; the RAF camo one in the kit or send for Draw decals TWA example which is, as all of these little Lockheeds, in bare metal with trim.  But I have noticed that the wheel hubs in the kit are different to all the ones I have seen in pics which have a kind of hub cap. Are there any suitable ones out there? Does any one have suggestions?

[rob Lyttle]

Nooooooo..... Not the blasted camo schemes!!!!! 

 

Ref wheel hubs etc, 

I came across a similar issue with the Beech 18 - the kit hubs and brakes didn't match any of the photos. 

Turned out that the kit was historically accurate, but current owners can't get the size of tyres required (they are talking about clubbing together to get a batch made!!) 

and upgraded to other wheels and disc brakes. 

So all the current photos are  an unoriginal type . 

 

You may have something similar going on with the L14 

 

There's a white example with red flashing that looks good. 

For clarity, is this in 1.72? I'm guessing so 

Edited April 24, 2019 by rob Lyttle
Clarity

[Paul J]

Hi Rob,   it is 1/72nd.  Going to have a look in my box of hundreds of wheels( well not exactly hundreds  more like 68(???) 

Reluctant to go for the camo but it s only a last resort . I don't fancy the sky type S or whatever colour it was.  Bare metal it may well be and an order to Draw decals likely. Or just leave it with no individual markings in metal.??

 

 

Query: why did my last post with the images have all the text underlined??/ I didn't select the underline box??/!!!

[CliffB]

Hi Paul, not necessarily a serious suggestion for you, but I've always fancied building the L-12 that was converted for trials as a twin-engined carrier borne fighter (seriously).

The most notable modification was the adoption of a fixed, tricycle undercarriage.  Definitely something a little different and I'd think a relatively easy conversion 

 

 

I've nabbed this photo from here and there are more photos available elsewhere on the web.

[Paul J]

Interesting subject but not to my fancy though Cliff.

 

A few more pics with the build in primer and awaiting cockpit canopy Thanks to Cliff. But still need to decide on a finish...

 

 

[Paul J]

Thanks to Cliff I now have and installed the nice clear canopy (Cheers Chap!)  BUT I had an unfortunate situation where the rear corner of the part broke away... weirdly the same corner as on my original 'yellowed' part'??  Anyway its in place and blended in with clear parts masked and all primed and re primed where necessary ... revealing a bit more blending needing to be done. So over the weekend and time permitting, I will  try and sort it out and have a go at a bare metal finish.   Also do something with the broken corner. One remedy I think will work is to cut away the whole side window and replace it with some of the scrap from the moulding cut to size and shape ... and hope for the best.

[Paul J]

Latest. Managed to sort out the cockpit glazing and a coat an a bit of Extreme bare metal paint for the overall finish. Just need to fit the par of Aeroclub props that I found in my little boxes of AM stuff. The kit ones look too big?? Still in need of a suitable finish for markings otherwise I may call it a day with this one once all the fittings and wheels etc are on.

 

[CliffB]

Paul, you've done a really good job at blending that vac-formed canopy into the fuselage, particularly as there's no hiding place with NMF. 

I remember being 'entertained' for several days by that task, when I built the Special Hobby L-10!

[Paul J]

Thanks.  It consisted of thin layers of filler and sanded down until a satisfactory result.  Windscreen frames will be from silver decal stripes.

 

Decided on a scheme... All bare metal reg CF-CCT with fuselage title Depart of Transport and the Lockheed logo to the fins,  The only Lockheed 12 in Canada and used until 1963 before retirement.  I have a couple pictures of my own taken in 2006 when I was over there and visited the CASM at Rockcliffe near Ottawa. 

But need to chat to someone about producing the black lettering needed.   

So a little pause on this build until decals materialise.

[SoftScience]

I love watching short run builds. At some point they transition from a collection of poorly fitting chunky parts to a sleek model. Your effort is especially impressive. The Electra Jr looks so sleek and sharp in its coat of silver.

[Paul J]

Hooray!  I can finally get on eith this one. My custom made decals are in my hands and proceeded with. ( What else does one do on a hot lazy afternoon...???) Latest pics:

 

 

Fuselage markings on with the wing ones to go. Just need to refer back to one of the pics I found showing this one with the cut corner style lettering. Pics of the preserved one show different font but my man who did the decals could not find it so resorted to these here.

I also need to add a couple odd looking antenna to the top and the props.. then its job done!

[Paul J]

Another slight delay in completing this. Much too my self disgust and clumsiness I messed up a couple of the upper wing decals so am now waiting for replacements.

[Paul J]

Finally got the replacement decals and its now all done. Fianl pic here and rest in gallery. Thanks for following and comments helpful and otherwise.

 

Decals produced very kindly by colleague at the club.

 

This also completes my small collection of Lockheed twin finned twins!!!

 

 

[zebra]

I’ve been following along but don’t think I’ve commented before. Outstanding work! 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Well done Electra. 👍🏻

[CliffB]

Well that's turned out very nicely Paul 

[busnproplinerfan]

I didn't know CCT was the only L12 in Canada, cool. Looks great. I wonder if DOT pilots ever broke the rules in the bush.