I'm Jenny From the Blob (of hideous yellow styrene) - with apologies to J-Lo! *** COMPLETE ***

[clive_t]

Hi all, herewith my latest assault on Mount Stash - another subject, hopefully unusual enough to ensure my paltry efforts will not be further magnified by comparison with other threads!

 

A recent visit to my LMS yielded what for me looked a decent bargain - £5 for an admittedly old and battered boxing of this Lindberg kit:

 

 

From what I could see, the only thing missing was the stand, which would never have featured in my plans for the thing anyway. So, what could possibly go wrong!

 

Well, there's this I guess:

 

 

I think I will need to prime this thoroughly, if only to suppress the nausea from working with such a hideous colour plastic! That said, there isn't a massive amount of flash, and the moulding seems crisp enough if not overly burdened with detail.

 

For the rest of it, the instructions seem clear enough, if apparently written on parchment (I was expecting the text to be in Latin, with the first letter massive and ornate, and covered with gold leaf):

 

 

 

 

Decals are predictably not in the best shape, given their evident age:

 

 

No matter, I have already procured some potential alternatives courtesy of the Big H:

 

 

Also in my corner, I have a potentially useful ally:

 

 

An old publication which is nevertheless quite detailed with various photos.

 

So with that, it is entirely appropriate that I say: "Tally Ho, Yellow!"

 

Work to commence real soon, so stay tuned!

 

[billn53]

This will be interesting! Don’t forget the dolly and crew man 

[clive_t]

Yes, those parts (including ground crew man) are all present and correct - however the air crew appear to have suffered some catastrophic facial injuries - either that or the moulding wasn't all that to start with

 

[Gorby]

That looks pretty good for a Lindberg kit. At least the crew are recognisable as miniature humans. If you ever get the urge to build the 1/48 Lindberg X-3, a word of advice.

 

Don't.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The infamous Yellow Peril, the dreaded Glow-in-the Dark kit.

Police used it to yank confessions from modelers.

By the way:

There are outstanding civil schemes for the Jenny!

(Wink-wink, nudge-nudge)

 

The Constant Civilizer

 

 

[Marklo]

I though yellow that bright was banned under the Geneva convention.

 

Don’t bee too quick  knock those old kits, I recently built a Lindbergh flycatcher and notwithstanding the lack of interior detail it was a pretty well engineered kit, much better than some modern ones I could think of. But still that yellow 😬🤢

[KevinK]

2 minutes ago, Marklo said:

I recently built a Lindbergh flycatcher

Don't forget that the Flycatcher was an Inpact kit originally, so not really representative of the traditional Lindberg kits.

[fubar57]

Looking forward to the build. Remind me not to get that kit. I'm currently doing Revell's 1:48 F-104 "Tiger Meet", same bright yellow sprues. Trying not to have a seizure every time I work on it. I can't wait to throw some paint on it

Edited November 24, 2019 by fubar57
Freakin' negative typos man

[matti64]

And old but decent kit, with lots of potential, wishing you   best of luck. Of course if you've a spare Hispano engine left over from an Eduard SE-5A then you could go  with a JN-4H and keep the yellow wing and tail surfaces!

 

[clive_t]

On 11/24/2019 at 5:44 PM, Gorby said:

That looks pretty good for a Lindberg kit. At least the crew are recognisable as miniature humans. If you ever get the urge to build the 1/48 Lindberg X-3, a word of advice.

 

Don't.

Thanks for the advice!

On 11/24/2019 at 5:56 PM, Moa said:

The infamous Yellow Peril, the dreaded Glow-in-the Dark kit.

Police used it to yank confessions from modelers.

By the way:

There are outstanding civil schemes for the Jenny!

(Wink-wink, nudge-nudge)

 

The Constant Civilizer

 

Indeed, they were the mount of choice for many from the 'barnstormer' era, primarily because of their cheapness and ready availability after the end of WW1. I did toy with the idea of doing a flying ambulance, which technically is still a military if non-combatant aircraft, but I think too many mods needed on the kit, which I am now finding has problems enough of its own right now!

On 11/24/2019 at 6:58 PM, Marklo said:

I though yellow that bright was banned under the Geneva convention.

 

Don’t bee too quick  knock those old kits, I recently built a Lindbergh flycatcher and notwithstanding the lack of interior detail it was a pretty well engineered kit, much better than some modern ones I could think of. But still that yellow 😬🤢

I know, it's doing my head in already but I need to do some stuff to it before I spray it!

 

On 11/24/2019 at 7:22 PM, fubar57 said:

Looking forward to the build. Remind me not to get that kit. I'm currently doing Revell's 1:48 F-104 "Tiger Meet", same bright yellow sprues. Trying not to have a seizure every time I work on it. I can't wait to throw some paint on it

Absolutely, steer well clear of this!

On 11/24/2019 at 11:09 PM, matti64 said:

And old but decent kit, with lots of potential, wishing you   best of luck. Of course if you've a spare Hispano engine left over from an Eduard SE-5A then you could go  with a JN-4H and keep the yellow wing and tail surfaces!

 

Thanks, although I was planning as much as possible to build this oob plus whatever bits I can add from my stash of styrene sheet/rod. I don't have the Eduard SE5A, but I do have the Revell version, and the engine in that is quite detailed. I will keep that intact though for a later project.

 

Not much in the way of progress to report, sadly - real life intervening as it so often does - however I have removed some of the many ejector pin marks, the majority of which occupy prominent positions all over the wheels, wings and rudder, as well as two in the front of the radiator! The only other thing I have managed to do is mark out where the internal framework will go (when I get to doing that), and I have also scribed out the air vents that are moulded in the fuselage sides where the engine compartment is.

 

Thus far, my 'to do list' for this kit is:

 

Remove the rest of the ejector pin marks

 

Add internal framework to the insides of the fuselage halves as far as will potentially be seen

 

Make the seat backs somehow look more like the wickerwork that they appear to have been originally

 

Get a bigger propeller from somewhere, or at any rate alter the existing one to make the trailing edge geometry look more like the original

 

Replace the comedic looking controls with something a bit more realistic

 

It's a bit early to be facing this many setbacks! Still, no matter - as a venerable former work colleague was often heard to say: "The earlier you fall behind in a project, the more time you have to catch up!"

[matti64]

1 hour ago, clive_t said:

Thanks for the advice!

Indeed, they were the mount of choice for many from the 'barnstormer' era, primarily because of their cheapness and ready availability after the end of WW1. I did toy with the idea of doing a flying ambulance, which technically is still a military if non-combatant aircraft, but I think too many mods needed on the kit, which I am now finding has problems enough of its own right now!

I know, it's doing my head in already but I need to do some stuff to it before I spray it!

 

Absolutely, steer well clear of this!

Thanks, although I was planning as much as possible to build this oob plus whatever bits I can add from my stash of styrene sheet/rod. I don't have the Eduard SE5A, but I do have the Revell version, and the engine in that is quite detailed. I will keep that intact though for a later project.

 

Not much in the way of progress to report, sadly - real life intervening as it so often does - however I have removed some of the many ejector pin marks, the majority of which occupy prominent positions all over the wheels, wings and rudder, as well as two in the front of the radiator! The only other thing I have managed to do is mark out where the internal framework will go (when I get to doing that), and I have also scribed out the air vents that are moulded in the fuselage sides where the engine compartment is.

 

Thus far, my 'to do list' for this kit is:

 

Remove the rest of the ejector pin marks

 

Add internal framework to the insides of the fuselage halves as far as will potentially be seen

 

Make the seat backs somehow look more like the wickerwork that they appear to have been originally

 

Get a bigger propeller from somewhere, or at any rate alter the existing one to make the trailing edge geometry look more like the original

 

Replace the comedic looking controls with something a bit more realistic

 

It's a bit early to be facing this many setbacks! Still, no matter - as a venerable former work colleague was often heard to say: "The earlier you fall behind in a project, the more time you have to catch up!"

The Revell Kit should have both the Wolsely Viper And the Hispano engine You'd need to expose it  and change the radiator. You might need also  to check and correct which type of wingtips were present.

 

[clive_t]

Thanks for the reference pics, very interesting. From what I can gather, at some stage there were mods whereby upper wing was shortened, and had its tips clipped to be at right angles to the leading edge.

 

I note also from those pics that the lower wings also have ailerons, something else I would need to consider if I end up going down that particular road.

 

As ever, a major challenge is to somehow get sense of the development timeline so try and get it as 'right' as I can.

[corsaircorp]

hello Clive !

May I take a place at the bar ?

No mention about behaviour please !!

Great idea, I'll follow if you don't mind, I have that same kit in the stash !

Sincerely.

CC

[matti64]

37 minutes ago, clive_t said:

Thanks for the reference pics, very interesting. From what I can gather, at some stage there were mods whereby upper wing was shortened, and had its tips clipped to be at right angles to the leading edge.

 

I note also from those pics that the lower wings also have ailerons, something else I would need to consider if I end up going down that particular road.

 

As ever, a major challenge is to somehow get sense of the development timeline so try and get it as 'right' as I can.

The Blue Rider sheet that you have has some nice enough examples on it but the JN-4H pictures  are 

just to  tempt you for the future...

 

[clive_t]

A bit of internet searching, and reading, has caused the plot to thicken somewhat...

 

The AM decals I have are for several aircraft from the Canadian Training Squadron. Now it turns out the aircraft they used were designated JN-4(Can), to distinguish them from the US JN-4Ds, aka the 'Jennies'. Both were derived from the JN-3, however there were differences - most notably, they had the ailerons on the lower and the upper wings, linked by a rod to ensure the ailerons on both planes operated in sync with each other. The other main differences were the much larger, rounder rudder than on the US version, and the absence of a 'cutout' section in the upper wing centre section!

 

The US trainees dubbed the Canadian versions 'Canucks' - an epithet handed to pretty much anything of Canadian origin, apparently!

 

So, still to do any meaningful construction and yet I find myself at another crossroads - do I continue with the US version (albeit with possibly a 'Hisso' up front) and abandon the AM decals I currently have, or to do the required mods to finish it as the Canuck variant?

 

I thought modelling was supposed to be relaxing!

 

[billn53]

The markings with the black cat and tri-color rudder look especially appealing. I say go with the Canuck version. 

[John Aero]

If you can find another 15 of these you could rig it. I just found it in my cupboard.

 

John

 

[clive_t]

On 11/26/2019 at 9:54 PM, billn53 said:

The markings with the black cat and tri-color rudder look especially appealing. I say go with the Canuck version. 

Yes Bill, I am inclined to agree with going down the Canuck route. Possibly one of the other marking sets, though, as I have found in Wikimedia a whole host of old photographs of many of the aircraft sporting most of these markings, however none of the 'Cat' emblem (as far as I am able to tell at the moment).

On 11/26/2019 at 11:02 PM, John Aero said:

If you can find another 15 of these you could rig it. I just found it in my cupboard.

 

John

 

 

Wow, that's a great piece of photo-etch! Great small scale handwriting too

 

A modest bit of progress this weekend. As is my habit, I am intent on posing the model with the ailerons showing some sort of deflection, which I hope to match with the deflected joystick(s) when I get to that stage:

 

 

It may not be that obvious, but I rubbed everything down, including this massive wing, with a piece of Tamiya 1200 grit sanding sponge - to remove the shine without unduly affecting the detail moulding. This plastic is unbelievably shiny! Hopefully the primer will be more likely to cling on now.

 

I made a start on the fuselage interior - not a lot to show on the inside, apart from a bit of a framework on the sides, and a floor which from reference photos looks like it was some planking nailed to some cross-braces:

 

 

I then replaced the nasty looking seat backs with something a little more to my liking:

 

 

The cross bracing under the seats will eventually rest on the framework on the inside of each fuselage half when they get put together. Still a way to go yet though, before that great day arrives!

 

Thanks for watching

 

[Tempestwulf]

Smashing start so far

[clive_t]

On 11/30/2019 at 10:20 PM, Tempestwulf said:

Smashing start so far

Thanks Mr Wulf

 

Some more modest progress over part of yesterday - I added some mountings to each floor for the control column and the foot pedals, using some scrap styrene sheet. The kit was missing one control column, and the other was way too overscale so I binned that and made my own from some more appropriately-sized styrene rod. The kit-supplied foot pedals were better, but a bit too thick, so I sanded them thinner and dug out a bit of plastic where there might have been wear and tear from a succession of pairs of boots mangling them during training flights! Here's everything together, loose-fitted for the time being:

 

 

This morning I managed a small stint of bench time, enough to try and re-shape the prop blades. Before:

 

 

Not a representative shape at all. After some judicious paring of excess off each trailing edge:

 

 

Not brilliant, but better.

 

Still I need to :

 

1. Attach connecting rods to the control columns and the foot pedals - kind of like the dual controls on a learner car I guess!

2. Build the whole floor up on a single sheet of styrene so as I can fit it - and the seats - to one half of the fuselage before zipping up.

3. Make a better representation of each IP.

 

At some stage I also need to work out how best to paint all these myriad pieces - before, during, after construction? More challenges ahead, then!

 

Thanks for looking

[billn53]

Good job reshaping those blades. 

[clive_t]

On 12/5/2019 at 12:53 PM, billn53 said:

Good job reshaping those blades. 

Thanks Bill. Some progress over yesterday and this morning - the wing cut-out getting filled in.

 

I cut the recess square to make the filling-in section easier to make:

 

 

The fill-in section was culled from the cockpit interior that came with the kit, that was not fit for its intended purpose. I made a cast from 'Siligum' of the upper and lower surfaces of the top wing:

 

 

I then painted some liquid plastic (sprue dissolved in liquid poly) into each mould, and let it go off before peeling it off:

 

 

I then cut strips off each bit, and glued them in place - carefully lining up the rib lines:

 

 

It looks a bit ragged at the moment, but hopefully a bit of filling and sanding should tidy that up. A slightly convoluted way of doing it I guess, but it's a method I've used before.

 

Thanks for watching!

 

[Brandy]

That is brilliant, I'd never thought of that! 

Consider it nicked!

 

Ian

[clive_t]

1 hour ago, limeypilot said:

That is brilliant, I'd never thought of that! 

Consider it nicked!

 

Ian

Nicked, it is then!

 

Another step along the road to Canuck-ification (if that's not already a word, it is now!) . The lower wings also need ailerons:

 

 

 

[clive_t]

After a bit of filler on the top wing to bed my extra section in, and a little sanding back - not too shabby:

 

 

Priming may show me the error of my ways, but that won't be for a while yet.

 

Meanwhile, the engine is starting to look a little less blob-like. Just the port side cylinders so far, with the original kit-supplied part for comparison yet to be similarly augmented:

 

 

I may, if I feel sufficiently adventurous, fit some spark-plug leads once both sets of cylinders are on the block.