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A-26C Invader "Fire Eaters", Italeri, 1:72


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I want to present report from work on my new project - Tanker from "Always" Steven Spilberg's film. I base on Italeri kit - quite old, but not vintage. I hope it's better base than Airfix kit from '70 ;) Unfortunately plastic used by Italeri wasn't too good and a lot of parts have rounded edges (even in places where you'll expect square ones). I have a decal set for "Tanker 59" from Draw Decal, but I plan to build "Tanker 57" - she had a nicer tank on board.

 

Because tankers are most interesting on the bottoms I started some works on landing gears and their wells.

 

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Next I decided to replace "engines" to better ones (ok, only front halves), but I see no sense to try find a space for whole.

 

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After that I filed cowlings

 

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For now one side is ready for assembly :)

 

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2 hours ago, Biggu said:

Looking good Konrad, this airplane is located at the Airspray Hangars in Red Deer Alberta Canada....

http://napoleon130.tripod.com/id39.html

Here is some information on it for you, hope this is of some interest

cheers

Jeff

Jeff - to be honest :) During taking photo to "Always" Tanker-59 was in "bad configuration" :(

 

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I found one photo where N4818E has "a big, ugly tank" 😍 (an one where PROBABLY has) but it is absolutely not from year when "Always" was created. What to do 🙄 Change numbers to T-57 OR build T-59 not exactly from film ?

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I took these photos of the Airspray Services A-26's way back in 1986. They were up here, as was usual back then, for their summer service. When you live in the middle of the great aboreal forest, you need water bombers for those yearly forest fires.

 

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Chris

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Tanker 59 was an odd TB-26C with a glazed nose but converted to full dual controls which blocked access to said glazed nose!

 

It also had the usual extended and dropped leading edges outboard of the nacelles with extra wing fences added at the ends of the LE extension and at the ends of the ailerons when in usual tanker service for real.

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30 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

I took these photos of the Airspray Services A-26's way back in 1986

Chris,

 

That closeup of '14' is very interesting, as you can see it was fitted with the original 6-gun nose with the .50cal's arranged horizontally! Later blocks had the vertically arranged nose guns.

Mike

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7 minutes ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

How bizarre, I've just started to build the old airfix Invader as tanker 57 from Always

Show it ! :)

 

25 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

It also had the usual extended and dropped leading edges outboard of the nacelles with extra wing fences added at the ends of the LE extension and at the ends of the ailerons when in usual tanker service for real.

And this is a next reason (lack of documentation) to abandon T-59 and make T-57

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25 minutes ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

How bizarre, I've just started to build the old airfix Invader as tanker 57 from Always

Indeed, it's TANKER FEVER!!! 

 

I'm building Tanker E61 at present but have the Airfix kit in my stash to build Tanker 57 from "Always" as well.

 

Is this a "Corona Cabin Fever Group Build"  in the making?!

 

Following you Konrad with great interest!

 

Cheers,

 

PR

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48 minutes ago, Konrad said:

Show it ! :)

 

And this is a next reason (lack of documentation) to abandon T-59 and make T-57

Hello Konrad Tanker 57 has also the the new stol wing leading edges as tanker 59 ...

take a look here as well..

http://napoleon130.tripod.com/id591.html

 https://www.goodall.com.au/photographs/80sfirebombers-2/80sfirebombers-2.html


 

cheers, Jan

 

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1 hour ago, janneman36 said:

 

Hello Konrad Tanker 57 has also the the new stol wing leading edges as tanker 59 ...

take a look here as well..

http://napoleon130.tripod.com/id591.html

 https://www.goodall.com.au/photographs/80sfirebombers-2/80sfirebombers-2.html

OK - now I've got what is that STOL modification :) , BUT ;) ...

If you look at https://www.goodall.com.au/photographs/80sfirebombers-2/80sfirebombers-2.html photos

 

N4060A - have STOL wings (am I right?)

N4818E - T-59 - have NOT STOL wings BUT have "square big, ugly tank" ;) I cannot see tank, but doors are very similar in look as this from N4060A and (even more) N9425Z (next picture)

N9425Z - T-57 - have STOL-26 on board (text next to front landing gear)

 

So again - MAYBE configuration of T-59 with big tank and without STOL mods is correct? What do you think?

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3 minutes ago, Konrad said:

N4060A - have STOL wings (am I right?)

N4818E - T-59 - have NOT STOL wings BUT have "square big, ugly tank" ;) I cannot see tank, but doors are very similar in look as this from N4060A and (even more) N9425Z (next picture)

N9425Z - T-57 - have STOL-26 on board (text next to front landing gear)

Yes, 60A has the STOL conversion in this photo.  18E does NOT have the STOL conversion at the time of this photo.  Yes, 25Z has the STOL conversion in this photo.  If you want to build Tanker 59 then I'd say you're correct for this time period.

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2 hours ago, janneman36 said:

Tanker 57 has also the the new stol wing leading edges

Very interesting modifications! I never noticed them before, but then again, I haven't looked at that many A-26  firebomber photos. Thanks for sharing the photos and technical description.

Mike

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11 hours ago, dogsbody said:

I took these photos of the Airspray Services A-26's way back in 1986. They were up here, as was usual back then, for their summer service. When you live in the middle of the great aboreal forest, you need water bombers for those yearly forest fires.

Dang it Chris now i need a 3rd A/B-26 to build. WW2, Vietnam, and Fire bomber. 
 

Dennis

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OK - I've spent time considering whether I can make STOL modifications. Faint heart never won fair lady, so... :)

Waiting for your opinions 🥴

 

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Some great photos here.

 

My second wildfire I was ever on had a group of these flying in support...low, slow, and beautiful.   Especially when we were digging guard by hand and had limited resources.   I got to see them in action a few more times that summer but the fleet had been retired by the time I returned to the role.

 

Most of the fleet Air Spray had was sold off and/or donated to museums.  I visited in 2015 and have photos of what was left of the fleet so if you're interested I can send them via email.  

 

I've been slowly working on Tanker #11 (crashed in High Level, AB) but one thing it also taught me to not just get fixated on the tanker number but also look at the year  of operations as the nose configurations and paint jobs changed season over season.    For the movie version of Tanker thankfully you shouldn't have too many issues.

 

But always nice to see another water bomber and especially a B-26 build.

foresterab

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Note that many of the Invaders in the posted photos have had their original main wheels replaced with those from KC-135's. This was a common upgrade, especially with those used in SEA. as the KC-135 wheels were in plentiful supply, were stronger, and had bigger brakes. See linked photos to an A-26 with the stock wheels and the other with the KC-135 wheels. Might be something to look for when building an SEA/civil/firebomber model.

Mike

 

Well-known A-26C with stock wheel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-26_Invader#/media/File:Invader_MONIE_&_Crew.jpg

 

A-26C with another variation of the stock wheel- same as used on the B-25 and A-20

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-26_Invader#/media/File:A-26C-56-DT_44-35982_(5409234163).jpg

 

A-26 firebomber with KC-135 wheel- note the larger disc brake caliper

https://447.insidetrackmagazine.com/wwii-aircraft/wwii-american-planes/a-26/#gallery/f910f9c3efa4e380bf90821a9e7eb35f/11398

 

A link to more photos of the above firebomber.

https://447.insidetrackmagazine.com/wwii-aircraft/wwii-american-planes/a-26/

 

Wartime A-26's were so fast that many times escorting fighters had to ask them to slow down, as they were outrunning their protection, especially after bomb release!

Edited by 72modeler
corrected text
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  • 2 weeks later...

Cockpit painted & second seat added

 

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Very slow progress due to "excellent" fitting ;)

 

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Now I'm trying to build water tank. Not perfect, but... :(

 

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