L749 Lockheed Constellation Kit No 310

[TonyW]

A bit of a gamble from me here, I hope I get away with it!

The lack of a Constellation so far in the GB got me a bit fired up to do something about that. A big plane and not much time left in the Group Build really. I also have a few others that need finishing.

I may well fall flat on my face, but nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

 

Here's the kit. Between posting in the gossip thread that I'm up for the attempt and digging the kit out, I've managed to make a start on it!

Parts were removed from the sprues months ago, todays efforts saw a bit of black shot over the engines, tires and glass areas as well as the interior of the fuselage. An all singing, all dancing detailed interior isn't going to happen in the timeframe available, so black it is Johnny.

 

 

Heller have issued the kit in a few different boxes, along with an equally lovely Super Constellation.

The Lufthansa boxing of the Super Constellation got an absolute stunner of a picture used. I'll be looking for one of these to add to the collection at some point for sure.

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Right, get on with it!

 

Good luck with this one, but I'm keeping a close eye on the rest of 'm! 😉 

[TonyW]

Blimey, you run a tight Group Build! I'll do me best Guv. 😁

 

I would have preferred a BOAC or Air France version but the Pan Am option will be perfectly fine, and a good excuse to do another at some point!

 

I'll be preparing a bit of the tail as one of the first jobs. I want to try out the decals to see if they are going to work. No point getting the whole thing done and ready, only to find the decals are useless. I might as well find out sooner rather than later. If they fail, I can maybe change airlines at that point.

 

Tony.

[JOCKNEY]

Well done Tony, 

Delighted you have risen to the challenge, do we need to organise a rota to keep you supplied with mugs of tea and biscuits etc to keep you going ?

Best of luck

 

Cheers Pat 

[TonyW]

Hobnobs please.

 

There's you offering goodies while Jeroen cracks the whip. I can see through your cunning plan! Carrot and Stick treatment I believe it's called.

 

I think it will work though...

 

Tony.

[Bengalensis]

So good to see this one included in the GB, it's such a good looking machine.

And I agree fully on the Lufthansa boxart, it's a stunning picture.

[rob Lyttle]

OK Tony, we're all rooting for this. 🎊

Just be careful with that big fuselage joint when the time comes. Extra aids for alignment might be worth considering. 

 

Here's the Heller fairies... 

🌠🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️🧚🎇🎆🎉...... seems like they dusted you already, as soon as you opened the box...... 😎

Oops, forgot to click 

[TonyW]

I've just been trial fitting the fuselage Rob. It kind of fits where it touches! Extra alignment will most certainly be making an appearance here.

 

For the size of the thing, there's not many parts to assemble. I've glued the tail pieces and the box like structure that holds the cockpit floor and front undercarriage bay together, along with the engine cowls and wheels.  The outer wing panels are also glued on. Everything's now clamped and rubber band bound until morning. I then get to formulate a plan to get the fuselage halves together without tears. I had better make a note to add nose ballast as well.

[rob Lyttle]

30 minutes ago, TonyW said:

. It kind of fits where it touches!

🤣... That's made my day, Tony ‼️

[Bjorn]

Wonderful! I have been waiting for someone to pick up this beauty! I will follow with great interest, and problably finally add a Connie to my stash soon.

[fightersweep]

You're a braver man than I Tony! There I was sweating finishing a D.510 before the end of the GB, and you strut in and throw a Connie on the table. We'll all be rooting for you as Rob and the GB needs a Connie.

[JOCKNEY]

22 hours ago, TonyW said:

Hobnobs please.

 

There's you offering goodies while Jeroen cracks the whip. I can see through your cunning plan! Carrot and Stick treatment I believe it's called.

 

I think it will work though...

 

Tony.

 

Its been so long since I played "good cop" I had to get Dave aka @Rabbit Leader to write me a script !

 

Think I would treat the fuselage like a vacform and make your own alignment tabs on the inside to assist with getting the 2 halves to sit together.

 

cheers Pat

[TonyW]

These words could come back to bite me later on, but this one seems a walk in the park as builds go.... so far at any rate. 

 

Not many parts, great big ones at that. Good parts fit (fuselage excepted) Also, there's plenty of online references for Pan Am schemes.

That's in direct contrast to my French Airforce builds going on, with the great unknown that is their colour schemes, ten part undercarriage legs, trenches on the wing tops, and so on. The change of pace is quite refreshing.

 

Here's Major Clamping reporting for duty this morning...

 

 

Online pictures show the portholes and cockpit glazing to appear bare bones black. That makes life a bit simpler as well. The kit porthole glazing has unfortunate dimples on the outside face, more like the bottom of a pint mug that clear windows. I'll try to fit them slightly proud and sand and polish them properly flush with the outer metalwork. As long as they end up fitting properly and a glossy black I'll be happy.

 

As far as closing up the fuselage goes, it looks like it could turn into a wrestling match. Things do fit, they just need encouragement.

I think I can glue and clamp the front, followed by the back end once that's gone off. Reinforcement can then be added along the seams through the wing fitting point.

Another option is to add a strip to one half of the fuselage seam and glue the other half to that. The strip might throw the outside mating surface off a bit, adding more finishing to the job, so I will probably pass on that idea. 

It all sounds so simple writing it down, I'll report back with a real world summary once it's done.

 

 

Tony.

[Heather Kay]

[TonyW]

Things are coming together nicely here, on a freezing cold day in the Fenns.

 

The wing assembly is all one bit now. The fuselage is glued from the nose to the front wing root and needs an overnight dry before more work there.

The glazing is going to be glued in and a bit of filler used. Trying to flush fit the existing clear parts was a bit of a chore once I started having a go there, so it's car filler to the rescue. I can reach all the windows from the underside, with the exception of the back two windows that I didn't take into account. I'll cobble some kind of fitting tool together for that task.

 

 

Trial fitting of the wings see's a couple of problems to deal with, although they might not be as bad as the pictures suggest once things are glued in place. There's gaps at either wing root to fill and one side of the tail assembly has a pretty poor fit going on. If one side fits, the other doesn't. At least that means both sides will fit once the obstruction is removed. Nothing much to worry about, a bit of thin plastic card and some filler will sort things out.

 

 

 

I'll leave things to dry properly now. More tomorrow I guess...

 

Tony.

[Heather Kay]

I do like a big model. The Connie always has a presence, don't you think?

 

With no interior to speak of, would you consider just filling all the cabin windows so they're flush and using circles of black transfer instead?

[busnproplinerfan]

Nice thing is this model doesn't need to much, mostly bodywork. I still have a few and want to get back into mine. This one will look good in any scheme.

[TonyW]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

I do like a big model. The Connie always has a presence, don't you think?

 

With no interior to speak of, would you consider just filling all the cabin windows so they're flush and using circles of black transfer instead?

 

It certainly makes a statement, even as it is at the moment.

It will hopefully come fully to life once the old S 'n J powder gets a look in. The build feels a lot like the FROG Comet I did during the FROG GB a while back, nice and simple construction with just the shape of the thing to carry it forward. The polishing powder is icing on the cake. If the Constellation turns out anything like that one, I'll be more than happy.

 

 

The black decal idea may well work, thanks for the idea. The FROG Comet worked with the window area left white. I can't do that here as the side stripes are already white on this one. Maybe I can reverse things and paint a black band for the decal stripe to lay over? That would fail if the decals don't have enough density though.

 

I can see me doing a few more airliners. There's something about the crispness of the paintjobs that really appeals to me, especially the fifties and sixties stuff.

 

Tony. 

[Bengalensis]

Quick progress here, that's good. I'm sure you will overcome the small problems so far.

 

Lovely Comet too!

[TonyW]

For the first time in more years than I can remember, I spent new years eve building a kit!! Strange times indeed.

 

The fuselage has had its windows added and will get filler added later today. Once that's dry a bit of sanding will take place.

The fuselage top join was closed up at the same time, including a bit of rod reinforcement along the join on the inside, and this morning see's things looking good. The underside seam will get closed up bit by bit as there's a bit of wavyness going on there. That might sort itself out as the wings get added, we shall see.

I've got a plan together for adding the wing section that involves gluing the front and rear join areas on the underside first. This is so the undersides all line up and hopefully no filler will be needed. The wing roots will get sorted once the undersides are dry. The fit at the roots isn't as bad as it first seemed and might be OK as is, depending on how the real plane sat on its wheels. That's for later though. Fortunately there isn't going to be any drama involved by the look of it, which is nice...

 

The mis-fit of the tail section was down to a mistake on my part. The horizontal parts of the tail were fitted upside down in my picture above!

The flat part of the tail is on the topside, with the curved part underneath. It seems wrong to me, but checking internet pictures seems to show Heller being correct. Fit is near perfect.  I'm glad I didn't fix the vertical surfaces in place!

 

I seem to have either misplaced the nose cap of the plane, or there wasn't one in the box in the first place. Either way, a ball of Milliput will sort it.

 

Hellers take on the engines is a bit basic but I won't be straying far from that. Most ground pictures show cooling flaps open and I may well add them to this build. That will be pretty much it as far as modifications go although an aftermarket metal undercarriage set might be a good idea, depending on how heavy it ends up once the nose weight is added.

 

Two days in and everything is going smoothly. Hooray for our side!

 

Tony.

 

[TonyW]

The fuselage windows got filled this afternoon and should be ready for sanding tomorrow. The nose also got filled, but with airgun pellets and ball bearings.

 

More as it happens...

 

 

 

[TonyW]

Not much got done today, other stuff got in the way. The added nose weight works just fine and the plane isn't too heavy, so aftermarket metal undercarriage is not needed. I've glued the wings in place underneath, with the wing roots still to be fixed.

 

Sat on a bit of hardstanding, it looks nearly ready for the Gallery. If only!

 

[TonyW]

This afternoon saw me sanding down the Constellation.

I've been told endlessly over the years that it's much easier to sand a little bit of filler than a lot. I never listen.

I also continually kick myself when I sand the mountains of the stuff I trowel on, right back to the tiny amount I should have used in the first place. Oh well, it's nearly done now...

 

 

There's some tiny air pockets to deal with. Once that's sorted I can decide if there's going to be any re-scribing happening.

[rob Lyttle]

Looking epic already, Tony 😍

Lockheed 's rise from totally down-and-out broke to manufacturers of these glorious Queens of the Sky is a remarkable story. To do it through the Great Depression is nothing short of miraculous. 

[TonyW]

Today see's me take a closer look at the wing roots.

Checking out internet pictures, it seems Heller have built the right amount of dihedral into the wings. The wings will need pulling up into place a bit though. It will need a bit of clamping while the glue at the wing roots sets, but it seems no filler will be needed.

One thing that worries me is the clamping is going to add a bending action to the upper fuselage joint once things have set and although there's some reinforcement in there, I want more to be on the safe side.

I've drilled a hole in the undersides and poured in a load of gorilla glue and let it run along the length of the upper joint. Things are all propped up now while the glue expands and does its stuff. With luck, I won't come back to a sproinged open fuselage, but a nicely reinforced and solidly jointed one instead.

 

Tony.