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1/72 Sentinel AEW.1 (Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter AWI) - inspired by Freightdog's 1/144 conversion kit


Red Baron

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4 hours ago, isaneng said:

Ah, now, I fly piston as well!

Although N1 rpms on a VC10, versus OAT, could be interesting...

 

Pop, pop, pop,   err, sorry skipper! Not me, although admittedly close! 🤣


Those VC10 “autothrottles” could be a bit dodgy....!! Always knew where the cheapest beer was though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Primer (Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer Grey)... shows you all the scratches, flaws etc. Obviously some more puttying and sandig is required 🤨

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close up 😪

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Have a nice weekend 🤗

Ze Baron

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Wow!  Does the cockpit bubble contain shielding for the crew against the main beam energy of the dorsal radar hump?  I ask, because this could really be a difficult aircraft to find volunteers to fly otherwise!  As for me, I'll accept the navigator position in the "coal hole," please.  

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  • 5 weeks later...

@TheyJammedKenny! Indeed, I think a EC-121's crew was protected better, having a regular cockpit in the front of the aircraft, not a dorsal bubble.

 

I continued with more putty and sanding (and breaking off the nose gear leg):

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And then: the canopy "bubble" - only the second time ever I thermoformed a canopy (last time that was a replacement for a much smaller Messerschmitt P. 1101, about 25 years ago).

All in all I am 99% happy with the result:

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Interiour colour is Interiour Green (US):

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Ok, now I'll again need a some putty, but luckily only a small amount 🙂

 

Cheers,

The Red Baron

 

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8 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Looks like a submarine without the wings!  Ahoy, matey!

Yes, when you see that canopy, you don't expect a cockpit, but a full scale bridge with a brass and mahogany wheel.

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@ britman

Thank you for the comment! If you look at Adrian Mann's artwork of the C-97 AWI also used on the Freightdog website, the cockpit 'bubble' looks much smaller. In this size it would never accommodate a 2-seat side-by-side flightdeck layout. As like all the other parts of this conversion, I used the 1/144 scale Freightdog parts (more or less exactly) as templates and the cockpit of the Freightdog conversion kit is large enough for a more realistic cockpit.

 

Ze Red Baron

Edited by Red Baron
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... still struggeling with the canopy....

 

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But now it got a thick layer of black paint over three layers of interiour green. Together with a last layer of primer and the final layer of Dark Sea Grey that should be enough to prevent that one can see through it (with exception of the windows of course 😉).

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I almost forgot that - paints used here are:

 

Primer:

Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer Grey

 

Preshading:

Xtracolor X405 White (matt)

Revell 09 Anthracite (matt)

Humbrol 164 Dark Sea Grey (satin)

 

Main Colour:

Xtracolor X004 RAF Dark Sea Grey (gloss)

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Update: decals are applied (fuselage only, the wings will be subject of the next chapter):

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The roundels (48'') and fin flashes (36'') I took from Xtradecal sheet X72041. All other decals are custom-made by myself and professionally printed (drucker-onkel.de). I used the C-97A kit's decals as templates and 'britainized' them by using Revell's Shackleton AEW.2 decals for orientation or also some as templates (symbols for fire extinguisher, fire axe etc.). Notice should be taken of the position of the "cut here" 'frames'. As you may notice when checking fotos of KC-97s, these 'frames' (US-style: bold corners only, here: 'UK-style': (thinner) frames of dashed lines) are not placed around the windows or doors but above or besides them. I am not a real C-97 expert, but I think Academy's instructions are not reliable in this point.

 

To be continued...

The Baron

 

Edited by Red Baron
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Ooh nice!  I'm fascinated to see the finished article here.  Can only imagine that flying the thing from a dome on the top of the fuselage would have been an interesting experience if this thing had ever made it off the drawing board!

 

Al.

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Next Chapter: the WINGS

 

First impression: again no detail inside the landing gear bays.... I mean, if you are building a 1960s oder 70s FROG kit, that's ok, but this is a kit first issued in the year 2000.... 🤬😡💩

Hey guys of Academy: this is so poor (not to mention the missing doors and vents, mentioned above).

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Academy tried to use one basic wing desing for the B-29 as well as for the B-50 and C-97-variants.  Well I don't mind very much, however I think the process of designing was not finished here. Example: on the upper side of the port wing there are some kinds of cuts or so meant to indicate the outboard engine nacelle's position (maybe this fits for the B-29 (?), but the pencil lines show the upper part of the C-97 port outboard nacelle's real shape and position 🙄). You will only find these cuts there, neither at the inboard nacelle's position nor anything likewise on the starboard wing ... 🤔

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Looks like this will become another puttying and sanding experience.

Well, let's see...

 

Cheers

The Baron

 

 

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Paint masks are off.

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The whole bird got two thin layers of Xtracolor satin varnish, then the paint masks came off.

Some minor corrections will be necessary, but all in all I am nearly satisfied with the result. Cockpit windows remain clear so building a complete cockpit was not useless.

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As I already said: minor corrections will be necessary, as one can see here clearly.

 

For the finish of this aircraft it is the Shackleton AEW.2 (the (C-97) Sentinel AEW.1's much advanced 😉 successor) which I use as reference. As far as I can see, even operational Shackleton AEW.2s had a clean, glossy surface, looking very well maintained. So with this bird I will also be very restrained with weathering and staining, only accentuation the panel lines and a bit of staining at the exhausts etc. will be done.,

(If you might wonder: the 3D-printed nose ends at the panel line directly in front of the canopy.)

 

To be continued..

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  • 4 weeks later...

Almost one month ago I complained about the complete lack of any detail insde the main gear bays. I saw two solutions: 1 - using an aftermarket detailing set and 2 - scratchbuilding.

Of course no. 1 would be the easier way and I was sure Eduard once made a PE-set for the C-97 / KC-97, but it seems to be oop for many years. Ok, one seller had it on stock - in Australia...

But then (sometimes luck is on your side 😃), suddenly and not really searching for it, I found it on ebay two weeks ago - for 8 Euro inculding p&p it really was a bargain.

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If you look carefully: the instructions say "1/35 scale detail set...." 😉. Well, nobody is perfect.

 

So, the project can continue somewhen 😊.

 

Cheers

The Baron

 

 

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