I won't let this Skymaster master me!

[billn53]

Here's my Sunday morning update...

 

I've gone about as far as I can with this build before putting the color coat on. For that, I had to order off some gray paint of the appropriate shade (FS 36473), which should arrive either tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm travelling Tuesday for a week... If it gets here tomorrow, I should be able to get the first coat on before I leave.

 

Here's where the Skymaster now stands:

 

Attached the wing struts. Some cleanup at the joins still needs to be done.

 

 

Added various antennae top and bottom, plus some PE fuel filler caps left over from my OA-37 Dragonfly build. There are still a couple of large blade antennae to be added ... I'll do that after painting is complete.

 

 

Tackled the main landing gear. The Airfix parts leave a lot to be desired, and if I had some brass strip handy I would have tried fabricating replacements. The Airfix parts fit into slots in the fuselage side, and there's no guidance as to how far to insert the legs in the slots. Fortunately, I have this drawing for reference:

 

 

The other issue is that there is "slop" in the attachment points that needs to be taken out to ensure the plane sits level. Through trial and error, I ended up adding different thickness shims on both sides:

 

 

 

 

I haven't tackled the nose gear yet, and will do that at the very end. I'm betting Airfix's nose gear is either too long, or too short, and I'll have some adjusting to do to make the plane sit properly. 

 

Good news is, the aftermarket items I ordered for the A-10 arrived yesterday so I'll be able to start on that project as soon as I'm back from my trip 

[Jackson Duvalier]

Pity about the main gear legs.  Seems to me a one-piece approach would be far superior from a structural standpoint as well as easing alignment.

 

I'll have to remember that the next time I design tooling for an O-2 kit.

 

The drawing also clearly depicts toed-in fins; point that out if anyone gives you grief.  🙂

[billn53]

Just now, Jackson Duvalier said:

Pity about the main gear legs.  Seems to me a one-piece approach would be far superior from a structural standpoint as well as easing alignment.

 

I'll have to remember that the next time I design tooling for an O-2 kit.

 

The drawing also clearly depicts toed-in fins; point that out if anyone gives you grief.  🙂

 Let me know when you start designing, I have some suggestions for you. And, yeah, I noticed the fins, too. But, I resisted the urge to take measurements and compare to mine. 

[Jackson Duvalier]

1 minute ago, billn53 said:

Let me know when you start designing, I have some suggestions for you.

 

Naturally we'd begin with a fuselage moulded in clear plastic and Kabuki tape masks for the windows-- inside and out.  That alone should save a few hours effort.

[billn53]

Just now, Jackson Duvalier said:

 

Naturally we'd begin with a fuselage moulded in clear plastic and Kabuki tape masks for the windows-- inside and out.  That alone should save a few hours effort.

And, give an option for open cowl flaps & landing gear doors (with detailed bays). I think the Skymaster looks a lot more interesting with all that stuff hanging out. 
 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Looks sharp, Bill!  You need to find a "friend" who owns a Cessna 337 Skymaster and take it for a spin, if you're multi-engine rated.  Even if you're not, I think it would be fun to ride "right seat," just to get a sense of what the real thing is all about.

 

Regarding ADC Gray, which is what you've chosen, I'd lighten it substantially with white before applying it.

[billn53]

4 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Looks sharp, Bill!  You need to find a "friend" who owns a Cessna 337 Skymaster and take it for a spin, if you're multi-engine rated.  Even if you're not, I think it would be fun to ride "right seat," just to get a sense of what the real thing is all about.

 

Regarding ADC Gray, which is what you've chosen, I'd lighten it substantially with white before applying it.

I’m not rated for multi, but I’d certainly love to fly one from the right seat. And, regarding color, 36473 is what is called out on the official specs. I’ve heard before that ADC Gray should be lightened for these planes. 

[billn53]

I have only a few hours before I must leave for the airport, I'll be gone for a week so no further progress until I get back. Let me bring you up to speed on where I am with the Skymaster...

 

Painted up the rocket pods:

 

 

and the propellers. In photos of the ANG aircraft, the front surface of the forward propellers appear to be non-black. I chose a silvery-grey color similar to what I've seen on other GA propellers. I still need to do the yellow tips.

 

 

Scratched a tiny door handle. BTW, take a look at that crappy Airfix landing gear -- more on that subject, later.

 

 

Added clear covers for the landing/taxi lights, made from packing tape. I had to use extra-thin CA around the edges, otherwise the tape kept lifting up. With the tape in place, I masked the covers for painting:

   

 

Speaking of paint, the FS36473 gray I ordered arrived yesterday. I painted up a couple of plastic spoons, and it's definitely lighter than ADC gray (FS16473) & seems to match photos pretty well, so I decided to use it as-is, without adding any white to it.

    

 

I couldn't wait to get paint on this bird!

 

 

The Wisconsin ANG Skymasters had much less white on the upper surfaces than typical (on other O-2s, the white usually continued on the wings outboard of the booms.) BTW, this could well become my "go-to" white paint. It covers very well, perhaps better than Tamiya XF-2.

 

 

After the paint had dried, I unmasked the windows:

 

 

And, in the process, disaster stuck!

 

 

I rigged up another jig and re-glued the broken leg in place. I'll let this sit while I'm away, then see where things stand (no pun intended). More than likely, I'll add some reinforcement to both legs -- that won't be scale, but will at least give me some peace of mind. This isn't a contest build by any means!

 

 

On a happier note, yesterday I took time away from the bench to get some pattern work in at my local airport (Middleton Municipal Airport, a.k.a. Morey Field)

 

 

Seeing this while taxiing to the runway gave me pause...

 

 

I was in the right seat of a small plane once, during a vacation in the Caribbean, when we hit a pelican soon after takeoff. Put a football-size dent in the wing leading edge! I definitely don't want to go through that again.

 

That's all for now. Next update will be in a week or so.

 

[heloman1]

Ouch with the u/c. Before you buy another, look for the Nichimo kit (might be another manufacturer). I think you'll find less problems!

 

Colin

[billn53]

29 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

Ouch with the u/c. Before you buy another, look for the Nichimo kit (might be another manufacturer). I think you'll find less problems!

 

Colin

Nichimo’s Skymaster is 1/48. The only 1/72 kits I am aware of are Airfix and Arii (the Arii is reportedly no better than Airfix, and the undercarriage is just plain wrong.) I guess we’ll just have to wait for @Jackson Duvalier to release his kit. 

[billn53]

I'm back from my trip and am now in the final stretch with my Skymaster!

 

The last thing I did before leaving was to glue the broken leg in place. On my return, I reinforced the glue joint with CA and baking soda. I also reinforced the other leg while I was at it, just in case.

 

 

That done, I painted the anti-glare panel and various antennae, then applied gray Tamiya wash to the panel lines. Next was decaling. I mainly used decals that came with the kit (this boxing has Scale Master decals, and they performed very well even though many decades old). Also, a few additional decals from the spares box, and home-printed markings for the particular Wisconsin ANG bird I'm modeling:

 

 

    

 

I'm now down to about a dozen items on my "to do" list -- wheels, nose gear door, propellers, pitot tube, rocket pods, a couple more antennae on the top deck, the tall whip antenna, the wire antenna that runs between the left wing and fin, anti-collision beacon on the starboard fin, and wingtip nav lights. Hopefully, my next post will mark the end of this build, with an RFI close behind.

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Still following - model is looking really good - a million miles from the original kit.

Well done sir.

Colin

[billn53]

Well, the Skymaster is finished, leaving me with a feeling of relief. It wasn't the most pleasant build I've done, by any means. For what was supposed to be a quick build of a simple kit, it turned out to be one of the most challenging of all my Wisconsin ANG birds -- only the Sabre had more surgical work involved, and that was because I had to back-date the F-86 to an "A" version.

 

Here's the last few items I had to attend to:

 

First, the red anti-collision beacon on the starboard fin:

 

I shaped a bit of styrene rod and inserted it into the top of the fin:

 

 

Then, I sanded the top down to the proper height, and used UV-activated clear gel and transparent red paint to create the beacon:

 

I also used the UV gel to make the wingtip navigation lights and the clear lights on the rear of the fins:

 

 

I improved on the kit's pitot tube by scratch building one from brass rod and styrene sheet:

 

After that, it was just a matter of some final painting and installing a few remaining items, and she was done!

 

 

 

 

 

A RFI won't be far behind, and the start of the final addition to my Wisconsin ANG collection, the A-10A "Warthog"

 

[stevehnz]

Really nice Bill, a triumph of your skills over model mediocrity. Well done.

Steve.

[billn53]

15 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

Really nice Bill, a triumph of your skills over model mediocrity. Well done.

Steve.

Thanks Steve! I do what I can, but I do have limits 

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Skill and patience has had its just reward!! Well done.

Colin

[billn53]

RFI is up, see it here:

 

 

 

[Mr T]

Thanks for you detailed description of building this kit. I am currently looking at the 1973 reissue of this kit in s blister pack as it will be my entry in the High Wing GB. To make life more interesting, I am planning on building it as one flown by the air force of El Salvador. There is a connection with the country within the T household that might be explained when the project starts. 

[heloman1]

Congratulations Bill, well worth the slog...

 

Colin

[Martian]

Lovely job!

 

Martian 👽

[abat]

Thanks for sharing this one Bill. I really enjoyed reading through your build. A brilliant result.

Andrew

[Serkan Sen]

A nicely detailed work Bill. Congratulations...

Serkan

[LorenSharp]

Excellent Job Bill. I can't wait to see how the Hog turns out.

[billn53]

1 minute ago, LorenSharp said:

Excellent Job Bill. I can't wait to see how the Hog turns out.

Well then just head on over to the RFI forum, you’ll find the hog there. 😊