rob Lyttle Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) I've got a little bit of a thing for Lockheed aircraft, and especially the twin engined types. Postwar civil conversions are a fascinating topic in their own right and the L14 Super Electra and L18 Lodestar really bridging the jump from single engine 6-seater planes right up to the extraordinary and fabulous Constellation series of airliners. Fantastic bit of aviation history wrapped up here and of course the gamechanging WW2 thrown in to the mix.. I've done L14 Super Electras, even bashed the ancient Airfix Hudson into an example, and L18 Lodestars, and PV1 Venturas, and now I finally have a kit of the ancestor, the first of the twins, the little L10 Electra. ‼️Good old Special Hobby ‼️ Sad to see this little beauty with so much fame and history being marketed in some rediculous military splodge camo livery, an alternative scheme is supplied for the Romania Airforce..... I kid you not ⚠️😧 A 3rd option is catered for, as the Amelia Earhart Special which was lost without trace over the Pacific Ocean. This tragic loss makes it probably the most famous of the L10s. Amelia had already made some epic flights in the single engined Lockheed Vega, across the American continent and notably from Newfoundland across the Atlantic, landing in Northern Ireland with a few onboard difficulties and 100 gallons still in the tanks. It's reported that the authorities charged her import duty on the 100 gallons. Anyway, the kit is by Special Hobby who have been really raising their game over recent years. This kit has an air of being one of their earlier productions. Still very nicely done and moulded but perhaps a bit more "short run" in style with a number of resin cast pieces and a clear vacform cockpit Canopy. I'll be honest, I've made a start, sorting out the resin cockpit parts, before starting a WIP. Just in case I fell over the first hurdle 😋 Not sure that I like resin parts, and I hate working with CA superglue. But I managed. Somehow.... There's no reason they wouldn't produce these items in styrene now, I'm sure, but it probably seemed the way forward at the time. So I'm feeling Good to Go with this one 🤩 Bare metal foil of course for this, and the final livery to be decided. Not the Amelia plane as I want to have all the windows clear.... I'll just have to bide my time and explore the civil options. I'm well pleased to finally get my hands on one of these for my Lockheed collection Edited December 28, 2022 by rob Lyttle Couple of corrections 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Hi Rob, Here’s a link to my Lockheed Electra WIP — with some loving attention, the Special Hobby kit builds up nicely! Hope this helps… - Bill p.s. As I was re-reading my Electra WIP, I noticed you had followed along on that build, so my link above may be redundant. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Now we are talking real classic. I must follow this build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 13 hours ago, billn53 said: you had followed along on that build, so my link above may be redundant. Hi Bill and thanks for the link. Indeed I remember it well. I don't think I even knew of the kit's existence before watching your excellent build. I've been looking for an example ever since. The link is however very useful, I think I need a revision read through! Do you think I should build a washroom out the back ⁉️😋 Only kidding, that was for Moa.... 😎) It's metal foil for this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Would love one of these too, looking forwardto this one. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 Progress on this is in the "dead slow" category I'm afraid, but definitely not in the "stopped" section. For one thing it has rattled the Lockheed tree and made me aware of the many loose ends I have lying around, waiting to be tied, regarding Lockheed airframes. Well, looking through the Billn build, there's the 3 view and the floor plan. And the build. I know I'll regret it if I don't make any effort in the passenger cabin 🤔 So some rudimentary furniture is being scratched.... Just a bit of halfround styrene sprue for the headrest, butt jointed 1mm stock and a bit of blue sprue stretched over a drill bit for an armrest and leg. There's only 7 of them, I think. I'll go back and check...... I did some quite similar for a DH Heron recently and it is worth the effort. The Heron is a bit of a glasshouse in comparison to this Lockheed, but let's give it a go 😎 The windows are already fitted, after getting some foil on the fuselage side areas. Saves all that masking palaver.....! 👍 Also been tinkering with the tailplanes and setting some deflection on the elevators, The fins are just a butt joint to the horizontal plane but seems to be working OK so far on the starboard side. Kit makers have come up with a few schemes for representing this tricky feature - some designs make more trouble than they solve. At this scale and size I think simple is the way to go. I've put a little bit of deflection on the rudder as well. Nothing else to report on this, I think. I'll press on with the furniture.... 🤪 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 1 hour ago, rob Lyttle said: There's only 7 of them, I think. I'll go back and check...... Oops.... OK, 10 it is! 🤩 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 7, 2022 Author Share Posted August 7, 2022 So, of course I started wondering about opening the passenger door for a bit of interest. I've done it a few times recently, with the Heron and a DH Twin Otter. Actually the ancient Heron kit has the door supplied separately and the stairs and they're needed to support the tail end - it's a very dedicated tailsitter! Anyway, good fun arranging some figures around the doorway..... Looking through some refs it appears that the definition of the Electra door is too square and boxy. It's much more rounded and radiused at the corners. I marked up the centres for appropriate size drill bits.... .... and started drilling, As you can see I'm still a bit nervous about staying inside the lines 😜Well, it's a lot easier taking more off rather than adding it back on again! I got there with the aid of a half round needle file, All I gotta do now is fabricate a new door, and hang it. I'm not happy with the big resin front piece glued to the cockpit floor. There is something wrong with the fit inside the fuselage. I'm going to try a different tack. The resin unit is already removed from the floor and I'll fix it in position such that the fuselage sides are happy to join, and the shortened floor panel will then (be made to) fit to it. I'm calling it Plan B. 😎 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 8, 2022 Author Share Posted August 8, 2022 (edited) Interior is coming along bit by bit.... There are distractions though, but in my defence they are Lockheed distractions. You recall that I said the build had "rattled the Lockheed tree"? Well, I've got this big PV1 Ventura that is in the process of being civilianised as a postwar conversion to passenger carrying. The build is well advanced and then ground to a standstill. It has been sitting on the bench patiently watching all the other builds and nagging me from time to time. The stoppage really stems from an error I made quite early on. While the fuselage halves were still separate, I cut a cargo hatch in the port side nose, just like the L14 and the L18 Lodestars. Unfortunately when I built the wings and the large cowlings and nacelles that accommodate the big P&W R2800 Double Wasp engines , it put the prop right in line with the cargo hatch. Imagine the hatch working loose and opening into the prop...... It's a catastrophe waiting to happen 😬 So on the back burner she went while I considered my options. Now being back in the Lockheed frame of mind, I think I can minimise the visual impact of this error by making a well-fitting hatch door and gluing it shut, never to mention the design flaw again. So finally I have set about the old girl and hopefully, with the impetus of the little Electra build behind me, I will press on regardless. 😎 This is the big Revell PV1 in 1.48 scale and it's quite an epic boxful of styrene joy. To keep the mojo running I may tack the progress onto this thread. Anyone for a BONUS Lockheed Twin? 😎 Edited August 11, 2022 by rob Lyttle Correction 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 I'd love an L-10 in 1/72 (and 1/48) so I'm watching with great interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 12 hours ago, k5054nz said: an L-10 in 1/72 (and 1/48) Not so many of them around @k5054nzbut good luck with the search. Now, something in 1.48 would be a great project wouldn't it?! The nearest thing I can suggest is the Beech model 18 for a little twin engined metal beauty. Revell make it, called the C45 Expeditor, in 1.48.. Lovely build and a good looker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 I've got the interior of the Electra to this stage and for what's going to be seen, I think that's about it for me. It's not based on any particular airline styling, but red upholstery seems to be effective for the visual impact, blue floor or carpet sets it off nicely, and the white headrest covers or "antimaccassers" add some detail where it's most needed. (Too many c's, or too many s's??? Where's the smart Alec spell checker when you really need it, eh?!?) 🤔 I think I can start making a plane here instead of a bunch of furniture... 👍 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 11, 2022 Author Share Posted August 11, 2022 It's all in... 👍 I started with the resin unit epoxied into one of the sides, aligning the V shape with the cockpit opening at the front. I checked the fit of the other side as the epoxy started to grip and small adjustments made for uprightness etc. The fit is vague.... 😏 Once that was sorted, I tried the floor assembly and found it was happy to slide under the resin unit. Pushed forward into its position left minimal leg clearance for the pilots but that won't be seen and the fit of the fuselage sides is far more important, along with the rear bulkhead and back seats through the door. Some whittling of the floor panel at the rear was required to let it sit down inside such that the floor met the threshold of the doorway. For final assembly I glued into the port side, ie the side with the doorway.... A small clothes peg type was used through the doorway to hold the floor down in its position. That little scrap of 1mm stock poked in under the floor is a crucial part of process, otherwise the peg pushes the floor down to meet the fuselage bottom, which is way out of alignment for a horizontal floor! Visible there are some of the styrene strips fitted to aid the fit of the sides together. And after a couple of dry runs... Now we're talking aeroplanes 😎 Is it worth the extra....?? Well, for the open passenger door - yes. Through the windows, with some effort and a good light, the headrests can be seen (a bit). She'd still look good as a shiny wee plane with nothing in there..... But we know... 😇 Now, or soon, I got to get my head around the vacform Canopy. I've got the basic shape cut out of the moulding with surplus everywhere around the edges. I think it's just a steady reduction and many trial fits to the fuselage. Hmmm.... maybe I'll have a look at the wings first 😋 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 12, 2022 Author Share Posted August 12, 2022 I started to feel a bit concerned about the alignment of the major components of the airframe here. The assembly surfaces for the wing and tailplanes are a little bit...... uncertain. There's nothing wrong with them as such but attention is required and some finessing to get things right in relation to each other. So, unusual for my build sequence, I've done this.... That bottom joint isn't bad (by my standards... 😋) This is just the lower wing part. Placing the upper wing and drawing on the fuselage with a scalpel and peeling the foil reveals where the glue joint is along the fuselage. Ali foil is completely impervious to styrene glue. So, if I can get the tailplanes aligned relative to the wings and the fins nice and vertical to the structure, I think we'll be alright 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 Looks great. I hadn’t realised that getting the floor aligned with the door was such an issue! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 12, 2022 Author Share Posted August 12, 2022 35 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: getting the floor aligned with the door Ha, well it's just that the doorway is "homemade" and the kit hasn't really been designed to accommodate this. And a step right there is going to look a bit poor, Adrian. 'Elf & Safety would be straight onto it 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted August 15, 2022 Author Share Posted August 15, 2022 Just chugging away from time to time as the opportunity arises, getting some foil on. I've done the underside of the wings too. I can't say I'm thrilled with the result, I may revise this area, but it is "only" the underside. I'll see what I think of it later. I decided to revert to my old roll of tape. It's wider, at 75mm, but the edges are quite poor with the adhesive damaged probably from sitting in a damp situation in the past. So I have to pick good areas and discard some parts, but the stuff that's good really performs to my liking 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted October 22, 2022 Author Share Posted October 22, 2022 O dear, afraid I've been very slack with the Lockheed L-10, in fact I ran out of steam with the modelling process and there are work things and other stuff taking up time. So what do you do when you hit the doldrums.....? Well, a trip to the local model shop is always a pleasant hour, isn't it? And while I was there I spotted something cheap and cheerful that took my fancy. Airfix have extended the Vintage Classics range of old moulding repops and there on the shelf was a little Beagle Basset 206. Got home, opened the box and whoosh..... Started building 😎😇 I haven't been cataloguing the build process, just picking away at it, and it's coming on. So I'm hoping that the momentum will carry over into the Lockheed build and thus keep the wheels in motion! She's up on her own legs and I'm pleased to announce that she stands on all 3 with her tail up. No mean feat with this little rascal - the nose and engine cowlings are well packed and metal tubes inserted for taking the prop shafts. Got some primer on today to see what the surfaces are like. The Basset 206 was well made with flush riveting and a good clean finish and a lot of the old Airfix raised details have been removed or thoroughly reduced. I'm not familiar with the 206 but I could see that the tailplanes were well out of character with the aircraft. They were honed down and rescribed to the best of my ability to what I could find for reference. The nose wheel leg is nothing short of flimsy - probably good scale wise but very vulnerable while still in the building process . I've inserted a piece of plastic tube up into the nose to take the leg and things look somewhat better. But then I lost the leg /wheel and spent a happy hour looking for the item among all the untidy mess. I've only been and found the wayward part.... 🙏😇 So after that rush of dopamine and euphoria I thought I'd better fess up here and admit what I've been doing. The plan is to crack on with the Lockheed directly and not stop in between. The vacform cockpit Canopy I think is what is making me nervous, but look, how hard can it be 😋😖? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted November 11, 2022 Author Share Posted November 11, 2022 Right O, painfully slow on this I'm afraid, and any modelling is pretty scarce at the moment..... Reckon if someone said to me "Enjoy your retirement" I'd laugh in their face and maybe punch them a little.... 😇 But the glacier has creeked and moved a few inches, and I have the basic airframe in hand. Only one upper tailfin attached but there are wings and foil. It's sitting on a printout of the 3 view drawing of the Trans Canada Airways restored Electra and I'm quite fancying this livery. Wondering if I can print them myself.... I don't know if they are available in aftermarket. There's big black reg lettering and a lovely colourful maple leaf emblem each side of the nose, and some kind of coat of arms on the passenger door which is hard to discern. But the door will be opened back so I won't worry about that too much. De-icing boots on the wings and tailplanes of course, and the Lockheed logos are on the decal sheet. Other than that, I've pushed the little Airfix Beagle Basset closer to the finish line.... No Telford show for me, just too darn busy to be honest, and the retail world is already on the ramp up for..... Can't bring myself to type the C-word😜 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 The Electra's looking terrific, excellent work Rob! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 Thanks for that @k5054nz.... So far so good.... 😋 Well, I've been working on the dreaded vacform Canopy and how to fit it. With some trepidation. I've never done anything like this. Very flimsy to work with but I must say it is very see-through compared to some of the old, thick styrene products. Poly cement won't touch it, Kristal Klear has proved to be a bit of a disappointment. Here's what I've got so far... Trimmed to size by gradual reduction and much dry fitting, and a piece of stretched sprue cyano glued inside at the joint between the windscreens. Also 2 lengths glued inside the bottom edges of the side windows. Upside down view.... In the fuselage opening, a piece of 1mm stock bent and shaped and glued at the roof joint with just enough recess to accommodate the thin vacform plastic and give a flush fit.... There's a small hole drilled in front of the opening at a rakish angle to take the sprue leg that sticks out between the windscreens. Plenty more dry fittings and whittling and I've got this... The thin vacform plastic is very happy to bend and flex but that's just what I don't want 🙄 I'm nearly there, barring any wrong moves, and I have location and some styrene surfaces I can Poly glue. Apart from that, I have a 5min epoxy which is clear, and ca super glue. I was concerned about the fogging that can be caused by CA fumes but that seems to be a particular issue for clear styrene parts - this vacform stuff seems to be immune to it. For all it's flimsiness in the hand, I think it will be reasonably stable and firm in position if my glueing is good enough. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 On 11/11/2022 at 3:58 PM, rob Lyttle said: Reckon if someone said to me "Enjoy your retirement" I'd laugh in their face and maybe punch them a little.... 😇 Haha! I'm right there with you on that one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 I was looking into getting a Basset but most people want the cost of the real plane for it and then shipping. I'll wait till one shows up locally. TCC is a beautiful plane. I've seen it in person many times. It's been retired from flying. I'm told no one is rated on it anymore. So now it'll be sitting in the Royal Air Museum here in Winnipeg. I could have had a chance to go for a ride years ago but was told about it the day after🤬. The model looks good so far. I fave this kit to, might make it TCC or some other that flew in the bush up north. There should be pictures online of the door crest. I just took a look and found this, https://www.jetphotos.com/registration/CF-TCC scroll down and there's a close up, should be able to print it right from the picture, maybe make two overlapping ones in case the print isn't bold enough over aluminum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted November 14, 2022 Author Share Posted November 14, 2022 5 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said: but most people want the cost of the real plane for it and then shipping. I'll wait till one shows up locally. Don't know what the supply lines are like, Busn, but with the Vintage Classics repop now available you should be OK any time soon, and nice and cheap 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 14, 2022 Share Posted November 14, 2022 The Beagle Basset therapy seems to have worked! That vacform canopy is looking good, and the ledges round the edges work wonders. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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