zebra Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I've got a Bucc and a Meteor on the bench, another Bucc to start and the F-106 barely started, so the obvious thing to do is think about the next build! This is going to be the YC-121F (aka L-1249A or R7V-2) turboprop-powered Super Constellation. Four prototypes were built with Pratt & Whitney YT34 turboprops (also used on the C-133, YC-97J and YC-124B) and shortened wings. They weren't in service long (apparently due to the complexity of the engine) although they seem to have performed well - the first R7V-2 was the fastest transport aircraft in the world for a while. This is one of the two US Navy R7V-2s: I'll be using the Welsh Models 1/144 kit: It's a fairly simple looking kit - not a lot of parts, vacform fuselage and everything else is resin, which looks nice and crisply cast. There's a decal sheet for an EC-121, printed by Liveries Unlimited, and a supplementary sheet with specific markings for the R7V-2 and YC-121F. Going to need a YC-97J and YC-124B to sit alongside it! more soon Julian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I do like your choice of build. The connie and her progeny are some of my favorites. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 11 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: I do like your choice of build. The connie and her progeny are some of my favorites. One of my favourites too. I like the purposeful look the turboprops and the shortened wings give it too. I have a bit of a thing for turboprop conversions - as well as the YC-97J and YC-124B, I'm contemplating a Dart-powered B-17 for next year's B-17 STGB. I started on the Connie today. Cutting out, cleaning up and assembling the fuselage has presented no real problems so far. The plastic is a good thickness so it's pretty rigid even without any bulkheads inside it. There's quite a lot of liquid gravity in the nose - the centre of gravity is about 3cm in front of the cut-out for the wing but I expect the resin tail group will shift it back quite a bit. I'll get some filler into the seams tonight so I can get the first round of fill-sand-prime-repeat going. I think this is going to be a natural metal R7V-2 so I'm going to have to do a good job on the filling, sanding and rescribing. more soon Julian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted November 27, 2022 Author Share Posted November 27, 2022 First sanding and scribing session done: 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 What a great subject choice Julian While I really do want to see this one take shape I also hope it doesn't do so at the detriment of your other projects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 7 hours ago, zebra said: First sanding and scribing session done: Great progress! But now I am wondering how it would look mated to that Meteor wing! 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfa1983 Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 On 11/27/2022 at 8:26 PM, Thom216 said: Great progress! But now I am wondering how it would look mated to that Meteor wing! You're not the only one! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 On 11/28/2022 at 3:26 AM, Thom216 said: Great progress! But now I am wondering how it would look mated to that Meteor wing! On 11/29/2022 at 5:14 AM, arfa1983 said: You're not the only one! I wish I'd seen this before I joined the Meteor wing and fuselage up! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 Attached the empennage today. It's going to take a bit of blending in. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted December 27, 2022 Author Share Posted December 27, 2022 Back to the Super Connie. Wings are on. They're stuck to a big lump of Milliput inside the fuselage for extra support. As you can see, they don't actually join up with the fillet on the fuselage - well they could have done, but I had to choose between a stepless join at the bottom of the fuselage and the wings not meeting the fillet, or the wings meeting the fillet but looking like they're sitting too high and a massive step at the bottom of the fuselage. I went with the first option, and will sculpt a new fillet from Milliput. Never expected this to be easy! cheers Julian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 I keep forgetting you're working on this one as well Julien but it really is a worthwhile subject. Shame it's throwing up such a major fit issue but it seems you've got that covered. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 20 hours ago, Col. said: it seems you've got that covered. Hope so! Milliput is on. Also needed to pack the gaps with a bit of scrap plastic as the fuselage was a bit too flexible. Looks rough right now but I'm giving it 24 hours to cure properly before I start sanding. Hopefully the next update will feature some nice smooth wing root fillets! cheers Julian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted December 29, 2022 Author Share Posted December 29, 2022 Getting there. A couple of spots need filling so I've added some good thick blobs of Mr Surfacer. But I'm fairly confident this is going to work. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 Looking smooth Julien 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted January 1, 2023 Author Share Posted January 1, 2023 Wing roots are just about as good as they're going to get so I've added the outboard tail fins. It's now in the garage with a coat of primer drying. If I'm happy with it after that, it'll get a black base coat next. more soon Julian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 I've got a coat of AK Extreme Metal aluminium on the Super Connie over the last few days. It's thrown up too many imperfections in the model for my liking and I'm going to have to clean them up - I've put too much effort into this model to be able to accept them. So this one isn't going to be finished before the GB ends, but I'll be pressing on and trying to fix everything. It'll get done. thanks for looking Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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