BOAC Lodestar

[81-er]

There's certainly more than enough detail for how little will be visible of that interior, and the solution for the trailing edges is ingenious! I’m assuming the fully painted interior shot is of the Viking? It looks great either way

 

James

[TheyJammedKenny!]

3 hours ago, 81-er said:

the fully painted interior shot is of the Viking

You assume correctly!  Yes, it's the Viking's interior, based on what I've seen of BEA aircraft of the period.  Hunting Clan purchased their aircraft second-hand from BEA.

[modelling minion]

They look very good to me. 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

7 hours ago, modelling minion said:

They look very good to me. 

I appreciate it!  Today I made a concerted effort on the wings.  First, I attached the cowling after-bodies, which on the real aircraft contain the engine accessories.  I've read that these are a real pain to fit, but I found that with a bit of careful experimentation, and some sanding here and there, they can be made to fit well.  There are gaps, however.  These I filled during the assembly process by running cyanoacrylate gel along the contact points where gaps would show, and using Plastruct plastic weld everywhere else.

 

 

The results are pretty good!  I plan to run some 7/16" diameter plastic tubing through the openings to help anchor the engine assembly, which will be the single row, 9-cylinder, Wright Cyclone.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

On the inverse, I ran a thick coat of cyanoacrylate gel over top the plastic sheet that serves as the chord extension.  This served two purposes: to create an extra layer of thickness; and to roughen the surface for filler putty.  I then plastered the surface with Mr. Surfacer 1000:

 

 

My plan is to sand this area smooth and blend it with the airfoil.  I understand the top side was flat, so I don't plan to do much work there except to smooth the join.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Finally, the interior received some paint today.  I started with Stynylrez white primer, followed by a lightened aircraft grey over the passenger floor and seats, cockpit, and wing spar.  I don't know what color the cockpits were, but I suspect you won't see much anyway.  My educated guess is the pilots' seats were dark jade green and the passenger seats powder blue.

 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Thats very good progress, you doing a great work on this one. 

[81-er]

You've certainly got the measure of this one, and well aware of the pitfalls to avoid

 

James

[TheyJammedKenny!]

On 9/11/2025 at 8:00 PM, modelling minion said:

Thats very good progress, you doing a great work on this one. 

I appreciate the encouragement!

 

On 9/12/2025 at 4:48 AM, 81-er said:

well aware of the pitfalls to avoid

Some but not all!  Much of this is a matter of taking a closer look at the parts and forecasting what can go wrong.  It's something most of us do to avoid surprises.

 

Here are the wings with the Lodestar's elegant, aerodynamic exhaust assemblies added and some filler putty (Mr. Surfacer 1000) applied to a few places that need it.  Keep in mind that Special Hobby gives you very subtle lines that show the placement of the exhaust assembly as it "fans out" toward the manifold.  You can easily miss it if you're not looking at it in good light, or if if (heaven forbid) you sand it away.  Used properly, the lines serve as channels for liquid cement and help the things stay on.  The longer part (E6, I think) needs to be gently bent before you cement it so it curves around the lower, rear portion of the nacelle.  

 

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Today I also mixed up something that looked sufficiently "powder blue" and applied it to the seats and cabin interior.  The upper part of the cabin, including the windows and bulkheads I'll paint in a cream color.

 

 

[modelling minion]

Neat job getting the exhausts to conform to the nacelles and I like the powder blue colour on the interior, it will look good with the cream.

[81-er]

The wings are coming along very nicely and I like the blue

 

James

[TheyJammedKenny!]

6 hours ago, modelling minion said:

I like the powder blue colour on the interior

Thanks! I thought it was a little dark, so I added more white paint and re-sprayed it on the interior while leaving the seats the same.

 

2 hours ago, 81-er said:

The wings are coming along very nicely

 Thanks!  The next bit will be dealing with the flap tracks, which are a little tenuous.  @Vingtor knows better than I do but from photos of the actual aircraft, it appears the three flap tracks closest to the fuselage are split between the upper and lower half of the chord extension.  The two outboard-most fairings are entirely exposed and aligned roughly beneath the chord extension.

[Vingtor]

49 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Thanks!  The next bit will be dealing with the flap tracks, which are a little tenuous.  @Vingtor knows better than I do but from photos of the actual aircraft, it appears the three flap tracks closest to the fuselage are split between the upper and lower half of the chord extension.  The two outboard-most fairings are entirely exposed and aligned roughly beneath the chord extension.

 

The flaps themselves, and thus the fairings are in the exact same positions as on the L14/Hudson wings. It is just the trailing edge that has been extended beyond the rear of the flaps.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Special Hobby's flap tracks are difficult to figure out, and on all ten I fitted scrap plastic to fill in the triangle-shaped space at the leading edge of the track.  I split the inboard three tracks on each wing into upper and lower.  After giving the cyanoacrylate and cement time to set, I sanded the tracks into a shape that looked "about right."  It's all approximate.

 

Here are the tracks in raw form: 

 

 

 

Note that the flap track ends should form a line parallel to the trailing edge of the unmodified Hudson wing:

 

 

A little bit of sanding and refining on the left wing resulted in this: 

 

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Here's the finalized interior color pattern, with cream on top:

 

 

Lodestar aficionados take note: the fit of the clear cockpit part as it joins the roof line is poor.  There's a gap between the clear part and the roof line.  I measured out the area and added plastic, which I subsequently sanded down to ensure better fit:

 

 

[modelling minion]

That really is very good work on the wings, it can't have been easy to get where you are from what Special Hobby provide you with. The interior looks very good too and I really like how the cream looks.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

57 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

it can't have been easy to get where you are from what Special Hobby provide you with

Thank you!  It wasn't easy at all, because Special Hobby gives you but the vaguest idea what to do with the parts provided.  In my case, I consulted the best photos I had of the real aircraft and even then was a little confused how Lockheed executed the flap design.  I'm sure folks who flew the real aircraft could explain it all in five sentences and assure me it's an easy system to understand.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Tonight, as I was contemplating my next move with the engines, I looked at the squared-off intake that Special Hobby asks you to cement to the underside of the cowling (E-13) and thought: "that can't be right!  I want to see a picture!"  And lo and behold:

 

 

It isn't right.  But fortunately, Special Hobby gives you the correct parts for the oil cooler: E-9 and E-15.  Modelers take note: Special Hobby has crossed through these parts on its instruction sheet.  But if you are building a BOAC aircraft flying the East Africa routes, don't throw out parts E-9 and E-15!  Keep them!  Note that the kit's part depicts the oil cooler's heat exhaust flap in the closed position.

[81-er]

A good spot there with the oil coolers! The tracks for the flaps look very nice, but I'm sure they look a lot of time to get that way

 

James

[Vingtor]

On 9/16/2025 at 10:47 PM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Special Hobby's flap tracks are difficult to figure out, and on all ten I fitted scrap plastic to fill in the triangle-shaped space at the leading edge of the track.  I split the inboard three tracks on each wing into upper and lower.  After giving the cyanoacrylate and cement time to set, I sanded the tracks into a shape that looked "about right."  It's all approximate.

 

Some photos showing how I did the flap actuators. Slightly different approach from you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18 by Vingtor

[TheyJammedKenny!]

8 hours ago, Vingtor said:

Slightly different approach from you.

And looks just as good!  Mine are on solidly.  There's no way they can be ripped off the wing at this point, so I have to love 'em.  

 

Also, I just put all the passenger windows in.  I inserted them slightly "proud" of the fuselage skin and polished them down inside and out.  There's a little distortion, but they're clear.  I'll post photos later.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

The top fuselage half has the windows glued in place, but without any sanding and polishing.  They stand slightly "proud" of the "skin" to enable me to sand them down easier (up to 12,000 grit) and thin them at the same time, increasing their transparency.  The lower fuselage half has the windows already sanded and polished.

 

 

[modelling minion]

Very nice work on the windows you have polished, they look really good and clear.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Arctic Decals provided five color options for period airliner windows.  Mika and I discussed which one would be most suitable, and concluded that buff was the best: 

 

 

So buff it is!  Here's the interior with the curtains "hung" in the windows:

 

 

 

And here's how it looks from the exterior:

 

 

Edited September 20 by TheyJammedKenny!
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