chadders Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 (edited) Here's something I wanted for many years. I got the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft conversion as well, so I'm going to build 905 as she appeared during the approach and landing tests at Dryden in October 1977, simply because I love the American Airlines NMF scheme it still sported. The Shuttle on it's back will be the Revell kit, as it bears a better resemblence to Enterprise, and this will be based on pictures of the final A and L test, where it flew without the engine fairing. Anyway waffle over. Here be the pictures The box artwork A fusalage half... To give some idea of the size, heres a 1:72nd Spitfire on the tail And finally the decals from the conversion set Onwards and upwards as they say, Mark Edited April 24, 2011 by chadders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 very nice. Would look nicer in BOAC! That how Ill make mine when my 6 numbers come on the lotto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attman007 Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 This sounds amazing would love to do that kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted April 24, 2011 Author Share Posted April 24, 2011 First job was the horizontal stabilizers. These are formed from 3 parts, the bottom and 2 top parts. This arrangement ensures that the correct angle is acheived without any fuss. The trailing edges needed thinning quite alot, but with a little time and patience a pleasing result is your reward. I then scribed in the main panel lines, with the movable surfaces being excentuated more. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 That will be a biggun, Where you going to keep it?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder17 Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Good luck with this. I have built one as a SCA but i didnt use the conversion kit. Its not too hard a model to build , its just awkward once it comes together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 jesus man, that thing is massive. really looking forward to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Watching with interest....hows the display room extension coming along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 You might need THIS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Good luck, thats one heck of big machine and by the time you've put the Shuttle on it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 i really dont want to sound rude, but would you mind telling how much that sort of kit costs, i mainly use hannants and i have not seen one on hannants before, equally how much would a 1/72 shuttle set you back, as im damned tempted to pick them up for my dad. Fantastic work by the way, really cannot wait to see this one come to fruitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastien Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 i really dont want to sound rude, but would you mind telling how much that sort of kit costs, i mainly use hannants and i have not seen one on hannants before, equally how much would a 1/72 shuttle set you back, as im damned tempted to pick them up for my dad.Fantastic work by the way, really cannot wait to see this one come to fruitation. Hi, Check there : http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TW7212001 Cheers, S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 And here for the SCA conversion http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TWC72001 and then here for a shuttle http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV4733 Not the cheapest project, but one I've been promising myself for many many years, and the enjoyment to £ factor is quite reasonable in my eyes so it's all good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Really nice project - I remember doing one of these many many years ago but it must have been 1/144 or something. What kind of size will it be overall when built ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Vader Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) This is going to be massive when done, I like em big so cant wait to see this one progress ! Edited April 25, 2011 by Darth Vader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 The fuselage is 38" long. The stabilisers in the picture are a foot across!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Well, thanks to Will and Kate I've been able to do a little more on the build today. The main bulk of the work done was the building of the nose gear bay. A set of templates is included to build this, but after building one from the supplied 2mm sheet using these templates I thought I may open up all the gear doors. This would mean that the gear bay as built would not be deep enough at the forward part of the undercarriage, so a new was built. This isn't a fault with the kit, as the forward doors shouldn't be open on the ground anyway, so the kit supplied templates would suffice, its just me making work for myself. As you can see, the new one is now deep enough for the wheels to retract into (if they could anyway). All the detail work still needs to be done, but you get the idea of where I'm going with it. Now I have the shape of this part right I can cut this shape into the structural keel, and then fit the keel into the fusalage. These first shots show the difference between the bay built from the templates and the one I designed and built Then this is the finished artical Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Well, its been a little while since my last update so here's what I've been up to. Its not a great deal but life has been getting in the way just recently. Here are the 2 scratch built main gear bays. Built up, as with the nose bay, from the supplied 2mm sheet. I used the set of supplied templates to get the basic shape and then tweeked them to get the best fit within the lower wing. And this is them loosely dropped in place. As with the nose bay, these are just the basic shape to get the positioning right. All details will be added later, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 blimey i still cannot get over how big this is, ok silly question time, are you going to super detail this bird, also those are going looking scratch built bays there, once all the detail is added they will look stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 I'm not going to be adding anything to the interior, or drop the flaps etc. I will be scribing in all the panel lines and access hatches etc, and I'll also be adding the strenghening plates around the Shuttle supports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyl1962 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Fantastic build so far. A month now with no updates. Any progress?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gajman Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I've just seen this thread and that's going to make a fantastic kit. I second Andy, any updates? You can't leave us hanging like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Progress has been slow, but I've finally got the keel in place. Lots of measuring, cutting, sanding, measuring, cutting sanding, but I figured its better to take my time, and get it right, than rush and make a ball up. The keel has been secured with lashings of " tube" cement (can't remember the last time I used glue out of a tube!), and I'm going to give this plenty of time to fully set before I get the two fusalage halves together Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadders Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 (edited) Work continues at a glacial pace!! The reason being is that in an attempt to get the strongest bond possible I'm flooding the joints with tube cement (God knows when the last time I used tube cement was, but I've got shed loads of the stuff from all the starter sets that I've bought over the years!), a section at a time, leaving it a couple of days, doing the next section and so on and so on, and the using 5 minute epoxy on the inside of the joints where ever I can. Seems to be working so far, and here is the fusalage almost together. Now you will notice a small gap the middle of the fusalage. When I started glueing the fusalage halves together, I started at the nose and was going to work backwards. Anyway, I glued the nose together left it for a couple of days and was just about to glue the next section when I noticed that one half was shorter than the other. I've never seen anything over the years to sugest that the kit is at fault so it must be something I've done somewhere along the line. So, I've simply cut the fusalage in half, mated the nose and tail end together, and I'll fix the gap (3mm) by backing it with plastic card and putting a plastic shim into the gap, Jobs a goodun. Once I'm happy with the strength of all the joins I need to look at the profile of the nose coz its off on one side (it looks like its got tooth ache), again I think its more me than the kit, and then sort out these seams. Its incredable how different it is making something of this size compared to say a 48th Spitfire. This is proper model building Mark Edited July 23, 2011 by chadders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 (edited) Good progress, I would like one of these but to big for me, and would not know where to put it Edited July 19, 2011 by kev67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now