crazypoet

I am so very sorry to hear that what do you need?

That looks to have been a truly fun project - and came out beautifully

No laughter here! I like that you even thought about the sound effects! I finally have a PC with enough horsepower to take on CAD, and I’ll have some time over the holidays to focus on it. Some of the things I want to build/modify simply don’t exist, so it’s either rely on the kindness of those hereabout or roll my own, so to speak you’re a great example and set the bar high!

I’m going to dig into the references on the engine - thanks all for the notes! I would not be even close to where I am without y’all looking over my shoulder and poking at me when I get something a bit off most of the good pics I have are restorations, but I know I’ve also seen some good pics of early D revs floating around. I’ll post what I find and go from there

Got this from Barracuda (thanks for pointing the way, Carl!!!) Had to order a Spitfire cockpit set to get the correct gunsight for a P-47 - whodathunk???

C-5B or Air Force One ooohhhh... wait! super constellation... Short Sunderland... Pan Am Clipper (ok, yes, this is me giving my 1/32 wishlist a public airing, with the understanding than none of these is ever likely to see the light of day...) dammit

Did anyone here have a chance to talk to them about specifics?

You know, as I look at their mockup, it seems like they may be already planning for multiple boxing’s - they have clear dividing lines that might be useful for different pieces to be fitted i can see the possibility of different noses and turret/no turret versions in the tooling they are showing off here

While I love that they are producing exactly the version I most wanted to build first - the gun-nosed G version - I agree that tooling which allows for other versions would be most welcome! the A-20/Boston has stories to tell in many versions and under many flags This is an aircraft that I would *love* to see in multiple versions!

The detailing is exquisite. as Peter mentioned, you are actually doing what the rest of us only try to sculpt. in a sense, every model we build is a “sculpture”. It’s an approximation of the real thing, more or less limited by the combination of modeler skill, aftermarket doodads and kit contents. what you are doing transcends this - you are sculpting some components - albeit at a level of detail the rest of us can mostly only imagine - while actually making the overall unit functional. it would not surprise me in the least to learn that you’d somehow managed to incorporate some .17 caliber rounds and functioning actions into those scale brownings...!

Thanks for the update - keep us posted, you have our collective ears To listen and shoulders to lean on

Timely reminder!

I ordered a set of braided lines and spark plugs from ANYZ, so while I’m waiting on them I’m going to do the supercharger assembly. It has some interesting bits and pieces and materials and it’s a great practice space for NMF stuff in a place where I can hide my worst bit of experimentation. The hot side of things is steel and the cool side is aluminum - I’ll have some fun playing with different NMF approaches while waiting for the fiddly bits of the engine to arrive

I am studying every step in this, with a certain amount of awe. not only a master class in scratchbuilding but also in foiling given that I have a NMF B-17 sometime in my future, I’ll need all the help I can get!

Wait.. testing for duds?!?!?! I can see this as part of a "things that didn't end well" diorama...

Loving this! Your detail work seems spot on. Thanks also for showing off the ANYZ stuff - I’m going to pay him a visit for some goodies for the P-47

Been in both - neither was fun, and i’d Have been utterly delighted with a kit to bumble with!

I’d contribute - few things worse than being in the field with nothing to occupy the mind and hands

So I finally have the cockpit wrapped up. Things are resting in place while I sleep on it before gluing the seat and sides permanently in place. i had one oops during the process - my phone rang as I was running the right side rudder cable and I jumped just enough to put some slack in the line between the rudder pedal and pulley. i’ll decide tomorrow whether I want to rip things up and redo it, or if I can snug things up elsewhere. i also have a bit of touch-up to do before moving on to the next step - but either way, the pit will be done tomorrow, leaving me ready to move on to bigger things (or at least bigger *parts* of things!)

Beautiful!!!!

Ok, so I have this problem that, once I see something in the reference library and find that it’s very visibly wrong in the kit, I can never *unsee* it. And while I have zero doubts that there will be uncounted inaccuracies that I miss out of pure ignorance, I do try to fix the ones I find, if it’s something that is visible to even a semi-informed observer. which brings me to today’s installment... First, in the P-47 parts manual, it’s immediately apparent that the control stick has a base mounting flange between the stick mechanism and the cockpit floor. Both Trumpeter and Eduard left this out of their respective sets, so I gritted my teeth and built the flange while also making up the boot (that flap at the rear of the boot will wrap around the control cable connector and be secured with a brass clasp when installed) Next, in every photo i’ve seen of original unrestored examples, the forward Cockpit bulkhead is corrugated. This is a detail that I did my utter damndest to ignore, as there are just a few angles from which it’s visible. But, well, damn. soooo... some .010 card and .015x.030 strip later... instant corrugated sheet! Needs to be primed and painted to match, but I am tons happier...

Those are some nice casts! Question - do you plan to add engine detail, or are you relying on the modeler to source those elsewhere?

Interesting stuff! Ernie - I love your approach to finding topics that are *really* interesting, unusual and challenging. I particularly like that you are looking into civilian applications - much respect on that! I have some wartime stories that I still need to tell, but once I get through those, I will look at your work as inspiration

Completed belts and seat - using the Eduard set (I sent a query to HGW about their set - it seems like they packed a 1/48 set of belts in the 1/32 set package)

That’s a great approach!