Clunkmeister

Smitty seems to think the block hadn’t opened yet and rooms will come available. I hope he’s right.

The room block is sold out already. I booked two months ago but I’m paying 289.00 per night. If I attempt to change it, I will lose my room. The rooms at this hotel never went live according to the desk clerk, instead they were pre sold with a very few being left. Recon, you got lucky. There were only 225 rooms in the block, and I expect they all went to the local club members and IPMS Brass. Uncool.

Working on creating the correct cheek antennas for the postwar Lanc. The basic antennas were swiped from my P-)1 kit, but they need a pile of modifications, starting with the bases and stalks. I think we’re pretty close now, so next we make four of the distinctive signal reflectors and mount them to the antennas. These will certainly look much more the part and are an obvious big difference on this, the last of the Lancs.

Carl, from what I’ve been able to dig up, no, the observer wore lap restraints only.

Mark, I took the ones out of my P-61 kit for now and am scratching the flat reflectors. The Lanc uses a slightly different mounts, but these are pretty darn close so that a few swipes of a #11 and a sanding stick fixes them.

No sign of them... Nice! I’ve hea d good things about the Acadamy two seaters, but I know jack diddly squat about jets built after 1965.

The version I really like.

Whoever thought these things up must have been airbrushing in a small room with no ventilation.

And the version that docked F-84s on the wingtips.

Ummmmm, uhhhhhh, ummmmmm . Noooooooo but now that you mention it, it does look, well, kinda, well you know. :-/

That’s completely different compared to the production versions. It looks as though there is no bottom level crew area as there is in the production version. It looks very WW2. The prototype seems like a major conversion. Main landing gear is completely different as well.

Peter, although this is 1/48 and technically not Large Scale, it is a LARGE scale model, and I think many of your basic techniques along with modeling 101 should do the job. I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to build this kit and to be able to build it here amongst friends.

It looks like I’m going to be busy. The pilots panel and the massive engineers board have round edges for, but no instrument detail inside the gauge edges. So, Airscale to the rescue. I’m thinking two 1/48 WW2 cockpit sets, plus six 1/48 early jet sets. Then bezels and placards. This cockpit is highly visible through the big Jetsons style bubble. HGW belts are included for all work areas. Lower deck work areas are visible through the bomb aimer’s nose. Much help needed although the basics are all there. B-36 cockpits were very cluttered and busy areas. Researching the photo lab now. It goes in the forward bomb bay. Of course the RB is a featherweight, so all gun positions except the tail must be eliminated.

I’ve received several inquiries on how to open up molded over areas on HPH fiberglass kits, and it’s no different than styrene and good old resin; drill around, slightly inside the circumference, (I use a 1/16 bit in a Dremel), then join the holes and once the molded area is off, carefully sand to fit. No different look Han a year other, but remember, fiberglass dust itches bare skin like CS gas residue, so wear long sleeves, and for God’s Sake, wear a respirator!

It’s looking the business, Peter. I’m soaking this up like a sponge, and believe it or not, I’m learning many techniques to transfer to my own bench. Along with watching world class models emerge, the schooling itself is utterly priceless. It will translate into many more Airscale products sold to me as well. The search for betterment is never ending. Im beginning to wonder if stepping up to a smaller scale number might be a good idea. HPH has plenty of decent 1/16 forms to start with.

eeeeyech! Yup, I re-read that and it DEFINITELY came off differently than I desired.

Scott you KNOW I've got THAT sickness, too. I just SBR'd a Henry Mare's Leg in 357, but no can for it. A buddy built a sweet little subsonic 300 blackout on an AKM frame with a can, and that thing got my blood pumping. All you hear is the cyclic noise and a clang a half second later. I'll be filling out paperwork this weekend......

Hubert, I, like you wanted a DC-3. I can live with the C-47 because most of the freighter I knew were ex C-47s, and most were unmodified other than gutting the interior. To me, a REAL DC-3 has all you mentioned, plus Wright single row engines, which means a much different look. And I didn’t just want a DC-3, I wanted a DST, but beggars can’t be choosers, and as a DC-3, I could scratch the DST differences. Different window arrangement, door on starboard side, skylights for berths, etc. Plus those Wright engines. A HUGE difference can be seen in the pics. I think you can find a dealer to sell it to you for less than MSRP. I bought mine for under $600.00 after taxes, etc. That’s a bit over €500.00. Let me know if I can help. I spend a small fortune on HPH, maybe I might have a favor due from my dealer.

Ha! I can see a rotating stacked display shelf in my mind. A conveyor belt/escalator affair. Yes, all the V bombers. Don’t forget the gorgeous Vickers Valiant, my favorite of the three.

Good, I picked up some cool Polish deckles for it, plus Aires intake, exhaust, gear wells, and ACES ll seats, with a nagging thought in the back of my head that maybe Poland specified the K-36 rapid egress system instead. Gotta check....

Scott, I paid less than 600 for my C-47. Talk to Greg, he can hook you up. I can pick it up from his house and arrange most advantageous shipping at my office.

Scott, I scored this version, and I hope it’s as decent as the SUFA. My goal is a Polish version...

My buying has definitely slowed down, but I can honestly say that I’ve gotten most large scale aircraft I’ve thought I’d build. I’ve traded extras for stuff I want and have looked into heavy transport types. Especially those not usually seen here, like Russian and French types. I haven’t grabbed an An-124 because I see them here often and they’re much like a 737 to me now.. ho hum, another Antonov moving oversized freight.

Carl, shoulder belts are dependent on time frame you’re modeling. Early Kingfishers had lap belts only.