Clunkmeister

Hmmmm. So here’s what we have so far. This is a dry fit just to see where emery thing goes. We seem to be short one black box, but I expect it’s around somewhere and we’ll find it soon enough. No attempt was made to clean or align anything up, I haven't added or subtracted anything, just looking to what we have. This inferior is busy, but I want to make it busier. Mwahahaaaaaaaa

For some reason, black crosses sell. And sell well. They have much to offer. Cool camo, gazillions of colorful paint schemes, and generally, very good looking subjects. As far as KH goes, all I can say is that I really wanted the short nose version. Other than PCH, the pickings are quite slim there. They could have cornered the market on A-3s. KH has given us nothing but esoteric subjects. T-6, T-28, OV-10, F-86D, P-39, etc. The closest they came to mainstream so far is the F-5 family. And now the upcoming Mirage. Their helicopters are easily the best helicopter kits in the world, and I can understand where they’re looking to score on a mainstream subject like a 190.

Yeah we are that. Laid back, chillin’ out with an umbrella drink on a beach somewhere. But shake that vacation thought off and back to the truck.

Rog, with no second thought whatsoever, I’d say that Smitty is the big F-18 expert here on the forums. He lives and breathes the Hornet in its various guises.

Gazz, it’s not the best looking of birds, but it sure is cool. Looks like a lab rat after they dropped a couple drops of some suspected carcinogen on its skin.

I LOVE your signature! O M G !

Little details like that are what MAKE the build seem real, Jeroen. Stunning work!

And the instructions, plus the complete, full decal sheet. I don’t want to assume, and I surely hop it isn’t the case, but there is a chance that this may be the only complete Fisher Guppy set ever shipped with decals. Oh God I hope that isn’t true!

And we have some bibs and bobs, along with a nicely done sedan roof complete with sporty flip up doors.

The cockpit is done very, very nicely. The airframe is nicely assembled, and it’s straight.

So, back last winter sometime, I received a big box from Mike. Inside was a Trumpeter Korean War Skyraider kit, and the Fisher conversion, with much work done, just as Mike told me it would be. Special parts were bagged and boxed nicely, and all was well. Build quality was excellent. I’ve previously finished one or two of Mike’s stalled builds, so I’m aware of and quite comfortable with his build style

A bit of background here. My friend Mike Swinburne and I often get to texting. It sometimes leads to silliness, as in, “hey, let’s build a 1/48 An-225 or something along those lines”. That’s how the Lanc idea germinated, through much text modeling and hangar flying. Somewhere in there talk turned to AIMS conversions, and then to Fisher Fat Face conversions, of which we both own a few of each. Except for the Guppy. The AD-5W Guppy was an ASW conversion of the Family Model Skyraider, which itself was a modification of the original sporty single seat Skyraider. The Guppy conversion was just barely released by Fisher and my order barely received, when the fire happened and in the blink of an eye, the Fisher Models workshop along with all designs, drawings, molds, documentation, and 30+ years of modeling excellence ceased to exist. In the end, few to very few Guppy conversions were shipped, apparently from what I wast told, without decals. The decals were to follow later as they became available. I knew of only one complete set with a decal sheet that got out, and it was sent out to do a build review. And,........ I was talking to the person who had it. As happens to most of us, the build stalled due to life and work issues, and as we hit chatted, a deal was worked out where I would take possession of the Guppy and finish the model to completion. The only other completed model we knew of was Paul Fisher’s own model, and it was lost in the fire. So my plan is to take what Mike has done, which is of extremely high quality, by the way, and kick it up a notch with some cockpit super detailing and the moronic silliness I’m inclined to do. So I’d like to do one other thing here. My build threads tend to become gab feats and that’s cool. But let’s also celebrate Fisher Models. Our experiences, our builds, good, bad, and ugly. Think of your stories, and write them out. The Panther you built that loomed like it was built by a Chimp coming off a 10 day drunk. The first time you saw the Sea Fury and it took your breath away, etc, etc. I’m not sure yet, but I might start a thread up top for that stuff. This build will be here on LSM, and that’s it. So check back, this hopefully will get good. Anyway, let’s look at what we have here:

I’ve done some soul searching. As I’m now finishing my Lanc and working on my D-Day GB contributed, I’ve been looking for the perfect knockout build, as in one that’ll give me huge satisfaction to finish properly. I’ve looked at a Ryan STM, a Russian bomber (coming soon), September Fury (coming sooner), RCAF Dakota (coming soon enough), and in the end, decided on this.

Nobody can say that here on LSM we’re not a crazy building bunch of fools.

Well Rog, I’m not sure if you’re doing a single or two seater, but, just in case it’s a two seater B, I highly recommend against the True Details B cockpit set.I bought one and honestly, it looks like my two year old granddaughter made an impression in plasicene.

Class is in session. I'm stupified by this entire thing. Jeroen, you've outdone yourself here. This is un-bloody-believable

Both were stunners, Larry. Well deserved! But as usual I wish they’d show 1/32 a bit more love when it comes to awards and classes. Some splits and common sense class breakups would make much sense. Why have a B-17 compete in the same class as a P-40? Same with a Gotha competing against a Dr-1. They are different types of builds and the chances of having a perfect Dr-1 are much better than a perfect Gotha. Fixing that might have people bring some bombers and such to compete.

Ahhh drat!

You nailed it Gazz. These thing have a gazillion little brackets, mounts, flanges, supports, and stuff, all of which I know exactly what they’re needed for, and yes, much of it is extremely important down the road. Lose, break or misplace even one little bracket and your build stops.

Yeah, me too. Big plans for next year. Lancaster, Bison C, Miss September, and I’d love to do a Kingfisher. Somewhere in there is an HPH C-47 that will be either a Lambair freighter or an RCAF bird in a similar scheme to the Lanc. I doubt it’ll make it for next year, but maybe Omaha in 22.... It’s such a great time to be a large scale modeler with so many cool kits in the world to choose your dream build from.

I need to finish the big Lanc, but for a few days, we play here. I hope this will be a somewhat straightforward build, but we’ll see, right?

Ok, so we will set the Lanc aside for a few days just to decompress. And jump back into our White 6 ton 6x6 truck.

Rob, I'm seriously hoping this might be a time we can all get together for some fun and friendship. Personally, I'm not a Vegas "Fan" and really don't think all that much of the whole nightlife and gambling scene, but I absolutely love everything else. The landscape is some of the most beautiful in the world, IF you know where to go. The sunsets are truly second to none, and if you like airplanes, guns, fast cars and lots of other seriously cool stuff, then it's the place to go. It's just so far over the top as to be almost unbelievable. I never thought I'd say Dubai is second to anything, but as a 'cool place to go', Vegas definitely gives Dubai a run for it's money