Clunkmeister

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

I'll second on the Kinetic A/B combo kit, Rog. I'm as much a jet guy as you, as in absolutely not at all, so if you're not sure, grab the Kinetic A/B combo kit. It comes with everything to build either a single A or a two seater B. It's all Academy plastic so it's the best there is, and you can mix and match to get your specific Aussie prototype. It's gonna be good to see another early Hornet build. Heck, given the right time of day, I might even join you, as I've been looking for a reason. E

No,. still a WIP, mt friend. I need to figure out the correct wingtip light fixtures for this bird. Apparently, some used a different homebrewed style. Also, the cheek radars I used are not correct and I need info on the right ones. Of course I can find NOTHING out there on them, which is maddening. Add to that, they cast real oddball shadows on the side of the fuselage so it's tough to make them out. plus I need to plumb the auxiliary fuel tank, add the antenna farms over, under, and on the sides of the aircraft, flatcoat the undercarriage, add a bit of oil residue to the outboard nacelles, reassemble the main components using normal cement, not the canopy glue I used, and then go back in a couple months and recheck my work.

holy CRAP!

Exactly. Like I said before, I have enough checks and balances built in to where I can tell almost at a moment's notice if something's hinkey. This time it worked. The issue with me is that oftentimes at the office, potential customers and employees have been known to mistake my kindness for weakness, and that never ends well. Five families, mine included, directly rely on the health of this place for their sustenance, and I'll be damned if some petty thief is going to slide on in and mess with it. I'm just glad the failsafes worked, and now, if he ever wants to work again, he'll need to move to another city. Or Country if I have any say in it.