Clunkmeister

Me too. I’ve been waiting for both of those kits, and I’ll definitely jump right into them!

I heard a rumor that they might not release them due to the negative reaction to the Helldiver and Vampire. Oh man I despise it when armchair “never built a thing in my life” modelers pile on to a company. Yes, their Helldiver is a quirky build, but dangit, it’s a sound basic kit. And a member on this Forum has almost completed his Vampire and loved it!

CMK is a Czech company. I BELIEVE it’s the parent company of Special Hobby and several other Czech model companies. CMK itself is their line of resin AM for theirs and most all other kits out there. They make EXTREMELY high quality resin. The resin you get in SH and I believe Fly kits is CMK. They are a competitor of Eduard.

Mike, just a perfect quirky couple of builds. VERY nice! His Majesty’s Ship Albatross looks, well, very British, and the Walrus? Well, there’s nothing to say other than it appears that nothing on the Walrus appears to be aligned with the actual direction of flight. I LOVE IT!

I dunno, I spent a couple hours fading some areas of the GSB, and it’s slowly getting away from the monotone look.

Just a couple more years and all the problems of the Cutlass were solved. As you know, there were a few pilots who absolutely loved the Cutlass. I’m sure Hubert is aware as well, but the Cutlass was the first aircraft to use the now standard 3000 psi hydraulic system. Previous systems were of much lower pressure, and low pressure fittings were used on the Cutlass as nothing else existed. Hoses and fittings continuously failed on the Cutlass, making the aircraft almost unflyable. All aircraft today use that system, but with since developed high pressure hardware.

The career of the Cutlass was mercifully measured in months, rather than years, but if there was ever a design that was let inability of it’s engines to reach they’re promised performance level, this was it. Also, it’s hydraulic systems were complicated and way ahead of it’s time. So far ahead that it exceeded industry’s ability to deliver. I remember reading one story of a guy who’s jet failed literally 5 seconds into his very first flight, causing him to eject. Upon being collected and brought to the hospital for a check up, he learned that all Cutlasses had been grounded and the program cancelled. As a result, this pilot had the dubious honor of having more flight time in the ejection seat than he did in the airplane itself. There is a Cutlass being restored to flight status in the US. Hydraulic system problems were solved due to better metallurgy, and internal upgrades due to the original engines will provide decent performance. The engines then were well below the power promised, and worse, responded poorly to throttle input. Get behind the power curve, and you’re dead. The election seat couldn’t save you then. Think F-100 Super Sabre but 20x worse. Here, a ramp strike, and yes, the LSO lived. Unscratched, actually

I expect the cowl color separations need to softened a bit, but other than that, we can start wrecking the paint and making it look trashed. There is NOTHING uglier that pristine glossy dark sea blue on an unbroken surface. Yuck!

Slowly getting there…

I completed,………………. None!

Clint Eastwood should do a movie with the B-52. Or even the B-36. They could call it “A Fistful of Throttles”. 😁

Oh man, HUBERT! After my own heart you are! I LOVE this kit! Back when they were cheap to buy, I bought three and they are sitting patiently in my stash. I’ll be following this, closely!

I’ll do the fixes and fills on the intermediate blue today. I’m getting OLD! I used to be able to freehand the soft color lines on various camo s, but now I’m shaking all over. Plus, my ancient VL finally crapped out on me, so out came the brand new Grex I bought two years ago and that I’m learning to like. Like I said, weathering is gonna be a bear, but I have plenty of grey and insignia white. 😂

A bit of “requisitioned” Champagne and Lobster to start the year off right…

Will run from Jan 1 - July 1, 2023. I’m not planning on any extensions. A prize will be awarded to the favorite completed build od my neighbor’s four kids. In the case of a tie, their Mom will choose the winner. If she can’t figure it out, I’ll figure something else out. The idea here is fun, guys. Let’s get building, and we’ll have fun. Happy New Year y’all, I’m going to bed!

Mike, I really need to finish mine up. And yours is looking absolutely amazing!

It all had to do with the rudder, yes. The rudder pedal travel felt like about 3 feet deep, way longer than our legs. We’d run out of leg long before we ran out of pedal travel, so we were taught to use the throttles. If you were light and on a slippery taxiway, you were at the mercy of the wind. The key on takeoffs was to let the tail fly itself off. The locked tailwheel and differential power was more than enough to keep you straight, but if you tried to lift the tail, you’d quickly head for the hinterland. But if you let it fly itself off, you had rudder authority. On landing, a tail slightly low wheeler was preferred, then again use the throttles until the tail came down, which happened pretty quick. I never flew DC-3s, just the C-46, and our Chief Pilot said that’s why he put us straight into the 46. DC-3 guys had big problems transitioning because of the rudder on a 3 was so much more powerful and they’d rely on it. The 46 was also extremely slippery, believe it or not. You get the nose down, and speed builds quickly. It could and did catch a few guys napping. But it was a real pleasure to fly. Actually light and quite balanced on the controls, believe it or not. Not fighter response, but you didn’t need to manhandle it like others of similar vintage. I’ve heard it said that the B-24 is a two person airplane. Two people on the controls. So is the 46, but simply because one can’t reach that far, and there’s a lot to do.

Notice the oh so British exhaust pipes, definitely added during it’s BOAC wartime Service.

Exactly. Like Peter said, a trailing link is great for absorbing shocks from unimproved strips. The C-46 came directly from this one aircraft, the ONLY civilian CW-20 to be built. It literally was pulled straight from Curtiss who was told to cease and desist civilian development and immediately militarize it. At the time, it was the largest twin engine aircraft in the world, and remained so for many years. It’s a bigger aircraft than the B-17, and can haul twice what the C-47 hauls, and do it at almost 30,000 ft. It’s also faster and more efficient if fully loaded, but burned a lot of gas and was very expensive to operate if not fully loaded. A C-47 sipped fuel in comparison.

Check out the complicated main gear.

The CW-20 was a one off civilian airliner that eventually ended up with BOAC. The C-46 was a militarized CW-20. No pressurization, strengthened main gear, floor, cargo door, Pratt 2800s, etc

OH WOW!!! talk about a grand entrance! Stunning, stunning work! Welcome to the forums!!! Oh, and I took the liberty of moving your thread to the LSM completed builds.

Curtiss Wright CW-20 prototype. Built to compete head to head with the Douglas DC-3. It was designed to carry twice the load of the DC-3, up to 40 passengers, or 30 first class passengers, was fully pressurized and equipped with two stage superchargers in order to fly over most weather, and was a real winner. But, the world situation interfered and the Army had other plans for the promising design. The rest, as they say, is history. The twin tails were changed early on to improve low speed directional stability and handling. The Army removed the pressurization system along with the fairings to disguise the double bubble fuselage