Clunkmeister

That Mack fire truck was pretty cool, although I can’t fathom driving and staring up a bulldog’s arse all day long.

We took part in the Treason Day parade this year and here are a few pics from us and some friends. Just an old time small town deep in the Heart of Texas. Actual real family values on display, was like going back in time

Saw this today. OooooohIm in Looooooove! I once had a 47 Chief just like that, but more of a beater than a real show bike it ran well, but was missing a few key components, one being the chrome shield over the rear cylinder spark plug. This bike has it. Mine didn’t. You haven’t experienced surprise/shock/pain/agony until you’re all loose, enjoying a relaxing ride, and you right inner thigh comes in contact with an unshielded spark plug lead. Trust me when I say that it’s sudden, unexpected white hot agony about a foot south of your junk, in one of the most tender areas of the human body.

Got the old Meteor out for the first time this year. Was a nice ride, got her detailed up and she’s all ready for the 4th of July parade.

Agreed Carl. When I’m ready for a modeling challenge like none before, I’m gonna try Iain’s trick. But I’ll also understand that I may lose the build over it if I fubar the thing.

Carl, I’ve been following this here and there and I like it, a lot. I can’t get past that wing/fuselage joint, and like Hubert said, the Atlantic pattern camo sure accentuates it. But, if ya want an RCAF North Atlantic patrol bomber, this is the only scheme they came in, so onward and upward. I’ve been watching Iain’s fix on his, and I may attempt something similar, sort of following his lead. This is the #1 reason I haven’t built one yet, since I’ve been paying close attention to his struggles. But yours is looking oh so flawless so far, and what a recovery from that extra interior space problem you gave the bomb aimer… 🤣

Please do. You’re here all the time, and pretty much anything goes, so BUILD ON!

I REALLY gotta get out more. 🤣

Mark, I JUST stumbled on to this thread and I’m in the process of picking my jaw up off the floor. This is easily one of the most superb builds I’ve ever seen. I’m decidedly NOT a model car builder, so I don’t appreciate what goes into these, but ai will admit to being glued to this thread now. Un-bloody-believable! Ill also say that I’ve looked at the Model Factory Hiro website and have been looking very closely at their Brough Superior motorcycle kit. But it’s I sanely expensive! Yikes! But, save for the Vincent Black Shadow/Lightning, it’s easily my favorite motorcycle of all time. Looks like they’ve got a nice 48 PANHEAD as well, but by the time it arrives here, it’d be knocking on a THOUSAND dollars! Still cheaper than a real one, I guess…🤣

I must be blind, because I can’t find your build thread. 😵‍💫

Kevin, MiniArt IS a Ukrainian Company so you’re welcome to have it in the GB if you wish. If so I can move it over for you.

I’m sure I have by FAR the worst photos on all of LSM. Mine are always cluttered and just simple snapshots. Unlike Peter, I have less than absolute ZERO interest in photography. As in a big, black hole. I will wait for a cloudy day for outside photos. The LSM direct upload for pictures really, really helps me. I play a bit on my phone with the crop function and the various light balances, and often can make them a bit better. Then just load them on the post and poof! Done The good thing about living in Texas or Biloxi is that helicopter rotors will droop much more realistically here. 😃

You’re down in the right part of the Country to have a bunch of Canadian French relatives. They’re all around down that way. Looking forward to this build, Kevin. Is this a Cierva design autogiro?

Lots and lots of internal structure can be left off of this build. Gonna be interesting. I fought the wingfold join a bit, but not horribly.

Awesomeness! John, can I put this on our LSM FB Page?

Actually, no there isn’t. They do look cool down, as in modeler’s license, but they certainly shouldn’t be on a full scale machine unless you’re modeling it pulling on the active. But, the flap kit contains an absolutely gorgeous boarding ladder, a pair of wheel chocks. You won’t need the ladder, but anyone building a freight bird does. Also, notice the kit comes with the correct tailcone for a civilian bird. A wartime glider hook bulkhead is included, but HPH make you cut off the tailcone to install that.

Hubert, I’m looking online for the book, now. HPH, like Kitty Hawk, has long been a favorite target of the naysayers and online bashers, and to be sure, I have found exactly TWO HPH kits that need some extra help in their construction. One being the Tigercat, as was demonstrated by Brian over on LSP where he found the upper and lower wing surface scribing didn’t match. HPH tacked it back to a slipped ditch plate during the mold making process. and TWO being the Walrus, also aptly demonstrated by Brian as having absolutely NO alignment jigs or tools to align the off center thrust engine and upper wing. Not insurmountable, but certainly it’ll mean building your own jig. Other than that, they build up beautifully, IF you take your time and plan ahead. edit: ordered

I talked to a member here today about flaps and airplanes. I’m a realist guru, not an “all opened up” guy. I used the example of a DC-3/C-47. Taxiing with the flaps DOWN on a DC-3 was a huge NO-NO. And there was a real reason for it: rock damage. The flaps were dropped during your takeoff checklist, and were immediately pulled up upon turning off the active. Taxiing with them down would absolutely tear up equipment and if a crew was observed to have the flaps down when they were no pulling on or off the active, at best it was a big suspension, and at worst, the crew would be fired. They were dead serious about that stuff. Those things got tore up enough without helping it along. I hydro locked a 2800 one time even after the prop had been walked through by hand for multiple revolutions, and we counted 8 clear blades with the starter before it acted stupid. Despite not switching on, I still got a week off. And that was for something OUT of my control. (Eventually traced to an internal engine problem) Just imagine on something you CAN control: like choosing to taxi or park with the flaps down. If you park with them down, you’ll need the engines to pull them up. A Spitty has the same issue. Flaps are right in line with the prop, and form an almost right angle to the slipstream. They’ll take an absolute beating from crap picked up by the prop. I can think of exactly two aircraft that would benefit from parking with the flaps down: the F4U Corsair and the T-28. That’s it.

Martin is a research fiend. Truly unbelievable. An absolute reference library, and quite honestly, he’s saved my bacon a time or two.

Looking forward to the finished pics, John. I’m gonna need motivation for mine…

Peter, I’m to the point of not even trusting model primers anymore. Automotive metal primers are a known commodity, and I think even the cheapest spray bomb primer is many times better than the best hobby primer out there. After a few issues like John’s, I’m done.

Watching this progress is pure magic, Hubert.

UPDATE: Due to a few newcomers to our forum who are very close to finishing their builds, I have decided to let this finish on Sept 30, 2022. It looks like that’ll be enough time for a few armor builds to finish up weathering and detailing We have had a phenomenal response to our first regimented GB in a long, long time, and I’m more than thrilled with the results thus far. So let’s finish the armor, finalize the aircraft, and post them in the RFI section. Another reason for this is because I had to fire my shop manager so her son (my judge) went away with her. Now I’ll need to find me another Highly Skilled model judge to determine their favorite finished model. I feel we have had some fairly decent participation in this Group Build, and there are some fairly respectable projects ongoing at this time, so, after careful consultation and conversation with three other people: Me, Myself, and I, we have jointly come to the unanimous decision to extend the group build by 60 days. The end date was to be July 01, 2022, and we will now make it Aug 31, 2022 at midnight. That gives us 90 days to wrap up our builds and place them on the RFI thread for ogling.

I truly despise building multiples of rockets and bombs. But these make the build. Plenty of decals, colors, and details on these Eastern Bloc arms.

Tricks like that are what I need to hear. I’m not a woodworker like you or Bigg Tim. You know all the little tricks that apply. All the wooden boat models I built previously had R/C gear and internal combustion engines in them. Built to run and run hard, not display.