"A Little Less on the Brakes Kid" (WIP)

I've gotten three old Monogram T-6 kits on eBay. They're still the best T-6 kit out there IMO, and can be had for $8-15. There's usually a few for sale at a time... happy hunting fellas!

Kevin

Thanks, VA, Hans!  I never built that kit, the first time around, so I'm not familiar with the parts and figures that came with it.  I do have it now on my hunting list of kits to buy.

Regards,

Brad

Not meaning to hijack your thread again VA, BUT... Funny how things work... After all that time I spent searching on the net for that Ralston Trainer version of the Texan, then Cardshark finds a pic for me...

Today, as I started packing for the move to our new place (same building, bigger apartment.  This one has a bedroom for my War Room!), I'm packing up my old magazines and their it is...

Scale Modeler Volume 22, No. 8, August 1987...

I'd forgotten all about it being in that old magazine (and still having it) untill I read the cover as I packed...

Now to hunt down a couple SNJ/T-6 kits... Hey, maybe I'll be getting YOUR cadet into my dio, VA...

The Figure climbing off the plane is the stock Monogram Instructor figure (Which I will only slightly modify so the feet and hands look more natural on the plane, I will also move the head to make it look more natural as well) The student is a German fighter pilot figure I placed there for looks, I may put a different head on him and use him becuase his pose already suits the diorama.

VA

Great idea, can't wait to see more progress shots!

Who makes the figures?

Regards,

Brad

Well, that's some good news... If'n I ever move back to Austin, I'd hate to have to hunt for a another hobby shop...

Hans von Hammer wrote:

RBaer wrote: Cool! I saw the Monogram truck dio (Mail Call?) in a shop in Dallas a few years ago. BTW, I stop in King's every time we go to Austin, still a great place. Heard that King's is closing th' doors... Noticed that they pulled their ad from FSM as well..

Nope... good news. All's well with King's. They will be under new ownership, but it will be business as usual.  Need to head over there today. I've only got 2/3 bottle of Dullcote left, which sets me into panick / hoard mode.

Steve

While we never had it on it's nose, and I'm not one to want to argue with the likes of S. Paine, I don't like the elevator up idea. A friend of mine flies a Harvard and the limited amount of time I've spent in the airplane leaves me to think the weight alone of the two control sticks would be enough to pull the controls forward and go elevator down, not to mention the weight of the elevators themselves. Unless the student or instructor hold the stick back.....

I think "technical" should win over "looks logical" on this one. An a/c guy will know the difference and see elevator up as an error. Just my thoughts.

Hello, Neat idea, there is a full sized diorama at the AF Museum in Dayton very similar to what your doing.  Here is a link to the page with photo...

 http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5055

I should have pics up this weekend with the revisions that Shepard Paine suggested.

Shep himself is a very very nice guy and always wants to help any modeler who approaches him.  He also always makes sure to point out the strong points in a persons work rather than tell them immediatly what is "wrong" with the peice presented to him. When he suggests things to do differently he also does not command of the modeler that they change it but more or less suggests the changes supported by years and years and years of experiance! He also has a great sense of humor as well.

In a conversation I had with him once about the "Stop Sign rule" for painting figures he said the following word for word.

"I should have named the stop sign rule differently, I should have called it the "Tit" rule.  The reason is that you can always tell how big a womans breasts are at any distance by how much highlight you see on the top of the breasts and how dark of shadowing you see undernieth them.  The brighter and larger the highlighted and darker the areas are, the bigger she is!"

Needless to say he has quite a sense of humor, but is a very intelegent man.  If anyone ever wants to meet him feel free to attend one of our monthly meetings.  Here is the website for more details www.mmsichicago.com

VA

RBaer wrote:

Cool! I saw the Monogram truck dio (Mail Call?) in a shop in Dallas a few years ago. BTW, I stop in King's every time we go to Austin, still a great place.

Heard that King's is closing th' doors... Noticed that they pulled their ad from FSM as well..

Couple of points...the elevators would be dropped unless the instructor in the back seat was holding back the stick. Also the instructor would unass the aircraft first to keep the tail from slamming back onto the ground.

Gas

Under carriage

Mixture

Prop

Flaps

Don't forget the flaps!

Hard to argue with Mr. Paine's idea on posing the elevators. Go with what tells the story, rather than what is technically correct. Hmm... I'll have to remember that. The pilot in me gets wound around the axle over stuff like that sometimes.

Go to it, I think you have a great idea here, and I can't wait to see it built!

Kevin

Far out, VA... You really got a winner of a dio idea, then get input from St Shepard of Monogram hisself to boot...  Too cool, VA...

Closest to meeting Shep I ever got was seeing his TBD diorama up close and personal at King's Hobbies in Austin about 20 years ago..

Thanks for all the input guys! It has helped alot and will take all into consideration. 

I also was able to get the personal input of Mr Shepard Paine himself at our monthly MMSI Meeting.  He thought it was a great funny idea and he also gave me the following things to add to the diorama.

He said that becuase the entire scene was taking place bewteen the student and the instructor in a very small area nothing else in the diorama actually matters becuase the entire story takes place in the few centemeters that the student and intructor figures are placed in.  He told me to make it a great diorama I need every part of the diorama to tell the story.  He said to add a portion of runway with skid marks and torn up turf where the airplane slid off the runway into the grass.  The propeller should be bent and the elevators should stay up. While technically they should be down, to help tell the story better and show a bit of desperation on the students part showing them in an up position helps convey the last ditch attempt of the student to prevent the accident. Also to add bits of turf on the airplanes wings and nose to show the propeller chewed into the ground and sprayed it everywhere.

Perhaps my favorite addition was to the name intead, of calling it "A Little Less on the Brakes kid" He said make the title look like a statement from the instructor and call it "A little less on the brakes next time kid!"

VA

Oh, wow, Thanks a bunch!  You shall see this built, sir.. I was off a bit on the attitude, but it's been over 25 years since I first saw that thing.. I promise you, I've been wanting to build this version of the T-6 fot years, but never saw any more on it since the 80s and the magazine article featuring it (Wings or Airpower, Aviation History,  not sure which) has been long gone as well..

Could you point me in the direction of the place you found that pic? 

Oh, by the way.. Here's a really good piece on flying the T-6.. Enjoy.

http://www.warbirdalley.com/articles/T6-sf.htm

Hans, be prepared to be happy!

Enjoy!  I want to see this build!

Cheers,
Alex

I recall seeing one version of the Texan that's a bit unusual... It was called the "Ralston Trainer" from it's High-Visibilty Red & White-checkered paint scheme that covered the entire aircraft to warn of it's presence... It was a "Taxi-trainer" (meaning it wasn't for flight instruction) and the last stop for a Cadet about to do the B4 bag-drag out of flight school... I've been hunting for pictures of it for a long time with no luck... It had a set of castors bolted under the nose on a strut that just cleared the ground when the aircraft was in a two-point attitude and an A-frame back to the mains, to keep a cadet who stomped on the brakes from nosing it over and wrecking the prop and crankshaft...

Been wanting to do a model of that aircraft, but can't find a picture of it anywhere...

...or in any tandem-seat aircraft, for that matter. Texan, T-38, Buckeye, Piper Cub, doesn't matter... the instructor is always in back. In a side-by-side arrangement, the instructor is on the right.

Very cool dio idea, by the way. The Six had a reputation for being more difficult to fly than the fighters it was designed to train pilots for... but the military didn't consider that to be a bad thing.

I agree that you may want to consider repositioning the elevators. Full up elevator makes it look as though the pilot still has a death grip on the stick. Given that the instructor is giving him a talking-to, he has probably let go of it. Give it a little down elevator as though the stick has fallen forward.

Kevin (who makes his living flying in the instructor's seat... )

xsniper wrote:

Just a point to check out, In Canada flying the T-6 (Harvard) instruction was done from the back seat, the student sat up front. I am thinking it was the same South of the 49th.

Missed that part... Yupper, the instructor sits in the rear cockpit during instruction in the Texan...  

I was wonderng that myself, I was hopeing that the student sat in front so it would make it easier for the pilot to talk with the student.

VA

Don't know if this is helpful, but my grandfather worked for Republic Aviation During WWII and related this story to me. One day, a P-47 came in for landing on a soggy, rainy day. It's not clear whether he lost his brakes or hydroplaned, but he went on way too fast and way too far down the runway and finally turned off into the grass/mud alongside. The landing gear dug into the soft ground and the aircraft nosed over, bending the props up and damaging the landing gear. The pilot was unhurt, but the aircraft needed major repairs.

Thanks for the critique guys, its much appreciated.

Sterno- The Texan was actually going to be built as a navy trainer in a two tone white underside and light blue upperhalf scheme with red surround insignea.  But as I was looking at the pilot figure that was climbing off the plane I got the idea for the diorama. Now it will be in army markings and a bare metal finish.

Huxy- I will eventually bend the prop blades, the build didnt start out as this so I had not goten aroudn to it yet. I will also dent the underside fo the engie cowling as well.  The concrete base will also have nick marks in it from where the propeller struck into the concrete and chipped it before it stopped.

Hans Von Hammer- Ill fix the Breaks to Brakes lol

VA