1/72 B-52D with Big Belly Mod, Operation Arc Light

Will that engine come with scale drips and leaks?

:)

Absolutely!  

Well, the engine and trailer are finally finished. It was an interesting build. The engine was relatively easy compared to the trailer - that thing gave me fits!  Below are some pictures. Now I need to build a crane truck.....

Cheers,

Russ

Striker8241

Well, the engine and trailer are finally finished. It was an interesting build. The engine was relatively easy compared to the trailer - that thing gave me fits!  Below are some pictures. Now I need to build a crane truck.....

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great job Russ!  Wonderful scratch building there!  The weathering looks really nice too!     

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

Striker8241

Well, the engine and trailer are finally finished. It was an interesting build. The engine was relatively easy compared to the trailer - that thing gave me fits!  Below are some pictures. Now I need to build a crane truck.....

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

 

Funny how the things that look like a cinch are the ones that pinch

-Where'd you get the little wheels?

The front-cowling/hood assembly looks real good, so you never told us how you built that,

I especially like the "bug/bird screen/shredder" you put out front, how did you build that Chef?

Yeah, looking real good.

Dom

Thanks, Dom!  Ain't it the truth about the pinch?  

The trailer wheels are from a Hasegawa Weapons Loading Set. To form the cowling, I needed to move the front grill out about 7 mm. I first cut the front grill off with a razor saw - this piece was about 3 mm thick. Then I cut out a circular piece of 0.5 mm styrene about 1 mm larger than the engine diameter and glued it to the front of the engine. This piece would form the flange at the back of the cowling. Then I cut out three pieces of 1 mm styrene to the diameter of the intake and glued them together, then glued them to the engine. Then I glued the grill to the end of the extension. After that, it was a matter of trimming and sanding the cowling and flange to shape, then cutting the six slots - I used my scriber for that. The flange around the front lip of the cowling is a piece of 0.3 mm round rod glued in place.

By "shredder" do you mean the front "grill?"  That's the part I originally cut off the front of the resin kit.

Cheers,

Russ

Looks great Russ!

Thanks, Jim!

What? Are we all buried under snow?

Well Russ, still in pain looking at that engine, I wish

I could see it for real. My desk got buried the last few months,

I got through an audit (the only time i will ever be called an "Officer")

and a corporate rebranding, (I survived) so no time on the bench,

and rather messed over for work and head space.

My next project: filing out the nacelles per Russ' directions, and

I think I may have some liners for the exhaust.

Why have i been away? the 3 metric tons of snow i hand shovelled

might be a reason, I am in pain, apparantly 2 more systems to go before

May....Oh Joy!!!!

Don't be insulted if I cut and paste this post to the BUFF thread,,,,,

All I can think about is buying kits, not building kits......

Dom

Hey, Dom,

Glad to hear you survived the audit   I don't envy you your snow shovel - but hey, throw it away and come down to sunny Florida! The only thing we shovel down here is sand and...well, you know...

Sounds like you're detailing more than one engine - looking forward to seeing your work!

Cheers,

Russ

Hi, All,

I wanted to show an engine change in progress as a variable scene on my Arc Light diorama. Since I already have an engine detailed and on a trailer, my next project was finding a suitable truck with a crane in 1/72 scale. Unfortunately, I didn't find any. I did some research into different types of crane trucks and discovered that the Air Force used Army style M246 wreckers for all sorts of lifting jobs including engine changes. These trucks were produced in the 50s and were used well into the 70s. There were three variants of this wrecker: M246, M246A1 and M246A2. My model is patterned after the M246A2 variant shown below.

But then… I couldn't find any M246 kits available in 1/72 scale either. However, I had already used Academy's 1/72 M35 2.5 ton truck for my bomb truck so I decided to see if I could morph one into an M246 wrecker - easier said than done….

The M35 kit provided the chassis, cab, wheels and assorted other details that I could use, but a lot of modifying and scratchbuilding had to be done to turn it into an M246 wrecker. The chassis had to be extended and the rear axels had to be shortened. The decking, crane and cabin and the fifth wheel were all scratch built, as well as a lot of minor details like the air filter, muffler and mud flaps. Below are some pictures of the model as it stands now.

 I'm still working on the decals. I also want to show the truck in the deployed configuration with it preparing to lift an engine, but that will come later.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ:

You did okay, but not enough grease on the fifth wheel!!!!

Great work on that crane and cab!!!!!

I knew you were up to something!

-Dom

Lol!  Thanks, Dom!   It turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected, but now, back to planes...

Russ

Striker8241

Hi, All,

I wanted to show an engine change in progress as a variable scene on my Arc Light diorama. Since I already have an engine detailed and on a trailer, my next project was finding a suitable truck with a crane in 1/72 scale. Unfortunately, I didn't find any. I did some research into different types of crane trucks and discovered that the Air Force used Army style M246 wreckers for all sorts of lifting jobs including engine changes. These trucks were produced in the 50s and were used well into the 70s. There were three variants of this wrecker: M246, M246A1 and M246A2. My model is patterned after the M246A2 variant.

 

But then… I couldn't find any M246 kits available in 1/72 scale either. However, I had already used Academy's 1/72 M35 2.5 ton truck for my bomb truck so I decided to see if I could morph one into an M246 wrecker - easier said than done….

 

The M35 kit provided the chassis, cab, wheels and assorted other details that I could use, but a lot of modifying and scratchbuilding had to be done to turn it into an M246 wrecker. The chassis had to be extended and the rear axels had to be shortened. The decking, crane and cabin and the fifth wheel were all scratch built, as well as a lot of minor details like the air filter, muffler and mud flaps. Below are some pictures of the model as it stands now.

 I'm still working on the decals. I also want to show the truck in the deployed configuration with it preparing to lift an engine, but that will come later.

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

Once again fantastic scratch building Russ!  You do such great work!   

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

As promised, here is the finished M246 preparing for an engine change.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ:

The clouds and shadows make that look very convincing. Personally, I don't think I'ld want to do the engine swap-outs. It looks like precarious work, you could lose a thumb...

Dom

Thanks, Dom.  Yes indeed, I've watched those engine changes and it's a tricky job with plenty of opportunities to smash or lose a digit if you don't follow procedures.

Russ

Striker8241

As promised, here is the finished M246 preparing for an engine change.

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

Great job there Russ!  It looks very realistic!     

Ken

Thanks, Ken!  Second picture looks better with the lifting cables . They proved to be too difficult to show convincingly with thread or wire so I added them with Photoshop for the time being .

Russ

Russ:

For a guy that swears he has no graphics talent, i'ld say you did well.

I haven't figured out your diorama, but an engine swap on one side, and bomb load out on the other?

Looks very good,

-Dom

Thanks, Dom . Actually, I just "borrowed" the diorama for an engine change photo shoot. In real life, they wouldn' t allow heavy maintenance like that at the same time they were loading bombs. Too many chances for accidents.

Cheers,

Russ

Striker8241

As promised, here is the finished M246 preparing for an engine change.

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

Damn, I missed this one. Now that is really nice.

Thanks, Bish!

hay russ, have a problem, and with you posting this great piece, I figure that you know how....  I have posted in the past, and have usually been able to get my new pics , as pics on the same post, even if they have been days or weeks later.    but recently, I have not been able to do so.  when I post the first pics, they come up in picture form.  recently, when I post on the same post, it comes up as a address.  what am I doing wrong.     H.E.L.P!!!

Hi, Anonymous,

Thanks for the good words!

If I understand correctly, you're trying to edit a previous post and when you post pictures a second time, they come up as addresses. Usually, the only thing that can cause a problem like that is pasting a link directly into the edit screen instead of using the Insert Image tool in the toolbar, as outlined in red in the example below.  Be sure you have the Insert Image screen open when you paste your link.

One thing that may be causing confusion is sometimes when editing the last post in a thread you forget to click on the edit button in the post you want edit and actually end up trying to edit your post in the quick reply screen that appears below  the last post by default. When you paste a link directly into that screen, it comes up as an address.

Other than these two possibilities, I'm not sure what might be causing your problem. If these suggestions don't help,  go to the FSM Home page and click on the Forum Feedback & Error ReportingFeedback, Help and Testing link under the Feedback, Help and Testing heading and post a description of your problem.

Hope you can resolve your problem, bud. And thanks for looking in!

Cheers,

Russ

thanks gobs and gobs.  oh, by the way, I worked on the one to one scale of this type acft

Cool! What model and when?

Hi, All,

I finally found a source for the right type of wheels for my bomb clip transporter trailer. I sent the dimensions to Michael O'Hare and he rendered them on his engineering software and sent them off to a printer to have them 3D printed. They came out very well, as shown below.

The first photo shows the wheels as they come from the printers.

The next picture shows an assembled wheel.

The final picture below shows the wheel painted. I only had a satin black spray paint so they appear a bit shiny, but you can actually see the tire body and groove detail better that way.

As soon as Michael settles on the pricing, I'll post a link to his site where the wheels can be ordered.

Cheers,

Russ