AIR RACER GROUP BUILD BECAUSE WE FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED

Fermis - Off to a great start I see. I really like the Hasegawa P-51D kits... they build up pretty nice. I can't wait to see your finished #77. By the way, where did you buy the Cutting Edge exhaust?

Did some work on the Spit MkXIV today... got her nice and smooth and ready for paint.

I pulled the canopy out of the bag and noticed that it has a huge seem running down the middle of it. I'm not a big Spitfire aficionado but I just don't think that it belongs there. Yes, no?

If it does not belong and I need to sand it out, where do I start? 400, 600, 800grit? The seem is rather large and it's going to take a heavy bite to get it out but I don't want to start too rough and ruin the part. 

Any help much appreciated with my love and affection for all time.

If you guys haven't run across this, I'll post it over in the aircraft forum. Thanks!

Fermis An offical start ??? Wow ! Now I have to update the front page again geeze. I am looking forward to seeing your build Fermis but also wanna know how the new decals work out for ya. Oh wait you posted your start yesterday ?? Hummm must be finished by now Just messin with ya my friend.

Avadon To be honest I have never heard of the P-38 Swordfish, and from the pictures can see hwere it got its name from. That is one strange looking 38, and is giving me some good ideas too, thanks for posting the pictures and the link. I more than likely wont be starting the P-38 ( if I do build it) until after the first of the year.

Dug through my archive.. here is a better angle of the P-38 swordfish

Here are some rather loose photoshops of what it might look like as a flying wing with two pusher engines. 

and this one below is my favorite

vetteman42 wrote:

Avadon They both look really sexy, thanks for sharing them. Gives me an idea what the 38 would look like too with clipped wings and tail. The P-40 really catches my eye I have to admit. Thanks for sharing those pictures My sticking point for the moment on the P-38 racer is the cooling system for the Griffons, the air frame will really need some cleaning up to be a convincing racer.

Yah I too thought they looked pretty good, after a little clip and crop. That is I clipped the wings, give them more of a P-51 look, and then either clip the tail or totally reingineer it. I mean and these are just crappy little toy planes, but they do give you a quick look at what a prototype design will look like before you start cutting into an expensive kit.  Vetteman, are you famaliar with the P-38 swordfish?

One could definitely gather some cool ideas from this aircraft. It almost looks like it should be a pusher with that spiney nose going forward. 

 This page below also has some really good info on variations of the lightning just in case people here want to get really creative and push the classic look of the 38 to the extreme.

http://www.vectorsite.net/avp38_1.html#m1

 Alright, I've finally started the 51.

 It is Hasi.'s 1/48th 51D, with Red Pegasus decals for #77, as mentioned before. Very little modification. For the pit, the armor plate behind the seat has been deleted(scratched frame with stretched sprue) along with the gun sight. Also filled in ejector chutes in the wing with styrene and sanded smooth, and will be smoothing out the gun ports. I don't really have anything for good WIP pics(my cam has no macro setting), besides, I'm sure we all know how 51's go together!!! Anyways, here's a pic of where I'm at so far.

 Just as proof, that I'm not cheating!!!

 Oh yeah, also added some shrouded exausts from Cutting Edge(resin) these things are really nice, hollowed out!!!

Avadon They both look really sexy, thanks for sharing them. Gives me an idea what the 38 would look like too with clipped wings and tail. The P-40 really catches my eye I have to admit. Thanks for sharing those pictures

My sticking point for the moment on the P-38 racer is the cooling system for the Griffons, the air frame will really need some cleaning up to be a convincing racer.

Here is also a P-40 I altered a bit.

Anyway, hopefully this gets the air racing juices going :P

Ahh, that's a mystery airship. ;)

 Speaking of P-38's.. check out this small metal model I altered to make it look like a racer.I changed he wingtips and squared up the tail some. I just think it looks cool this way.

Avadon check out this link for the Travel Air Mystery Ship over at Swanny's models.

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Mystery.html

It has a bit of the history of the racer and pictures of the kit itself. I am thinking I will build this one before I do Miss America because of the tricky masking that needs to be done on both of them. As for the P-38 I dunno I just finished one of the nightmares not too long ago but am giving it some thought. Its over in the natural metal finish build group.

Jmabx Hey go for it man it looks to be a fun little build. I want to try using frisket paper for masking my Travel Air because you can see thru it. I want to try sizing the scallops from the plans to fit the model then print them on the frisket paper cut them out and shoot the paint. Just want to see if that will work.

avadon - That A2D1 would be cool as a racer! I would also like to build the H-1... that's a gorgeous plane.

Randy - I would love to see you build a Travel Air Mystery Ship. I have it hiding in the stash somewhere but I've been afraid to try and paint that thing up. At least it has recessed lines to guide you in the painting. Maybe if all goes well I'll pull that old thing out and give it a go.

Avadon I have a couple more vintage racers in the wings One of them will be practice for the paint job on Miss America. That would be the Travel Air Mystery Ship. I have also been toying with a couple of ideas for fantasy racers, a FW190 with a merlin engine or a ( I must hate myself after the last one I build) a P-38 reengined with Griffion engines, and contra props.

I hope we can get some more fantasy builds in here as well. I'd love to see a suped up Douglas A2D1, some Yak's, some more vintage racers, etc. How about a Hughes H-1?

 I picked up a set of them decals from Red Pegasus at the show! That's some great stuff being offered! So, the F-15 is on the backburner and I'm gonna do

     P-51D Beville-Raymond #77 Galloping Ghost   1/48!

 Check out that link MIflyer put up, if you haven't already!!!

Hey racer fans,

I spoke to Keith Davidson of Red Pegasus Decals at an IPMS contest today, and he told me that he will soon be the US distributor for XS Models from Germany. He had some of it on display today, and it was pretty sweet. Lots of useful little conversion sets - some of it is on his website already. He will also be importing their kits, including the 1/32 Rutan Pond Racer! I'll definitely be saving up for that one!

Kevin

Hello to everybody from a very early morning and sleepy Walla Walla Wa.

Found some time to sneak to a computer to have a modeling update.... Must be addicted...

WOW, three pages of goodies to read since i went for my holiday and i must say all the builds are looking gorgeous and make my modeling heart beat faster... Will be heaven to grab a paintbrush again when i return to Holland next week.

Randy, Congrats on a very cute model. The black and gold give a neat contrast and your model is flawlessly built together. I know how it is very easy to lay it on too thick using a spraycan. Really looking forward to your Miss America build!

Seeya soon and keep them pics coming y'all

Richard

Sorry Randy... couldn't resist the "old" comment... meant no harm.

I agree with the Testors kits... simple but fun and not too much of a headache. Thanks for the compliment on the Ryan. She would look right at home with your two.

Jmabx I am touched by your concern for my well being and I do forgive you indecression this time. Althou I do feel the need to inform you that my hips aint the trouble I am sure you will understand when you get a bit older.

Hey thats one sweet Ryan you have there. I have been feeling the urge to build one myself, been keeping an eye on Ebay for one, but the prices there are insane to say the least. I can get one much cheaper at the LHS. Oh before I forget Jeremy ( you know how we old people are) sweet Ryan you have there. Oh did I say that already ?? Thank you for the complement on my build.

I agree with Simpilot the Testers kits I have built, well only 3 of them, fit much better than the Revells and Monograms that I build most. So as I build my scratch building skills I may start building more of the Testers kits. Next Testers build will be the F-104C for the NMF group.

Randy... I was so worried about your age and the fragility of your hips that I totally forgot to mention your finished build!

I apologize and I deserve a spanking...

Seriously though, she came out lookin' real nice! Beautiful colors. I really like the Ike... one day I'll scrounge up that kit and put the magic to it. Those old Testors kits can be built up real nice with a little love...

Howard - You've got some great ideas for the F-82... if anybody can pull it off, it's you!

Bret - You're insane, but I like to watch it all unfold! Nice job on the modifications... you've got alot of talent sir.

Avadon - Welcome! Let me get this straight... you're going to scratch build that thing? I can't wait to see that!

Daddy1 Thanks for your complement on my build. Yes the Golden Age Air Racers were a hand full for the pilots, I dont think I would have flown one of them by choice, they all looked scary as H#%L

I will be waiting to see more of your pictures, that F-82R is gonna be just way too cool. 

Nice looking Spit Jeremy. A really beautiful airplane,the Spitfire.

 Randy, nice work on the Laird. One thing that gets me is the size of the racers back then, tiny, with big,big motors. When I look  at my Gee Bees and realize they're in 1/32 scale. The flyers back then had some real kahunas flying those engines with wings.

 Bret , Looking good. Your doing alot of similar type of work as I am on the F-82R, so I'll be watching with interest. 

 Got the old cockpits on the twin 'Stang faired over, wings clipped to length and some slick end caps on .Scrounging the canopy from an old Revell 1/48 F-16 I built as a T-bird some 20 years ago. It was yellowed and looking as if it had seen better days. Also taking the seat from the same F-16 to modify into a more modern seat for my racer. 

 Should post fresh pics in a day or two. 

jmabx wrote:

vetteman42 wrote: Yup 77 was a good year I was 22 than and having a blast, was my fav sprintcar race number too. Showing your age there, Randy! Remove one of those twos and that's my age back in '77. While you were out having fun, I was still soiling myself.

I was 19 and just assigned to the 18th TFW, Kadena AB, Japan-discovering the finer points(ouch!)of being a Phantom Phixer. Hmmmmm, high school, boot camp, tech school, Japan, WOW! Randy, your not the only one showing his age.

Jmabx Your Spit is looking great ! Its gonna be a sweet lookin racer for sure. Hey dont feel badly about using filler I havent built one yet with out filler. Even the lone Tamiya kit I built needed a bit of putty.

A little progress to keep us at the top...

The Academy kit is really nice compared to the last few kits I've built this year. She goes together pretty clean. I used some filler around the camera windows so I can get a nice smooth finish on this bird. A few seams also needed a fill but nothing drastic. I still don't know how some of you can build a kit with no filler in it... I need to learn that trick!

Don't mind the messy bench... I've got four kits going on over here.

I wasn't sure about the humps on the wings for the cannons as I couldn't find a picture of the plane that showed the tops of the wings. I'm sure the real plane probably didn't have them but I couldn't find proof and want to keep things simple so I decided not to file them off.