AIR RACER GROUP BUILD BECAUSE WE FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED

vetteman42 wrote:

Avadon WOW man !!!!!!!! your build is in, you have done some work there. Those are some very nice drawings you did and a very interesting design. Now being a car nut myself I gotta know, are you using the Garrett Turbo on the Toyota Lexus engine like the pond racer did ? If memory serves me right that engine was certified for aircraft use by the FAA.

Thanks Vetteman, :)  it's been a little while, but I think I remembered pulling up some WWII warbird or reno racer and using that as fictional spec's, of course I incresed them some. Cause in the plans it says Garrett (2) 1200 SHP Horsepower engines. Clearly when it comes down to the brass tacks i'm not sweating the details here. ;) Most of the design was for form and to look cool. 

There is some interesting youtube stuff on the pond racer. They had a heck of a lot of problems with those pond racer engines. Basically if the Pond Racer wasn't moving it was overheating. Anytime it was on the ground they had huge blowers pushing air into the intakes. When I was young I got to see it out at Mojave when I was with my dad. We decided to stretch our legs and walk around and look at the F-4's out there. (we were flying my fathers Cessna Chancellor 414) There it was on the ramp. Incredible aircraft and just amazing to be up close while they were running it. Though I think the future of twin engine racing is going to be using more conventional setup, but I could be wrong. 

Here is the 5 part video by Michael Schratt on the Pond Racer.. really worth watching.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY9oKb-SSh8

And here is a bonus.. P-51 low-level take off/flyby. Beautiful footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r9Is7J04gs

Avadon Thanks for the links. Not to worry I was just asking about the engines, many moons ago I used to make parts for the early Garrett turbo chargers. I also followed the Pond racer because I was interested in auto engines for aircraft, at one time I was building a Steen Skybolt and was thinking of using a chevy 350 to power it.

Simpilot Watch the decals on your Laird Solution, the numbers all have those old style pockets the decals are supose to fit into or you can paint them. The decal numbers kinda fit the pockets but the spacing doesnt match up so I ended up cutting the decals and putting the numbers on one at a time. The ones on the Howard Ike fit perfectly, go figure huh.

Guys my build is finished, just waiting for the final coat of future to dry and will have pictures posted tomorrow.

  Nice looking Laird ,Randy. I love those Golden Age racers.

Jeremy, I think your Spit 'pit looks great . Will have to try your seatbelt technique,I like it.

Avadon, awsome aircraft .

 Been tinkering with my Twin 'Stang racer. Here are some pics.

 It would have been a chore ,smoothing out the gear well roofs, so I decided to replace them with thin sheet and scratch the well detail. Also glued a piece on top of shell ejector chutes to make them easier to fill, and bits of stretched sprue to fill gun ports. Plus, I've filled and smoothed the walls of the gear wells.

This is what I've cut off the wingtips( about 2and 1/2 scale feet) , and radiator ducts from the bottem of fuselage and center wing sections . The latter cut offs will probably be used to help fill and shape the new underside. Still debating about recessing the radiators and going with NACA ducts or moving the cooling to center wing.

Couple of pics here give an idea how the final shape should look.

Daddy1 Ohhhhhh thats gonna be a cool lookin F-82R. I can see where you would have trouble making up your mind between the NACA ducts or the standard type cooling system. As for myself I think I would lean more toward the NACA ducts for a more radical look to the racer.

Thanks for the complement on the Laird it has been a fun little build.

Randy, thanks for the info and can't wait for the pics!!!

Howard, WOW!!! What an eye opener that is beginning to be!!!

I am callin my Testers Laird Solution finished, it was a fun little decompression build and I learned some along the way. My first scratch built cockpit, and for the first time, this one I rigged using beading wire. Over all I think the build came out well, so here are some pictures for you to take a peek at.

Thought I would toss in a picture of the Howard Ike with the Laird Solution for kicks. The Ike does look out of place without the rigging, I just might have to do something about that.

Thanks for looking and for the help with my build. As always comments are welcome.

Beautiful biplane Vetteman. Love the black and gold and custom canopy. Looks Great!

 Plus I was born in 77 ;-)

Thanks Avadon and Simpilot for the compliment it was a fun little build.

Yup 77 was a good year I was 22 than and having a blast, was my fav sprintcar race number too.

Simpilot I have seen some of your work and something tells me your lil Laird will be looking much better than mine does.

Next up will be the mustang Miss America, see if my masking is up to the task. 

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.

some good WIP pics guys. Vetteman, like the biplane. and that scratchbuild drawings are just awesome!

here are some of the slow WIP pics of Strega. Ive been using milliput. It gets messy but I love this stuff, very very easy to sand and shape. These are some rough pictures and not the final master so bare with me gents. I still have to add more milliput to it, sand it and shape it. I'll keep you guys posted with more pictures later. enough rambling...on with the pictures I must!!

here is an early picture before cutting the fuselage. I cut the wingtips off and filled/sanded to a SMOOOTH finish.

These are of what it looks like right now after cutting the top half of the fuselage and putting milliput all over it.

Hope you guys like it so far.

Bret

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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!

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.

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.

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

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

 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!!!

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?