Greg thanks,I must confess to having built a lot of balsa rc kits so it was just an acquired skill by necessity. Thanks also for the compliments on the office,really appreciate the kind words. Hope all goes well on your exam!

John thanks also for the great compliment

Hercmech yea having to get it done by whatever I have at hand ,must admit its been challenging but fun.Thanks

The Plug for the lower gondola is now in primer and I think it will work out,not exact to scale but close enough for my satisfaction.

The fuselage and wings are now glued together. I had trouble getting them to align correctly ,really weird the way the fuse and wings go together on this kit so there are some filling issues to contend with. Mainly at the wing roots and the top halves of the wing joints. I also went ahead and attached the nose, lots of filling and sanding is going to be needed here

Wow Trey...getting creative with it I see. Great use of multiple materials!

Good Luck with the promotional exam Greg , I'm sure you will do well .

I am in absolute awe at Trey's workmanship and skills ; I'm a Carpenter/Shopfitter by trade and I have to tell you all that Trey's effort is just inspiring ...

                        John .

Now carpentry?  Wow Trey, you can tackle pretty much anything this kit can throw at you!  I know I am not up to that kind of challenge.  Plus, the earlier detail shots are fantastic.  Your cockpit is so realistic.  You are a master of cockpit detail.

I apologize for a lack of wip shots from me.  I have a promotional exam next Wednesday, and studying for it has been taking up little bit of leisure time I have. 

Cheers,

Greg

Problem #2 the lower gondola was a poser but heres what I did to fix it. I started with a block of balsa

then fixed some self adhesive 80 grit to the lower fuselage are to be covered

this allowed me to get the inside plug of balsa flush with the fuselage

after that I cut the plug down with a razor saw and shaved it into a basic shape with a small wood plane

next I covered the fuselage with 2 layers of 3m 2" tape to protect it from sanding

test fit after sanding to shape with the tape removed showed that some fine sanding was still needed

the plug is ready for a coat of epoxy

I had to make 2 small filler panels out of styrene to close up the small gap at the front of the plug on each side due to the shape of the fuselage, then after painting the underside of the plug I ca glued it in place.

Ready for a fine bead of filler to blend it and then some primer should do it.

Bish thanks, I'm building the PE+AW version so the scheme will be the same as pictured above

Vancecrozier its the Revell E-4 kit and thanks for the compliment!

John thanks for the kind words

Not too much to report still waiting on some a/m parts to arrive. I did do some further cleaning up and fitting on the props and nacelles

Thanks Herc, i'll check that out.

Awesome work trey

The seats and finished cockpit look perfect and the on-going work on the vacu-form parts is excellent .

Well done Sir

                      John .

TREY, is that the ProModeler kit you've started with? I had spotted it at a local shop, passed on it because I was unfamiliar with the kit & a/c... you're making me regret my decision to leave her behind!! Beautiful work on the interior.

Bish

Yet another GB i would love to have been able to take part in. So many GB's, so little time. I haven't been keeping up with this one, think i better have a look through the builds.

That pit is looking very nice TREY. What paint scheme will this be in.

Bish,

Check out page 1 Greg has done a great job of putting up pictures of all the completed builds and references to the page the completed builds are on.

Yet another GB i would love to have been able to take part in. So many GB's, so little time. I haven't been keeping up with this one, think i better have a look through the builds.

That pit is looking very nice TREY. What paint scheme will this be in.

Heavens Eagle, thanks for taking the time to post that up I had no idea it was a prototype! Great info on the paint and details its really a big help in clearing up some things I was fuzzy about with the build thanks again!

TREYZX10R : Your build is coming along nicely.  The D0 217 you are building appears to be a prototype according to some of my reference material.

Here are some scans of photos for this particular plane:

ALSO, The little bubble dome on top of the canopy is NOT a window blister.  It is a directional radio antenna housing that replaced the hoop antenna on the earlier versions.

I also have a lot of other references on these.  Drop me a line if there is anything you need.

Thanks Greg,I used to think the same about airplanes having mainly built Motorcycles know better now do'nt we !

I finished making the seat belts and glued the fuse halves together

Cleaned up and rescribed the vac parts

Looking good !

Awesome fix on the canopy Trey!  Intentional or not, model company oversights force us to be major problem solvers!   I am okay with that here and there, but I get discouraged when that is the focus of a whole project.  I thought it would be easier building planes.  I was always a car builder, and I would get frustrated with all the modifications needed to make my projects (Mainly sports prototypes, and sports racers) resemble the real article.  Other than no carbon fiber decals, and perfect paint jobs, I was mistaken thinking airplanes would be easier! 

Cheers,

Greg

Mike,yes you're correct that is the N1 that the parts are for . I did'nt realize until after I commited to doing the N2 variant . I think it can still be done or at least I'm going to try.thanks

Gamera thanks appreciate the kind words!

Greg I think I've got the decal problem handled thanks for looking tho! The Meteor is off to a good start!

The canopy was the major problem to fix ,good thing Koster supplied a vac one the factory canopy was a partial mold

I cut the recessed area in the mold for the turret away and reglued it flush with the top

after masking to avoid scracthing up the rest of the canopy I sanded the excess glue away

then I used 2 different colors of primer so it would be easier to see the shape needed

although its not exactly perfect I'm happy with the fix and think it will look the part once painted

John, thanks for the pictures.  The diagram will be very helpful.  I now know how the canopy is supposed to be attached.  I hope I get a chance to work on it tomorrow.  I didn't bring it with me to work today.  I spent 8+ hours studying for an upcoming promotion exam today.   I am going to do a little work on the F-4's I have here.  As a change of pace, I might start another Phantom in the near future.  The F-4D "Terrible Tyke" would be a good candidate for this GB.  I didn't realize that the USAF had a dedicated Phantom night squadron.  It looks pretty cool with black undersides.  I have an A.M. (monogram) F-4D (72nd) that would fit that bill nicely with the Wolfpak decals.

Trey, I could find A's and E's, but now P's or W's.  I will keep looking though.

Cheers,

Greg

Nice work on the Meteor seats Greg ;

Here's some scans of the canopy from my Meteor books ...

Suprisingly there doesn't seem to be any nice close-up pic's in either Meteor books of the two seat cockpit ....

Very disappointed...

HTH ,

                    John .

Thanks Gamera.

and to all, I found a tripod for my camera at wally world tonight. I think its just the ticket i needed.

Hooray, no more blurry pictures,,,, I hope

Thanks Gamera, I am glad to finally finish something for a change!

Trey, your DO is looking museum quality as always!  Tomorrow I go back to work at my regular station, and that is where most of my 1/48 Luftwaffe stuff is.  I have I think 3 -88's, and at least 3 110's in my locker, among other stuff.  Somehow, there has got to be a PE+AW!  I hope I can find the right stuff, for selfish reasons.  This way I can say I had a hand in a masterpiece!

As for the Meteor...  for anybody wanting to build one, sort the parts for your version, and mark off the parts of the instrcutions that don't pertain to you.  Other than a picture of Classic Airframes 48th scale resin pieces, I don't have much to go on for the interior.  That is okay though, with the Airwaves set, and a visit to imagination land, well, and the interior being black, I am sure it will look the part.  I added some plastic card, and some sanding to make the seats look like a/c, and not kitchen table seats.   I just need a good image or three of how the canopy is hinged.  I would like to pose it with it open.  Oh yea, in the release I have, the nose is incorrect for NF 11/13.  I am modifying for the right length using profile shots from John (Helo34).

As always, my photos suck.  Maybe I should buy a few less models and invest in a camera?  Naa! too much sense.

Cheers,

Greg

Greg: Dang how did I miss your P-70!?! Great looking model, congrads!!!

Ken: Love the cat! Always thought it was a graceful and attractive a/c and yours came out great!

Trey: Dang man, another great model! I never had much luck with vac formed parts but the Do-217 looks like she's coming right along.

Update- the Widow was given a base coat of dark grey the other night to look for flaws. I'm trying to get some other stuff done first so I'm afraid it might be awhile before I get any more photos posted.

It looks like your conversion set is depicting this aircraft.

Its still a DO-217N but still has the turrets. Maybe the aircraft you want to predict is a later version.

As for the canopy turrets, you could cut that section out at replace it with some sheet styrene to create an armoured panel type scenario.

Looking Great Trey

Greg yes they are standard luftwaffe letters appreciate ya taking the time to look. Thats a great idea using the clear stock,theres not much of a bend in that area so it might just work! I'm flattered by your compliments this has been a great G/B with great input from a great bunch of builders and I'm glad to be able to contibiute to it.

John thanks for the kind words !

Ken looking forward to seeing the pics

I'm getting closer with the nacelles ,cut off the radials with a razor saw

I then trimmed them closer to the panel line and sanded it flush. I had to be careful not to go too far as the main gear attachments are on the engine bulkhead

Dry test fit shows there is going to be some real intricate filling and sanding at the mating areas

Trey,  I'll be taking more pics as the diorama comes together 

I'm gonna try a scene on a South Pacific island for it. I just can't buy everything for it at once as I am on Social Security Disability. I'm sure you all know how that is.

Thanks Everyone

Ken

Trey , I certainly agree with Greg about the cockpit interior of the Do-217 , it's awesome

I've only done a couple of conversions using vacu-form plastic , two 1/72 RF-8 Crusaders and a abandoned C-1 Trader and C-2 Greyhound . I found it very difficult working with such thin plastic , however Trey , you seem to master the conversion quite well .

I'll have to bite the bullet again shortly as I have the P2V-5 Vacu-form conversion for the Hasegawa P2V-7 kit to back date the Neptune for a Korean War bird , so I will be watching with great interest how your Do-217 comes together .

                              John .

Dang Trey!  That is one of the reasons I am scared to try a conversion like that.  Is the PE+AW using standard letters?  If so, I can look through my 1/48 Luft stuff and see if I have those letters.

As for the hole in the canopy, I did something similar to fix a broken canopy.  It is a pita, but if it is a relatively flat spot this works.  File the hole out to the nearest frame edges.  Make a template of the hole, and use it cut out a piece of clear stock.  File to exact shape and glue in place.  I am no master modeller, so somebody will probably have a better solution, but it worked for me.

By the way, your interior pieces look like real a/c parts!  You build to a quality that I can only hope to attain someday.   You have made this GB really pop.  Thanks.

Greentracker, the Cat looks good!  The jeep really does put into perspective how big they are!  Thanks for posting the new pictures.  You are on the front page now.

As for my Meteor...  The little Matchbox kit has seen better days.  I have had to repair some cracked parts right off the bat.  Those stupid end opening boxes the European manufacturers insist on, allow more damaged, and lost parts than even my butterfingers do!  That aside, I have mainly sorted the pieces needed for my version, and started test fitting of the pieces and photo etch.  It appears to be a really cool little kit.  The new release by Xtrakit is very reasonably priced, and I would recommend that, to sourcing an original Matchbox.  This way, you will have single color plastic, and much better decals for about the same as a used Matchbox.  I also recommend the Airwaves pe set.  The seats don't look accurate, so I am modifying them.  I will try and take some pictures when I am home tomorrow.  I have no guarantees on that though.  The parts are so small, I'm not sure my camera is up to the challenge. 

Helo (John), I haven't got to look at my Mk20 Canberra yet.  It is in my locker at work, and I have been working at every station but mine lately.  I did pick up Osprey's Canberra Units of the Vietnam War finally.  That is a hot seller at my LHS.  Your Vietnam builds fill a gap here.  So far, we have some modern, but mostly WWII.  Caspar's Sea Venom I think is the only completed post war build.

Sorry to be so long winded, I am working at a station without my modeling stuff!

Cheers,

Greg

Thanks all,well the first of 4 problems has come up. #1The conversion fails to delete the lower gondola gun position

going to have to make a plug and scratch a fix for this

#2 This is a big problem ,the top turret needs to go as well ,however the conversion supplied canopy is a vac form duplicate off the original. Not sure how to get around this may just have to leave the turret on any suggestions? Take into consideration I have no vac form equipment or the inclination to obtain any.

#3 Decals supplied in the conversion are'nt the correct letters and I'm not finding any a/m ones online for PE+AW as I've no printer or skills in decal making any help here would be huge.

#4 The 'Schrage Musak' cannons are not supplied in the conversion,this should'nt be too difficult to scratch tho

I did a dry test fit of the major parts and looks like a pretty solid fit

Thanks Everyone for the kind words.

I'm too critical of my work, but even I think its pretty good.

I'll post more pics as I do the diorama.

Ken