First Annual Berny Memorial Group Build

Bockscar

I'll be offline for a few days guys,

no need to send the RCMP or FBI,

my back up server is telling me I've got 4.8

Terra bytes of files.....so me and my systems guy

want to know who is bloating my space with

their stuff.

Hi Dom,

Thanks for the compliments!  That is too bad about you being offline for a while.  About those 1/48 Genies, I think the Revell F-89D/J kit came with them, so no need to look for them some where else.

Ken

That happened to us once. turns out the shop foreman had accidentally synced his ipod with the server and downloaded 4GB of music lol.

I'll be offline for a few days guys,

no need to send the RCMP or FBI,

my back up server is telling me I've got 4.8

Terra bytes of files.....so me and my systems guy

want to know who is bloating my space with

their stuff.

Son Of Medicine Man

Hey Everybody,

I did some bending on one of the ejection seat handles today.  Here is how it turned out:

I think it turned out better than the last go around.  I will work on the other one tomorrow.  It takes a lot of patience to get it into shape and I have to take a break in between.

Ken 

Ya hosaah! That is fantastic Ken!

I'll take 6 sets.

Did you see the expression on Franklin's face, he is smiling.....

Hey Everybody,

I did some bending on one of the ejection seat handles today.  Here is how it turned out:

I think it turned out better than the last go around.  I will work on the other one tomorrow.  It takes a lot of patience to get it into shape and I have to take a break in between.

Ken 

Fab photo Ken:

I had the 1/48 when I was  kid...mysteriously disappeared....

That's a great looking build......I need those Genies in 1/48.....

Son Of Medicine Man

Scorpiomikey

57 years ago today.

Thought you guys might be interested. F-89 Scorpion and a B-57.

Not to be nit picky, but it was 55 years ago today.  I thought it was very cool!  I too have a Scorpion in my stash in 1/48 scale.  Actually two!  An F-89C and an F-89D/J.  That was an F-89J that fired the live Genie.

Ken

Woops, you are right, it happened in 1957. Ill fix that now.

Here is a picture of one with Genies mounted:

Scorpiomikey

57 years ago today.

Thought you guys might be interested. F-89 Scorpion and a B-57.

Not to be nit picky, but it was 55 years ago today.  I thought it was very cool!  I too have a Scorpion in my stash in 1/48 scale.  Actually two!  An F-89C and an F-89D/J.  That was an F-89J that fired the live Genie.

Ken

Yah, you'll now start losing all your healthcare.....don't get old pal.....not worth it.

Ever been invited to dinner, and you are it?....lol....

Hey, I do have a Scorpion......Mikey is up to something here....lol....

Who makes resin Genies in 1/48?

Sabu?.....lol....no one will get that joke....

Ya know...  I have had this half completed F89 Scorpion (Revell 1/48 kit) hanging around with me for about three years now.  It was on hold because I had lost one of the support bracings for the landing gear.  For some unknown reason, it didn't get put in storage, it ended up here with me, and when I was unpacking my model supplies when we moved here, I found that brace.  I should really finish it now...  If I can remember where I put the brace so I wouldn't lose it again...

Rich

(I hate getting old...)

Bockscar

I dream of Genie.

Now I'll have to dig up a Scorpion, I only have a Revell 1/48, and Monogran 1/200'sabout.

Thanks for that Mikey....very cool.

I dream of Genie.

Now I'll have to dig up a Scorpion, I only have a Revell 1/48, and Monogran 1/200'sabout.

Thanks for that Mikey....very cool.

I didn't realize the Genie had pop-out-fins, lowered drag while platform borne, then popped out at launch:

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/r-2.html

Nice fire cracker.

2KT MB-1 air to air nuclear missile.

Scorpiomikey

57 years ago today.

Thought you guys might be interested. F-89 Scorpion and a B-57.

Was that a Genie missile test?

I can't believe they didn't give the guys eye protection for that.

My father-in-law witnessed a Diablo II atomic test, Nevada. Died of cancer.

There was an atomic 'stem' but as it was a low-yield weapon, it didn't last long.

Because it was an air burst, the blast didn't drag any ground material up, so the stem dissipated rapidly.

As with many volcanos, the water-vapor condenses rapidly and cools, so you see a white cloud which rapidly forms but the super heated material still rises along with any ash as, in this case, a donut.

Very cool. Scratch one Bear.

55 years ago today.

Thought you guys might be interested. F-89 Scorpion and a B-57.

Mikey, that P-100 looks like it could flap it's own wings and fly away.

As for Einstein, yeah, all the laws of physics are the same, in every inertial reference frame, and that includes the speed of light....at which I never build, regardless of inertial reference frame...lol...

Striker8241

Bockscar

Thanks for the comments Russ, appreciated. It's too bad you didn't have a chance to get that experience, but them SAMs, Hanoi Hilton,.....you're still here....

I'm totally guessing here....but the oil and grease needed to keep the gun turret moving were probably not your regular corner garage type.

The guns would most likely have been used at altitude, and some lubricant company probably came up with fluid and greases that were liquid film, i.e. didn't have a huge viscosity curve plotted against temperature. Simply put: that special oil and grease didn't freeze until -40 degrees....not so great for mitosis though.....

I have no idea what gunk that would be, but it's no surprise so many guys ended up with a short tour of the planet....sad....

That aside, that gun detail is looking very good, don't get any of that grease on your sandwhiches!

I'm assuming you scratched the actual innards for the guns, right?

-Dom

 

Thanks, Dom. Some good observations there - I never thought of it but they had to operate at high altitude and at very cold temps. God knows what was in that grease, or what it took to remove it - or what the residue did to the environment.

 

As for the model, yes I scratched the insides but just enough for appearances sake - I didn't try for accurate recreation. At this scale it would have driven me bonkers, or at least more bonkers than I am now.

 

Russ

Russ;

That's what I aim for.....I can't compete with the super detail guys...it's another world, and I love their product. We do what we can as long as we enjoy it. When I get stressed building, I realize I could be making money for the suffering.....let the hobby be a hobby. Some guys really aim high, and I do on occaision, but if i start getting too competitive, I default to work.....lots of that to do.

Even with low resolution modifications, I could build alot more kits if I just let my desire for detail go and built OOTB. That's why i love the really old kits "30 PARTS!!!" "EASY TO ASSEMBLE!!!" and my favourite

"NO CARVING OR SANDING REQUIRED!!!" saves us from the bonkers.

The time and patience it takes to cut accurate detail for that turret, you could easily build an Aurora B-58...eh Rich?....lol...

An old pal in a LHS used to say 'Dom you worry too much, if it looks right from 10 feet, it is right man....'

Yeah, I'll bet alot of those troops just quickly grabbed lunch, wolfed it down to get back working, and never even thought about anything else than wiping their hands off on a oil rag.

Wait...wait....it's all coming back.....yeah, that was a "multi-purpose chemical"....some days they used it as a de-folient.....others as a lubricant....some days to jelly-up gasoline.....many days to kill the weeds popping up on the tarmac.....errr....paint remover.......hydraulic fluid......ummmm......

Son Of Medicine Man

Striker8241

Below is an actual picture and my model of the B-52D gun turret with the right cover removed for maintenance. I remember watching the MMS troops working on these guns. They would be up to their elbows in oil and grease in the blazing hot sun. Those guys had the hardest job of all, even worse than ECM, and we worked really hard. A lot of MMS troops eventually deleloped liver or kidny problems or cancer from working with the gun grease remover. No other shop had more to do or worked harder than MMS.

Russ

Wow Russ, great work representing the maintenance on the gun turret!        They look identical! 

SoMM (the other Ken)

Thanks Ken, I probably shoulda done a better job with the innards but I'm lazy.

Bockscar

Thanks for the comments Russ, appreciated. It's too bad you didn't have a chance to get that experience, but them SAMs, Hanoi Hilton,.....you're still here....

I'm totally guessing here....but the oil and grease needed to keep the gun turret moving were probably not your regular corner garage type.

The guns would most likely have been used at altitude, and some lubricant company probably came up with fluid and greases that were liquid film, i.e. didn't have a huge viscosity curve plotted against temperature. Simply put: that special oil and grease didn't freeze until -40 degrees....not so great for mitosis though.....

I have no idea what gunk that would be, but it's no surprise so many guys ended up with a short tour of the planet....sad....

That aside, that gun detail is looking very good, don't get any of that grease on your sandwhiches!

I'm assuming you scratched the actual innards for the guns, right?

-Dom

Ah now were getting into Einstein's theory of relativity.

Look what arrived yesterday. Stupid courier didnt even knock. My partner scared the bajeezus out of him when she yanked the door open while he was bending over lol.

Thats a 48 scale 100P sitting on the wing of a 72 scale C-47.

KB;

Uhhhh....I threw an F-102 model across the lawn once.......lol....

That's pretty cool.....

....so is it true, when you are going mach 1+, the other guy can't hear you 'cause the sound can't catch up to him....lol..

It might be fun to find the other pilot and send him some pics of your build....

Striker8241

Below is an actual picture and my model of the B-52D gun turret with the right cover removed for maintenance. I remember watching the MMS troops working on these guns. They would be up to their elbows in oil and grease in the blazing hot sun. Those guys had the hardest job of all, even worse than ECM, and we worked really hard. A lot of MMS troops eventually deleloped liver or kidny problems or cancer from working with the gun grease remover. No other shop had more to do or worked harder than MMS.

Russ

I'm totally guessing here....but the oil and grease needed to keep the gun turret moving were probably not your regular corner garage type.

The guns would most likely have been used at altitude, and some lubricant company probably came up with fluid and greases that were liquid film, i.e. didn't have a huge viscosity curve plotted against temperature. Simply put: that special oil and grease didn't freeze until -40 degrees....not so great for mitosis though.....

I have no idea what gunk that would be, but it's no surprise so many guys ended up with a short tour of the planet....sad....

That aside, that gun detail is looking very good, don't get any of that grease on your sandwhiches!

I'm assuming you scratched the actual innards for the guns, right?

-Dom

Striker8241

Below is an actual picture and my model of the B-52D gun turret with the right cover removed for maintenance. I remember watching the MMS troops working on these guns. They would be up to their elbows in oil and grease in the blazing hot sun. Those guys had the hardest job of all, even worse than ECM, and we worked really hard. A lot of MMS troops eventually deleloped liver or kidny problems or cancer from working with the gun grease remover. No other shop had more to do or worked harder than MMS.

Russ

Wow Russ, great work representing the maintenance on the gun turret!        They look identical! 

SoMM (the other Ken)

kbuzz01

SOM Ken,

You know, my experience with the TF was almost 50 years ago!  (That kinda dates me, I guess.)    My most vivid memory of the TF was the time I snagged a ride in 54048 at Ellsworth AFB.  Anyway, the TF was a combat capable ship that had the same armament as the F-102.  Because of its bulky configuration, its performance was somewhat less than that of the F-102.  I think both ships had the same P&W J57 engine, but while the F-102 was supposedly capable of Mach 1.25 at altitude, the TF-102, I believe, was limited to about Mach .97.  As I remember, the pilot had to nose down slightly to show me Mach 1 at about 40,000 ft.  That experience is the main reason I wanted to build this model.

Buzz

Hi Buzz,

Thank you for taking the time to give that detailed description.  I did not realize that the TF-102 was combat capable!  I bet that was some ride!

SoMM

Below is a picture from an actual aircraft and my model of the B-52D gun turret with the right-side cover removed for maintenance. I remember watching the MMS troops working on these guns. They would be up to their elbows in oil and grease in the blazing hot sun. Those guys had the hardest job of all, even worse than ECM, and we worked really hard. A lot of MMS troops eventually deleloped liver or kidny problems or cancer from working with the gun grease remover. No other shop had more to do or worked harder than MMS.

Cheers,

Russ

Bockscar

Thanks for helping me brag Ken.....like I need encouragement....

I learned that the designers of the B-52 gave it special wings, I'm not sure if any other aircraft before or since had their features.

Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong here, the plane was pretty much controlled by a spoiler system.

The craft could take off and land and while doing so, it was very hard to notice any pitch. I think the designers wanted all the wheels to pretty much hit or take off at the same time. I swear i saw a film of early take-offs, and it appears as if it is rising then the nose tilts down as it goes up.....

Again, I think i heard it said that the wing tips could cut an up-down arc of about 27', and the flexibility of those wings was designed on purpose. I have no idea how they did it.

Cool, Dom! Looks very real. I almost had a chance to go on a mission to monitor one of our systems, but the plane got cancelled at the last minute . Would have had a chance to see the wings in action.

Russ

jimbot58

I finished the cockpit for the A-7:

Installed it and began mating the halves together. I actually finished that and I am now working on filling, sanding, scraping, etc. those seams, but don't have a current photo.

Jim, I had a chance to work on some A-7s at Nellis back in 72-73. Some of them had an interesting modification that was undergoing testing at the time (Nellis is one of the primary air test centers in the US). It was a moving map navigation system called the projected map display system (PMDS) that featured a display mounted between the pilot's legs (like they had lots of room in that cockpit anyway). It was a pedestal with a display on top. In those days, there were no computers so it was a mechanical system that used microfich. The aircraft was represented by a symbol in the center of the map display and the maps moved in the background in response to inputs from the inertial nav system. As the plane left one map's area of coverage, the system would automatically switch to the next map in the grid.

I felt sorry for any pilot that had to fly this configuration because they hardly had any room to move or stretch their legs.

Russ

SOM Ken,

You know, my experience with the TF was almost 50 years ago!  (That kinda dates me, I guess.)    My most vivid memory of the TF was the time I snagged a ride in 54048 at Ellsworth AFB.  Anyway, the TF was a combat capable ship that had the same armament as the F-102.  Because of its bulky configuration, its performance was somewhat less than that of the F-102.  I think both ships had the same P&W J57 engine, but while the F-102 was supposedly capable of Mach 1.25 at altitude, the TF-102, I believe, was limited to about Mach .97.  As I remember, the pilot had to nose down slightly to show me Mach 1 at about 40,000 ft.  That experience is the main reason I wanted to build this model.

Buzz

jimbot58

Nice work on that TF, the last time I saw it it was still in pieces. Still haven't gotten around to reviewing old posts to see what else you all have done.

I finished the cockpit for the A-7:

The photo came out an odd color as I left the camera in "auto" mode and it adjusts sometimes to odd exposures.

Installed it and began mating the halves together. I actually finished that and I am now working on filling, sanding, scraping, etc. those seams, but don't have a current photo.

I need to get some photos in here for the F-105 when I can. It's been a monster of a build so far, but I'll try to tell it's tale a briefly as I can, if possible:

When I began the kit, I was unhappy with the decals for the cockpit. They were too large and did not fit the kit parts. I looked and found some PE parts and decided to go that route. In the mean time, I decided to redo the cockpit tube, and dropped it into some Pollyscale/Testors Easy lift-off. I then forgot about it and after a few days, it had pretty much melted! I ended up scratch building a new cockpit tub, using what was left of the old one as a guide. It took many hours of cutting, filing, and carefull fitting to make one that was passable but, in the end, I thought it looked better that the original kit part! Sorry no photo blog for it, I wish I had!

Then there was the control sticks: when I went to strip down the tub, I had removed them to a safe place...problem was is that I never figured out where I put them. I stole a set from a Monogram kit I had. Problem then was is that the carpet monster got one of them. I then tried to scratch a new one, but it was too tiny for me. I ended up taking some from helicopter kit I never finished and modified them a bit for the plane. They aren't correct but they will have to do at this point.

When I started the PE parts, I ended up loosing a couple of pieces, and even cut one incorrectly from its fret, ruining it. I ended up buying another set.

I wanted to open the cockpit, but the Trumpeter made no provision for this. The hinge part was actually molded into the fuselage, so I had to attach some tabs to the canopies and notch out the fuselage where they will he mounted.

The F-105 tale will continue later, but I have to go as the eyelids are beginning to droop....

Jim:

Speaking of control panels;

did you dry brush those, they were raised resin details? -They look raised from where I am.

Great work on the straps and buckles!

Gamera

Wow, that B-52 is gonna be huge!!!

And I like the spar system, I've had a much smaller B-17 pop right down the middle fuselage seam twice before!

I glued the fuselgae together around the center spar, then glued the wings onto the spar, so the fuselage is locked together: