First Annual USAF Vietnam Group Build

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be visiting the USAF National Museum tomorrow.  A large chunk of the day will be spent on the "Behind the Scenes" tour.  The tour takes you to the restoration hangers where you can see aircraft that are being restored that are not yet available to see on the main floor.

I will spend the remaining available time in the Vietnam section taking as many photographs as possible.  I will post some of those when I get back.

While I am at Dayton Ohio, I will attend the Dayton Air Show on Saturday.  There will be a few Vietnam era aircraft on display there as well.  More pictures!

Ken

Cool!! Will definitely be standing by for the pictures!!!  Have a great time, Ken!

Tal Afar Dave

Cool!! Will definitely be standing by for the pictures!!!  Have a great time, Ken!

Thank you Dave!

Spent today taking lots of pictures at the USAF National Museum.  Took the "Behind the Scenes" tour and took lots of pictures there too.  It is amazing the amount of hard work these volunteers put into restoring their aircraft!  Everything has to be built from scratch.  And they are just as addicted to being authentic as we are!

One of the planes they are currently working on is the Memphis Belle.  We got to see the ball turret which has been completely restored.  And the sad thing is, all that work will never be seen by the public once it is installed back into the plane.  (You can't see inside it from outside the plane.)

And I can't believe my timing!  They are shooting off fireworks tonight, which I was told is a spectacular show.  Everyone that lives around the Dayton Ohio area come to see it.  And I will have a front row seat, since I am staying at the hotel directly across the street.

Tomorrow is the Dayton Air Show, then I will trek back home.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I have been sorting through all of the pictures that I took while at the USAF National Museum and the Dayton Air Show.  I am still not done, but here are some of what I have gone through so far.  The planes that are indoors are taken at the museum, the planes that are outdoors are at the air show.

A-7D Corsair II

F-111A Aardvark

RB-66B Destroyer

F-4C Phantom II

 YF-5A Freedom Fighter

F-105D Thunderchief

Ken

I am going to do these in small groups to make sure I don't go through all the trouble of adding these just to have this website loose it.

C-123K Provider

QU-22B Bonanza

UH-1P Iroquois

B-26K Counter Invader

OV-10A Bronco

YA-37A Dragonfly

F-105G Thunderchief "Wild Weasel"

T-28B Trojan

Ken 

RF-101C Voodoo

Authentic German built V-1

B-17F "Memphis Belle"

B-17F Memphis Belle Ball Turret

F-84E Thunderjet

B-26C Invader

F-86A Sabre

F-80C Shooting Star

B-52D Stratofortress

Ken

AD-1 Skyraider

F-89J Scorpion

F-86F-30-NA Sabre

Pan American DC-3

C-54 Skymaster "Spirit of Freedom"

Navy T-28B Trojan

AC-47 Gunship "Spooky"

B-25 Mitchell "Champaign Gal"

B-25 Mitchell "Axis Nightmare"

Ken

B-24D Liberator "Diamond Lil"

Blue Angel F/A-18 Hornet

Blue Angel C-130 "Fat Albert"

USMC AV-8B Harrier

F-4U-5 Corsair

P-51D-25-NA Mustang

UH-1H Huey "Lucky Star"

What's the deal on the B-24D's black belly?  Was it a night bomber or something??? Once again, great pictures, Ken!!!

And on a sadder note, doesn't look like I'll get that Skymaster done in time.  I haven't figured out how to get those windows in the wing to look right.  So, I may switch gears and knock out that Skyraider before the deadline comes!!

Tal Afar Dave

What's the deal on the B-24D's black belly?  Was it a night bomber or something??? Once again, great pictures, Ken!!!

And on a sadder note, doesn't look like I'll get that Skymaster done in time.  I haven't figured out how to get those windows in the wing to look right.  So, I may switch gears and knock out that Skyraider before the deadline comes!!

Hi Dave,

You know what?  I did not even catch that until you mentioned it!  Here is a link that tells the aircraft's history:

http://flgrube1.tripod.com/id59.html 

I am guessing (and it is jut a guess), that since this aircraft was initially meant to fly for the British, and they were flying night raids, that may be the reason for the black underside.

As to your Skyraider, no problems!  You can just carry it over to the next year of this group build.  Don't worry about deadlines here.

Ken

Thanks Ken!  Thought I had a good weekend for building and got an abcessed tooth instead.......Pulled out the Skyraider and took a couple pictures of the parts on the trees.....so much for progress so far!  Hopefully, I'll get something done by the end of the day!  Thanks again for posting all the COOL pictures!  Really great reference shots!

Tal Afar Dave

Thanks Ken!  Thought I had a good weekend for building and got an abcessed tooth instead.......Pulled out the Skyraider and took a couple pictures of the parts on the trees.....so much for progress so far!  Hopefully, I'll get something done by the end of the day!  Thanks again for posting all the COOL pictures!  Really great reference shots!

You are welcome Dave, glad you enjoyed them.  Sorry to hear about your tooth, I hope you are better now.

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

Tal Afar Dave

Thanks Ken!  Thought I had a good weekend for building and got an abcessed tooth instead.......Pulled out the Skyraider and took a couple pictures of the parts on the trees.....so much for progress so far!  Hopefully, I'll get something done by the end of the day!  Thanks again for posting all the COOL pictures!  Really great reference shots!

You are welcome Dave, glad you enjoyed them.  Sorry to hear about your tooth, I hope you are better now.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

My latest acquisition:

Finally available here in the United States.  Now just waiting for the "B" version to be released.

Ken 

Cool kit, Ken!!  When in 2065 do you think you'll get to it?  

Nice purchase!

Russ

Striker8241

Cool kit, Ken!!  When in 2065 do you think you'll get to it?  

Nice purchase!

Russ

According to my schedule, I think it will be around March!   

Ken

Looks pretty good, Ken.  How does it compare to the old Monogram Dragonfly?

Tal Afar Dave

Looks pretty good, Ken.  How does it compare to the old Monogram Dragonfly?

Hi Dave,

I think it compares very well.  Except of course the Trumpeter kit has recessed panel lines vs. raised panel lines on the Monogram kit.  The instrument panel is fairly well done.  You get all the weapons.  It even has some photo etch parts.  Good detailing.

Ken

Nice! Maybe one day I'll spring for one of those fancy kits.  Still trying to find replacement decals for my Monogram kit.  It is such a cool looking little plane with such an ordinance payload. Starting my break from work tomorrow and hope to get crackin' on one of my kits....keep your fingers crossed!!

Hi, All,

I guess we've all kinda opted out from modeling for awhile. I finally forced myself to do some work on my Combat Talon. I'm detailing the Nav's console and the main circuit breaker panels. It's been dificult and slow going, hence my reluctance to continue....   Anyway, below is a picture of my progress so far.

Cheers and thanks for looking,

Russ

Looks pretty cool Russ.  What scale is that? Are the data plates decals??  Looks promising!!

Thanks, Dave,

It's 1/72. They are printed on photo paper then cut out and glued to plastic panels.

Striker8241

Hi, All,

I guess we've all kinda opted out from modeling for awhile. I finally forced myself to do some work on my Combat Talon. I'm detailing the Nav's console and the main circuit breaker panels. It's been dificult and slow going, hence my reluctance to continue....   Anyway, below is a picture of my progress so far.

Cheers and thanks for looking,

Russ

 

 

As always Russ, fantastic work on the scratch building!  That looks great!     

Ken

Hi Everyone!

I just realized that this group build is very near the end!  I am going to have to get busy on putting together the badge for the next year's build!  Everyone can continue their builds on the next one.  You can decide when you finish if you want it posted on this build or the next.  When I have the badge put together, I will post a link to the next group build here to make it easier to find.

Ken

Neat technique, Russ.  Really well detailed work.  AND in 1/72nd scale!!

Son Of Medicine Man

Striker8241

Hi, All,

I guess we've all kinda opted out from modeling for awhile. I finally forced myself to do some work on my Combat Talon. I'm detailing the Nav's console and the main circuit breaker panels. It's been dificult and slow going, hence my reluctance to continue....   Anyway, below is a picture of my progress so far.

Cheers and thanks for looking,

Russ

 

 

As always Russ, fantastic work on the scratch building!  That looks great!     

Ken

Thanks for the good words, Ken!

Russ

Tal Afar Dave

Neat technique, Russ.  Really well detailed work.  AND in 1/72nd scale!!

Thanks again, Dave! I appreciate the compliments! 

Russ

Hi Everyone!

I have completed the badge for the "Second Annual USAF Vietnam Group Build".  If you would like to carry over your current project to the this next build, just use this link and make a post with your intentions:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/161451.aspx 

I hope to see everyone there!

Ken

This turned out to be one of my "wake up at 4 am and can't go back to sleep" nights, so I did some more work on the Talon. I completed the navigator's station (finally!). It's been one frustrating project because of the many different angles of the panels and the lack of accurate measurements. In a lot of cases, I just had to use my best guess. Below are a few pictures.

Here's a close-up of the nav's seat with the safety belts added.

This is another angle showing the nav's panels with the radar scope. Sorry, not a very good picture.

And here's a shot from the lower deck...

At least now I can move on to something more interesting - the flight deck....after I get some sleep .

Cheers,

Russ

Striker8241

This turned out to be one of my "wake up at 4 am and can't go back to sleep" nights, so I did some more work on the Talon. I completed the navigator's station (finally!). It's been one frustrating project because of the many different angles of the panels and the lack of accurate measurements. In a lot of cases, I just had to use my best guess. Below are a few pictures.

 

Here's a close-up of the nav's seat with the safety belts added.

 

This is another angle showing the nav's panels with the radar scope. Sorry, not a very good picture.

 

And here's a shot from the lower deck...

 

At least now I can move on to something more interesting - the flight deck....after I get some sleep .

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

 

Hi Russ,

I know what you mean about waking up at 4 AM and not able to get back to sleep.  I deal with that myself way too often!

Great work on your scratch building once again Russ!!      I am taking notes for when I build mine!

Ken

Hey Russ, more great scratching there on that Talon.  Pretty awesome.  Hard to believe that you are just "winging it" on the dimensions; looks really convincing to me!!!