VTOL, STOL, STOVL GB 2020

Oh wow, that looks fantastic as well Nick! 

modelcrazy

Beautiful Justin!, which pic do you want on the wall sir?

those pilots look the bomb! great work, as well as that 109. That's a derby car? Why didn't I have a cool Cubmaster like you growing up?

 

how about that first shot? 

That is just a start to my derby car...I am still working out the important details.  I am going for something like a post apocalyptic/post WWII mad max kinda thing....I am always making my cars outlandish.  If its ok, I will gather a few photos from my past derby cars and post them for you....

crown r n7

Way to go!! that AV-8 looks fantastic right down to the finish line.

Those figures look awesome.

The Derby 109- interesting-no weights in the nose? maybe a tri  wheeler? great idea.

My AV-8 ran into some handling difficulties had to fix here is one pic before final pics.

 

Thanks!  Yours is looking awesome as well!

Nice work guys!

Steve I'd like to throw in with this model - I don't know why I didn't think of it when the GB started, but the Triebflugel is the nuttiest (and thus my favorite) of VTOL concepts.

I hope it is not too far along to join in.  LMK.

You got it Justin, pic 1 and I'm fine with post of your old derby cars.

Cool G, who makes it and scale so I can update the roster?

modelcrazy

You got it Justin, pic 1 and I'm fine with post of your old derby cars.

Cool G, who makes it and scale so I can update the roster?

 

THanks!

Now, my cars are all ineligible to win anything, so it races in the "outlaw" class, but I still adhere to the rules of our district (5oz or less, no longer than the original block, three inches or shorter, no maajor modification to the wheels/axles/axle slots...), to show the scouts what you can do with some creativity, ingenuity, patience and focus...

This was 2020's car:

2019:

2018:

2017:

These cars were my kid's contributions in the 2019 race season, it was my son's last derby as a Cub, and my daughter's first as a Cub....

I try to keep an element of wood present in all of my builds to show that they really are made from the pine block in that little blue box...

Enjoy!

Steve,

The Triebflugel is the 1/35 Miniart kit.

Justin,

Those pinewood racers are amazing!  A friend who worked for the Boy Scouts asked me to make a couple for him, so I made a Lotus Esprit S1, the Griffon from Bubblegum Crisis, and an original F1 car with markings based on Roy Fokker's VF-1 Valkyrie from Macross.  This was all pre-digital camea era, so no photos.  

Harrier looks great, Justin.  Waiting for a canopy for my XFV-1, trading some decal work for it.

OK FSM,

I got started on my Cobra. This is a project that's been collecting dust both in the back of my closet and the back of my mind. I've read that Italeri's AH-1Z boxing is not really a Zulu. It's just their Whiskey boxing with some extra parts to make a Zulu. In fact, it's not even a Whiskey out of the box. I have Kitty Hawk's Zulu and an Italeri Whiskey with resin correction parts that I'll get to when my skills are up to snuff. In the meantime, I'll stick to honin gmy skills on 3-footers, but I digress. The Italeri -1Z is a mix up of fiction, a Whiskey, and Bell's 4-bladed Zulu demonstrator. The goal of this build is to take this Franken-Cobra and build it as a representation of Bell's Zulu demonstrator, officially known as the Bell AH-1(4B)W Buno. 161022.

When I'm done, it should look something like this:

(Credit: A. Thomas)

So, I started with the cockpit. The original (4B)W started life as a Tango model. That was converted to a test Whiskey, which eventually ended its life as the demonstrator. To that end, I started by painting up the cockpit black on grey.

I also started on the fuselage modifications. The first thing I did was move the stabilizer aft. The plastic has it located in the Whiskey's spot, so I had to get out my 1/48 Zulu and find a them a new home. Because they boom is thinner towards the rear, I had to cut the stabilizers into individual airfoils.

Holes were drilled into the boom and pins will be inserted into the stabilizers for attachment.

Speaking of the stabilizers, the demonstrator had some attachment or strengthening plates added to the outside. They were an odd trapezoidal shape. I did the best I could to free-hand some out of styrene.

I think they'll look the part under paint.

I attached the doghouse halves to the fuselage halves and filled the seams and original stabilizer gaps. I spot primed to find that I still need to do a little clean up work. 

I'm thinking I might have to use some raised detail decals (a la Archer) to replace some of the sacraficed detail. Once the fuselage halves go together, the big challenges will be replicating the hump on the upper side of the nose and extending the underside avionics bay back to between the skids. Oh, and rounding the skids, since they're airfoil shaped in the kit.

OK...wish me luck!

Cheers,

-O

Nice subject choice Omar! I’m supper that you’ll do it justice.

Those are soem cool looking card Justin, I'll bet which one is your daughters. Thanks for sharing.

G, I got it down thanks.

O, it sounds like you have some work ahead of you.

finished AV-8B 1/48 monogram.

crown r n7

finished AV-8B 1/48 monogram.

 

Fantastic build!

Gorgeous Harrier and photos!  Now where is Arnold Schwartzenegger and the cops?  

Awesome job Nick.

I'll get it on the wall

Justin. many thanks for watching !

Real G. thank you ,I was working down town miami at the time and I saw the prop AV-8 on top of the building on Brickell ave..LOL.

MC. Thanks again my friend.

That's a mighty fine Harrier!

Excellent finish Nick!

Awesome Harrier Nick!!

John,Stik and Chad. Thank you for watching and your comments this old kit was on the shelf for too long. I think its time to dust off some more monogram kits.

Nick, nice Harrier. Looks great! Justin, yours is just as nice. Excellent work. I also like the racers. Too fun!

So, I figured this project has 4 big hurdles. The nose, the belly, the skids, and the nacelles. I've knocked out two, thinking about how I'm going to tackle the third, and I've decided to ignore the last one.

So, the -1W(4B) had a different profile nose. Two pictures turned up on airliners.net during my search for -1W(4B) references (#1 and #2) that show the profile to good effect. I decided I was going to use Milliput for the nose job and for the belly work. 

First thing I did, was freehand the shape onto the adhesive edge of an adhesive note.

Once I was more or less happy with the shape, I transfered the shape to a piece of sheet stryene, cut it out, and glued it to the nose.

The pictures also showed that, what I'm guessing an avionics bay, extends back from the nose to between the skids. I used some L-angle stryene to rough out the sides, length, and height, then used a hunk of styrene to act as backer/filler.

Once my "molds" were ready, I used some white Milliput as filler and sanded the areas to shape after it dried.

By no means is it perfect, but I'm very happy with the way it's going. Like I've said before, I'm a 3-foot modeler, so I'm confident these mods will look just fine from 3-feet.

OK, so my next obstacle is the skids. Their struts are rounded, and the struts in the kit are airfoil shaped. 

I thought about switching out the skids for some from another kit, but all the Cobra kits I own have airfoil shaped struts too. I was able to get my hands on some skids from a Monogram Cobra, which happen to be rounded, but there are some issues with that option. I'm going to keep thinking about this.

I also took care of a couple other small mods. One, the pictures of the real demonstrator show some blanking plates where the original stabilizers were located. I just glued on a couple of small styrene squares and called it done.

I also removed the recievers from the rear of the boom. They're not installed on the real demonstrator. Besides, I had to remove those to get the stabilizers to fit in their new location.

While I decide on what to do with the skids, this is how my Cobra rests.

Oh, that fourth issue I mentioned? It's the nacelles and the exhaust area. Italeri royally screwed up that area on their -1W boxing. I know Cobra Company sold a resin replacement, but they're out of buisness now, and the ones I can find for sale online are out of my budget. I'm going to leave the nacelles as they are and hope that with all the other stuff that's going on with this build, the viewer won't even notice. You know, a forest for the trees kinda thing.

Anyway, thanks for looking. Feel free to drop your two cents in the bucket on the way out.

Cheers!
-O

Omar, check with Mike West, Lone Star Models.  His web site isn't taking orders right now but if you e-mail he he may help you out.  He has all the Cobra Company molds and is reissuing them.  He closes web site order funnction down when he gets too far behind on unfilled orders and production but he is very much in business.

Some great work going here.  I'm ready to get started on my Jayhawk.  This will be in the 100th anniversary of the coastgaurd colors

I don't normally work in 1/72 but it's all I could find for a Jayhawk - and I'm starting to think it might be a nice scale for helos anyhow.

Omar. many thanks for your comments and very fine work on your chopper.

John. that would really look sharp in yellow.

Omar, your work is always awe-inspiring . Your a master of scratchbuilding IMO.

John, YES, starting on the Coast Guard.

Ya don't see too many CG projects. I like the Yellow.

Wow, a master? I've been called a lot of things but never a master. Thanks Steve! Much appreciated!

John, I have CC's AH-1W set for another Italeri -1W that I will use it on. I've heard that LSM is releasing CC's stuff, but I haven't seen it posted yet. Last time I looked at LSM's site, like you said, sales are suspended. I may reach out to them anyway and see if they can help me out.

LSM is on facebook - you can ping him there

Bit work on the Jayhawk - looking to be a nice little kit

keavdog

LSM is on facebook - you can ping him there...

Unfortunately, I am not on social media. I sent him an email through the contact page on the LSM website. We'll see if he gets back to me.

oortiz10

Wow, a master? I've been called a lot of things but never a master. Thanks Steve! Much appreciated!

John, I have CC's AH-1W set for another Italeri -1W that I will use it on. I've heard that LSM is releasing CC's stuff, but I haven't seen it posted yet. Last time I looked at LSM's site, like you said, sales are suspended. I may reach out to them anyway and see if they can help me out.

 

Mike is on the Vacform and Resin Kit Builders Facebook page almost every day, you might reach him there by commenting on one of his posts.