BACK IN THE SPOTIGHT--THE BOMBER GROUP BUILD (Medium and Heavy bombers from all eras)

Hi all,

A quick update: finishing the nursery has taken precidence for a time -- especially since the baby is due next month. However, I've continued to rig the plane, and that is going pretty well. There's just a lot of rigging.

Regards,

Drew,

You will soon know "taking precedence" like you have never known it before.
Be encouraged though... It's good - and it goes by way too fast. - but you've probably heard that before.

I guess this gives a whole new meaning to "tying up loose ends".

Chris

Thanks, Chris.

I've seen a lot of parents, and they all seem to be okay. Some even make models! So it can't be too bad.

"Tying up loose ends."

Part of the reason the rigging is taking a while is that I did not drill the whole way through the top wing. So I thread the invisible thread through the hole in the bottom wing, add a little super glue to the tip, and place it in the hole in the top wing. The plane is inverted this whole time.

When that dries, I pull the thread taut, and apply super glue to the hole in the bottom wing. It works well, but is slow going.

Regards,

Hi all,

I've been working on the rigging for my Glencoe MB-2 biplane kit, and it has been going slowly. My two problems were that I had a hard time seeing the holes I had drilled in the wings (where the rigging lines go), and the super glue would take too long to cure.

So this weekend I picked up a Panter Vision (that's the brand) baseball cap, which has two bright LED lights at the end of the brim! I also picked up some superglue accelerator.

Now I can see, and the glue sets instantly. Rigging is going much more quickly.

Here's a link to the hat: http://www.perfectionoptics.com/prd_hat.html

My wife thinks I look funny, but I don't care.

Drew,

When I get a chance to go running for excercise (usually at night) my wife or one of the kids will yell to me: "Don't forget the DORK vest dad !". (my reflective mesh vest)

No one will ever accuse me of being a slave to fashion. Sounds like I could "accessorize" with one of those hats.

Chris

"Dork vest"! I like that.

I'll tell you a secret that will mark me as a geek forever: I wear ear plugs at concerts.

Regards,

Wear them with pride Brother !

I can think of one concert (circa 1978) that I wish I had them at... Sammy Hagar opened for Boston. My right ear rang for three days.

I've come to accept my dorkitude/geekness/dweebdom - whatever term you want to give it. My wife and kids see modelling as the ultimate manifestation of it, but they also seem pretty comfortable with a geek for a dad.

I still go to concerts, but the music is not the type that would require ear plugs.
Chris

Hi all,

A quick update:

One whole wing is rigged, and the other has the fore and aft rigging applied.

The baby is due any day now!

Regards,

How's progress....    Dad ?

Chris

Bossman wrote:

How's progress....    Dad ? Chris

Yup!

My son, John Richard, was born Saturday, November 19th at 12:01 P.M.! He was 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and 19 inches long at birth. He came out butt first after a pretty intense 3 hours and 40 minutes of labor; my wife was simply astounding!

Between end of semester stuff, and having a newborn in the house, I'm not getting much modeling done right now.  But I expect to be able to do more work on the MB-2 soon. After this week, my homework situation will calm down quite a bit.

Regards,

Now THAT's progress !

Congratulations to all three of you !

Chris

Okay, I'm back in the saddle. Or, at least, partway back in the saddle.

I thought I'd describe how I rig the wings, since I can't remember if I've done that earlier in this thread or not.

I first drilled the required holes, with a pin vice and a small drill bit, around the struts in the top wing, but I did not go the whole way through the wing. Then I drilled the corresponding holes in the bottom wing, but did go the whole way through.

To rig, I flip the model on its back, draw the invisible thread line through the hole in the bottom wing, anchor it with super glue (applied with a sharpened toothpick) in the hole in the top wing (and then spray the accelerator). Then I pull the line taut and anchor it with a length of masking tape. I carefully place super glue in the hole in the bottom wing and spray it with acelerator too. Then I snip off the excess line.

I've gotten better as I've gone along. I'm getting better at not using too much super glue, but the bottom wing looks a little rough now. A more traditional approach to rigging would be to drill all the way through the top wing too, and then string from hole to hole until one gets to the end of the wing. I'm glad I didn't do that as I'm still getting the hang of repairing the holes I drilled in the bottom wing.

For my next rigging adventure, I'm thinking about making mini turnbuckles from wife and threading the rigging line through them.

I've only got 16 more lines to rig, and then I all I have to do is four control wires for the alierons. I rigged 12 lines last night in about an hour and a half's work.

Regards,

Hi all,

Sometimes a task goes quickly and sometimes it goes very slowly. I rigged three lines in an hour last night compared to twelve in an hour and a half a few nights before that.

I bought model railroad grass and paste this past weekend. The same stuff that Matt Usher used in his article on making a diorama in the last issue of FSM. I bought a picture frame that I'll use for the base. I'm debating right now weather I'll raise the base to even with the frame, or let the frame sit higher than the base.

Regards,

sounds like alot of rigging, also late congrats on your son!

Thanks, Josh!

It is a lot of rigging, but it's looking pretty good, and all that rigging has given me a chance to perfect my technique.

My son is wonderful, but being only a month old, he's not doing much just yet: he sleeps, fusses every now and then, and looks cute most of the time. I'm looking forward to helping him with his first model in a few years.

Regards,

Lufbery:

also very belated congrats on the birth of ur son,  he's a cutie alrite !

& i'm still looking forward 2 seeing that bomber all rigged out...

got 2 get back 2 work on my b-17 one of these days, also !

everyone:

a very happy holiday 2 u & urs !

 

frosty

 

Wow,      I was just thinking - this GB was supposed to end a year ago !   I guess good stuff takes a while.

Happy New Year everybody  !  It's been fun seeing all these come together.

Chris

Bossman wrote:

I guess good stuff takes a while.

One hopes that it's good, Chris.

I took about six weeks off, but am back at it this week. I finished the wing rigging and just have to do the alieron control line rigging -- just four wires!

Then the landing gear, and the plane is finished.

Regards,

Woo Hoo!

The Mb-2 is on her landing gear. I'm almost done.

Regards,

Hi all,

I'm still keeping going, abeit slowly (so what's new?).

I test fit the ground crew figure that I have who is posed so that he can hand start a propeller. He fits the plane nicesly, so I've started painting him for use in the diorama.

The diorama will be simple: just some static grass in a picture frame, but it should look pretty good (I hope so, anyway).

Regards,

Sounds like it will be a nice looking dio. I cant wait to see it finished

Thanks!

I'm pretty pleased with how things are turning out. This project has really stretched my skills.

The dio will be pretty simple, but the figures really add a lot of life to it. I'm extremely pleased with the Orion figures I bought. You can see them here:

http://www.michtoy.com/MTSCnewSite/newplastic_folder/orion_1-72/dds72003.html

Regards,

Can i join with a B-52 in 1/72nd? all i realy need to do is finnish it up and paint and decal and....(the list goes ever on)
Thanx

ToaEro wrote:

Can i join with a B-52 in 1/72nd? all i realy need to do is finnish it up and paint and decal and....(the list goes ever on) Thanx

I don't see why not. This is sort of an unofficial group build anyway, but some of us have kept on as our projects have kept on.

Please post some photos and give us some details on your B-52!

Regards,

Hey all !

Haven't been posting much lately - on this thread or any other.  Haven't even been online much in general for the last few months - doing a little more building - and more other stuff. 

But when I am on line - I keep checking this thread to see Drew's finished product.  How's it goin man !

Chris

Bossman wrote:

Hey all ! Haven't been posting much lately - on this thread or any other.  Haven't even been online much in general for the last few months - doing a little more building - and more other stuff.  But when I am on line - I keep checking this thread to see Drew's finished product.  How's it goin man ! Chris

Chris! It's great to hear from you!

The build is going well, but slowly as always.

The Martin is on her landing gear, all the rigging is finished, and the propellers are on. I have to add the alieron control wires, paint the ground crew guy who'll be hand starting the prop, and I need to make the grassy runway the plane is on (using woodland scenics grass).

I'll probably have to make wheel chocks too.

My goal is to be done in time for the local Hobby Town USA's model contest in the beginning of next month. I'll have photos here too when she's done.

What are you working on now?

Regards,

Drew,

I usually work on multiple projects at once - At the moment 3. (all 1/72)

A Matchbox Westland Wessex in an Aussie scheme - all folded up and ready for transport on a carrier.  All that's left on this one is to put the decals on the rotor blades.  The Academy F4F-3 Wildcat in a grey/white atlantic scheme which is 90% done.   These two kits are kinda old - and on the low detail end of the spectrum, but I've been having fun with some scratchbuilding detail (making up for no interior on the Wessex and correcting the gear doors and other stuff on the Wildcat).  The last project is an Academy F4U-1 Corsair.  A much more detailed (newer) kit.  I just started this one. 
One thing I like about little 1/72 fighters is that I can complete them relatively quickly (a couple months).  That B-24 was definitely the longest time I've ever put into a model - and it still needs a little tiny bit of detail work to call it "done".  At least it is to the point where I consider it "displayed".

Yesterday was my oldest son's 15th birthday - he mentioned a couple weeks ago that he would like to do a big kit like the 1/48 F-15 we did a while back.  COOL !   I love it when I can help play with my kids' birthday presents.  It kinda took me by surprise cuz I didn't think he liked it that much - anyway I got him the 1/48 Monogram F-14 - so now that's on the table too.

Chris

Chris,

My oldest, actually my only, child is going to be 4 months old on Sunday.

Frankly, I get a little frustrated at times with how slowly I build. I guess there are three factors at work.

The first is that I'm in grad school part time, I work full time, I've been doing a number of short (2 week to a month) home renovation projects, I study aikido (a Japanese martial art -- more than a hobby ), and I'm a new dad. I keep telling myself that I'll work on my model in the evening, but by the time the evening rolls around, I often don't have the energy.

The second thing is that I keep building kits that requrie a fair amount of work. The 1/72 Monogram F-4J was my last project fit pretty well, but still needed some filling and sanding. The Martin MB-2 has been a really tough build.

Lastly, I'm trying a whole host of new techniques with each build. This obviously slows things down.

I'm not complaining, 'cause life is pretty good, but it would be nice to do a build that takes me no more than a month. I've got an 1/72 ESCI F-4C that should be a quick build. (Though I've said that about other kits before ).

Regards,

Hi all,

I did a little more work with the MB-2 last night. I finished drilling the holes for the alieron control wires and glued on the control horns. I sent one of the control horns to the carpet monster, but quickly made a replacement with stretched sprue. Tonight, I'll install the control wires, and then the plane is done.

After that, I'll paint the ground crew figure, and make the grass field base.

Regards,

Hi all,

A quick update: I created the grass runway base by using a cheap picture frame, some white glue, and some Woodland Scenics grass. It turned out looking pretty good!

I still have a little rigging left to do, and then I have to paint and mount the ground crew guy. Then it's all done!

There's a model show this weekend that I'd like to show the plane in. So Friday evening is my deadline.

Regards,