"Size Matters" - Large aircraft build '06-Whenever - FineScale Modeler - Essential magazine for scale model builders, model kit reviews, how-to scale modeling, and scale modeling products

rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 11:19 AM

I heard of that thing!!!!!!! It's the Russian WIG (Wing In Ground) thing!!!!!!!!! I'll get back to on the name once I check my references.

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 6:23 AM

Hey, guys check this beast out! I saw this today and thought about the "ugly aircraft" conversation from the other day. It's some kind of "Russian Amphibious Assault Ground Effect Thingamajig". Whatever it is, it's hideous!

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Sunday, July 30, 2006 6:49 PM

Well, I've started on the Zwilling, with the outer wings attached and the interior painted Pale green, and one cockpit started. Still waiting on a digital camera.

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Saturday, July 29, 2006 6:11 PM

Mike, looks like you're H-4 is coming along great. I see you finally found something strong enough for your wing spar!

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Friday, July 28, 2006 3:53 PM

Lol the old "gravity works depending on the value of the plane in question" theory, right?

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Lucien Harpress

Member since
June 2003
From: A Computer in Adrian, (SE) Michigan.

Posted by Lucien Harpress on Friday, July 28, 2006 1:51 PM

rudy_102 wrote:
Lucien, are you trying to get that to be RC? It stand out among these stand-outs....

Naw. After this much work (and not to mention money), I'd just crash it. Laugh [(-D]

The spinning props are for looks only. I had a few motors lyin' around and thought "Hey, why not?" Thank you for the comment, though. Wink [;)]

That which does not kill you makes you stranger...

-The Joker

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rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Friday, July 28, 2006 11:52 AM

Lucien, are you trying to get that to be RC? It stand out among these stand-outs....

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Lucien Harpress

Member since
June 2003
From: A Computer in Adrian, (SE) Michigan.

Posted by Lucien Harpress on Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:25 PM

Many transport aircraft were based on those characteristics- they make sense.

High Wing- Putting the main wing spar on the top of the fuselage leaves more room for cargo. A low- or mid-spar would get in the way.
Many Fuselage Mounted Wheels- Many wheels make for a smoother ride and spread the footprint of the aircraft out more, which allows greater rough-field performance and is easier on runways. They're fuselage mounted becuase (with a high wing) wing-mounted landing gear would have overly long weak(er) struts, and take up more room in the wing.
Nose and Tail Doors- Allows for straight-through loading and greater flexibility.
Four + Engines- What can I say? Cargo loads are heavy!

Aircraft like the Me 323 and the H-4 "Spruce Goose" (among others) really ushered in this now "classic" form of transport aircraft. Look at all the "copycats"- C-130, C-141, An 225, An 12, etc, etc, etc.

I've done a bit more work on my H-4. Here's the pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/tailwood.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/spar.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/spardetail.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/nacellecompare.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/motorrunning.jpg

That which does not kill you makes you stranger...

-The Joker

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rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 3:44 AM

I'ld say the An-12 and C-130 were based on captured German research on the Me323.Everything points to it: all three have a high wing, lotsa wheels, nose and tail doors and 4+ engines. I'ldve gotten the Gigant if only I found the Italeri one. It would look great with the Zwilling.

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Monday, July 24, 2006 10:27 PM

No, kidding! Those crazy Germans always building thier ugly aircraft!

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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PanzerWulff

Member since
November 2004
From: Salisbury Massachucetts USA

Posted by PanzerWulff on Monday, July 24, 2006 3:14 PM

HEH Gedenke ever seen the Behemoth glider that thing was designed to tow the messerschmitt Me321 Gigant they also had a variant with 6 engines the Me323 but it was rather "Underpowered" Shock [:O]

for it's size

ACE??? you were NEVER an ace AN ace HOLE maybe! (Lister to Rimmer on BBC's RED DWARF) Chris"Hey GRAVITY still works"Gray

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Monday, July 24, 2006 4:10 AM

Rudy, if you're wanting to join with a 1/72 Zwilling, I'd say "heck yeah", and welcome aboard! Having never heard of that aircraft, I got curious and did a quick image search, and man, that is one crazy looking aircraft! I can only imagine the cracks that must've formed in that middle wing spar.

Keep us posted on your progress, Rudy.

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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rudy_102

Member since
December 2005
From: Ontario, Canada

Posted by rudy_102 on Monday, July 24, 2006 3:45 AM

Would the 1/72 scale Italeri Zwilling be enough? It's got one heck of a wingspan......

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Sunday, July 23, 2006 3:27 PM

Not too late Johnny, welcome aboard! You may want to keep an eye on bwr1's (Bruce) build, as he's building an AN-225. We'll be looking forward to your progress.

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 22, 2006 11:22 PM

Hey gang!

Is it too late for me to join? I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to planes...but I just started the 1/144 Revell Antonov AN124 kit....

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 9:51 AM

thanks for the support, friends. i have some extra progress. some other parts cant be repaired well, like the wing turret's machineguns.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 5:11 AM

Swanny's site is awesome.

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Monday, July 10, 2006 10:43 PM

Living Legend wrote:
Well I think Ive just about got it ready for primining. As long as I dont bust open any more seams. This has been a difficult build for me. I must say that I have improved at rescibing panel lines, but I still have much to learn...

LL, you might find this link to Swanny's website useful. I personnally skip the part about scraping with the curved blade and go straight to sanding after I scribe, but overall his process works like a charm, especially the dymo tape.

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Scribing.html

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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tho9900

Member since
July 2004
From: SETX. USA

Posted by tho9900 on Monday, July 10, 2006 7:05 PM

Josh, LL, Mike, Martin - good news on your progress, and to you Martin I hope you get it straightened out with the damage!

Hopefully I will be adding my own progress to the list soon!

---Tom--- O' brave new world, That has such people in it!

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tho9900

Member since
July 2004
From: SETX. USA

Posted by tho9900 on Monday, July 10, 2006 7:02 PM

Geoff - understood, I am just now getting out of my funk... It was a long stretch with no modeling for me....

My stuff from greatmodels gets here tomorrow so I will break it out and study it. I got the "collectors edition" Eduard PE set for the B-26J (whatever the colloectors thing means... it is not quite as big as the "Big Ed" Eduard set but it's 2 large sheets... should keep me busy for a bit! I got the True Details wheels and the Eduard Masks... after masking a 1/72 He-111 I live by these things now!!! Laugh [(-D]

---Tom--- O' brave new world, That has such people in it!

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Monday, July 10, 2006 4:33 PM

Well I'm glad to hear that many of you are making some good progress lately, because I am not. Sad [:(] I haven't even touched my B-24 for a couple of weeks now. I've been a bit busy with that whole "life gets in the way" thing.

As I'm sure most of you are aware of, we are offically underway on the GB, so, even though it's about 10 days late (see "life" reference above), the green flags are out and we're off and running. Everyone that's in have fun and enjoy the build, I'll be looking forward to all of your great offerings. And those of you who haven't joined (or want to), no worries, you can join any time up until JULY 1st 2007.

Happy Building!!! Thumbs Up [tup] (or for some of you, happy "repairing", if there is such a thing)

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 10, 2006 10:37 AM

i have some progress on the repairs, but the damage is too much. i had to search for some extra def MGs, and finished replacing the 20 mm upper turret cannon for a 7,7 MG provided by the kit.

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Lucien Harpress

Member since
June 2003
From: A Computer in Adrian, (SE) Michigan.

Posted by Lucien Harpress on Monday, July 10, 2006 10:13 AM

My H-4 build inches forward. After running out of balsa on my other elevator, I put that aside and started to solve some other problems. I think I've solved the problem of reliably installing the electric motors into each engine nacelle, allowing me to motorize this bird (something I've wanted to do since day one). In addition, I realize that I'm going to need to build a dedicated vacuform box to make a couple canopies. My last major problem is finding a good wing spar. With a four foot wingspan, I need something rather beefy.

Anyway, there's my small update. Work continues...

That which does not kill you makes you stranger...

-The Joker

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 10, 2006 3:33 AM

Well I think Ive just about got it ready for primining. As long as I dont bust open any more seams. This has been a difficult build for me. I must say that I have improved at rescibing panel lines, but I still have much to learn...

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Jaypack55

Member since
October 2005
From: Tacoma, WA

Posted by Jaypack55 on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 3:09 PM

Hi all, since my photobucket account isn't working, I'll just tell you how my build is going. I recently added the tail codes (many thanks to P51_mustang Big Smile [:D]

and finished the national insignia, and I'm working up the courage to try and apply the hand-painted noseart again. After 3 failed attempts, it's not going as well as I planned Angry [:(!]

. Anyway, Hopefully I'll get my photobucket working again so I can post some pics!

-Josh

Current Builds: If I were to list everything I have in progress, it'd take way too long! Some notable inclusions:

Hasegawa 1:48 KI-84

Tamiya 1:48 P-51D (in Iwo Jima long-range escort markings)

4 (yes, four) Tamiya 1:48 F4U-1s (1x -1D, 1x -1A, and 2x -1s)

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 4:34 AM

Im still moving along. I did have a minor setback, a filled a filed seam came unglued. I hope this trend doesnt continue. I figure it is the weight and thickness of the plastic that might be causing some stress. This is the first seam Ive had come apart, but this is the largest model Ive ever attempted maybe I shouldve applied the glue a different way. I used Tenax and flowed it into the seams as I normally do. Any way I should be primming it by the end of the week with any luck.

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Lucien Harpress

Member since
June 2003
From: A Computer in Adrian, (SE) Michigan.

Posted by Lucien Harpress on Monday, July 3, 2006 1:59 PM

It's been a while (in part because I've been away on vactaion for the last week up by Mackiaw City), but I've made some progress on my H-4. I took care of a large seam on the botton of the planing hull by gluing a strip of styrene stock to cover it. It was present on the real thing, so for once accuracy actually helped me.

I've begun work on the other tailplane, and hopefully soon I'll be able to get both of the tailplanes attached to the fuselage. Then I can begin work on the rudder.

And, as always, the never-ending "putty, sand, prime, repeat" process goes on.

I'll get some more pics up as soon I make some major visible progress.

That which does not kill you makes you stranger...

-The Joker

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PanzerWulff

Member since
November 2004
From: Salisbury Massachucetts USA

Posted by PanzerWulff on Saturday, July 1, 2006 2:27 PM

"slow start" lol my BUFF is still sitting in the box too much to finish before tackleing the B-52

ACE??? you were NEVER an ace AN ace HOLE maybe! (Lister to Rimmer on BBC's RED DWARF) Chris"Hey GRAVITY still works"Gray

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 1, 2006 5:40 AM

Ill be following your build close as I have 1 in the stash and Ill build it someday).

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gedenke

Member since
November 2005
From: Southern Oregon, USA

Posted by gedenke on Friday, June 30, 2006 8:42 PM

I hear ya Legend, I did a 1/48 C-47 last year, and scribing the panel lines and filling up all the seams must've taken me three weeks of steady work nearly every night.

As for my build, I had picked up an MPC 1/72 B-24, hoping that it had the right Ford nose like the pic on the box implied, but it had the "J" model nose. Not to mention the kit itself was just so-so. So, I'm back to the Monogram 1/48 I was originally going with. I'm debating if I want to buy the Cutting Edge nose conversion kit ($28) and hacking off the existing one. Yikes! I may just modify the area behind the nose turret and leave the bombardier's window as is. No real progress lately, just the the tail(s) are scribed and assembled and I've started scribing the wings. Oh, and I had some flat black in the AB the other day, so I went and shot the props and tires. Otherwise slow start.

-Geoff There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. — Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'.

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"Size Matters" - Large aircraft build '06-Whenever