"Heavy Lifters" Cargo Plane GB 2008

Does this have to be modern, US cargo planes?  I've got a Gigant that I'd like to get to soon...

I have a Roden An-12 that wants to be a part of this. Count me in but I can't start until March.

I would be an active member of this GB.

I think we should troll a line for the Anigrand C-124. Maybe offer an incentive.. oh wait... I'll start a new subject.

cardshark_14 wrote:

Does this have to be modern, US cargo planes?  I've got a Gigant that I'd like to get to soon...

Cardshark, you read my mind.  So if this ever gets off the ground, we will be be doing Gigants.  I like to think of the Me-321 as the Granddaddy of all cargo planes, so a significant aircraft for sure.

My hand is up! And great minds think alike.

I was planning to put up a thread just like this sometime in the next few days, since next year is the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. I hadn't seen yours before. My rules were even going to be the same as yours: Any airlifter, military or civilian.

I can't say 100% for sure that I would be a participant, but I'm already eyeing the C-47 decals I bought from Leading Edge about this time last year, and it's time they went on something, so the Minicraft 1/144 C-47 is going on my Christmas list. If I get it, I'm in, and I'll be an active participant who gets at least one model finished during the build. I suggest that you do the build and that the build period should be 1 January 2008-31 December 2008. Just my 2 cents.

If you go with a January 1, 2008 start date, I am in with at least an Me 323, and possibly a few german gliders, if they'll work...I'm thinkin a 1/72 Italeri Go 242/244 and a 1/48 Special Hobby DFS 230, if you'll let them in...

Let me know, and good luck!  This one sounds interesting!

I'm in with the Roden AN-12

Here it is so far.  Whaddya'll think?

Cardshark,

Good work on the badge.  I have so much to do, got to get my finger out......F14A for the Tomcat GB,  Skyhawk for the Aussie GB,  Then on to the Gigant !

Here is what I am going to try and replicate with my Me323 Diorama.  I picked up the Sd Kfz 7 Tractor towing an 88mm (Old Airfix Kit) and I still have some Airfix German Infantry/Afrika Korps/Mountain Troops from 30 years ago that should provide me with some figures.

That'd probably be a good idea.  With my very small experience (20 days!) in hosting a GB, I'd say post often, and anytime you see someone posting a question about your topic in general, try to help them, and then invite them to the GB.  Also, after the start date, people tend to join more because there are more posts, and everyone is excited about it.  

I'm glad you like the badge...I'm still not completely happy with it yet, so if you have more ideas, feel free to let me know.  

That's going to be a spectacular dio.  I picked up a 1/72 flakpanzer a while ago that I'm still kicking around the idea of using inside the Gigant.  It'll be my first armor kit ever, so we'll see.  

Wirraway--

I posted a thread in Aircraft about a potential airliner group build and got four participants in less than 12 hours. Now we're up to ten participants with sixteen planned builds between us. It works!

Im in for next year with a C-47, 1/72, in Swede markings!

Badge goes on as of now. Love it!!!

Just saw the posting in Aircraft - and since I've never been in a group build before...  If you'll let a newbie in I'd love to build a new kit I just got last week:

Nostalgic Plastic  C-133 B Cargomaster  1/144 Resin kit

This is going to be a gift for my stepdad who was a ground crew at Travis AFB during the 60's.

Dmod wrote:

Just saw the posting in Aircraft - and since I've never been in a group build before...  If you'll let a newbie in I'd love to build a new kit I just got last week: Nostalgic Plastic  C-133 B Cargomaster  1/144 Resin kit This is going to be a gift for my stepdad who was a ground crew at Travis AFB during the 60's. NICE!!!

grhornet wrote:

Ho about a C-121, is that legal? Rich

Rich,

From what I know (now) about the C-121, it was classed as a military airliner/transport plane, so I reckon it qualifies !  Let me know what scale and I'll put you on the front page.

Paul

Cardshark,

Are you going to build your gigant with the JATO rockets ?  Hadnt even thought about it until I had a quick browse through the instructions- havent started building yet.

Anyone else made a start ?

I'm not especially sure yet...I haven't gotten much planning done for this GB yet.

As far as size goes, I'm currently running the IJA/IJN Rare WWII GB. I was worried, becuase it started off fairly small, but after the start date, I've had five or six more people join. I think we're up to 13 now, with two completed models, and a bunch that are getting really close. Also, same as here, people have committed to build more than just one kit for the GB. I say go for it!

Finally got my C-47 back - it had been at my friends house. Will get started this weekend.

Is it too late to join? I have a 1/72 C-17 that I need motivation to build, and this seemed perfect. I'd love to get involved.

Jon

I got started on the Swede C-47. I decided to keep the front hatch closed after starting to put a few tidbits in the front end. Same old thing:

I'll detail my butt off, and then close it up - you cant see doodly inside that little 1/72 opening, anyway! So I came to my senses on that one.

At the rear cargo hatch, things will be different. I'm removing one course of jump seats to give a little more cargo room for the "stowage" I'll be sticking in there. Next up,  I'll have to find some 1/72 soldiers I can add for the human element. These guys will be milling around the opening and basically loafing, when they should be working. I've seen a lot of Swede armed forces photos fotos lately and they are pretty relaxed, if they are anything. No point in making them work too hard, you know?

Ive found ONE, count it, ONE, pic of the C-47 in Swede camo. This is basically a Brit style DG/DG upper with lower NMF, as far as I can make it.

Any body have some more info on this?

Do you have a conclusion date in mind for this GB?

You can put me down for a C5 as well as a KC10 144th scale for both.

Also, not sure if any of you know about this particular website. But it is a true home for the heavies, USAF ones anyways. Mike offeres a lot of pics of every trash hauler the Air Force ever flew as well as experimental ones also. http://www.theaviationzone.com/

Well, our happy band has reached double figures - who would have thunk it ?  Welcome aboard guys, you are on page one.  This build goes all year, so dont stress.  Masterpieces like these big boys take a little longer than throwing together another spitfire or, (god forbid) another 109

Anybody made any progress ?  Lets see some WIP pics.  I have lost my mojo, my A-4 scooter sits forlornly awaiting decals for the Aussie GB.  I did knock over the old Lindberg Independance Day Alien figure last week - I'm just in a slump I guess.  One question I did want to ask, the Gigant has a number of small windows.  What do you guys like to do ?  Paint the fuselage first, then install the windows and button up ?  Or build, then mask the windows and paint ?  I'm worried about pushing the windows back inside the fuselage while masking/unmasking (elmers glue only)

Going now- never listen to the Ramones while typing, I seem to be hitting the keyboard awful hard...................

Paul.

Wirraway wrote:

What do you guys like to do ?  Paint the fuselage first, then install the windows and button up ?  Or build, then mask the windows and paint ?  I'm worried about pushing the windows back inside the fuselage while masking/unmasking (elmers glue only) Paul.

Decide if they're worth using. If they fit well, are flush and have nice location flanges, I'd say use them and mask. If they're tiny, or hard to work with or mishapen, ignore them and use Klear after you are finished. You might test this before you commit to it.

Another option, which is a good one IMHO for lifters, is to glue in the windows, paint over them and paint them black at the end. In particular for little ports scattered around under the wing etc. I think it looks much more realistic.

Wirraway, I'd like to change my model for the build, since I ordered this Northwest dual use 707... 

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=MI14484&Submit3=Go

...yesterday. I'll be able to start it as soon as I finish some of my airliner group build birds. I may still do the RCAF C-47, but for now I'm putting it aside.

cdclukey wrote:

Wirraway, I'd like to change my model for the build, since I ordered this Northwest dual use 707...  http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=MI14484&Submit3=Go ...yesterday. I'll be able to start it as soon as I finish some of my airliner group build birds. I may still do the RCAF C-47, but for now I'm putting it aside.

Ooh, geez, I dunno........looks like an  awful lot of passenger windows in that box art.....

what do you think guys............is it primarily a cargo plane ?

I'll change your details........and the Gigant gets started tonight.........come hell or high water (with the weather in Queensland lately, its more likely to be the high water)

I'd say no conversions.

I'd say let it in, personally...the description does say...

Description: Northwest Boeing 707-351B. One of five built with a large cargo door mounted to the left side. Inside was a compartment capable of holding two tons of cargo. The seats on the right side were partitioned off when cargo was carried. Colorful decals have the distinctive cargo door and Northwest’s 707 Fanjet livery. The cockpit windows are clear, landing gear, and Pratt & Whitney fan jet nacelles are provided.

Just my  

Wirraway;

I'd like to join in on this build with the Hobby Craft  DHC-4 Caribou in Air America livery?

Thank you

Neil

Thank you cdclukey! Appreciate the vote of confidence.

Neil 

You're In ! and   I picked up the Kitech DHC-4 Caribou this year - possibly the worst decals I've ever seen !  The sprues are stamped "Hobbycraft Canada" so, the same moulds I guess.  The Novascale RAAf decal sheet cost me more than the model.

Got some work done on the Gigant.  My tarngrun/feldgrun didnt turn out too well, but I can live with it.

The fuselage is only a foot long, but the wingspan is 2 1/2 foot, so it will take up a chunk of space.  Being based on a glider, I guess it needed all that wingspan for lift. See page one for the dio I am going to try and recreate.  Got a space picked out in the den already.

A pity none of these survived the war.  They were just so slow and cumbersome to manouvre that they went down like meteors once the allied fighters got stuck into a formation of them.

I have been researching Kampfgruppe Zbv 323, which operated these and Ju 52's to resupply the Afrika Corps in Tunisia.  Their losses were horrific, with 15 ME323s being lost in a single day  on 2 April 1943.  This contributed to Rommels forces being starved of fuel and ammunition.

I just picked up this weekend the new Italeri Savoia Marchetti SM.82 Marsupiale in 1/72. It was the largest Italian transport of WWII and last flown in 1960.

Mike T.

I just placed my order for six Humbrol colors for the AN-12. I tried every which way I could to find Tamiya/MM/GS matches for the Humbrol colors in Roden's instructions, to no success even from IPMS Stockholm. Except for Med Sea Gray, all pretty strange.

I'm looking forward to starting as soon as the paint comes, and I learn how to use it. I've been using MM Acrylics for years now.

telsono wrote:

I just picked up this weekend the new Italeri Savoia Marchetti SM.82 Marsupiale in 1/72. It was the largest Italian transport of WWII and last flown in 1960. Mike T.

Mike- are you joining our happy band ?  I was looking at that Marsupiale on the Lucky Model webpage the other night- almost bought one too.

Yes, I was thinking of joining this GB. After Looking at my Sky Models 1/72 "Italian Bombers Decals" sheet, I have a few more choices and may select a simple Dark olive over grey pattern.

Mike T.

Mike T. !

Bablenw.  A Gigant could carry about 9 ton.  2 x light trucks, or a light AFV, or, in my case, a halftrack towing an 88.  Or 120 fully equiped infantry. There is some excellent footage on youtube of an AFV being reversed up the ramp into the cargo hold.  They did experiment with dropping a 39,000lb bomb, the Gigant was the only  Luftwaffe aircraft capable of carrying it.  However the plane broke up in mid air during the test. 

They were notoriously nose heavy.  There is a documented account of a Me323 flight where there was no co-pilot available.  A He-111 pilot was pressed into service as the flight captain.  He kept on trimming the plane during takeoff as if it were tail heavy, not nose heavy.  The Gigant used up all 2600 feet of runway and still could not get airborne.  The flight engineer who was in the right wing cavity sensed something was wrong and jumped clear  through an access hatch after 1900ft of runway.  He suffered a broken leg but was the only survivor of the 7 man crew, who died after the plane crashed into woods and exploded with a full load of avgas bound for the 109 squadrons in Budapest. 

Wirraway;

Great story and history. Thank you.

I've begun my initial research and dry fitting of this kit. The fueselage looks a bit warped but so am I....oops , but I'll wrestle with it. Here's a shot of the parts and box and stuff.

One of the reasons I'm doing this model is that I was a youngster living in Laos with my dad who was a USAID person so he was assigned there. We used to fly Air America Caribous and C123 Providers from the capitol of Laos, Vientiane to Udron Royal Thai Air base to use the exchange facilities. The flights were free of charge to Embassy personnel and their dependents. My dad knew many of the pilots from is C.A.T. days as a pilot, so we got to hang out in the cockpit...well more like stand in the Caribou's and watch them fly. Smelly, noisy, with really comfortable bucket seats..ha ha ha but what a thrill. I also got to fly in an Air America Huey once too. So this GB and model have a very nostalgic feel for me.

Neil

BUMP- plus I've been busy. I figured that the Heavy Lifter would need something, well, heavy to lift. So I found a nice little 1/72 Russian gas truck that'll be backing up the ramp into the AN-12 Cub which is the main subject.

This was a very nice kit. it probably had 100 parts: the whole 6x6 drive, cab interior. I had to do the decals with trim film as the kit originals were shattered.

This was a very nice build that took me a couple of weekends.

The Cub is waiting to be started, so I wanted to show my commitment. I ordered all of the Humbrol colors, which I could not otherwise match to Roden's color charts.

More soon,

Bill

Very nice build on that gas truck. What does the decal on the side mean? It should look nice with your airplane build. Are you planning on weathering the truck?

Neil

Thanks! It's really little like about 3" long but it was really fun to build.

Ogneopasno translates as "flammable".

I've since finished it- got that missing hub on, plates, running lights. I'm only going to dull it a bit as it will probably contrast better with the Cub, which i want to really weather.

Bill

Nice work on the tanker Bill.  Looks like a beaut.

I have got the wings/tail on.  engines and struts next. 

Just ran into this thread...

I am wondering if a 1/72 EC-130H would be allowed, and if it would be too late to join with this?

The EC-130H Compass Call is a heavily modified Herk that is used in electronic warfare:

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=190

Here's one of the two birds I was crew chief on:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-EC-130H-Hercules/0354211/L/

The base kit is the Italeri/Testors 1/72 scale C-130E kit. I'll be scratchbuilding all the exterior detail and quite a bit of other work as well. Will be an interesting and fun build, I think!

Hey Damon, how much cargo can one of those puppies carry? I seem to remember they still have some cargo capability, but it must be reduced some by the EW suite, right?

Oh...and let's not forget that crew chiefs rule. :-) I crewed KC-135s from '89-94.

The EC-130H can still carry some cargo with the EW suite. Can't say how much...

Crew Chiefs do rule!!!

Interesting on the KC-135 bit-where I work at is one of the PDM locations for the KC-135R models. There's a chance your bird came through here...

cdclukey:

I'll look into the database we have (not sure how far back it goes) and see if I can find your bird...

Cool! Much appreciated. The last I heard she was with the Guard unit at Niagara Falls, NY, but they just converted from the -135 to the C-130H, so I have no idea where she went from there.

On edit: Found a news story about the Guard unit's conversion, and my bird is in the active Air Force again. Here's a photo of her back when she was at Niagara:

One more edit: MUCH better photo!

http://www.airfighters.com/photo_11604.jpg

I never knew she was in the Maine Guard, and might still be because that pic was taken last October...that's really cool, because I'm from Maine and my Dad was a Maine guard guy!

Hmmm..........sometimes my level of stupidity amazes even me......The 12 engine nascelle halves for the gigant, are, in fact, numbered on the inside.  So you attach 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, etc. To eventually end up with the six engine nascelles.

Ie: each nascelle is different, to allow for the different thickness of the wing the farther away you get from the wing root.  Doh!  I got some sanding and filing ahead of me, for sure.  Cardshark, be warned !  (I know you wont make the same mistake as me anyway)

This is the first multi-engine kit I've made where the engine nascelles were not moulded as part of the wings (ie: you construct the engine and then attach it to the wing)

You can see the size of the beastie compared to a 1/48 Superfortress.  Something tells me the Gigant will only ever be a 1/72 kit, a bit like the B-36 or B-52.  Anyway, back to the bench.

Paul. 

The SM.82 has hit the bench! Italeri has done a good job with it. I'm still trying to decide which markings to use, probably 604-2 that comes with the kit. I have a good picture of another aircraft in the same squadron in that same pattern. The engines and cowlings I am replacing with the Engine and Things set. This set was intended for the old AvUsk kit, but can be adapted easily for this kit. E and T's cowlings has pronounced, and maybe overscale details, but that is one of the points I like about this aircraft is the cowlings and their characteristics.

This is considered the first purpose built and designed military transport. Prior to this everyone modified a civilian aircraft for the chore (DC-3 to C-47, Junkers Ju-52).

I'll try to take pictures this weekend, but I am having camera problems and may have to send it out for repair (macro for one, not working).

Mike T.  

cdclukey wrote:

Cool! Much appreciated. The last I heard she was with the Guard unit at Niagara Falls, NY, but they just converted from the -135 to the C-130H, so I have no idea where she went from there. On edit: Found a news story about the Guard unit's conversion, and my bird is in the active Air Force again. Here's a photo of her back when she was at Niagara: One more edit: MUCH better photo! http://www.airfighters.com/photo_11604.jpg I never knew she was in the Maine Guard, and might still be because that pic was taken last October...that's really cool, because I'm from Maine and my Dad was a Maine guard guy!

That would be so cool... it's always fun learning the history of your bird!

Haven't had much time to do modeling; work heaped up on me this past week.

Took a good look at the Testors/Italeri kit... and discovered one big problem... the forward cargo bay bulkhead is molded wrong (unless you were a three foot high person), there is a doorway that is way too small and short. So I'm going to scratchbuild a whole new flight deck and most likely cargo compartment as well. It looks to me like they used the Gunship version to mold the flight deck; the way it is laid out is similar to the old C-130A flight decks (there was a major revision to the flight deck after that model).

Will post pictures when I can!

Sounds really awesome, Chief! Looking forward to seeing it.

My Caribou is coming along very slowly.  I've been working on the wings making nav lights and dry fitting the engine cowels. Looks like they fit ok. Next I'm going to work on the cockpit and seal up the fueselage halves. I'll post some pics soon too.

Neil

My SM 82 is coming along ok. I find the joining up of the fuselage halves a bit of a challenge. They made the plastic thin and the locator pins far apart, This resulted in some slippage from warping of the halves. Just filled in and sanded it even. The inscribed lines are shallow and have to be re-scribed after sanding.

Here's the cockpit area:

I invested in the "Engine and Things" engine and cowl set intended for the original "Aviation Usk" kit. Here are them compared to the kit parts. I like the deeper details on the resin set. The shape of the cowlings in the kit resembles more of the post war Prat and Whitney replacements than the original wartime cowlings for the Alfa Romeo engines.

This is the kit set:

Here is the "Engine and Things" set:

Here is the kit parts temporarily mounted kit set:

The "E&T" temporarily mounted:

I do prefer the "E&T" set and will use them for the final build.

Mike T.

Wirraway, 

I have been busy finishing projects for other Group Builds plus another very important build. Still trying to finish up the seams. This week I am away from home on a business trip.

This last build which was the most important. As a present to my wife for Mother's Day, I built and painted up the figure that is linked below. She loved it, even with my interpertation of the colors. I made sure it was done before I caught my flight.

http://www.coloradominiatures.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2406

Mike T.

cardshark_14 wrote:

Hey all, looks like some good progress is being made on these big birds.  I've been working on an Emily, so I haven't got much (or anything at all) to show for this GB yet. However, I did come across a rather inspiring picture of the steel structure of an Me 323 I'm gonna venture into treadhead territory and see if they can't identify what all that is.  Then, maybe I'll roll up my sleeves and build a target or two for the interior.

I don't know, Bondo...

the Me 323 could lift 10-12 tons of cargo...

According to the armor guys, the targets are:
"The left half track is a Sdkfz 10 Demag 1-ton tractor, followed by a Kfz 15 Horch medium car with a 5cm Pak 38 gun."

(Good guesses, my friend!)

Wikipedia says that the Sdkfz 10 weighs 4900kg, the Kfz 15 weighs 1820kg, and the Pak 38 weighs 830kg.

That's 7550kg (16,645 lb) of goodies, not counting people and an unidentified motorcycle. That leaves 4.6 more tons of cargo capacity...

I'd say its doable...but man, what a load! Real heavy lifter, especially for its time!

Cheers,
Alex

Ah, my young friend, not a guess. Back in the late 70's Tamiya really ramped up their US marketing with an extensive line of armor kits, which are all classics now, and sold them via a beautiful catalogue featuring the work of Verlinden. It really had no peer. We wingnuts were still building the same old Monogram and Revell kits and that was about it. I budgeted myself $ 20 a paycheck and bought a new kit every time. And thats dinner for two plus a movie. Friday night sitting down and opening the "Greif" 250 kit, standing Rommel up on the bench and just, inhaling, the quality of a beautifully engineered kit.

12 tons does leave enough capacity for the 14 dudes and the motorcycle, as long as its tank is empty. but I still don't know how Hans and Franz got it in sideways.

That in fact is a really really great display idea. Imagine my Cub (and yes it is a figment of the imagination right now) with 40 spetznaz paras, or a C-119 over Dien Bien Phu with 20 Legion paras, very nice idea. Thanks for the pic.

Bill

Crikey, we nearly got relegated to page 3 ! (bump- can't have that)

Hows everyone going ?  Cardshark ?  any pics of that Gigant ?

I took a little detour and started on the payload for the Gigant, a Sdkfz 7 towing a Flak 88, a kubelwagen, and a kettenkrad.  some 200 litre fuel drums/wooden crates.  Just got a little Opel Blitz truck to do.  I was disappointed with the old preiser luftwaffe figures I picked up on e-bay- not much detail - they're old (Made in W. Germany !)  I had heard some good things about preiser in 1/72 scale, but as I said, disappointing detail.  The 1/72 Airfix figures I have look better. 

Hope you guys are making progress

I've bought yellow "naugahide" to simulate the padding inside the AN-12, once I score it on the diagonal with a sharp pencil.

Bill, nice to hear from someone else- I was getting a bit despondant there for a while.

PS:  What happened to your avatar ?  Avast, ye scurvy son of a sea crab !

Here's a problem I could use help with. The AN-12 is a really big sucker, no kidding. The fuse is in four pieces- front/rear/left/right.

I glued front/rear together for each side to make two complete halves, and let them dry centerline side down on a flat surface.

Drat- now I realize that the diameter of the front end and the back end are not the same due to poor molding. So when I hold the halves together there is a neat small seam, but there is a pretty big step front to back on each side.

I can't hide it with putty. I'm going to have to cut it all apart and glue it again with an eye to make the join front/back smooth. This will result in about a .03 gap top and bottom between the two rear sections, including up around and down the fin. I suppose i could taper the filler piece and clamp the tail together. Most of the underside in that area is a big open door.

Yeah, thats what I'll do. Thanks for listening, it's made me feel a whole lot better, really.

So here's what I did. I cut the front from the back, starting at the top and sawing down to within a 1/2" or so of the bottom. From there down things were pretty flush. Then I flexed the back end out a little to be flush, and butt joint glued it. I am going to put in some internal reiforcing, but it needs to be above the ceiling in there, as the interior is completely visible and figures to be the fun part of the model.

The nacelle assemblies look to be a chore. They come in about eight parts each, and there is nothing on the wing to guide, hold or show where they go.

I'll have some pictures tonight.

Bill

Well, I'm calling this one done.  Not entirely happy with it, but the rest of the stash is calling me....

Posted a heap more pics in the Aircraft forum.

My gosh fella, I think it is fantastic! Not to mention absolutely a first!

I think it's a trend, to have cargo as a part of this build. Hooray, and well done.

Man that is an awesome build. Congrats. It looks very impressive in the diorama. It really gives you a sense of how big it is.

Well done;

Neil

Working slowwwwww!  Life just finds a way to get in a our way of building.  Anyway,  here is the C-133 just out of the box.  While very pricey ($110 USD), I bought this as a gift.  The included CD has images from a couple of C-133's - both interior and exterior - very nice.  All resin kit, has a fair amount of flash on the leading edge of both wings.  Will post more as I get working on this thing.  The holidays are not too far away.

Here are couple images from the CD.

Howdy folks,

Due to an unplanned stopping point on my Emily, I'm going to start cleaning up the flash and freeing those fragile interior pieces on my Gigant.  Since Wirraway did the powered version, I believe I'll do the glider.  I've decided to do a white-washed Eastern front bird during 1942.

I don't have a working camera, or a working airbrush thanks to my klepto cats, but I'm going to get started on basic assembly.  It'll be all closed up, as I will eventually build a white-washed He 111Z to tow it (or three Bf 110Cs...).  

Cheers,
Alex

Wirraway--

Aweome work on that Gigant!

Also, I'm changing my Heavy Lifter build to the Minicraft 1/144 Blue Angels Constellation.

I had the Me 323 at the beginning of the GB, but I scored a 321 for $10 about a month ago.  The fuselage is slightly different, and the Me 321 kit doesn't have all the bogeys...instead it has a skid and a little cart.  I'm taking a break, so I'm avoiding engines, wheels, and interiors and building the Me 321 closed up.

Cheers,
Alex

After putting off this build for months, I've already got the fuselage closed on the Connie. Tomorrow night bondo goes on.

cdclukey wrote:

After putting off this build for months, I've already got the fuselage closed on the Connie. Tomorrow night bondo goes on.

The An-12 will rise to the skies, gents. Soon as the rains start and I put the garden to sleep for the winter. Shots this weekend.

Well, Wirraway, that reminds me of a joke I heard just the other day.

Jim and Bill, two Canadian men who are best friends, decide that they're sick and tired of the winters on the western plains. So they go to see a travel agent and find out they can get a really good deal on a trip to Australia, where summer is just beginning. Excitedly, they take it, and a few days later they head to the airport in their parkas and get on a plane to head Down Under.

When they land they decide to have a celebratory drink, and they head for a lounge in the airport, sit down at the bar and order beer. Jim and Bill are still a little shellshocked from the winters and they came to Australia to be hot after all, so they still haven't taken their parkas off. At one of the tables in the bar, a group of Aussies is perplexed by this scene, and one of them gets up, walks over to the Canadians and says, "G'Day! Can I ask where exactly you guys are from?"

"Saskatoon, Saskatchewan," Bill replies.

"Come again?"

This time Jim speaks up. "Saskatoon, Saskatchewan."

The Aussie returns to his table. One of his drinking buddies asks, "So, where are they from?"

"I've got no idea. Those guys don't even speak English."

As soon as I finish the IJA/IJN GB the AN-12 is next. The last issue of SAM had a good article on interiors for an IL-76, which I'm going to use as a guide.

See you in December.

Wirraway wrote:

Hello,  anyone out there ?  Bondo,  I think you are our last hope of someone else finishing before the end date...........

Yeah, I'm out. Sorry, just had a couple of minicraft kits kick my butt all year long and haven't even started the Northwest bird.

My apologies.

I've been working on the Cub quite a bit this weekend. First; I've never built a Roden kit before, and this one is great. All the pieces go together well, and look sharp. Not Tamiya, but much nicer than I'm used to.

This is a seriously big airplane. Remember about a year ago I built the tank truck from Zvedza as cargo; here it is amongst the parts, along with an Avia Messer for scale, all at 1/72.

The biggest challenge so far has been joining the front/ rear halves of the fuse together on accout that I did it by sides, not front to back.

More soon- this is FUN!!!!

Bondo, 

Great to see the progress you are making, should be a beaut !

(Between you, me and the fencepost, I have to say how dissapointed I was with moderating my first GB.  Looks like only two of us will finish ?  Maybe I didnt crack the whip enough.  I hope the military veterans II GB goes a little better)

bondoman wrote:

I've been working on the Cub quite a bit this weekend. First; I've never built a Roden kit before, and this one is great. All the pieces go together well, and look sharp. Not Tamiya, but much nicer than I'm used to. This is a seriously big airplane. Remember about a year ago I built the tank truck from Zvedza as cargo; here it is amongst the parts, along with an Avia Messer for scale, all at 1/72. The biggest challenge so far has been joining the front/ rear halves of the fuse together on accout that I did it by sides, not front to back. More soon- this is FUN!!!!

But right now, even typing takes forever.

Alex,   I'll keep you to that promise !!  I picked up the glider version on e-bay (a BIG airfield dio with a He111 Zwilling all hooked up and ready to tow)

Maybe a glider GB some day ?

This is a really fine model. It is very nicely engineered and the detail is good. It is also huge. The props are close to the wingspan of my Avia S199 (Me 109).

I painted the wings with gray straight out of the bottle, and plan to post shade with lightened paint. I've noted before that at 1/72 I don't think "panel lines" are correct. It's more panel-to-panel variations of color.

I am proceeding with subassemblies. So far the cockpit, the cargo floor and ceiling, the wings, the prop assemblies and the the fuselage. Oh, and last year I built the cargo, a very nice fuel truck from a firm named ZV, which I assume is Zvezda(?).

There wasn't much available as a resource for the cargo bay, but I did find a picture I liked of one, and it matches Roden's instructions, so I went with it.

I could spend a lot of time researching this a/c; it's definitely on a par with a C-130 and full of interesting design decisions. But life is too short.

The internal components go together like a good puzzle. I've used kitchen foil burnished over a piece of square screen, brown vinyl from Joanne's, and decals from Tom's Modelworks. Oh, the decals. The Roden ones all shattered, I've fixed them but that's a whole other story.

I'm onto final assembly now that I got my pics- had to wait for a sunny day. More later.

I'm not quite finished with the AN-12. Swear it takes a pallet jack just to move it back and forth to the paint section. I've got the second coat of primer applied and sanded. I'm ready for the color coats. This is a nice kit and went together well. Tonite I'm going to glue on all the little blade antennas etc, and get to work on the Supercat.

Roden, 1/72.

Hello all;

After a hiatus I have begun cleaning off my workbench and the S.M 81 is moving forward again. I should be able to show pictures soon.

Mike T.

I'm calling this finiski!! Done-ski. Time for a double Vodka!!

The Roden An-12 in 1/72, a very nice kit but just TOO BIG, to the point where I couldn't find a good place to take pics, and I have NO place to put it. This is a decent build, has a full interior, and the instructions and kit construction are about 90% good. The decals were not, so I got an AM set.

For the Heavy Lifters GB, that 6x6 fuel bowser from ZV models had about as many parts as the a/c. Nice model too.

For the Cold War GB, well the only AMdecals I could find were Russian, not Soviet, circa 1993, but hey it's involved in the withdrawal from Germany, so that'll work for me, and I liked the red stars anyways. They're from Aero master. Two jars of Tamiya light grey and a jar of flat white.

"Na Zdorovie!"

Comrade Billski