"Heavy Lifters" Cargo Plane GB 2008

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

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 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.

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.

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 ?

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.

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)

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!!!!

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.

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.

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."

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.

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

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

Wirraway--

Aweome work on that Gigant!

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

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