"Heavy Lifters" Cargo Plane GB 2008

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!

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thank you cdclukey! Appreciate the vote of confidence.

Neil 

Wirraway;

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

Thank you

Neil

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