Lockheed GB anyone?

Very nice job Bondo! 

You make jealous.  You have started and finished two very nice kits in the time it has taken me to limp through 2 1/2.  In the case of the Trump P-38 you can add challenging.

I look foreward to seeing your work every time I am on the forums man.  Keep 'em coming.

Here's my Lodestar from another GB. I'm still in for the EC-121. Thought you might enjoy.

RCAF Lodestar, Goose Bay Labrador 1943.

Cross post from P-38 GB

I finally got started on my Academy P-38F.  The camera is on the fritz, so I don't have any pics to share right now.

The cockpit went together pretty well, no real issues there.  The booms were pretty toruble free as well aside from a little warping at the front of both.  I did goof a little and had to sand out a step along the main seam.  The biggest problem was the carburetor intakes.  This is a separate piece like the Has kit to facilitate early and late models.  The intake piece was a little wider than the front of the boom and I had to decide on the lesser of two evils and do a little filling and sanding to get the joint smooth on the inboard side.

All in all, a good kit so far.

Building will have to be suspended for the next few weeks thanks to annual training.  It kind of blows but Wisconsin beats FT Stewart any day.

Thanks Mike!

Gear up on this kit was a bit of a challenge as far as keeping the doors flush with each other.  I do like the look for most airplanes though, they were meant to fly.

I just remembered that I had more than one kit in this build.  This is my R/M P-38M.  It was built more for my son (2) than anything else, and my daughter (6) enjoyed helping and making suggestions.  I got a bad case of get-done-itis and forgot to blank out the radiator scoops, among other things.  Fortunately, these pictures don't reveal much.  My camera died in the middle of the third pic so you don't get to see the big gaps in the canopy!  Any and all comments are always welcome.

Now, on to the Glacier Girl!

mucker wrote:

She's coming along great, SC. THat's a classic looking airplane if I;ve ever seen one.

Ditto that! Something about those birds that just makes me smile! Yours has put a big grin on my face, SC!

Darren, first-rate work there, my friend! Up to your usual high standards and of course your signature touch of the neatly done display base takes it up a notch further. Sweet build!

Well I had a feeling you were right in your obervation. i found a good shot of the flaps on a Hudson and it looks like if i rotated them 180% they will look more like the ones in the photo. Now that i see that the part supplied in the kit is a very poor representation of the real thing. Even with this detailed photo it was still hard to tell what way the kit part was suppose to be attached. It should not be that hard to fix and I would like it to look correct.

                                                                          Soulcrusher

John you might be correct. The instructiions are not very clear. i tried fitting them in the other direction but the did not fit flush and they did not look correct. I flipped them around and they sat flush agianst the flaps so I assumes that was the way they went. i could not find very many photos of the Model 14 version mostly pictures i found were of the Hudson. Now you've got my mind going. I am going to try harder to see if i can find any good pictures as to which way they should be. it should not be that hard to move them without messing thing up to much. Just a little touch up here and there. I would like to build it correctly if possible. Thanks for the input and thanks agian for the decals!

                                                                                Solcrusher

Alright making some progress here. I finally have all of the decals down and under a coat of future. Tommorow I plan on masking off the black rubber deicer boots on the leading edges. then I can add all of the fiddle bits and shes done! I have to touch up some of the decal on the upper left wing where it shattered but that should be no big deal. finishing up so i can go into the BoB group build with a clean workbench.

                                                                                  Soulcrusher

Wow Frank you must have some high security clearance to get into the hanger to she such a top secret spycraft!. To bad you did,nt have the time to go back and smack someone in the head for sending you on a wild goose chase! All of trouble to see a pile of wood covered woth some canvas! Historical or not there is no way it would compare to seeing an SR-71 up close and I'm not even a jet guy!

                                                                      Soulcrusher

LOL

That must have been the early prototype for the A-12. It does look rather stealthy...especially with the banner.

I gotta share a funny story with you fellas:

I was flying home from Las Vegas last night, and my new flight (I was supposed to fly into Denver but our plane was busted so I returned on a different airline) took me through Minneapolis.  I had read that they have the sole remaining A-12 Blackbird on display there, so I was asking everyone I could find at the airport where was this plane displayed.  I finally found someone who knew what I was looking for, and directed me to the other side of the airport (of course!) to see it.  Luckily, I had a couple of hours to I trekked over there to see it.  WHen I rounded the corner elated that I would finally set eyes on this amazing aircraft, this is what I found:

How in the heck did these things get to mach 3?

soulcrusher wrote:

For all that hard work treat yourself to another Elesnore! Without the mouse of course!                                                                                  Soulcrusher

Two points for a Strange Brew reference, eh!

Nice to see someone else making some progress to! For all that hard work treat yourself to another Elesnore! Without the mouse of course!

                                                                                 Soulcrusher

a little progress on my Viper.......

Fuselage is completely rescribed and assembled....a little more rescribing to do on the wings and then they get sanded.

Here's the model mocked up....the nose, engine nozzle, wings and vert tail are not yet attached.

Got my decals today yipeee! Thank you agian jeaton1 for coming to the rescue! Now I can finally finish this build.

                                                                   Soulcrusher

They sure are Mike. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders knowing i do not have to do all of that masking and color matching. Pheeeew! A big thanks to jeaton1!

                                                                               Soulcrusher

Excellent news, SC! Aren't these forums great!? It really is quite the community we have here.

....and I have to say "way to go, John!" That was very generous of you!

Update! I have manged to work a trade with jeaton1. I am sending him three sheets uf unused F4 Phantom decals. In exchange he is willing to part with his Model 14 civilian registration markings from his Classic Airframes kit. Thank God1 I was not looking foward to masking of the long two colored stripes that run almost the whole length on the fuselage. It is frustation to be so close to finishing and being held up by a decal set that is almost imposible to come by. Now i just get to enjoy filing all of the side windows to fit one at a time.

                                                                              Soulcrusher

Well I started puting the decals on my Model 14. The civilian registration letters are huge and wanted to shatter when touched, A little carefull sliding and I managed to line up most of the shattered decals ok. A couple of spots need touching up. The elaborate stripe that runs down the side of the fuselage shatered into mutliple pieces as soon as it hit the water. I do  not know what to do now. The kit is OOP and the lightning bolt shapped stripes would be almost imposible to mask, especially because they are outlined in a fine red stripe. I am hoping Classic Airframes might be able to help out. If not I do not know of any other way. Anybody out there able to reproduce decals. I still have the right side intact because I did not even attemp to put it in water. I'm hoping mabye it can be used as a master to make a good decal. You figure you spend $50.00 buck on a kit that the decals should be decent right?  I guess not. I'll post some progress tomorrow.

                                                                                   Soulcrusher

ruddratt wrote:

It's been a fun kit so far, guys, in spite of the ejector pin issues. Still is a sweet kit. Looks like I'll be posting some progress pics sometime tomorrow (once I get the rest of the lawn cut and the second coat of stain on the patio deck).

Ah....the "Honey Do" List! I know that all too well!

It's been a fun kit so far, guys, in spite of the ejector pin issues. Still is a sweet kit. Looks like I'll be posting some progress pics sometime tomorrow (once I get the rest of the lawn cut and the second coat of stain on the patio deck).