Drifterdon

Looking at some of the other works in progress, I see multiple pics in the same post. When I tried to do this, it only allowed one pic and cut off all the rest. How do I post multiple pics to a single post so I don't have to keep replying to myself to load additional pics? Frustrated! :bandhead2:/>

So I posted a WIP thread for my 1/72 RC-135E Rivet Amber over in the In-Progress pics folders. Also doing Rivet Amber in 1/144 as well and will post those later. Take a look and let me know what you think.

The radar required so much power that it needed a special power unit in the form of a Lycoming T55 turbine engine driving a 350 kVA generator under the port wing between #2 engine and the fuselage. The radar also produced so much heat that left alone it would have burned itself up. To remedy this, they installed a heat exchanger in a similar pod under the starboard wing between the #3 engine and the fuselage. I ended up using telescoping tubing cut so it overlapped and then filled the steps with my filler of choice, CA glue. As you can see, this was so long ago the glue has yellowed on me.

Here is a pic of the real plane in her hanger at Shemya right before she was lost. You can see the light colored area in front of the wing which is the fiberglass panel that covered the radar.

Ballistic Streak Camera port on the starboard side. I filled in the panel lines where the Hughes phased array radar was located. This the only RC that truly had a SLAR (Side Looking Airborne Radar). It was supposed to be so powerful that it could locate a target the size of a volley ball from 300 miles away. It had lead bulkheads fore and aft of the radar compartment to protect flight crew and the Ravens in the back. My dads job was to keep this beast of a radar up and running. I still need to outline the perimeter of the radar area with Scotch tape or something equally thin to represent

These are the worked over Heller engines. I still need to do something about the gap between the inner cowl and the compressor fan.

So taking a cue from Justin and Ray and doing a mini Group Build of KC and RC-135's, I make my first attempt at a work in progress. This is probably one of the longest works in progress I have. I started this conversion when AMT first released the RC-135V Rivet Joint kit back in 1993. It's made 3 moves into different houses and has been started and stopped countless number of times. The last stoppage happened when trying to fix the crappy windshield and it broke. Tried a second windshield out of one of the early KC-135's and broke that one too. Then decided to try and stretch form a vac

Thanks for the help MHaz. Looks like I may have to order a set since it's looking too promising with my request. I reinforce all my wings so that isn't an issue. I was just wanting to make sure they didn't weight 10 pounds each. LOL My last ditch effort was to trade someone a RC-135V kit for their KC-135R but I'd rather hang on to those if can help it.

The dimensions of the windshield panes. height and width. I've been trying to find this info for years to see how the AMT windshield compares.

Jeff do you still have access to the 135's? Are you still on flying status?

Is it these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/KC-135R-CFM56-Engines-1-72-Scale-/321957030136?hash=item4af62268f8:g:s48AAMXQ74JTSfrd I was going to ask if anyone had any experience with them. They seem a little rough but most resin stuff needs a little TLC to get them up to speed. How are they as far as weight?

Dave I thought that Super Scale/Microscale did a 1/48 sheet of Desert Storm F-15's with kill marks that had EG tail codes. A search of the interweb comes up negative though. I can look when I get home tonight as I still have this sheet. Just don't know which one it was.

Colin, When I was building on commission, there were no deadlines for me either. Each "customer" knew going in that I had a full time job and building their kit was outside of that. With that being said, I would pretty much follow the outline that Jinmmydel put forth. While some assemblies were drying, I'd move on to another aspect of the project. When it came time to paint certain areas like cockpits, I'd paint everything on the bench that needed to be painted that specific color. I found that sometimes progress would move quickly on certain builds while others were a chore. Mainly th

Dave. The top one is the J57 turbojet that came with the early KC-135's. The bottom is the TF33 which came with the RC/EC-135 kits. This one looks like the Heller or Airfix one. What I'm after are these beasties in this link. http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/amt/pages/amt_8909_parts1.shtml

I guess I am confusing the two. Thanks for clarifying this.

Wasn't this fitted to the entire KC fleet Jeff?

AMT did a 1/72 KC-135A with the J57 engines. It's re-released under the Italeri and Heller brands and can still be found on ebay and Amazon. The 135Q was the tanker that supported the SR-71. As far as I know, there were no external differences, just internally with the fuel tanks. Not sure why you couldn't take any pictures unless there was something else they didn't want you to photograph. Of course, SAC was real funny about folks taking pics of their planes back in the day. Dutch, Here is a link to Fisher Model and Design. The engines are still being produced and he also is makin

Just finishing checking out Onami's HP Victor and WoW! That is such an amazing build. I've always loved this plane and he has captured the look perfectly. Paint is flawless and weathering is spot on. Congrats Onami! /> http://arcair.com/Gal14/13701-13800/gal13753-Handley-Page-Onami/00.shtm

You guys are killing me! LOL :P/>

As have the Rivet Joints and Cobra Balls. Hard to tell the two apart save the black wings and serial numbers.

Now we just need someone to do up some KC-135A decals from 60's - early 80's.

Anyone willing to trade a set of CFM 56 engines from the 1/72 KC-135R kit for a set of TF33s? I'd like to build a Rivet Joint as they are currently represented with the CFM's.

Hey Dutch, Thanks for the reply. Yah, I have two of the RC-135W conversion sets with TF33 and one with the CFM56. I love their decals and just ordered the KC-135A/Q update set with an extra set of decals. They come with all the correct high vis emergency/crew entry hatch outlines as well as all the walkways, stars and bars and USAF/US Air Force markings. Included with the USAF Rivet Joint sets are specific decals with OF tail codes and ACC and 55 Wg badges. I used the resin hog nose on my Rivet Amber but had to really file it back to make it fit. As for the cheek fairings, they seem a

Disregard! Sheet still available and purchased from Wolfpack Decals.<br>

So I spoke with my wife last night and it's as I feared. There is no way she is going to let me drop the up front money for these windshields out of our own pockets. So, it looks like if this is going to happen, folks that are interested will need to invest before hand in order to make it happen. And I'm not sure that will happen either (people paying in advance). Thoughts?