I-16

Didn't make the completion date due to work related stuff. I'll keep slogging along on her and post in the helicopter forum!

Opened up.

Scratched a door. Now the scary part. Opening up the molded on one.....

Moving on with the flight deck, and front bulkhead and crew ladders. I found that medical tape has a pretty good diamond pattern which I am using as the sound deadening. I'm trying to convince myself to open the cargo door, which means I'll have to scratch a cargo door.

Cut away flight deck. Now to build a set of seats.

Starting with the flight deck and cargo compartment. The H-19 flight deck was accessible through the cargo compartment. The kit gives a solid flight deck floor, while it should have an open section under the seats allowing the flight crew to climb in from below. The reality is, there is no cargo compartment in the Revell kit, so, I have made a firewall, which will be detailed with ladders and the sound deadening material which covered the inside of these helicopters. Also made from plastic card is a cargo deck and rear bulk head. Following a lead from Swanny's Models, I cut away 11 mm of the f

Starting this project, a little late, but I hope to finish in time. The plan is to take a venerable H-19 molded in the 60's, and make it look a little less toy like! She will be wearing the colors of a Spanish Navy S-55. There are several lumps of unrecognizable plastic on them trees. Opening shot...

I'm calling this done. Monogram F-80 Shooting Star

Moving along. Interior together, painted and just slightly weathered. I used the kit belts, and applied them to foil to give a little depth. Now things are falling together, like most AM kits do.

1/48 Revell H-19. Box art is, well a Zip Loc bag, as that is how she came off of Ebay... Markings will be Spanish Navy. Detail parts for this kit are pretty much non existent, so I will scratch the flight deck, and maybe do some work in the crew compartment, depending on time and motivation.

Can't let a Russian build go by without jumping in. I have a AM Yak 1b that I will put together. Should be a straight forward build, as AM kits kind of built themselves. Markings will be in winter cammo with bright red stars.... Pre-requisite before picture.

This plane has lots of random markings.

I opted to assemble the back half, and then spread the front half to match. Mated pretty well, after a bit of sanding. There is still a minimal step, but not to bad. Finish turned out better than I expected. Was my first "bare metal finish". The gloss black seemed to help.

Painting complete, starting to decal and put on the (very few) fidly bits.

Top coat of MM Buffing aluminum metalizer, which didn't buff out as well as hoped. I plan to shoot a few panels with Tamiya flat aluminum to break it up a but.

A bad picture of the Tamiya gloss black. Appears glossy.

Primed and ready for the gloss black coat.

In. I have an ancient H-19 that needs to be built. Would be a good follow-up to the ancient F-80 I'm building now...

I remember building this same kit, about 40 years ago!

Got the basic fuselage together, but not without a struggle. I ran out of Tennax, and the plastic does not like to react with liquid cement. Again, it's some brittle stuff. On to prime and a little more filling. I think I am going to go with a gloss black base, and shoot either MM buffing metalizer or Tamiya aluminum. Not sure which will be more bare metal-ish. We shall see.

We often complain of soft plastic, but I have never had a kit so brittle! Broke a wing, trimming off a nub, and then broke off the left side of the nose, doing the same. At least it reacts fairly well to Tenax. Because I need it, to fix it! Wings together, painting, and getting ready to attack the bare metal finish.

I'm going to join with Monogram's venerable P-80C configured for close air support. Markings will be Areomaster, FT-547, which is pretty colorful. Other than a True Details ejection seat, she will be pretty much out of the box. Obligatory opening shot...

Moving along, slowly. I have the fins on, which I made of 3 layers of plastic card. I have been battling the filler on the envelope, finally getting the low spots out. The next step is working on the command car, and then paint. In regards to Spectre's question, yes, US Navy blimps engaged in a considerable amount of combat during the war. Predominately they were used to hunt submarines, and vector surface ships in for the kill. They did carry 4 depth bombs, 2 in an internal bay, and 2 externally, as well as radar and sonobouys. In 1943, the K74 engaged a U boat in the Gulf of Mexico, utilizin

I saw this old pole-yarder parked on the side of the road today, I think it's waiting to picked up from a logging operation. It appears to be built on a Sherman or M 36 chassis. Either way, she is still in daily operation.

Lots of filler, as I kind of guessed. I used a heavy bodied automotive primer to fill in the lighter imperfections, and will finish it off with a light grey primer prior to painting it silver. I began to apply the bows on the nose, which were laced into the originals. Evergreen strip and Tenax makes this a bit easier. I glued the control car haves together, and it looks like the radome is a bit undersized. I'll mull that one over for a bit before cutting it apart. The next step will be new stabilizers, which should be interesting to re-create, as the originals are inflated, not sheet material.