Skyking

Hi John. Fantastic Old School craftsmanship. For a first time Vac builder you are nailing this one out of the park. I wouldn't know an English Electric Lightning if it sucked me in and blew me out the afterburner, but I know exceptional modeling skills when I see it. I just spent an hour going through all the threads and can really appreciate what you are going through. Building a Vac kit is about as close to scratchbuilding an entire model as you can get. Beautiful job. Cheers Mike

That is some serious mind blowing detail work you've done Guy. Your ability to pick out those tiny details just amazes me. Happy New Year to you and your family also Guy. I'll be looking forward to more updates on the 'Cat in 2010. Cheers Mike

5th time's the charm Chuck. Great save, and great illustration on how you did it. Your plight with the fit perfectly illustrates my contention that scratchbuilding a model can often times be easier than building a poor fitting kit. I'm not saying my scratchbuilding skills are that great, but building from plans and making the masters fit almost gaurantees that the model itself will go together well. Happy New Year to you also Chuck. I hope to see lots more intstructional threads from you. Cheers Mike

Hi Larry. Thanks for the comments. You helped push me over the edge. My wife and I went away for a few days up to the Adirondack mountains and Lake Placid, and the whole time I was away all I could think of was these stupid control wheels and how much they bugged me..lol. The last few days have been spent redoing two items - the control wheels and the seats. The wheels were too fat and klunky looking, so I made them from smaller diameter solder, and also added the crash pad that is on the real airplane. These I made form blue masking tape, hoping they might be close to the blue I used f

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the build so far, and the fact some of you are picking up tips and ideas makes it worthwhile for me to keep posting. If it wasn't for the tutelage of some old school modelers when I was a teenager, I'd probably have taken up knitting a long time ago. Glad to have you following Guy, just make sure your lead when aiming is good and you put the seat down when you're done... :) Cockpit - Check. I can pretty much write this part off as finished. The Control columns are made and installed, along with the seats. The columns are made fr

Good Grief Guy. (Hereinafter GGG to save typing) that cockpit is... gah... words escape me right now. I felt pretty good putting 8 or 9 measly little dials and a dozen switches in the Ford... There must be hundreds you had to do. If I had to do that on this scale I'd be checking into a rubber room after. Simply spectacular. Between you and John W, Timmy and Pete, I think the word "Master" is an understatement. Thanks for your suggestion I try the chicken scratches on foil. I'm going to play around a little with the CB Box on the Ford and see if I can improve it any. Cheers Mike

Finally! Glad to hear this Pete. I've been hoping you'd restart this ever since I saw what you had done on this when you still lived here in Rochester 4 years ago. This will be without a doubt, THE thread to watch in the coming months. I am marking it as a favorite right now. Cheers Mike

Thanks for the comments everyone. Pete that's a good idea. I will Google a Life magazine cover image from 1927 and print it and put it in the Head. I've written to the owner of the real airplane asking for some info of that area, but as of yet I have not received a reply. Lots of little fiddly bits go together to make a Circuit Breaker/Switch panel. I've also got the Instrument panel finished and installed, along with the Rudder Pedals and installed the Throttle Pedestal. The switch panel is made up of a square hunk of Renshape that is covered with .010 sheet, and sanded smooth and the e

Hi there Mr. OM. Glad you found the thread and are following along. If the restored airplane was on floats it would be a no brainer, but it's just too attractive with it's polished skin and dark blue trim to pass up. I thought about it long and hard though before I made up my mind...lol Hiya Denzel Thank you for reinforcing my decision. As I told OM, I thought about it for over a week before I decided to go this route. It's just too nice not to build. Thanks for following along. I’ve had a fair amount of free time to get some modeling time in, so the last few days have been spent mak

Hi Mark. Great to see some progress on this again. I really like the way you replicated the interior bits. This is going to be a most impressive piece of modeling when it's completed. Will this be part of a diorama or greater display? My apologies if it's mentioned somewhere in one of the threads, I may have missed it. Cheers Mike

Hiya Richter. No I'm afraid not. I really don't think it would be up to the quality needed to be a kit. I have routines that I use that are set in stone, and my way of doing things may not necessarily be the best way or easiest way. If I were to make copies for sale there would have to be changes made to ensure it could actually be built. Short update today. I've got some interior work started. A couple of the bulkheads are done and sheeted, and riveting started. I've also got the main passenger compartment floor and ceiling covered in .010 plastic. Next will be to cut the windows and do

Holmes, Gregg, thank you for your comments. As always glad to have you along. Good question Guy. Yes I left the part on the master when I trimmed them. After the parts were pulled, I cut them into the master using various sizes of chisels and cut them to a depth of about 4mm. Renshape is very easy to carve and it was a snap. My reasoning for doing them after is I can get sharper and squarer corners by cutting them after the fact, than I could if I vacuuformed the plastic into the recess. They wold be rounded over and not very neat.. After they were cut, I placed the part back into the mast

Up to your usual high standards I see Pete. Great work. Excellent job at picking out the details. As I told Guy below, you and him amaze me at your ability to pick out these tiny details and make them look like they were seperate parts, and not just painted on. I get near a paint brush anything smaller than 000 and I break out into hives. I don't have the steady hand for that detailwork anymore. One reason I stick to these old crates. There's less "stuff" to deal with..lol. Keep the updates coming. Cheers Mike

Fantastic work as usual Guy. You and Pete always blow me away with your ability to pick out those tiny details and make them look like they are added on, and not molded in place and painted. I guess I don't have a very steady hand anymore. One reason I stick to the old crates... there's less stuff to deal with..lol. Question if I may Guy. How did you do that? I have to make a circuit breaker panel for the Trimotor that goes between the pilot and copilot seats, and it's a pretty busy little item. I've thought of covering it with aluminum or bare metal and making tiny scratches with a sharp p

Hi Al. Thanks for the comments and stopping by. To paraphrase what Ron White would say… It’s going to be a good modeling day ‘Tater. I managed to snag an uninterrupted modeling day when SWMBO and munchkins all went to the Mall to do some Christmas shopping. I was able to get the fuselage parts trimmed and to final sand the edges for a good butt fit to each other. With the master still inside, everything fits well and there shouldn’t be any major issues when I go to do the assembly. I then cut out the cockpit windows, using the cutouts on the master as a guide. They are a smidge over

Hey everyone. Quickie update today. Hi Guy. Thanks for stopping in. When I get home from work tonight I will post the title of a book I found that will explain everything you need to know about vacuforming. If I recall correctly, Pete turned me onto it, and it's what I use when I get stuck or need some guidance. It can be found on Epray for a modest cost. Richeter thank you for coming along. I appreciate all the support. Hiya Holmes. lol. I appreciate your always enthusiastic support. I am not sure that I am unmatchable, as there's some folks here like Timmy, Zacto, Pete F, Guy, and a

I did some finish work on the Fuselage master, mainly filling in a couple of scratches and digs, plus a couple of pinholes that were in the Renshape. I also messed up the contours right at the rear of the fuselage, so that was built back up with Bondo and sanded to shape. These pictures are before any final sanding was done. My fears are realized. It's way too big for my largest frame, so I am going to cut it in half about 3 inches from the back. I'll vacuform the parts, then glue the master back together. When I put the halves together, I will cut the master apart again, this time at the r

Thanks for the comments everyone. I do appreciate them very much. Hi Bob glad you're following along. You are no slouch either. What you do with those Tamiya motorcycles is nothing short of spectacular. I wish I could lay down a gloss finish as well as you do. With the Holidays here in the US I didn't do much on it until the last few nights, but this is where I am at now. I got out my trusty ol' Mattel Vacu-Form that I've "souped up" into a mean lean sucking machine. (Can I say that here?) The original rubber piston had long since died, so I removed it completely, and found that one of

Hey Barney that's coming along really nicely. I'm also glad that I had a small part in helping yuou out. That's what these forums are all about. Are you using balsa for your wing core? I am assuming you will be skinning over this or using it to vacuform a wings? In either case, consider hardening the balsa surface, either the Old School way of copius coats of sanding sealer and sanding, or thin CA then sanded. I've messed up a couple of basla and basswood cores in the past because it's soft. One more reason why I switched over to Ren-Shape. Also make sure your trail edges is sanded to a razor

Well not a huge update, but the Stabilizer is about 95% done. I just have to add the rivets and paint the hinges and it can be set aside until final assembly. I learned something with this foil and using epoxy as an adhesive. I have to be very careful not to allow any air bubbles in the epoxy when I smooth it onto the core. If you look closely on the right Stabilizer, you will see a small circular depression. An air bubble was underneath, and when I rubbed down the foil it depressed down and formed the divot you see here. Of course I didn't notice it until AFTER the epoxy cured and it was t

Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving that celebrate it. Just chiming in to respond to you all. I should have another build update later this evening or tomorrow. LOL. Best response yet Karl, and I think yours kind of pushed me over the edge, along with what Gil Hodges said over at HS regarding what I would be most happy with in the display case. Thanks for the feedback Papa. I have decided to do the restored airplane on wheels. It's just too pretty to not build. Lol.. Sorry about that Miccara. I hope to have a fix for you later this evening or tomorrow. I might even

C'mon Guy... 'fess up. That's a real shroud, and real sunglasses. You aint fooling me any. Seriously Sick work there Guy. The shades will be a huge point of interest on the finished model. Personal items like that are often overlooked. It connects the subject with the fact they are machines that carry people. Great touch. Cheers Mike

Thanks for the comments every one. I appreciate them. I now have a conundrum on my hands. I am building 1077, a 4_AT as she appears today as a restored airplane. I love the polished look with dark blue trim. However... this morning, while I was googeling Trimotor, I happened across this website: History of 1077 Upon reading the PDF's, I stumbled across this picture: So now I am in a real pickle. Do I build her as the land based restored airplane, all shiny and pretty, or as a dull, utilitarian float plane as she appeared in 1927? I'm leaning toward the bling... but wow it would be impres

Leggos... what a great idea! It sure beats gluing sticks of balsa together to make jigs from like I have in the past. I'll have to try this on my next bipe Chukw. Thanks for sharing. Cheers Mike

Fantastic work as always Guy. The HUD looks like you could switch it on and actually use it. The front 'pit looks much more realistic with all the stuff packed up there. You kept it in scale and proportional too, sometimes a very difficult task to pull off. Cheers Mike