Els Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 This is the AMT/ERTL 1:72 scale kit. My first assignment in the Air Force I was a Life Support tech on tankers at Kaden AB, Okinawa, then, 26 years later my last assignment was the E-8. Since the first and last aircraft that I worked on were based on the 707 airframe and I love anything Tiger Meet, I had to build one. I was told as a kid that if you do not have something good to say, don't say anything. So I will not say anything about this kit other than unfortunately I have 2 more of these in the stash that I need to build. I used Mike Grant decals for a KC-135E of the 108th ARW, New Jersey ANG Tiger Meet aircraft. I had to spray some decal sealant over the decals before I could use them. I didn't and the first decal I tried to use fell apart in the water. This could have been because mine were pretty old. I have had these decals for a few years. After spraying some Testers decal bonder on them they worked fine. Sorry the pictures aren't that great but it's a big kit and I only have a small place to take photo's. I have read that the wings droop over time so I epoxied some metal rods into the wings while I was building the kit. Hopefully I will avoid the droop. When its done its a big kit and it looks cool but looking back I think I could have done a better job. To be honese, I was just happy to be done with it. Thanks for looking and let me know what you think. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ro-Gar Hobbies Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I agree the AMT/Ert'l Tankers kits are not that great, but they do build up into an impressive model when completed. From what I see, you did and excellent job on yours! B) Robert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iron Man Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Whats not to like? It looks great Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 STUNNER... <_< Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thanks everybody. If any of you have built one of these, how did you deal with the bands around the back of the body after sanding the seam line? Now, if I could only find a place to put this thing. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thanks everybody.If any of you have built one of these, how did you deal with the bands around the back of the body after sanding the seam line? Now, if I could only find a place to put this thing. Els The wings look pretty good. What was your secret to fixing the wing droop? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ro-Gar Hobbies Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thanks everybody.If any of you have built one of these, how did you deal with the bands around the back of the body after sanding the seam line? Now, if I could only find a place to put this thing. Els Els, The way I dealt with the problem with regard to the ribbing was I used testors Model Master plastic cement in the black dispenser on both sides of the fuseluge and squeezed till melted plastic oozed out. Once dry I cut the excess of with a sharp X-acto blade, then I went over it with a small square fine file. Then some green putty thinned down with testors cement applied with a brush in any areas that a seam was apparent. then lightly sanded smooth with a modified beauty supplied flexible emery board. It is a little time consuming, but worth it since I was getting paid to build it for someone at Macdill AFB. Hope this helped. Robert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Els, The way I dealt with the problem with regard to the ribbing was I used testors Model Master plastic cement in the black dispenser on both sides of the fuseluge and squeezed till melted plastic oozed out. Once dry I cut the excess of with a sharp X-acto blade, then I went over it with a small square fine file. Then some green putty thinned down with testors cement applied with a brush in any areas that a seam was apparent. then lightly sanded smooth with a modified beauty supplied flexible emery board. It is a little time consuming, but worth it since I was getting paid to build it for someone at Macdill AFB. Hope this helped. Robert How did it turn out? Have you got any pics to post? I'm building this beast. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Looks great from here Els. I am still to start any of mine and have 5 of them. Looks like it will be a case of taking my time with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ro-Gar Hobbies Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 How did it turn out? Have you got any pics to post? I'm building this beast. Thanks! It turned out really well. Unfortantly I did that build about 11 or 12 years ago and at the time I didn't have a digital camera. Robert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 It turned out really well. Unfortantly I did that build about 11 or 12 years ago and at the time I didn't have a digital camera.Robert Great...thanks. Good idea! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 All, thanks for all the input. Robert Your fix for the ribbing sounds like a lot of work but I think it also sounds like the best idea I have heard for dealing with this area. I will definitely be trying this on the next 135 I build. I tried to use stretched sprue to replace the sanded away ribbing but I could not maintain any consistancy. Sometimes crappy pictures make a finished kit look worse but in this case the crappy pictures helped my kit out. Pminer To hopefully cure the wing droop I went to the local hardware store and bought a couple pieces of metal rod. I cut some grooves in the wing roots and epoxied the rod down the inside of the leading edge of the wing. There is a plastic spar the is glued into the body of the kit that is supposed to slot into the wing and strengthen it. I basically just exteded this with the metal rod down the length of the wing. I'm sorry if my expanation sucks, I meant to take some pictures but by the time I had remembered it, the wing was already glued together. Trojan Thunder I only have two more to build and I am dreading that. Good luck with your five. To be honest, one of the biggest problems with building this kit is that it is so big. I have a pretty small area to build in so everytime I moved I was banging a wing or the tail or the nose of the kit into something. Other than dealing with the seam where the bands are located, the rest of the kit went together pretty well. One thing that I would also recommend to anyone building this kit is to cement some plastic tabs along the inside rim of the body halves prior to gluing them together. This will give the seam more support during the numerous sanding sessions that you will be going through. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sabresandhunters Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I like!! I like it alot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) Thanks Els, my work area is pretty big, so hope fully I won't have those issues. Thanks also for the tips on the reinforcement of the fuselage seams Edited March 8, 2011 by Trojan Thunder Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 All, thanks for all the input.Pminer To hopefully cure the wing droop I went to the local hardware store and bought a couple pieces of metal rod. I cut some grooves in the wing roots and epoxied the rod down the inside of the leading edge of the wing. There is a plastic spar the is glued into the body of the kit that is supposed to slot into the wing and strengthen it. I basically just exteded this with the metal rod down the length of the wing. I'm sorry if my expanation sucks, I meant to take some pictures but by the time I had remembered it, the wing was already glued together. Els....do your wings look the correct angle right now? I.E....are they slanding upwards at the correct angle when sitting static? (dihedral?) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) Pminer, I didn't change the angle of the wings. I glued it the way AMT made it, but I am not sure how accurate the kits dihedral is. I may look at that when (if) I build another one. The angle that I took the picture at makes it seem more steep than it really is. If you want I can take a picture from the front. Els Edited February 16, 2011 by Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Nice 135! I my very last assignment was JSTARS!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Looks great step 2 is building a shelve that will hold it !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toniosky Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) Is it the first KC-135 I see on this forum ? I think so :) - I am happy to see this rare build of an important aircraft. Looks awesome ! Edited August 9, 2011 by toniosky Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I was a LS Tech as well (Spec Ops & Fighters) and now fly the KC-135 as a boom operator. So I naturally love this model and glad to see it from a fellow LS guy. Well done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gonzalo Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I used to live by Mc Guire AFB it's nice to see this particular scheme, brings back memories!. Very nice work your effort was well worth it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 Thanks everybody. Steve, I recently bought the Minicraft E-8 kit and will work on that if I ever get around to printing up some nose art decals for the Melbourne Aircraft. Neo, you are not kidding, this thing takes up a lot of space. Right now I have it hanging from the ceiling because I don't have anyplace to put it. Toniosky, I agree with you. I have not seen a lot of these built up. After building one I know why, they are a tuff build. Storm, I spent a lot of time in AFSOC as well. I wonder if there are any other Life Support troops on the ARC? Gonzalo, glad it brought some memories back for you, I would like to have seen the real thing. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Buck Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Looks great, always enjoy seeing one of these built up... I know how much of a challenge these kits can be! Ahui hou Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Pminer, I didn't change the angle of the wings. I glued it the way AMT made it, but I am not sure how accurate the kits dihedral is. I may look at that when (if) I build another one. The angle that I took the picture at makes it seem more steep than it really is. If you want I can take a picture from the front. Els By all means! Take some more pics. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jezones Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Your build looks great!!! You got any pictures with it next to some other 1/72 scale models? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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