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1/72 155th ARW KC-135R - Nebraska ANG


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Holy Cow~! That looks awesome!

Thanks for your comment, Jack! I'm having fun building this one.

Looking awesome Justin! I can't wait to see it lit up! Its going to be EPIC!

I don't quite know if "EPIC" is the right word, T....more like "marginally relevant". ;)

Great job, Justin. This is really turning out nicely.

Jake

Thanks, Jake! I appreciate your kind words.

I'll be getting some photos uploaded in the next day or so showing the left inboard flap completed and attached to the wing. The flaps are slow going and I've had to redesign what I'm doing more than once. Either way, I hope the end result looks good. Pictures to come soon.

:cheers:

Justin

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OK, not much time today, so the update will be quick. Here is the progress to date:

Left Inner Flap is nearly complete, just need to add the spoilers in the gap between the flap and wing and do a bit of minor touch up on the lower left corner where some plastic broke off at some point. The flaps are taking quite a while to complete, so hopefully the effort will be worth it. I still need to make some final adjustments to the three interior arms and where they meet the flap and I also need to fill in the gap between the upper and lower wing halves, but I won't be doing that until all of the flaps are complete.

DSCF9816.jpg

And another view.

DSCF9815.jpg

And the cargo door all lit up. I have to glue the lower edge of the foil insulation down so there's not that gap there, but that shouldn't be an issue. I like having the lights on.

DSCF9823.jpg

And a couple more flaps ready for the struts.

DSCF9821.jpg

And the insulation on the ductwork that goes to the APU. I'm deciding whether or not to pain that as I've seen some 135's that have that insulation all silver and some that have it the same color as the interior insulation, and some that are a combination. Any suggestions welcome there.

DSCF9818.jpg

And finally, the rear cargo area. The caution tape around the boomer's access holes is custom made by me. I just need to apply the last side of the right side hole.

DSCF9819.jpg

And that brings us up to where we're at today. Hopefully you enjoy the update, and as always, if you have any comments or suggestions on how to make something better, please let me know. Thank you!

:cheers:

Justin

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted an update, but rest assured, work on the Stratotanker continues. Below are some shots that bring us up to date. I won't get into too much detail and just let the shots speak for themselves. It's by no means perfect, but I hope I was able to convincingly pull off the lowered flaps on the wings.

So without delay, here are the update photos:

In order to maintain sanity, I've been working on things other than the flaps. One of the items I've been working on is to dress up the interior a bit with some of the markings. I printed my own markings for the arrows that point to the emergency exits, as well as the striping around the doors and the signs above the doors. All of these were applied with Micro Krystal Klear. They look shiny right now, but that's OK since the entire interior will be getting a coat of Future and a wash, so I don't mind at this point.

I would like to see what other markings are on the interior because I know I'm missing some. The yellowish looking dot in the upper section of the photo is one of the SMD LEDs. I'll be building a small housing to go around it to make it look more realistic. Also, if anyone out there can provide me some good photos of what markings I'm missing on the interior walls, I'd greatly appreciate it. The cargo floor and galley are temporarily put in place, so their placement isn't exact there.

KC-135RRightSideInterior.jpg

And this is the Boomer's entry area in the rear of the cargo area with the custom made warning tape around the entry holes finally complete:

KC-135RBoomersEntry.jpg

The left side flaps from behind:

KC-135RLeftSideFlaps.jpg

And the right side:

KC-135RRightSideFlaps.jpg

And a bottom view of everything:

KC-135RBottomViewofFlaps.jpg

And just to show you the wingtip lights, here are both the left and right side lit up:

KC-135RRedWingtipLight.jpg

KC-135RGreenWingtipLight.jpg

One other item to note, I noticed in photos of the back side of the CFM engines, there is a...well, I'm not sure what it is, but it definitely isn't represented on the model, so I decided to incorporate it with some sheet styrene cut to fit the area. Here is the result of that effort:

KC-135REngineDetail.jpg

OK, here's the scary part now. I hope that I've been able to do the Stratotanker justice when it comes to the wing flaps. Other than the obvious touch ups I need to do such as some filling and sanding and rescribing, let me have it with what's wrong so I can try and make it better. Also, I'll ask again if anyone can provide me with any more photos of the interior markings for the fuselage sides as well as the rescue squares on the outside of the fuselage. Thanks again for taking the time to check out my build, I hope you enjoyed it!

:cheers:

Justin

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Thanks for the comments, everyone!

I'll be updating in the next couple of days. More progress means me getting closer to being done! Yay!

:cheers:

Justin

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  • 11 months later...

Huh....I thought it had only been a few days since I last updated this thread, turns out it's almost a year. <_</>

Progress on the Stratotanker has been sparse at best due to multiple reasons (mostly just life), though I did get the Arduino board programmed up with the help of a friend. I need to re-wire the landing and taxi lights in the wings (from series to parallel), and this has caused me to stall on my progress as I really don't want to open up the wings again and re-wire the LEDs. I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and do it and get this beast finished. Another reason for lack of progress is that I was also a bit disappointed that all the work I put on the interior won't be seen now that the fuselage is closed up, even with the cargo door open, but I guess I know it's there.

Anyway, I'll muster up the fortitude to crack open the wings and get those lights re-wired in the coming weeks and post an update as soon as one of substance becomes available. Thanks for checking up on the progress.

:cheers:/>

Justin

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 5 months later...

Hey Justin, I am building an RC-135 with flaps out and came across this thread again. There are some great reference shot here that I can use.

Did you get any further along with this?

Hey Trojan,

Unfortunately, this is still sitting in the box unfinished. I burned out on it after finding not all of the lights worked after some major sub-assembly, which would mean having to tear a bunch of it apart to figure out why. I've been toying with the idea of getting it out again and finishing it as a non-lighted model. I just need to find the desire to finish it and get it going. Feel free to use whatever you want from the build. I'd love to see an RC-135 with the flaps down. I think once this winter comes and I'll not want to spend as much time outside, I'll turn back to this beast and finish it up, good, bad, ugly, or otherwise.

:cheers:

Justin

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  • 4 months later...

Hi Don,

Funny you should mention this.....two days ago I resurrected it from the box and started working on repairing the fuselage ribs that were removed during fixing of the seams. There's a lot to fix on this beast (the flaps on one side have broken off, the engines need some work, the leading edges of the wings need a LOT of cleanup and there's still a lot to do with assembly yet), but I've resolved to complete this for 2016, so it's getting worked on right now.

Unfortunately, it won't light up as originally planned because I have cut most of the wires that lead to the LEDs after finding that several of them weren't working after assembly and I just want this one done. Sooooooo....stay tuned. I'll get an update out there soon that shows the new progress of this shelf queen. Maybe....just maybe.....it'll be in the completed builds section before the end of this year.

:cheers:

Justin

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Cool Beans Justin.

Definitely following along with this one. You're build has sparked a desire to pull my RC-135E conversion off the top of the book case and blow off the 6 years worth of dust accumulation. What were you doing about the crappy windshield or are you planning to use as is? That dang windshield is what caused me to loose interest in the first place.

Don

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Hi Don,

I say get that RC off the shelf and tackle it (is the E model what they called Rivet Amber?). I love a good RC-135 (I'm partial to the Cobra Ball because of the black wing) and to see one finished up as a model would be great.

I honestly haven't given any thought to the windscreen yet. I know just from looking at photos versus what's in the kit, the windows don't appear to be accurate. What else is there to consider for the windshield? I'm definitely not an expert, and while I was around the 135s for a few years, that was 20 years ago and I can barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. :-)

Let me know what your thoughts are on the shortcomings and maybe we can brainstorm a good solution. I'm sure there are others here who may have some suggestions as well!

:cheers:

Justin

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Yah, Rivet Amber was the RC-135E. She's the bird in my Avatar to the left <-.

As for the windshield.... when AMT molded this thing and included the center overhead console, the clear part that the console is molded to shows up along the top side of the front and side panes of glass. If you mask over that when you paint, you wind up with a windshield that is too narrow and looks like tank slits or windows off the H3 Hummer! LOL Also, AMT totally jacked the shape of the brow windows above the windshield. The real birds look nothing like what AMT gives. I tried to remove the entire center area including the center console when I was last working on Amber and the windshield broke in half on me. Was so PO'ed that I shelved the build and that's where it's sat since. If push comes to shove, I may just end up painting over the windshield like I do in 1/144. I'm trying to see if there is a source to vacuform a new windshield/crown piece but will have to see how much it would cost. If it's as expensive as the entire kit, I'll shelve that idea.

I'll try and see if I can get some pics of what I've done already and maybe try to get a WIP thread going on her. Can't wait to see updates on your KC. I used to live in Lincoln, NE but the 155th was a TRS and still flying the RF-4.

Don

Edited by Drifterdon
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So I may have a solution to the crummy AMT windshield that comes with the KC/EC/RC kits as well as all the Italeri and Heller versions of the KC. There is a company willing to vacuform a new corrected windshield for this kit. I'll provide the necessary fixes and they will do the rest. Problem is the minimum is 50 units and they need the money up front. I seriously don't need 50 vacuformed 135 windshields so if anyone else might be interested. I need to convince the book keeper (wife :o) ) that there are enough other people out there to help take these off my hands. Certainly not for free but at least help cover the unit price. Not intending to jack your thread Justin but thought maybe you and Ray might be interested. I'm going to post over on the Jet forum and see there is any interest out there.

Don

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