Converting the Boeing F4B-4 to Howard Hughes Boeing 100 racer

 (The completed model is here:)
 http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/10/howard-hughes-boeing-100-racer-first.html

Three civil Boeings -two from the same kit (Monogram F4B-4)- may seem too much, but how could I left Howard’s one out of the game?

Mr. Hughes received a civil 2 seat Boeing 100 (NC247K) from the factory at the time nobody else -but him, of course- could. He promptly started to toy with it to convert it into a racer. In charge were Lockheed engineers and designers that largely modified the plane to Hughes’ fancy. With it, after some further mods, Howard won a closed-circuit race, once more outracing the fastest planes of the day, including needles to say the ones of the military. In its possession the plane went through a couple of major modifications, as can be seen in photos. Later on the plane was sold and had a line of owners, most renowned Bob McManus, Art Goebel, Ben Huntley, Ben Bradley and possibly others, as X/NR/NX 247K.

Colors, saved Art Goebel’s machine (brilliant green, orange, metal), are anybody’s speculation. Paul Matt, an unavoidable but not completely trustworthy source says it was blue (with yellow flying surfaces for the first Hughes’ mod). Matt bases his assumption in the belief that Hughes Tool Co. logo was blue, but the fact is that it was red and yellow at the time. Decades later -around Hughes passing- it was changed to blue.

I won’t abound on the kit’s comments -other than saying that it was superb for its time (and actually this time too) and had extremely sound locating devices- since I did a sorta review that when I converted the kit for the Mantz machine. As usual photos with captions will be posted following the building process. Extensive chopping, scratching, adaptation, supplantation and mystification are in order, not for the faint of heart. But it is also fun and you learn a lot. Well worth the price (no, not the price of the kit, the price of daring).

This kit was kindly handed over by Tin Melson, a modeling arch-villain that hides behind the identity of a very nice Tuesdays' Irregular Boingland Club member. To him my thanks.

The Hughes plane as said went through a few incarnations, here I intend to model the first one, that still had the original vertical tail. Again, as said before, as it went from owner to owner, the aspect changed quite a bit. Look at your photos, listen to everyone, and believe no one.

Among the things you will need to modify on this kit are:

New, larger cowl; new vertical tail; adding pants; replace the wheels; cut-out a notch on the wing; re-do the ailerons -as they were very different than those in the kit-; heavily modify the fuselage; modify the cabane; modify the landing gear legs; make a new windshield; etc. That is, lots of entertainment!.

That being said, if you want to have a more relaxed approach, there were many civil-registered F4B-4s that do not need any modification other than a few decals and some paint. 

Began by sawing the "hump" underneath the lower wings:

 Sanding and cleaning:

Trying some existing cowls from my spares bin and finally making a new one:

 Then extending the chord of the cowl a bit to match photos:

 The added "skirt" is a tad longer than needed, to allow for adjustments:

 Using a set of Khe Kha Art Products pants left over from one of their nice kits:

 Inserting the new cowl on a circle pattern to keep it round as the extension sets:

 Adding a "packing" insert trapped between the halves to the pants to increase their width a tad. Removing discarded parts (vertical tail, hook, antenna) from the Monogram fuselage:

 Making the pattern for the new vertical tail:

 Cutting the "corrugated" halves from styrene stock:

 Thinning the trailing edges:

 Using a tube to sand a nice circle on the front of the cowl:

The new vertical tail is finished, and the pants are glued:

Work temporarily suspended due to unrelated event (beware the Kyocera peeler).
On the other hand (pun not intended) my thumb was hired to act in "The Mummy, digital version":

Time to relax for a little while:

A succint interior was fabricated (the kit has none) with floor, bulkhead, some fuselage stringers, a seat, pedals and later a few more details will be added. The cockpit opening is very little on the racer, even more than in the kit's part, so no much effort should be spent here. The fuselage sides were then glued. I am trying to have the old fuselage as a basis for the modification (instead of carving a new one) putting a skin on it, will see if it works:

 The ailerons in the kit's wing and not the ones required, so they were sawed-off . Notice the curved notch that had to be carved on the trailing edge, needed for this version:

 New "corrugated" styrene blanks are cut, as with the other Boeing 100 posted here before, they will have to be thinned, profiled, their halves glued together and then refined to adjust the outline of the wing properly:

The lower wing is glued in place:

 The seat and instrument panel are prepared:

 The interior is shut with the upper forward fuselage panel:

A general view of the sub-assemblies and other parts so far. The cockpit opening has been "squared" a bit to help location of blanking pieces that will be added later on, as the fuselage is modified. The capot detail will be blanked too:

The new ailerons are matched to the wing. These ailerons need a little locating hole drilled underneath for the aileron rod (which comes from the lower wing) to fit. The kit's location is wrong, having the hole way offset, so measure and drill looking at photos. This is true for any model built from this kit, conversion or not:

The trial "skin" is cut and embossed. Eventually the model will be almost completely re-skinned, which is not problem since the plane was "fatter" too than the normal version:

 It is presented to the fuselage (not glued) to see how it adjusts:

The other side skin is made:

 The aft "hunch" is obliterated too, since the profile there is different for this conversion:

 

The skins are glued to the fuselage sides and wrapped with tape:

 The landing gear legs are cut off, and faired replacements are made.

 The bottom fuselage skin in place:

The upper deck is also sheeted and the headrest fairing added:

The cockpit area is also sheeted leaving an opening. Some small gaps are dealt with with putty:

Wrapping and re-contouring of the fuselage completed:

The diagonal strut braces are removed (too thin for this version), new ones made from airfoiled stock, and the fin is added:

 New diagonal braces in place, new landing gear legs with metal locating pins:

The work so far:

Rudder and landing gear legs in place. The two faired probes that appear in photos on the fuselage side have been added too:

First coat of primer:

Pants in place, strut fairings added, airfoiled metal landing gear horizontal crossbar ready to cut to size and go in. Also a partial view of the ailerons now glued to the wing:

Time to grab the airbrush:

A tiny clear windshield is vacuformed. It will be later trimmed and glued after painting:

The painting process begins applying the orange color:

 Then masking and airbrushing the green color:

 Decals are printed and glazed:

At this time, all seems almost ready. Well, it is actually a bit far from it. Still need to be done: painting the tail wheel, add the main wheels, rig the tail surfaces, rig the wings, add the rigging rods, paint and decal the prop, paint the engine, apply decals, paint and add headrest, add exhaust tubes and a few other minor things.

A few more steps towards completion:

Boeing P-26 (1/72 AZ model) -finished as civil Boeing 281- completed

For those curious, the step-by-step building process is detailed here in this blog:
http://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/08/normal-0-false-false-false.html
As you can see, it is perfectly possible to take a "normal" manufacturers' model and make of it something different. Scores of kits can be turned -with very little effort- into civil machines, something that unfortunately few manufacturers dare to do themselves (issuing civil decals or catering for civil versions). I wish the civil options would deserve at least equal attention than their military counterparts. Since these civil planes are not only generally very colorful (especially compared to their  usually drab, boring counterparts) but as important; and furthermore, with a different intentionality. I offer here this "common ground" example, a plane that although wore civil registrations was actually intended as a sales demonstrator, hoping the bonga-bonga modeling masses will give it a try. It surely deserves it. AND you will feel better, and your family -especially your children- too.