MACK AC Bulldog Airport Tanker - RPM 1/72nd scale and Arctic Decals set

https://www.arcticdecals.com/products.html?id=33921/1293797

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1572185228041174&set=a.542663430993364

It's not easy to find adequate 1/72nd scale diorama vehicles for your Golden Age airplane models, and when you do, often have to convert them from military kits and find or produce decals. This Arctic Decals set solves the problem providing detailed marks for a readily existing kit: 

There is also a PE set you can get to enhance your model: 

Some sub-assemblies are started. The fit in general is good after the cursory cleanup:

There is a mistake in the instructions, the pip goes ahead of the tab, not after as the arrows point:

Unclear here. The parts goes over the tab:

What the P.E. set has to offer. A lot. But many parts are for the military version, so not applicable. In some cases, due to the difficult of assembly, very fiddly nature and/or minuscule size of the P.E. parts, I will just use the kit's parts instead:

More sub-assemblies in progress. I will keep some separated to facilitate painting and dry-brushing:

Needless to say you have to really pay attention to the instructions with this one. 

It actually feels as if you were assembling a real life vehicle or machine (for those of us that experienced that). It's fun! and the detail is good. Some may think the kit is over-engineered, perhaps for some modelers may feel like that, but I am enjoying it. 

 

A number of parts are being prepared for priming and painting:

Be sure as you build the model to include what is needed for this version (following Arctic decals art) and not to include what it isn't pertinent.
 

The other, not so practical side of having a myriad of parts, many of them extremely small, is painting. This is further complicated because in order for RPM to add so many detail parts, they ended up having to arrange the assembly sequence in steps that often do not make any sense. 

As an example: in some cases manufacturers allow for the completely assembled body of the "cockpit" to be able to be painted apart and then slide over the already painted and detailed interior. Not in this case, which makes things a pain in the butt, as you are only being able to partially assemble the body, and very uncomfortably having to add several detail parts to the interior and around it, and then finish closing the body with already painted parts (roof and windscreen in the case), risking marring the finish. 

Painting the individual parts that can't yet be assembled -as they are different colors or will benefit from careful drybrushing to make the detail pop up- can be quite the task, as you may see here:
 

The more simple -yet effective- approach of ACE with their Ford truck is more practical in that regard:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/12/ford-truck-1936-ace-172nd.html 

 There is a mistake in the instructions. The part doesn't go where the thin arrows point, but to the middle of the suspension (red arrows):

 

 

Not sure why the manufacturer would go through the work of depicting the brake drums, only to cover them with another part. I guess you could do a repair/maintenance diorama (likewise, the hood also covers a well-depicted engine):

Different colors and metal hues are airbrushed:

The engine sub-assembly is ready:

Parts that will be red are given a gloss white base to better show the color:

Red color airbrushed. As mentioned before, the engineering -and therefore the assembly sequence- are not particularly modeler-friendly regarding painting:

 

 

 

 

To be continued... 

 

Short Crusader Schneider Trophy - Karaya 1/72nd scale resin

 

The Short Crusader was built for the 1927 edition of the Schneider Trophy, but, unlike other competitors looking to streamline the airframe with an inline engine, it used a radial one (Bristol 9-cylinder Mercury type, modified). The whole plane -minus the control surfaces- was covered in veneer, fabric and enamel paint. Taken to Venice, the venue of the race, during a practice flight it plunged to the water due to an aileron rigging mistake -pilot unscathed, very fortunately. Even if the plane did not actually participate in the race, its beautiful lines make it deserving of a place on the shelves.

Yet another racer from Karaya I had in the pile for some time. The kit is similar to the other Karaya kits I built, including the recent Gloster III, but in this case -and unlike the others- there is some amount of air bubbles present, some open to the surface and others lying just below one pass of the sanding stick, covered only by a thin membrane. Engineering-wise there are more locating devices than on the other Karaya kits I have built, but not where they would have really helped, that is for the four float legs. on this particular point, as in all other Karaya kits I built, you are left to your own devices. There are, as always, accuracy issues: the cylinder “helmets” lack a very visible cut in angle at their front (air intake), and the corresponding fairings are lacking a shallower angle cut at their backs (airflow exit). How this could be solved -or not- is to be seen. This was most likely a problem (undercut) that resin casting could not solve, at least with the present engineering of the kit, and would have required separate cylinders. The kit provides a cockpit interior, a beaching trolley (not a reproduction of the actual one used, though) and a couple of saw horses to rest the aft part of the floats, all welcome additions. Once the pouring blocks are removed the fit of the parts is very good, but the keel of the floats will require a little putty and careful sanding as they are somewhat ragged because of the attachment of their pouring blocks. The representation of the surfaces is spot on.

The painting scheme given by Karaya is inaccurate for Venice. By then the blue float struts were replaced after an accident and painted white. The decal sheet lacks the red strips over the floats seen also at Venice. Karaya’s blue struts, if depicted as such, should not go at the same time with the rudder marks, as these were not present at that time. Furthermore, the blue struts are associated with what looks like a practice wood propeller, not the metal one used later at Venice. The beaching trolley provided should help with the floats’ separation distance and positioning. The nose tip could be a little more accurate it should have been somewhat petaled instead of completely round, but in such small scale it doesn't matter much:

 

You will need curved aileron horns for the ailerons, and will have to locate, mark and drill the rigging anchoring points as they are none present inn the mold. The right wing LE has a small notch that seems to be where the (not provided) Pitot should go. The small fragile resin axles of the wheels are better replaced by styrene rod or metal. The very small canopy is provided as a cage frame to be filled with clear material. Note that the vertical stabilizer was offset on the real plane to compensate for the engine torque.

Here is some reference material for those inclined. The first pages are of the 1927 Schneider in general with the competing planes:

Instructions

Decals (missing the float red strips for Venice, and not to be used if depicting the model still with blue struts):

The parts out of their bags:

Examples of air bubbles, a few more were found:

Washing after detaching the parts from their pouring blocks:

As mentioned above, fit is mainly good. Watch out for the floats, they are handed (guess how I learned that), look at where the struts land (one side of the mounting plate is squarish the other -outwards- somewhat triangular):

Primer applied:

Cockpit being prepared:

Trolley being painted:

The cage that represents the canopy frame is separated from its pouring block. Not an easy task:

There is one small detail you may like to add, the fuel cap is there but you may add the oil one as described in this drawing:

I was curious as to where the oil coolers may be placed. They are not readily visible. Finally I read that they were of the skin (surface) type located on the aft part of the floats. No drawing, photo, or plan I have at hand points to them, though.

As mentioned before one of the strengths of Karaya is the detail on surfaces and parts. On the top of the joystick, for example, you can discern the individual ridges of the grip. The rudder pedals are beautiful and delicate. On the other hand, I am attempting to carve the engine cylinder "helmets" undercut to see if this inaccurate inaccurate detail can be made better. And as mentioned before, you are left to your own devices to deal with one of the most critical parts of the build, to set the struts between fuselage and floats at the proper positions, angles and distance. 
 

The floats are giving me a bit of trouble at their keel, were the pouring block was attached making it difficult to obtain a sharp regular edge:

Photos show that the racing propeller (not the practice wood one) had no anti-glare paint on the back of the blades. Still, the kit's prop looks more than the wood one than the metal one the airplane had in Venice.

 The interior is completed:

And ready to close the fuselage:

Fuselage closed:

Flying surfaces elements in place;

A couple of sessions of filling, sanding and priming to get the surface right:

Finally the plane -minus floats- is painted gloss white:

 

 

 

To be continued...

Sikorsky S.55 BEA-Tles - Conversion of Revell 1/72nd Chickasaw + Arctic Decals set

 

Images from the Net

"A hard day's modeling night"

I remember a time when general affairs in the world looked not at all good. But then a glimmer of hope started to grow as the 60’s were on their way. At a musical level (and not just musical) the Beatles produced a sort of shaking of the general consciousness. The vibrant new energy that came from them illuminated popular culture and spilled over other areas of society. I can still feel that energy when I listen to them, and still hope rises anew, even when we seem to be besieged by the acts -and its consequences- of stupid, deranged, egomaniac presidents and their incompetent and corrupt lackeys, tearing down institutions and values, sinking us into expensive and inane conflicts, spending on megalomaniac and unnecessary projects while most suffer high prices and lack of health care.

Long ago I watched “A hard days’ night”, and, remembering the helicopter scene, had a look around on the Net and found some photos, plus a suitable kit, and rummaged in the spares bin for 1/72^nd figures that fitted the bill with some mods. And I was set.

Further looking around revealed that fellow modelers have produced this BEA (TLES) helicopter in the past to good result, which was encouraging.

The Revell H-19A Chickasaw (straight tailboom) kit was chosen (beware that one of the Italeri kit boxings has the kinked one) and with some mods it can be converted into the iconic machine.

The necessary changes and additions are:

- a new civil interior with proper seats

- a sort of thin flange “upper lip” over the nose ventilation mesh

- a step platform to access the cabin through the sliding door

- a bubble window on the aft left side

- small details like a whip antenna, handles, etc.

Kit parts 11, 12, 13, 14, 40, 44 and 45 should not be used, and do not forget to add some nose weight as per instructions to avoid a tail sitter.

There are masks and photo-etched sets for this kit available as aftermarket items.

The impeccable decal set for mine came from Arctic Decals, as usual perfectly printed and thoroughly researched, featuring not only the most visible marks but many small placards, with great instructions as to their position.

First 1/72^nd figures were modified and painted. Then a suitable part for the needed “bubble” window was found, and finally seats were scrounged to render the civil cabin.

The fuselage bottom of the Revell kit needs a little bit of scratched additions, but nothing too onerous for the average modeler.

 Contents of the Revell kit. Bagged, but the fuselage sides and transparencies are loose inside with the very predictable scuffing consequences. It seems is unacceptably expensive for corporations to use one more little bag:

The Fab Four (+ one)

Got some seats from the spares bin (not glued yet):

The "bubble"window also from the spares bin, plus the metal tube exhaust to replace the kit's part:

A few parts are glued. The rotor support and associated parts are not a tight fit. The bulkheads have unwanted detail for a civil machine...

...so they are reversed, their plain side facing inwards to the cabin. Still, holes and such need plugging and covering:

 The front bulkhead is covered on thin styrene sheet. The back bulkhead holes are plugged with stretched sprue and sanded smooth:

The bulkheads are glued. Dry fit of seats and cockpit:

Testing the fit of components. A small part of the detail on the bulkheads (now facing outwards of the cabin) needs sanding/shaving to allow proper fit on the locating devices (ridges):

Masks always help, especially if they are made of paper and not vinyl for curved windows:

A good wash:

This silly design choice is found across the manufacturing board: fragile bits molded into one to the halves, as if they could survive the hardships and hazards of modeling, seam cleaning, masking, etc. Hey manufacturers, think like a modeler!. You are forced to remove them and add them them later, when they could have been separate parts with a locating hole allowing you to work comfortably without worrying at every step to knock them down:

 Working on the main rotor:

The mold has some volume that is not part of the BEAtles chopper, so it's deleted:

The created cavity will receive a styrene sheet filling:

The parts for the lower section of the rotor require alignment, so they are inserted (not glued) in the shaft:

After the fix, and looking at better images, I realized that more material needed removal and filler:

So more plastic is removed and a new filler section is prepared and glued to one side. This area will need some TLC at the end of the build:

Better put the recommended weight in now before I forget:

Images show a rounded back top for the seats, so a section is added:

 That's better:

Priming and basic painting starts. Sources state that BEA went bold at the time and used red and orange/yellow as interior colors, riding the psychedelic wave:

Here is my hobby-related package, bouncing back and forth between San Francisco and... San Francisco, and between San Francisco and Oakland. Thanks to the diligence of our Postal Service and AI. This is ONE of the several packages I tracked lately doing the same Mambo routine, uselessly, and being delayed because off automation and application of AI:

 Tail rotor ready:

Some air exits are drilled a little to provide depth. The door opening is masked to avoid filling the model with tissue for painting. A little hole for the whip antenna is drilled:

The step seen in photos and clips is fabricated and added:

 The window where the new bubble clear part is going to be is blanked:

General state of affairs:

The tailskid is separated and given a metal pin, then painted, to be later inserted in its base, which is white:

Wheels and exhausts (all but one home-made) are readied. And so, little by little, all the needed parts are being prepared to be added after final assembly:

 Rotor completed:

The beautiful set from Arctic Decals has arrived, you can see it here:

https://www.arcticdecals.com/products.html?id=21443/1296274

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1605880008005029&set=pcb.1605880678004962

After a tip from the decal maker I decided to rework even further the bubble window, as it happens to be an emergency hatch. The ridge visible in this photo was sanded down:

The area is then covered with the piece of thin styrene, to match photos that show some relief:

 

Once the glue has set, the hole for the bubble window will be drilled.

The transparencies are given an acrylic bath, which as we know augments their clarity and deals with some minor transit scratches caused by the manufacturer not bagging them separately:

Fuselage closed and tail added:

The transparencies fit is in general good, but the cockpit side windows required some adjusting via sanding of the edges to get a good fit. The fuselage to tailboom seam needs a touch of putty and sanding, because the plastic produces a very small inward lip:

Eduard masks are used for the transparencies and the parts are readied for priming:

The modified fuselage bottom after putting and sanding. If you leave these areas of the Revell or Italeri kits as they are, they will be inaccurate:

 

If you like this specific BEAtles machine and want to take advantage of the beautiful Arctic Decals sheet, but you have the vintage Airfix Sikorsky S.55 in the stash, do yourself a big favor and purchase the Revell/Italeri kit as I did. The Airfix kit is completely dated, inaccurate, and truly unrewarding. 

But before priming let's not forget the "lip" that goes over the front ventilation mesh, as this was a detail on the BEAtles chopper:

Photos show two battens not present on the kit:

So these are added:

And the color sequence starts with white:

To be continued...