old stuff

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

This is an old 1/24th scale Monogram 1927 Packard touring car from the 1980's. That was a time when several companies produced model cars with cast metal bodies. The rest of the parts were plastic. The chromed plastic was a pain to work with. If you tried to simply glue parts on, they would immediately fall off. The trick was to carefully scrape the plating away from the surfaces to be attached, then they would bond properly. Never was really a model car fancier, but this machine was simply too classy to pass up.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Lately, a group of models of Russian have been getting cleaned up. This one is a Hobby Craft LA-5n in 1/48 scale. It dates back to the 1980s. There are much better models available now. The LA-5N was a considerable improvement over the earlier LA-5. The most noticeable features are a large air scoop in the top of the engine cowl and a revised canopy with better visibility all around. Photo 1r is a starboard view showing the canopy revision and the prominent air scoop. Photo 2r is a frontal view. The model was built straight from the box with no particular enhancements, but it was a pretty clean build. Photo 3r is a port side view. It was painted on a day when the airbrush and its owner were playing well together and the colors blended cleanly. The paints were the old Floquil railroad colors, which had fine pigment and adhered very nicely. Photo 4r is a top view, showing a simple, but accurate finish . The last photo show the under surfaces. The Russian interior green and the underside light blue are much more stark than European and American colors. They are matched to Russian color chips and quite accurate. Back in those days, I was doing a lot of color research and was never timid about mixing colors to obtain a precise hue.

Happy Holidays, rjccjr

[whulsey]

Being primarily a model car builder, especially antiques and classics, the Packard looks really good.

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Here is a 1/48 scale Accurate Miniatures Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless. The model depicts the Dauntless from The USS Lexington, during the Battle Of The Coral Sea, when the bombers were in transition from the SBD-2 to the SBD-3. The rear gunner originally mounted a single 30 caliber gun and second gun was added later. Picture 1r shows the underside of the aircraft. It is exceptionally well molded and the detail is very crisp. Photo 2r is a top view. The walkways have eroded over the years and the rear gun barrel is askew. Over the years the plastic becomes brittle and many parts tend to break under restoration. If a newly completed model was not carefully over sprayed, this is what happens to decals. Photo 4r is an attempt to show the detail inside the cockpit. The gun has been repaired, but I am not able to get at the canopy glass, which tends to fog over time. Photo 7r shows the interior of the dive brakes. The holes restrict the dive speed of the bomber and make it deadly accurate in the hands of a good pilot. The dive sequence is a terrifying few moments for both of the crew members, but it was a war winner in The Pacific. The last photo shows the SBD beside the Monogram SB-2C Helldiver. That wasn't called "The Beast" for nothing. It wasn't such a great aircraft, but the kit is excellent. Both are in the same scale. Happy New Year.

Regards, rjccjr

PS; Had kind of a kerfuffle signing in recently and I want to thank Jason for finding a fix very promptly. His efforts are greatly appreciated.

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

There are seventy eight aircraft models out on the shelves. So far less than one shelf has been cleaned. No two are alike, even if they are the same plane. For example, here are two 1/48 scale Bf-109s, a 109B and a 109D. Photo 1r shows the Bf-109-B2 in Spanish Civil War markings. The brown upper wing is accurate. It had 2 guns mounted over the engine. Photo 2r shows the port side from the rear. Note the intake just in front of the canopy and the two blade prop. Photo 3r shows the deep intake beneath the engine and the lack of exhaust stubs. Photo 4r shows the front from below. The flaps are dropped and there are no wing guns. The Bf 109-D3 1r is shown from above, showing the standard splinter camouflage used at the start of The Second World War. Note the absence of the upper scoop. The three bladed propeller appeared with a change of engine in the Bf-109E. Photo 2r shows the underside. The fuselage halves were slightly warped and the glue crystalized and failed over the years. Photo 3r is a rear shot showing the mottled side camouflage, which started to show up after the attack on Poland. Photo 4r is a front view showing the wing gun apertures and the opening for the 20mm cannon firing through the spinner. The exhaust ports show prominently with the camouflage scheme.

Regards rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Here is a "what you're looking at is not what you're seeing" model. It's probably the oldest kit in the collection, a 1/72 scale Airfix FW-190. It was probably built around 1955. At that time I was still in high school and Airfix kits had just come to America. They came in plastic bags and cost thirty nine cents. The big kits came in cartons and cost ninety eight cents. It's a brush painted conversion, an FW-190D modified to a FW-190A. The nose and part of the after fuselage were removed. A cowling from a Dornier 217, modified with a lot of putty was attached to the front. The tail was reattached and a lot of sanding was involved, which removed a good deal of the raised detail. Of course, by today's standards it is awful, but it is still interesting. There was no masking involved and the guns and pitot tube are stretched sprue. In Photo 5r you can see that the glue attaching the canopy has yellowed and crystallized, about ready to turn to powder and let go. The decals were cobbled up from a spares box and are reasonably accurate. Photo 7r shows the underside. I was learning that a lot of thin coats of paint was better than one heavy coat. Photo 6r shows the upper surfaces. Masking tape would have helped, but my hands were steadier then and the splinter camouflage isn't too awful. The last view is frontal. You can see that the sprue detailing has warped over the years. This model was built before IPMS was even founded. That's nostalgia for ya.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

This is an original tool 1/48 Fairey Firefly mixed media model, which dates back to the late 90's. It was retooled and released as a Grand Phoenix kit around 2004, which can still be found on the market. For its time, it was a well designed kit. The first two photos show it just before cleaning, so you can see the accumulated dust. Photo 3r is a top view after cleaning. Photo 4r is a view of the bottom. Certain areas were highlighted with a .005 drawing pen. Photo 5r shows the foreword fuselage partly cleaned. It also shows why setting the decals properly and over spraying the model is important. There are air bubbles and fractured decals. The last shot is after cleaning, and at a bit of distance. The camera is a lot kinder to an old but attractive model.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Here's an old, very dusty, Hasegawa Hurricane MKIIC in 1/48 scale. Photo 1 shows it just off the shelf. Notice that over time the adhesive from the decals has turned a slight rusty color. Photo 2 shows the cockpit area with major dust. Photo 3 is after swabbing and cleaning. The antenna is a piece of tungsten wire. A fellow ship modeler gave me a spool. He used it for rigging. It's funny stuff, when it comes off the spool, it straightens out all by itself. Once cut to size and glued in place it will never sag and there's nothing that can melt it. It looks sagged here because it detached from the rudder. Tungsten is extremely tough, heavy and will take the edge off a pair of ordinary cutters in no time. Photo 4 is the other side of the fuselage. The last photo show the underside. Note the rusty stains near the decals. The panel lines were marked with a .005 drawing pen, wiped down with a damp paper towel just after application. It was a well designed kit and an easy build. The parts fit required no filling, because the fit was so tight. It held up very well over the years.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

This is one of the most historically significant aircraft that never quite got to fly. At the end of World War II, German aviation was well ahead of the world in aviation design and development. Wind tunnel experiments showed interest in very high speed flight, approaching the control and compressibility issues. Two aircraft, The Me P-1101 and Arado 234 were under construction and were intended to explore various wing combinations. The P-1101 design was very advanced and evolved through several different engine and wing sweep combinations. A prototype was under construction by the end of the war. The P-1101 was obtained by Bell Aircraft and evolved into the Bell X-5.

The Arado 234 was already in production, but still evolving. The V16 prototype was intended to test three different wing combinations, a mild sweep, a more radical sweep and a cranked wing. The fuselage was a regular AR-234 with a standard rudder, but swept stabilizer. The various wings were made of wood and would be flight tested and removed as needed. There was no intention of variable sweep in flight. The complete fuselage was ready for wing attachment and the wooden wings were stored in the same hanger. On the day before the first test flight, the British army took the airfield and the wooden wings were burned. However, the paper work for the design fell into allied hands. The Arado cranked wing eventually evolved into the wing plan of the Handley Page Victor.

The model is based on a 1/48 scale Hobbycraft Arado 234 kit. It has some serious flaws with the fuselage cross section, but otherwise isn't a bad kit. Photo 1r is a top view showing the cranked wing. The wing and stabilizer were built from laminated styrene sheet, shaped with a wood rasp and then sanded with various descending grits of sand paper. Control surfaces were etched into the wing and stabilizer by using a steel ruler and the back edge a #11 "Exacto" blade. A piece of masking tape was stuck to the back of the ruler to keep it from sliding around. Photo 2r is a profile view. Those tubes sticking out of the rear of the engine nacelles were for rocket assisted take off. Whether they were actually installed for the first flight is debatable. The side letters were actually PH SX, but I didn't find that out until fifteen years after the model was built. Photo 3r shows the tubular rocket exhausts. Photo 4r shows the other side. The decals are silvering with age, just like me. Photos 5r and 6r are a not very successful attempt to show the interior of the cockpit area. The last shot shows the general effect of the completed model. There is a certain elegance of the design and one wonders what the machine could do if it ever got into the air.

Regards, rjccjr

[rjccjr]

Hi All;

Here's an old Revell P1Y Francis in 1/72 scale, built in the late 1970's. For the time it was a pretty good model, even though the canopy frames are a little heavy. This has held up very well over the years, although the white on the decals has started to yellow with age. Photo 1r is an upper starboard side view showing raised rivet detail. Photo 2r is an overhead view. The raised detail is quite delicate and well done, if not up to modern standards. Photo 3r is a port side view. The antenna mast has come off and the right landing gear strut is fractured above the wheel. They are both easily fixed, given the time and the inclination. It's still a handsome design.

Regards, rjccjr