Kittyhawk - Done!

A quick snap of the Academy P-40N Kittyhawk completed as RCAF 877/T of 132 Squadron.  I'll post up glamour shots and a full article in three months when it returns from display at the Museum of Flight as part of the US Aircraft in Foreign Service display.

Kittyhawk IV progress - Getting There

Decals are on, the engraved detail has been washed with Tamiya panel accent colours, and Vallejo flat has done its job.

Under the Gun!

I'm running up against the clock on the Academy P-40N. It has to be done for a Museum display on September 7, 2017. (Hey, didn't I have like six months to get this thing done last time I posted?) I finally decided to build the aircraft from Carl Vincent's AviaDossier #1. (RCAF 877 from 132 (F) Squadron.) The Neutral Grey is Tamiya AS-7 decanted from the spray can. The Interior Green is Gunze Mr. Color 351. Hope to get the Olive Drab on tomorrow. I do fear that the oversized canopy will ruin the look of the model.

Tired of the Mosquito yet?

Because I'm not...

European Theatre day on a Sunny Seattle Saturday.

Nebraska Vulcan

While in Omaha for the IPMS Nationals, I got the chance to visit the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Nebraska. The Museum has a neat collection of types in varying states of restoration, but it was through a back door out into the harsh sun that the aircraft I wanted to see resided....Avro Vulcan B.2 XM573. Originally built to carry the Avro Blue Steel nuclear missile, it was modified for conventional bombs in the mid 1960s. XM573 arrived in the U.S. for museum display in 1982. While relegated to the storage/parking yard, the Vulcan has spent some time under cover in recent years. It is hoped it will be in line for restoration in the near future.

Note that the IFR probe is missing from the Vulcan's nose? It was removed by the RAF after delivery for operation use during the Falklands War.

The RAF attempted to be model friendly with their maintenance stenciling.  Notice that they tell us on the main landing gear door about the maker of the paint (Titanine), the type of paint (DTD 5580 which is a Polyurethane), the reflectivity (Matt) and when it was painted but never list the colour!  Ouch. (It is BS 627 Light Aircraft Grey, if you care.)

This part/section must have been painted at a later time as DTD 5580A was a replacement for DTD 5580.

Modelers Note: The only choice for a 1/72 Avro Vulcan B.2 is the Airfix kit from 1983.  (It is not a terrible kit, but it lacks detail, has raised panel lines, and huge joint lines across the wings that take work to completely eradicate.) That is until Airfix unveils its new tool 1/72 Vulcan at Telford...

Do we need to chip in and buy the RCAF some Micro Set?

We modelers spend lots of time applying a good gloss coat and using decal setting solutions to make our decal film disappear.  But what does the RCAF do? Apparently nothing; just look at all that silvering! The subjects are CU-161 Sperwer RCAF 161007 on display at the National Air Force Museum of Canada at CFB Trenton (above) and CU-161 Sperwer RCAF 161001 sitting on its trolly in Kabul in 2003 (below).  The RCAF operated a fleet of fleet of 30 CU-161s in Afghanistan from October 2003 until April 2009.  Upon retirement, many were placed in Museums across Canada.

(Lower photo courtesy of the Canada. Dept. of National Defence.)

Modeler's Note:  As far as I know, the French designed and built SAGEM Sperwer has not been kitted in 1/72.

IX Center KC-97

Here is a story about a neat project taking place in my former location. The IX Center in Cleveland has purchased Boeing KC-97G 52-2604 (formerly N97GX) for display in their sprawling building. The connection is that the IX Center was built as Fisher Body Aircraft Plant No. 2 wherein B-29 parts were manufactured during the World War Two. B-29s are rather rare these days, and it is difficult to secure an airframe for display, so it appears management decided that the KC-97 descendant was close enough. (The story states that C-97 parts were built at the "Cleveland Bomber Plant" and that is certainly possible, but I can neither confirm or deny the veracity of that claim.) The KC-97 was trucked from Arizona in May after spending decades, sans tail-fin, in the Dross Metals (DMI) yard outside of AMARC at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Modeler's Note: The Academy kit is the only choice in 1/72 to build a KC-97G unless you want to revisit the past and build a vacuform. Just make sure you have lots of real estate in the display case.