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.

Mosquito TV959 First Flight

The first North American flight of Mosquito TV959 took place right around 10am on Friday June 23, 2017, at Paine Field near Seattle.  The Mossie went up again Saturday morning; both times with Steve Hinton at the controls. The first "public" display will be on July 22, 2017, during the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum's Skyfair event. (Note: The pictures look better if you click on them.)

Modeler's Note: The FHC Mosquito is a T.III that has been restored as FB. VI NS838 of 605 Squadron flown by Alan Wagner. Decals for "Wag's War Wagon" are included on Eagle Edition's EagleCals #168 decal sheet which has been released in all three scales.

Mosquito!

A few years ago after missing out on seeing Mosquito KA114 in the air, I joked that I'd probably see the Flying Heritage Collection Mosquito flying long before I enjoyed the sight of the ex RCAF Mosquito taking flight. Looks like that wisecrack was pretty close to the truth.

Arriving in Seattle as an early Christmas present, it has been fun to watch Mosquito T.3 TV959 slowly being assembled at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum. TV959 was built by de Havilland at their Leavesden, England factory, being accepted by the RAF in August 1945.  It spent most of its time with the RAF shuffling between various training units and MUs.  It was featured on the silver screen in the "633 Squadron" movie, before spending most of the 60s, 70s, and 80s on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.  Sadly, the right wing was cut off to better display the Mosquito in the Museum.  TV959 was acquired by Stephen Grey's The Fighter Collection and then traded to Paul Allen.  Allen had the Mosquito transferred to AVspecs Ltd. of New Zealand for restoration.  The original plan was to use as much of the original wood as possible in the restoration, but it was later decided to complete the airplane with a new build fuselage and wing.  Taking to the air in late 2015 in New Zealand, the Mosquito was then disassembled and shipped to Washington.

The Mosquito as it arrived at the Flying Heritage Collection. (Photos taken January 14, 2017.)

That is one large piece of wood!

A couple of attempts at cockpit photos.

The Mosquito as it appeared today.

While the Mosquito was originally built, and then restored, as a training variant, there was no question the aircraft would masquerade as a Mosquito FB.VI in the night intruder scheme.  While I had hoped that the FHC would honor a local Mosquito ace who flew with 418 Squadron RCAF, they instead decided to finish it was "Wag's War Wagon" NS838 UP-J of 605 Squadron.  Wag's War Wagon was flown by Flight Lieutenant Alan Wagner who had downed two Aichi Val dive bombers while flying Hurricane in Ceylon.  Flt. Lt. Wagner had at least one V-1 kill flying the Mosquito, but was killed while chasing a V-1 in a Hawker Tempest in July 1944.

The Mosquito looks stunning in its Intruder scheme, especially the matt Night undersurface, and it is neat to see both German and Japanese kills on the type.   I can't wait to see it in the air.

The mighty Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Modeler's Note: Tamiya has scored a hat trick of the best Mosquito in all three scales. The 1/32 Mosquito FB.VI is one of the best kits ever released in plastic. The 1/72 Mosquito is beautiful but, as can be expected, it is quite a bit simplier than the 1/32 scale beast.

Insanity on the Workbench

It has been a while since I've posted an actually modeling update.  So here is the the disaster that is my workbench  I know it it insane that there are this many models on my bench, but well...

The above two photos illustrate my disaster.  They also show the grey and rain of Seattle and our urban living situation.  It is a nice view...

1.  The Eduard 1/72 Spitfire wings.  The very complicated wheel wells pose no issue if you pay attention, clean up the parts, and take care with the glue.  Fit is just fine other than the tips, and that may just be my hamfistedness.  The detailed photo above shows the slight miss match.  The overall photo shows the other tip slathered in Perfect Plastic Putty.  This putty is a white material of toothpaste like consistency.  The neat thing about the product is you let it dry and then remove it with a q-tip dipped in water.  Usually it leaves a slight panel line like depression, which is what I'm looking for.  The wing is covered in rivets so I'm trying not to sand them away.  Not sure what scheme I'll be using, but RCAF 416 "City of Oshawa" Squadron is an option.

2. The Eduard Hellcat.  A really nice kit with excellent fit.  Painted in Gunze Mr. Color Gloss Sea Blue, I need to add a second coat...I missed a few spots on the wingtip.  Otherwise things are going well.  It will be Fleet Air Arm, of course...a neat Hellcat from the HMS Formidable with a replacement cowl and aileron. The Hellcat is for the Northwest Scale Modeler's September display at the Museum of Flight on "US Aircraft in Foreign Service." This is a weekend boxing I started 2012.  I guess I missed the memo!

3.  Academy Kittyhawk IV (P-40N)  Also for the Foreign US Aircraft display, this one will be RCAF.  I was thinking of doing the Kittyhawk from the "Son of Lassie" movie but I'm tempted by the one in Carl Vincent's AviaDossier -Canadian Aircraft of WWII book as it has the "Overseas" maple leaf badge.  Either way, Olive Drab over Neutral Grey.  This guy needs a tad more sanding and then primer.

4.  The Revell AG F4U-4 Corsiar is a somewhat newer kit.  That being said, it isn't a great kit.  The wing tips are separate, which isn't usually a big deal, other than they put the joint smack dab in the middle of the fabric wing.  So I've been fighting those joints.  (See above before primer and after primer.) The cockpit is a mess of variants....the kit has the lower center instrument panel for a F4U-4 along with a decal to place over it.  The rear bulkhead has the cutouts for the rear vision windows of the birdcage Corsair, the seat looks closer to that of an AU-1 or F4U-5, and the floor part is closer to the foot troughs of the -1 than a correct floor for a -4 Corsair. Probably the biggest issue I have with the kit...outside of the join line for the wingtips...why, Revell, why?...is that no rocket stubs or pylons are included.  They were pretty ubiquitous on the -4 Corsair.  The cowl parts are pretty crudely molded and the open cowl flaps have the gap tooth look reminiscent of the Revell P-47D. Overall, there are some detail issues, the fuselage is a tad long behind the cockpit break, and there is some asinine engineering which causes some fit issues, but it is probably the best 72 F4U-4 on the market at this point in time.  (Also, to add confusion, it appears that the Revell AG factory got confused and some kits left the factory with the F4U-1A canopy.  My kit does have the correct F4U-4 canopy with the flat windscreen.)

This one is being done with a new Starfighter decal sheet (thanks David!) that features the first African American US Navy pilot to fly combat.  The crux of the story is that Ensign Jesse Brown was was shot down on a raid during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in 1950 and his wingman crashed to save him.  Sadly, the wingman was not successful and Jesse died in the cockpit of his Corsair.  For his actions, the wingman, Tom Hudner was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  There is a pretty popular, but uneven book, called "Devotion" by Adam Makos about Jesse and Tom.  I'll post a book review of "Devotion" in the near future.

5.  The Revell Hunter for the Northwest Scale Modelers Suez Crisis display in June.  The Revell kit is quite nice.  Mine has been converted with Aeroclub resin from a Hunter F.6 into the earlier Hunter F.5.  An Aeroclub white metal ejection seat has been fitted to help hold down the nose and add some extra cockpit detail seat.  My kit got crushed at some point, so all the Mr. Surfacer on the nose to to fix that problem.  It is time to sand.  The black on the wingtips is a black tinted "guitar" cyanoacrylate glue that I've been experimenting with.

6.  The Hobby Boss Seahawk also for the Suez Crisis display.  I've not done much on this one yet.  I need to get moving!

Merry Christmas, eh!

(Photo courtesy of the Canada. Dept. of National Defence/PL-41096)