Spaceowl's Roost

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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

The Bird Dog is complete and up in the Aviation Modelling section. I'm now working on a VNAF Cessna O-2 as part of the Golden Oldies group build; look under Spaceowl's VNAF O-2 (boring but straightforward) :) .
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

Right, the O-2 is complete and on the finished build thread on 'Rare and Golden Oldies'. Enough of that for now.

Next up to bat is the A-1E Skyraider, an ancient Monogram kit from (I think) the late sixties, and a rough piece of work it is too. At the moment I'm rescribing the raised panel lines and paring off the weapons pylons before replacing them with aftermarket resin ones. As a result, there's not a lot to see at the moment, but I hope to post some photos soon.
Until then, happy modelling. :)
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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Old_Tonto
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Old_Tonto »

Everybody loves a Spad. I've never seen the Monogram kit, what is wrong with the pylons?

I have the old airfix kit somewhere but it looks a bit rough. I did build the Hasegawa kit a while back and can honestly say that it's one of the best kits I've ever had the pleasure to construct.
I went with the US Marine scheme for Korea.

Image

Good luck with the re-scribing.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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jssel
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by jssel »

If I recall correctly the weapons pylons are just stubs. My issue centered around the airscrew blades. They just don't look right. I have the Cobra Company cockpit insert that really dresses things up.

Any way........ Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. And my apologies for hijacking your thread.
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

Exactly so, Jeff. They are just stubs, and there is an impression that this kit was slightly more toy than model. All the same, if you want an E model A-1 there's no other choice in 1/72 (one to add to my list of psychotic non-availability rants along with the Mig-19 :) ). I've just clipped the kit pylons off and am replacing them with resin aftermarket ones.
That's a nice Hasegawa Skyraider, Ian. Must have missed that one first time round.
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

Here's the state of play so far:

Image

All of the wing stubs have been cut off, sanded and replaced with resin pylons from a CMK set, the moulded-in and rather unconvincing engine was drilled out of the cowling and replaced with a resin one and the front half of the interior tub has been cut off prior to a complete rebuild in the cockpit area. As I've already said, this is a basic kit but there's a degree of satisfaction in trying to set it right.
I'm not bothering with doing anything to the rear cockpit tub as the aircraft I'm modelling was an ex-US Navy EA-1E (or whatever that is in Navy) that the VNAF converted back to A-1E standard; as a result the rear cockpit is painted over and nothing will be visible back there.
Hit a bit of a bottleneck in the critical path at the moment, as I'm waiting for two replacement seats that need to be in place so I can plan the cockpit around them. Work is called off until they arrive. I might make a start on something else in the meantime.
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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skypirate
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by skypirate »

The Monogram A1-E is a golden oldie and scrubs up well with a little TLC. And you have a reasonably wide choice of schemes.
Looking forward to it!

David
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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

skypirate wrote:The Monogram A1-E is a golden oldie and scrubs up well with a little TLC. And you have a reasonably wide choice of schemes.
Looking forward to it!

David
That's my general impression of it too, David. Hope I have the mad skillz to get it into that state.

There's been a bit of progress since last time - the cockpit is built up now and the B-17 seats (about the same size/shape but by no means accurate, which irks the purist in me :evil:) are in place, giving the cockpit its extremely crowded look.

Image

There is a solid canopy going over the old radar operators' stations, hence the black cabin (nothing to see here, citizen :) ). Still plenty of work to do, but the overall look of it is there.

Image

Bulkheads in place in the rear crew compartments so you can't see all the way through like a pre-1990 kit.

Image

The aircraft i am modelling had quite an interesting history - it was previously a USN AD-5Q 'Electric Spad' before being passed on to the VNAF, who gutted it and used it in its basic AD-5/A-1E configuration until the fall of Vietnam. Because of this, I've scribed and masked the small operator's window into the rear canopy, a bit of a struggle to see here I admit.
Upwards and onwards, I'm going to be working on the front cockpit tonight. More pictures to follow.
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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Old_Tonto
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Old_Tonto »

This is a pretty cool project Rob. try not to get too obsessed with it though.

(He says as he rubs down his sugar scoops for a 1/72 Sabre.) :???:
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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jssel
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by jssel »

Two thumbs up . Great progress
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
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Spaceowl
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

The cockpit interior is finished:

Image

on Navy AD-5s, only the pilot in the left hand station got a joystick, the navigator was left to navigate (although he got rudder pedals for some reason) so I haven't forgotten the other control column. No matter what you think :ha: .

Tonight should be relatively easy - just sticking the bits together. I'm masking the canopy now, while having a beer and watching 'The Guard' starring the excellent Brendan Gleeson. Who said men can't multitask?
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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skypirate
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by skypirate »

Great modelling, and great movie, too!

David
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iggie
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by iggie »

Nice work on the cockpit; it looks very busy
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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Old_Tonto
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Old_Tonto »

That's a big improvement on the kit interior Rob.

The Guard is one of my favourite movies too, never get tired of watching it.
2023 - A:0 B:0 C:0
Current Projects:
East German Air Force (1956-90)
South African Air Force (1958-93)
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Spaceowl
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Joined: July 1st, 2011, 8:41 am
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Re: Spaceowl's Roost

Post by Spaceowl »

Everything just dropped together last night, and the Spad is undercoated and ready for paint:

Image

Brute of a thing, isn't it? The underside got a bit more attention - I can't overemphasize how bad the fit of the two fuselage halves was, and the airbrake was a mass of sink holes, to the extent that I sanded it right down and replaced it with one scratched out of plastic card. You can just about see it, aft of the trailing edge of the wing.

Image

I'm nervous about pre-shading this one, but in line with my promise to take a few more risks with my models, I'm going to give it a go. See the results tomorrow.
Overhead a rainbow appears...in black and white.

Current Projects:
Aircraft of VMA-542, USMC
Peru-Ecuador War 1995
THK 1939-2023
Polish Air Force 1939
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