Rob's big Texan

[rob_van_riel]

I'll be joining the party with a big bad Texan.

Something like a year ago, I digitised some VHS tapes for a colleague. A small favour from my point of view, but the recordings were precious to him, and he felt it warranted a reward, and showed up with this kit a few days after I handed over the files, simultaneously doubling the number of 1/32 planes in the stash, and the price of the most expensive kit in my stash.

The only proper response to such largesse is to make sure you to the kit justice. After some serious deliberations, I decided that called for some improvements to the interior, in the form of a 'Big Ed' etch set. I'm still not entirely certain I shouldn't be doing this one OOB, but at this scale, PE can really make a difference.

The usual sprue shots are below, along with a snap of the Eduard stuff.













The kit contains no less than 10 decal options, but I'm going to stick with the one on the cover.

[JohnRatzenberger]

This will be a good one -- iconic aircraft and new manufacturer with some aftermarket thrown in!!

Looking forward to it.

[spitfire1677]

Very cool looking kit Rob Any chance of a picture of the decals?

[rob_van_riel]

Any chance of a picture of the decals?

As soon as the scanner becomes accessible again..

[spitfire1677]

As soon as the scanner becomes accessible again..

Cheers Rob

[rob_van_riel]

Any chance of a picture of the decals?

As requested..



And yes, that's three sheets, one of which is as large as the box, and the second only slightly smaller. Markings for ten different aircraft in all.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Great decal selection !

[rob_van_riel]

Great decal selection !

Yep, and their other boxing is almost as generous. If I had all the time in the world and a mansion to put them in, I'd end up with a whole bunch of these. Sadly, I have neither, to the immense relief of my wallet

[rob_van_riel]

I've been playing with bits of metal for a bit. The Eduard seat buckets are clearly going to be nicer than the kit parts, if, and that's a big if, I can get them to stick together without getting blobs of CA and gaps all over the place. Glue setting in progress, and then some primer will be called for to really see the results. I might yet end up putting the etched details on the plastic buckets instead.

About the etched flaps, however, there is no doubt. After some nerve wrecking metal folding, the fuselage flap is clearly so superior to the kit part that even my clumsy fingers can't bring them into the same league..

[rob_van_riel]

Still here, but it's slow and nervous work; the plastic is so soft that any slip and any over-application of force can ruin a part in a blink.
I think the etched seats are going to work, just some fiddling required before I'm certain. In the mean time, I've made a start on the rudder pedals. For comparison, half etched, half original.



Only three more to clear..

[iggie]

That's a nice bit of detail in that rudder pedal.....

[rob_van_riel]

That's a nice bit of detail in that rudder pedal.....

Yup, Eduard really did their best on this set.
Just to prove I'm really a clumsy sod, I slipped a few times while filing out the first, removing just enough skin from my fingertip to be politely reminded of the possibility of painful and messy conditions if I persist, so I'll grant my skin some time to regenerate before continuing that particular job.

I've decided the brass chairs came out well enough, and took the plunge. They're now irrevocably attached to the plastic frames. Some minor details left to be added, but nothing that could influence the decision.



I'm getting a really steampunkish feeling from all those brass bits

[rob_van_riel]

More miniscule fiddly bits today, and so proceeding at tectonic speeds
Out of frustration with the lack of visible progress, I thought I'd at least join the halves of the wheels. They seem a bit off to me; if anyone some knowledge of the wheels on the real thing, please peek at my question here in the aviation forum.

[Gadfly]

Rob,

There are about 4 Harvards based up the road from me.
All of them have a circumferential ribbed tyre.

Here are some images of a couple of them but no wheel close ups.





HTH
GF

[SJPONeill]

Following on from GF's post, if you post the question on the RNZAF FB page https://www.facebook.com/RoyalNewZealan ... e/?fref=ts; , I'm pretty sure that someone who works on the Harvards at RNZAF Ohakea would be in touch in short order; and other good source would be the Cambridge Air Force forum which is populated by many former RNZAF types...http://rnzaf.proboards.com/board/4/cambridge-air-force;