Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

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VickersVandal
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Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by VickersVandal »

Another Biggles build :mrgreen: . This represents the Arctic Airways "Rockheed Freighter" flown by Wilks ;-) in Biggles Flies North.

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The kit went together pretty happily. It had resin detail parts that didn't make a fuss, with the exception of the P&W Wasp, which is moulded as separate cylinders that need to be attached to the crankcase :shock:
My advice to anyone building this is to dry fit the heck out of the engine into the cowling lest, like me, you end up having to rebuild the entire thing to fit :frown:
I also added pushrods from stretched sprue.

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The Arctic Airways decal was printed on clear BMF decal paper and underneath it is two layers of blank white decal. The logo is thanks to mattbacon :grin: (thanks again, Matt!)
The image is actually artwork from the cover of the book itself.

The wing lettering was printed on paper in Bank Gothic. I put tape over the letters (Tamiya tape is fairly transparent) and cut them out, providing a mask that I could spray through.

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Tail letters are white decadry rub ons. I tape them together to get them aligned. I managed to snap the tail off rubbing them on though :evil:

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Cockpit detail in resin was very nice and needed no additions. In the story, this is used to transport gold from the Canadian goldfields, so I did a very rough scratchbuild of some cargo boxes.....now practically invisible of course :roll:

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So there you have it :)
Must.....build....ALL the Sopwith Camels!...

My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
vacant
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by vacant »

Gorgeous looking model - well done with the decals.
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VickersVandal
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by VickersVandal »

Given how impressed I always am by your builds, I am very chuffed by your compliment :grin:
Must.....build....ALL the Sopwith Camels!...

My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
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Nax
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Nax »

what a little beauty Vickers, great work. ;-)
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Softscience
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Softscience »

Superb finish on this one. Just great work!
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despondman
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by despondman »

Very, very nice - that really looks the business.
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JamesPerrin
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by JamesPerrin »

Very lovely. A great trick with the rub-down decals.
Classic British Kits SIG Leader Better to fettle than to fill
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VickersVandal
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by VickersVandal »

I seem to keep choosing schemes with white lettering, so I'm building up a bit of a collection of white rub on letters. :-|
Pity I can't get them in Bank Gothic....

Thanks for the comments, all :grin:
Must.....build....ALL the Sopwith Camels!...

My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Eric Mc »

Very neat.

BBC Radio 4 Extra recently ran a spoken word version of "Biggles Flies North" narrated by Michael Palin. It was first broadcast back in 1981 apparently.
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Barry »

Very nice build. I love the Orion and it looks great in those markings.
2012 A:12 B:13 C:0
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VickersVandal
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by VickersVandal »

One other thing if you're building this kit: do not attach the wingtip pitot tube until EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, else is done. I think in the end I had snapped it off and reattached it seven times.....

You'd think I would have learnt after the first two.
Must.....build....ALL the Sopwith Camels!...

My Biggles Model display website: https://tinyurl.com/y74ydzae
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Zee28
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Zee28 »

I wasn't familiar with the Orion until I saw this. What a delightful plane it is! And you have done a splendid job on it, a lovely finish too.

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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by Eric Mc »

Some of these American early 1930s all metal aircraft designed and built by Lockheed and Northrop were very innovative. Although aircraft like the DC-3 get the credit, it is these earlier ones that kick started the revolution towards all metal, retractable undercarriage, flap fitted and variable pitch prop equipped aircraft.
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skypirate
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by skypirate »

Great result, David!

cheers,

David
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Re: Special Hobby 1/72 Lockheed Orion 9

Post by broadside »

A terrific build!
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