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Thank you, Mike, for the kind words. Yes, I did accent the main panel lines and flying surface joints with a sharp No. 2 pencil after decals and Future were dry. In this scale, most metal-to-metal seams are virtually invisible, so I do not pop them out. We did search for a 247--any 247--kit in 1/144 scale. Lots of people referred us to the Williams Bros. kit, but then realized that kit is 1/72 scale. Nothing in vacuform, injection plastic, resin, solid metal, plaster, wood, clay, silly putty, pot metal, etc., exists in 1/144 scale. Ed

As part of our Chapter's group build of "The Magnficent 7's" for the 2017 Nats, I drew the Boeing 307 Stratoliner as one of my contributions. I had never seen a kit of this aircraft, let alone one in 1/144 scale. It turned out that a kit did exist, made by Anigrand in resin, but it is a brand that never appears on the LHS shelves. It had to be ordered. Actually, the kit is of the C-75, not the 307. Pan American Airways System decals were available in the aftermarket, so I bought a sheet. The Boeing 307 Stratoliner had the first pressurized airliner cabin in commercial use. Designed in the mid-1930s, the Stratoliner was a parallel development of the Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress. It is interesting that the large curved tail of the later B-17E was first used on the Stratoliner to solve a directional stability problem caused by the smaller "shark fin" tail carried over from the B-17C. Otherwise, the circular fuselage of the Stratoliner was mated to the wings, engines, landing gear, and horizontal stabilizers of the B-17C. Not many were built. Pan American received three and TWA received five. The coming war clouds meant that Boeing's production capacity was shifted over to the B-17 series. When military transport aircraft were needed, the five TWA 307s were absorbed by the USAAF and redesignated as C-75s. Pan American kept theirs. When TWA got theirs back in 1944, Boeing rebuilt them with new wings, etc., from the B-17G series. TWA's aircraft were then Model 307Bs. The Pan American airliners were not rebuilt. Fortunately, the Anigrand resin kit contained the earlier B-17C pieces to correctly build a Pan American version that went perfectly with the decal sheet. Words of high praise go here. Anigrand must have some amazingly skilled pattern makers used in the resin casting. All of the parts fit together perfectly with virtually no visible seams at the joints. The wings and horizontal and vertical stabilizers had pins that fit into molded holes in the fuselage. Likewise, the landing gear struts had locator holes in the wings that matched perfectly. The details of the intake scoops and engine cylinders on the engine cowlings in 1/144 scale were all provided on each of the four pieces. The fabric covered surfaces on the rudder, ailerons, and elevators were textured differently from the adjoining metal surfaces. The wheel hubs had details that are often skipped on larger scale models. The propeller hubs had three holes each for the separate blades that had to be inserted. As everything was cast in resin, I had to use super glue to assemble them. There were some remains of the resin mold pour stubs on some parts, but they were minimal and easily sanded off. I was very pleased with the results here. Ed

This is still a test with a photo eliminated by Photobucket. Wow! It finally worked for me. Ed

This technically qualifies as a Christmas gift--from me to me. 1/48 Hasegawa Lockheed TF-104G company-owned demonstrator "Free World Defender" flown for speed records and sales purposes. The Dutch eventually acquired this aircraft. I ordered it in September when its release was announced, and it came in just two days before Christmas. I put it on the gift pile. The plastic is identical to the 2007 release of this kit, so nothing new there. The decal sheet, however, is the most comprehensive I have ever seen for a Hasegawa F-104 of any variant. :D Ed

This is a test to see if I can just copy/paste a photo into this thread. If not, you have not missed anything. Ed No luck this way. I'll try again another way.

Too bad it's not one week later. :smiley13: I will be coming to Nashville on the 22nd and will be staying until the 26th. You aren't that far away from Nashville on I-24. Have a great show. Ed

Hi, Phil, You have two 1/72 AWACS kits to choose from. 1. Heller 1/72 E-3A AWACS Kit #80306 with markings for NATO * OTAN aircraft LX-N 90449 with TF-33 engines in standard livery 2. Heller 1/72 E-3F/E-3B AWACS Kit #80383 with three choices of markings: a. French E-3F aircraft 36-CA with CFM-56 engines b. USAF E-3B aircraft 00139 with TF-33 engines c. NATO E-3B aircraft LX-N 90449 with TF-33 engines and special 50th anniversary NATO markings Then you will also want Eduard P/E #72 312 set for the Heller kit. Best of luck in finding these after many years out of issue. Ed FWIW, there is also Airfix 1/72 AWACS E-3D Sentry Kit #12009 with two choices of markings: a. French E-3F aircraft 36-CA with CFM-56 engines (as above in Kit #80383) b. RAF E-3D Sentry Mk. I of 8 Squadron RAF Waddington 1991 with CFM-56 engines NOTES: This kit also contains TF-33 engines. With a Flightpath Detail Set #FLP72104D ($40 from Sprue Brothers) you can convert this aircraft into a Boeing E-6 Mercury.

Hi, David, There are actually two Chapters meeting in the same place. IPMS/S.P.A.S.A.M. on the 1st Friday night at 7:30 pm; and IPMS/Will-Cook on the 3rd Friday night at 7:30 pm. The meetings are at: First Presbyterian Church of Homewood, 17929 Gottschalk Ave., Homewood, IL 60430. It's almost all the way on the interstates from Schaumburg to Homewood. I am a native of Arlington Heights. Ed

Hi, David, Before I open up your latest progress photos, I take a deep breath. That's because I know I will not be breathing for several minutes as I absorb the sheer magnificence of this project in all the minute details you are including. I see you list your location as "Illinois." I sure wish that means you are near the south suburban area of Chicago so we could entice you to join us at our chapter meetings. I am fascinated at the masterpiece you are building. Ed

Hi, Martin, While there are not very many kits of construction vehicles, school buses, farm tractors, etc., there are no colors available for School Bus Yellow, Caterpillar Yellow, International Harvester products, John Deere products, Farmall Red. You get the idea. I suppose the colors are trademarked by their respective companies, so we are left to mix as best we can by eye. I have an ERTL 1/25 scale I-H 350 Heavy Rock Hauler and an AMT 1/25 scale Caterpillar D8H dozer that could really use some accurate painting. Ed

Hi, Gary, I am drooling over your truck (sorry about the mess). I am working on the 1972 Chevy Blazer interior, so your dashboard and engine compartment are standards I hope to meet. One little nitpick, and this might just be a result of a wrong camera angle, your windshield wiper blades need rubber touching the glass. Keep up the great progress. Ed

Another diorama idea: A cute lady asks a salesman "Show Me the CarFax!" at a used car lot. Ed

Hi, Kevin, I enjoyed the Farscape series and was disappointed when it was cancelled. I barely remember the space ship, and I think it was in a brief clip in the opening credits each week. You have risen to the challenge nicely in building and finishing this kit. Ed

Hi, Alan, Excellent painting on such a small figure vignette. Lots of action with droids and an attractive heroine fighting at the base of a ruined animal statue (a museum entry guard?). Let's see more of your collection. Ed

WOW! AMS clobbers another modeler. So sad to see what can happen to an otherwise sane modeler. The only prescription for recovery is to work your way through the entire episode until you feel the AMS fading away. Then you will be done with the model! Ed, fellow victim of AMS

Congrats, Bill, Minicraft has some "miss" kits, and this is one of them. :smiley5: I watched you struggle with this for months. I am so impressed with what you did with this kit, given its problems. I admit I added to your problems with the decals when I attempted a two-finger pick-up of the WIP model, touching the decals between the wings and tail and lifted up the decals. :smiley11: Your repair of that damage with the decal fragments does not show. True signs of an expert at work. You said it was easy, but I don't think so. Anyway, the finished kit makes for a great addition to the club project. :smiley31: The American Airlines retro scheme matches photos of the real thing very well. Ed

Hi, Richard, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in October 2003. I'm on my second CPAP machine after putting over 27,000 hours on my first one. Medicare paid for it as durable medical equipment. Some people hate the mask and refuse to wear it to bed (thus negating any benefit to be had from using it), preferring instead to taking their chances with what you went through. My advice: Wear your mask every night, like it or not. I have gotten so used to mine that I can't sleep right without it. You can sleep in almost any position except flat on your stomach. For maximum freedom of movement, bring the air hose in from directly over your head from your pillow. Trap the air hose between your pillow or the headboard with slack in the hose to the mask. Keep the CPAP on your nightstand close to your head so if you need to get up in the night you can reach over and switch it off before you wake up your wife. She will also get used to the low noise produced by the CPAP machine and sleep well with it in operation. When I travel anywhere involving an overnight sleeping arrangement, my CPAP is my traveling companion (in the car) and my carry-on (if flying). Best wishes for your recovery, and thanks to God for keeping you safe. Bless your wife for listening to you and getting you to the ER when you needed her help most. Ed

Hi, Bryan, I am so impressed with the quality of your models as they are photographed against the black background. Please step back and take a picture of your photo setup so we can learn to improve our own efforts. It is so helpful to see model photos that are not made against the background clutter on a workbench mat. Thanks. Ed

Hi, Ken, I have all three figures from the Monogram P-61 kit (the Shep Paine gloss black plastic edition) that are yours. I had them in my spares box and will never use them. Send me a PM with your full mailing address, and they will be on their way to you within a day. Ed

Hi, Joseph, I love your plan to repair and restore this old Z-28. I hope the transmission is a manual so you do not have to remove the clutch pedal from the interior tub. If you put floor mats on the front driver and passenger foot wells, you can cover up those wonderful ejector pin raised disks without having to shave them down and rescribe the missing details. Thanks for starting another of your interesting project cars. Ed

Neither of the Chapters I belong to has a Facebook account. Nobody wants to be responsible for keeping it up. A number of our members do not even have a computer, so Facebook posts will not help them as a source of information. Ed

Hi, guys, I claim no expertise on the model numbers for the fire trucks in the kits. I merely listed what was printed on the kit boxes by AMT. Ed

Bravo, Mark! I have one of these started but back in the box for now. You have obviously plodded through all the problems in the minefield. I am attempting to adapt the Cobra Company resin set, and that's where I paused. This kit was an evolution of the original B-29A kit, which morphed into the B-50D kit, then morphed again into the C/KC-97 kit, and finally into the B-377 Stratocruiser, all thanks to the multiple uses of common parts between kits. For another project, I am doing this same scheme for PAA in 1/144 with the Minicraft kit. The markings for mine are for N1024V. This one I am taking through to completion and will post some photos when I'm done. For all your time and effort, you have a really nice model to show for it. Ed

Hi, Mark, What was the caliber of the round that went through the Dragonfly's co-pilot's chest? That was a big one! :smiley11: Ed

This is a shelf queen that I pulled out to practice applying decals to an airliner. The box said this was going to be a United Airlines model, but the contents in the box were for Aloha Airlines. I put this aside fully painted but just started on the decals when they came apart as I was applying them. After 10 years or more, I chose to practice on this one. All but four decals broke up and had to be pieced. The right fuselage cheat line with the windows is in nine chunks, for example. Anyway, I covered it in Future and am calling it done. The model itself is very nice and looks like a 737-200. Comments are welcome. Ed