snelson

Very nice! I've been collecting the necessary bits & references to do that aircraft in 1/72. SN

I've been trying to pin this one down for years myself, and I've pretty much settled on unpainted aluminum. The photos of machines in service are inconclusive, but Martin didn't use interior green or zinc chromate on the interior of the Marauder, so I'm extrapolating that they had the same policy for the earlier aircraft. Of course, the Maryland was built specifically to French and later British specs, so it's possible that Martin followed those countries' interior color standards. The National Museum of the United State Air Force website has a bunch of detail photos of a Maryland showing an unpainted interior, but this was a one-off test aircraft purchased by the USAAF for evaluation. In short, I have yet to find a definative answer! Steve Nelson IPMS#30925

While I don't have it (holding out for the two-seat version) I've heard the new Academy Il-2 is a 1/72 clone of the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 kit. Apparently, the original AM was working on a 1/72 scale version before they went under. Academy eventually acquired the molds and released the kit. The only Il-2 I have is the 1/72 Eduard kit, which is very nice. SN

I doubt you'll find anything other than B&W pictures, so you can probably just pull the colors out of your a....I mean, make an educated guess. I've got a couple of the Island Airlines kits in the basement. "Someday" I plan to build one with a scratchbuilt interior, aftermarket engines, the works..as it appeared the day I flew in it. Of course the old Monogram kit is actually 1/76-ish scale. It's also the earlier, shorter 4-AT, while the Airfix kit is the later, longer 5-AT (and 1/72 scale.) In my dreams, Tamiya would release a new-tool 1/72 4-AT and 5-AT. I'm not holding my breath, though.... SN

Not to sidetrack the thread, but the Ford is probably my all-time favorite plane. I got my first airplane ride in the old Island Airlines Tri-Motor back in 1976, and have flown in a total of three (including over a dozen hops in the Kalamazoo Air Zoo's Tin Goose back when I was a museum volunteer.) I've also seen several others in various museums. SN

This thread really takes me back. I remember building the 'Profile Series' Mosquito when I was a kid back in the mid '70s. The Airfix Mossie is still a darned nice little kit. While we're on the subject of ancient Airfix/MPC corrugated three-engine thingies, here's my Ford Tri-Motor, built in 1991 (good grief..was that really 18 years ago?..seems like yesterday!) I made a replacement canopy with my trusty Mattell Vac-U-Form machine, replaced most of the engine nacelle struts with Evergreen rod stock, and added stretched sprue control cables. Decals are homemade, using some hand-painted elements (like the Ford logo) and dry-transfer letters/numbers. Paint is good old Testor's spray-bomb silver. Cheers! Steve