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Minicraft KC-135E opinions wanted


jcorley

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I've got the new kit, and it looks like a 135 to me. I haven't compared it to any of the 707s in my stash (cuz they're all boxed up from the move still)

I did check the wing leading edge and I can't tell if the notch outboard of the #2/3 pylon is there, or even if it would be visible in 1/144. Should the reinforcing ribs really be that thick? (seem to be about a foot tall to me, but I haven't scaled it out yet). They can be seen on the real ones but seem to be nowhere nearly as prominent as they are on the model.

 

Any of you 135/707 gurus out there know the low down on this kit?

How different are the two kits?

Is it a fairly accurate 135?

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I've got the new kit, and it looks like a 135 to me. I haven't compared it to any of the 707s in my stash

Don't compare the KC-135 to the 707, especially to determine the accuracy of the kit. They look similar, but are very much different. From what I've read elsewhere, and photos I've seen online, it looks to be very good. I flew A-models, so this one is a bit different, and I haven't gotten a copy of the kit yet, so I'm just going on what I've heard so far. I'll probably order one before long and compare what I can against my photos and the A-model flight manual - basic sizes and shapes didn't change, as Es were all converted from As.

Edited by Moose135
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I got lucky this weekend! While moving a box of models, a Minicraft E-3C Sentry model actually fell out!!

So I was able to compare the features of the two, and here are some quick photos I took:

DSC00009.JPG

 

Here are the two fuselage front halves. The upper one is the 707-320/E-3 and the lower is the KC-135. The 'double bubble' is found on the 707, but missing from the 135.

 

DSC00013.JPG

 

Here is the 135 fueslage placed in front of the 707. It looks to me like the slightly different profile is correct, but that only compares to line drawings in books and cannot be verified. The cockpit plass parts are totally different, too.

 

DSC00015.JPG

The lower wing of the 135 is placed on top of the 707 wing. The dogtooth is missing and the span scales out pretty close (I just taped the 135 together to measure, so the distances aren't exact)

 

DSC00016.JPG

The horizontals are smaller and match what I have in published drawings.

I had more photos, but these are taking up lots of space here.

The engines are TOTALLY different, even though they represent the same engines. The front fan section is a hollow tube to which you add the fan face, glue onto the turbine housing and then add that to the wing. No separate pylon in this version.


I still await info from the 135 Gurus out there, but it is enough different and 'close enough' for me to give them the benefit of the doubt they did their homework.

And researching this explains why I've always maintained there were 135Es well before 1982. Apparently, what we had been seeing as "KC-135E" flying in and out of Tinker in the 70s were really KC-135Bs and EC-135Es! I had thought there were "regular" TF33 powered tankers before 1982. Learn something new all the time!

Edited by jcorley
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James,

 

I don't know as much about the 135 as some folks think, but I will be happy to try to help you out. We can do it here on the forum, although I prefer we do it by email

 

myoung135cc at hughes.net

 

Drop me a line.

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I received the kit in the mail today from Sprue Brothers. While I haven't whipped out the ruler and my Dash-1 yet, it looks to be a very good kit - nicely molded, fine details, and it has the right "look" for a -135. It's not all perfect, however.

 

The reinforcing bands on the rear fuselage are overstated, and will need to be sanded down a bit. The Pilot Director Lights (the two fairing on the lower forward part of the fuselage) are oriented in the wrong direction - the engraved markings represent the lights that direct the receiver pilot when in contact, and should face downward, not outboard. Given the scale, I'll likely fill and sand them, and use a little paint/decal to represent the markings, which shouldn't be very prominent in this scale.

 

The cockpit windows, including the eyebrow windows, are incorrectly shaped, as are the decal windows - which do not include the eyebrow windows. The engine nacelles are wrong, and I have been told aftermarket resin replacements are likely in the works already. I would expect to see a number of aftermarket decal sets for this kit, and again, I've been told that correct window decals should be included.

 

James, I'll have to check my references - the horizontal stabilizers on the E-model were replaced, using the stabs from the same donor 707s from which the TF-33 engines were sources. I don't know how that compares to the stab in the 707/E-3 kit you have, but they should be larger than the A-model horizontal stabs.

 

All in all, I think this is a very good kit, and I'm looking forward to building it. None of the shortcomings are show-stoppers, hopefully it all goes together well. With a little help from the aftermarket, we can see a whole gaggle of -135 variants - EC, RC, VC, oh my!

 

And I'm eagerly awaiting their A-model release. I'll probably build a few of them - I'll have to turn at least one into an RT for sure!

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Thanks, John

The engines looked to be the same shapes as the 707 kit, just molded differently. The rest sounds really minor. Maybe there will be an aftermarket cockpit clear parts that have been corrected.

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I may do a NAVY NKC-135A (NUCAR 1 & NUCAR 2 with jamming pods etc) update in the future to representthe birds that flew out of Tulsa OK and Waco TX. They are now in the boneyard. I made a conversion for the EC-24A (DC8-54) which was the sister ship (NUCAR 3) which is also in Arizona. Contrails has the resin but I dropped the ball on getting decals done and the update set is not available yet. The EC-24A was a one of a kind bird!

 

I need motivation to get these sets done.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

I appreciate the comments on this kit posted so far. The decal sheet features two current overall AMC dark gray (FS36173), camo schemes. Can anyone confirm that the orange color used on the decal sheet for the receiver alignment stripe on the belly is correct? I know that the stripe was yellow for the original, corogard, overall ADC gray, and "orca" schemes.

TIA

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  • 1 month later...

Mike, I was a flight line puke/crew chief on the KC-135A 1966-1970 and I could swear the belly alignment strip on our birds was orange, and our birds were Corrogard. When I built a Nova vacform KC-135A in 1979, I painted the strip a dark orange color. I worked from memory some, but also had 135s in the hangar outside our office to go out and check such things out on, and they were still Corrogard. In fact I went to the paint shop and scrounged up some actual Corrogard so I would have the right color. Turns out the pigments in the paint were so coarse they would not go through my Badger 200 airbrush. Ended up using Testors Flat Aluminum. Heavens, I wish that stuff was still around. I have yet to find a substitute for it. Sorry to get off topic.

 

For me, orange is good.

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Mike, I was a flight line puke/crew chief on the KC-135A 1966-1970 and I could swear the belly alignment strip on our birds was orange, and our birds were Corrogard. When I built a Nova vacform KC-135A in 1979, I painted the strip a dark orange color. I worked from memory some, but also had 135s in the hangar outside our office to go out and check such things out on, and they were still Corrogard. In fact I went to the paint shop and scrounged up some actual Corrogard so I would have the right color. Turns out the pigments in the paint were so coarse they would not go through my Badger 200 airbrush. Ended up using Testors Flat Aluminum. Heavens, I wish that stuff was still around. I have yet to find a substitute for it. Sorry to get off topic.

 

For me, orange is good.

Thanks for the response Mark. Since posting my original question about the orange alignment stripe, I have confirmed via photo references as well as a contact at Fairchild AFB flying tankers, that the stripe has always been and still is insignia yellow. The TO also confirms this. The kit decal sheet is incorrect here.

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