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It's official, I have NO pride...


ghodges

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Here's the Hawkeye....

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It came out OK, except for that MAJOR gaff :smiley7: .....This is the older 1/48 resin Collectaire kit and NOT the new Kinetic kit! Tried some pencil for the panel lines. Happy with some of it and less than happy with other sections.

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The only thing I'm truly proud of is the prop blades. The kit resin blades were mis-shapen and backwards to boot! I hand carved/sanded all 8 blades from sheet plastic. Only took about an hour and a half. Other than that, it's a good 3-ft shelf sitter!

 

This is my next project....

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This is the 1/48 Academy P-38F/G/H that I'm building for my dad. It'll be a civilian bird; the old "White Lightning". It has a livery very similar to the USAF Thunderbirds. I'll post pics of it when done (hopefully in time for Titusville in 2 weeks!). Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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I'm not sure about it's history that far back. However, it did crash with the last owner, and they were never able to restore it properly. It's now the BEAUTIFUL shiny NMF Red Bull P-38! I'm doing one of the last White Lightining schemes that my dad has on a calendar. It has red/white/blue flashing on the nacelles (very similar to USAF T-Birds), red lightning bolts on the sides of the nacelles, and a red/black 13 on the nose. I'll have to paint the markings and cobble together the numbers from the spares box, as no one (to my knowledge) makes those decals. Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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How about a "How To" with pics, if possible, regarding the manufacture of the prop blades....would be something interesting to see.

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Sorry, but there's no in-progress pics for making the blades. But the process went as follows:

1) find some sheet plastic with the same thickness of the blade root

2) cut a LONG strip of that plastic to the width of the prop blades (3/8" in this case)

3) make a TAPE template of the prop blade outline. Use a reference drawing, or mk.1 eyeball (as I did)

4) place the template at the end of the strip and carve/sand the OUTER edges of the plastic to match the template. Mark the BASE of the potential blade with pencil.

5) now that the blade outline is established, remove the tape template and sand the top and bottom surfaces to establish the airfoil shape AND also to taper those surfaces so that the blade tapers uniformly towards the end and the tip is thin.

6) cut the "blade" from the strip, and make any trim cuts needed (such as the angle at the base of each blade)

7) last, TWIST the plastic blade to establish the twist in the blade (washout).

8) repeat the process on down the raw strip plastic for as many blades as you need.

 

Don't want to try to make a "cuff" while sanding because you're afraid of messing it up? Wrap some plastic tape around the blade base to make the cuff! Paint will blend it into the blade. Yes, it's not exactly scientific! It does (to an extent) amount to "take some plastic and carve away everything that doesn't look like a prop blade". But, I've also used the same procedure on laminated wood to make WWI props. If I can do it with my very limited artistic eye, so can most anyone else!

 

As to "fixing" the model. No way! I'll simply build the new 1/48 Kinetic 2000 Hawkeye with the scimitar blades when it's released and make that my definitive E-2C. Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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OK Gil, I'm stumped. WHAT gaff? And beyond that, the Hawkeye looks awesome. It might not have any "wow" factor (Hey, it's started as a Collect-Aire kit), but from the two pics, it looks SWEET. And I think I know the paint job you're talking about for the 38, and can't wait to see another great model of yours. Model on, Resinator (aka, Brother of the Sprue). :smiley20:

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Looks terrific to me, Gil! :smiley20: I'd love to get ANY 1/48 kit of the E-2C but they are both well out of my price range. Anyone gotta started E-@ that they need to unload? :smiley17:

 

Later,

 

Lee

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Looking forward to the Lightning. The P-38 is one of my favorites from WWII. Got to see Glacier Girl up close a couple times and even got to see one fly during the 07 Nats.

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Ah yes.....the GAFF! Well, the outer tail fins are upside down! The longer upper halves should be on the BOTTOM. I was so intent on getting their alignment right (and it is!) that I didn't notice I was putting the left one on the right and vice-versa. I didn't catch it at all until I went to apply the tail flashing decals and was wondering why they wouldn't fit properly (DOH!). I was even sober! Well, mostly sober. More sober than usual?? :smiley24:

 

It was a "guilt build" anyway. I've had the kit for at least 2yrs and should have built it long before Kinetic released theirs. Still, it looks OK on my bottom shelf! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Ah yes.....the GAFF! Well, the outer tail fins are upside down! GIL :smiley16:

DOOOHH!! I hate it when that happens. Anddd.....too funny. Gil, I looked at these pics for what seems like hours. I even did a google search to find photos of the real things to see if I could figure it out. Man....do I feel silly, not having found "the GAFF"! Must a been one of those tree in the forest things. The model looks outstanding. And I would bet if the gaff hadn't been pointed out, most viewers won't pick it up. Ahhh but hey, you can always give the Kinetic kit a shot. If it'll help, one of us can stop by when you're gluing the fins on to give you a wack upside the head with a 2 X 4 reminder to glue 'em on upright, LOL :smiley4: Once they're on right, THEN a few shots O whiskey. Model on, Resinator.

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