I'm right there with ya' Hunter, only I have the Hobbycraft kit. Just shot the paint on the interior of mine a few days ago. Hoping to get going again here shortly once the house clears out of all the relatives. You doing Yeagers sled or one of the others? I opted for the all white one with the frameless canopy, X-1 No.3 1951. Something a little different for me. "Q"

Yes sir, I know how you feel. I got model kits, a new Les Paul guitar, paints, and all kinds of cool stuff for Christmas but by the time we got finished at everyones houses now it's time for bed.
I plan on doing the Glamorous Glennis X-1. After seeing my dads Skystreak in that bright red my shiny yellow X-1 will look good sitting next to it in the display case. Also, my Tamiya kit has the option of doing one side clear so you can see everything on the inside. Have not made up my mind yet if I want to do it that way yet. I'll have to dig in and see how hard it is first.

Hunter

..some great builds already in this campaign....some progress on my entry..well I found it in the stash !.

Me 209....piston-engined speed record holder until the mid -70s when it was overtaken by a modified Bearcat. Huma kit..another garish scheme...

Well first day at the bench in near a month resulted in me hacking and sanding out the seat of the smer mc.72. gluing un some stringers made from sprue, fashioned a new bucket seat from plastic card and cut out an instrument panel all in an attempt to make the interior look a little like this.

need a throttle and stick and punch out some dials. and it should be looking much better than the bare plastic seat you get with the kit.

Hi all!

This is a aircraft that creates stories and legends!

Actually, there´s been more people on the surface of the moon, then those who´s been able to fly the Blackbird!


No actual gluing or building yet, but I did a "dry-build" of all the major components, just to check for any problems along the road.
Despite the sieze and age of the kit, I found no concerns for the build.
Acceptable fit and clever engeneering will make this a nice build.
But I´m pretty sure It will require a LOT of TLC too.










Hmmm....

Did I mention this is a SERIOUSLY BIG aircraft?
I believe It´s time to add another cabinet from IKEA! :lol:

Cheers!

Stefan

Wow! That is seriously big aircraft. You might need a seperate hangar for it when it is finished

Hi all, looks like some really nice builds going out there. The Hun is well under way and what a lovely kit it is turning out to be. So far have used NO filler at all to correct kit mis fitting and most sanding has been caused by my incompetance. I don't know that I would try another PE cockpit at 1/72 though.
Model is intended to have NMF so plan a coat of Halfords Grey primer, Vallejo Model Air gloss black, and alclad dural

Hi there

Rather than build exactly the same kit as Hermon's gorgeous Skystreak, I've dragged this old kit, kicking and screaming, from The Stash:



I've found a few links to the full sized machine on-line, but no pics of the cockpit (as with most kits of the era, Testor's (ex-Hawk) is totally empty). Can anyone help with any cockpit references before I resort to guesswork?

All the best

Rowan

That going to be a nice one Merlin. I do hope you'll build your Skystreak in the future though. Mine looked decent but I'd like to see someone with your skills turn it into what it is capable of being.

Andrew, that Hun is going to be awsome in NMF. A great looking jet in any scheme.

Hermon

Hi Hermon

Thanks for your very kind words, but I think I'd be hard pushed to better your Skystreak. Interestingly, I did make a tentative start before heading away at Christmas and I found the cockpit tub slotted in fine in a test-fit, with no apparent need for fuselage spacers. I hadn't done any sanding on it, so that could be a sign of quite major differences in the resin parts between on kit and the next.

All the best

Rowan

My PE heavy SU-7BKL build for this campaign is progressing slowly but surely. More can be seen HERE
Comments welcome

Slowly maybe but well worth the wait for updates. She's going to look great Jesper and I love every bit of the detail you're putting in her.

Hermon

Hi again

No pics yet, but I've made a start, sanding off all the raised outlines for the markings and generally cleaning things up. Although the kit has so few parts (only 17!) - it's looking to be anything but the simple build that I'd expected. The fuselage halves fit together fine, but the wings and floats are a very poor fit, with big gaps and locators that have no hope of fitting - almost old-style short-run kit territory.

I've built the floats in a simple jig and need to do a lot of work sharpening them up and adding some detail before trying to join them to the fuselage.

I've still not found a photo of the cockpit, so I'll have to resort to gizmology to fill the void.

All the best

Rowan

Sounds like a tough build, Rowan. Only 17 parts is not easy if you have the make an extra 20 parts and a cockpit to get a decent aircraft. However for this special colourful kind of aircraft it is worth it. Good luck, it will be interesting to follow.

Looking forward to see more

I would prefer 200 well fitting parts to 17 ill-fitting parts anytime.

Hi there

I'm sure there's a modelling truism somewhere along the lines that it's the apparently simplest kits that are the ones that turn round and bite us! But I must admit there's a warped sense of fun in planning the best - or should I say least worst! - ways of tackling this little devil. Whatever I end up with won't win any prizes for accuracy, but it should be pretty.

All the best

Rowan

some progress on my Huma Me 209, holder of the piston engine speed record for over 30 years...an evil little aircraft to fly apparently, featured an incredibly small wing (and high loading) and a novel cooling system dispensing with radiators to reduce drag - hot coolant was evaporated via holes in the wing skin so that the machine left a trail of steam behind it. Engine life was pretty short as all the 200 gallons of coolant "evaporated" in 30 mins...

..the cockpit was bare so I've put a bit of 109 etch in, not that any of it can be seen. Fit is terrible ....but you do get two sets of wings in the kit (for the V1 & the 'military version ', the V4)

Man, nothing like the Holidays, Chicago weather, and silly mistakes to slow down a build...sorry for not being more active here. I have been moving along, but slowly. However, I am at the decaling stage right now on my F4D Skyray, and hope to be finished by the weekend. I will post pics ASAP. My trusty airbrush gave out halfway thru the project, and I made the mistake of thinking my new Paasche VL would act just like my old Testor A470 ... not the case . I managed to contain that mistake, but it looks like a lot of practice with thinning ratios and pressures will be in my immediate future.

Everyone seems to be moving along nicely, and congrats to those speed freaks already done. I hope to join your ranks in a few days.

Cheers,
Mike

Nice progress on the Me 209, Neil. An interesting aircraft to have in the campaign. What colour scheme are you going to use? A prototype colour scheme or will you use artistic license to make an "in active service" aircraft?

Mike, seems like the change of airbrush can cause some problems. looking forward to see more pictures of your Skyray.

Update to the Hun, masking done a first coat primer applied.

Very little rectification required so on with the black

A Hun in black? is this the nightfighter campaign? Alclad next

..nice work Andrew, looking very smooth...

Jesper: thank you. Like Mike I had a big airbrush problem. Unlike Mike I'm still between airbrushes - and until I get a new one, I'm using cans. So over the past year (!!) I've tended to go for simple 'one colour' finishes where I can use cans....the Me 209 V1 record holder being a good example. D-IJNR will hopefully look good in a coat or two of glossy BMW blue! Just hoping the kit decals are OK...
hoping to finish this before Friday, now got a lot of filing and sanding ahead...

Sorry to hear about the airbrush problem, Neil. The gloss blue will make it look like a race car - perfect for this campaign

Hi all!

Now I have started cutting the plastic on my Big Black Bird!

I started with the Cutting Edge burners;





These are quite large lumps of mouldings, but perfectly executed and the pouring blocks are as small as possible!
In no time I had all six parts cleaned up;






I was a bit reluctant to shell out the money for this set as it was a bit expensive, but It was worth every penny!

The CE parts are so much more detailed then the basic kit parts, a goos investment that will pay off in the apperance of the Bird!

These parts are intended as "drop-in" replacements for the kit parts without any need for modding the kit, very well done!




I was on a roll, so I got gluing some real plastic!

The kit is moulded in a Raven black plastic.
Usually this means the plastic is hard and brittle, but Testors have managed to make the plastic quite soft and easy to work with.

I started to "jump all around" in the kit, as I usually does, and assembled every sub-assembly I could.
First stop was the outer wing sections, big things on this bird!








Amazingly good fit on this old baby!



When I got to the fins I noted that the fill-part(?) at the root was missing.
It´s slightly curved to follow the profile of the rudder!
Believe me, I searched high and low but to no avail, I couldn´t find it.
I looked on the sprue-pictures and noted it was missing alredy then, so I had to give in.
I bit the bullet and made a plastic-card replacement by myself.



Well, I think I med an acceptable job, but I´ll have to see until it´s painted!

That´s all for now!

Cheers!

Stefan E

I am seeing some really fine builds in here. You speed demons do a leader proud.