Egilman

WE have an engine, now we need wheels for the engine to do its job..... Wheels and Tires..... I normally don't partake of wide whitewalls, but in this case, on gold rims, they really look the part..... But the point is to put the engine power to the wheels and for that we need a frame....... For this edition, I stripped the chrome off the frame and running gear, the previous one I didn't and had to deal with constant touch ups cause paint doesn't stick to chrome that well. Paint adhesion here won't be a problem. Now this car had a frame that the engine crankcase was an integral part of the structure on the forward end. here I've inserted the engine between the frame rails to align the two sides so the rear cross members are assured of being square. It was removed for painting..... Overall semi-gloss black....... Assembled.... Next part, the lower body pan & fenders....... (dressing out the underworks) EG......

Well Thank you everyone for pulling up a seat, comments advice and explorations of history are always welcome.... Sit back and enjoy the journey...... EG

That is part of the fun of modeling, doing the research and learning about a subject, either historical or scientific.....

They were cable operated with a spring on the control stick to keep the stick basically centered, with serious usage the spring would relax a bit and allow the elevator, (horizontal stabilizer control surfaces) to droop a bit... The rudder would lie whichever way the rudder pedals were last touched as they were a push pull configuration and the ailerons on the wings would twist on the same basis depending on the side the stick leaned towards.... I'm not remembering exactly when they went to hydraulics on the Spit, but that was the case with the early built birds. But when they did go to hydraulics, the elevator droop would become much more pronounced as the hydraulic pressure bled off..... Separate control surfaces in the kit allows this mechanical habit to be modeled accurately

True, as far as he went, there was no real issue with the missile/warhead, it would toast anything it detonated against. The problem was with the electronic control systems, first generation, they were figuring it out. I actually heard from someone who needs to remain nameless that the real reason it was deployed was two-fold, #1, proof of concept under field conditions, #2, so much money was spent on development that to justify the expenditure Congress required it's deployment..... (most people haven't a clue how much congressional issues affect military developments, you don't keep the congress critters happy, you don't get funding) Shilleagh had a relatively short life as far as military weapons system go, the troops didn't like it from a reliability standpoint. From it's development we got the TOW Missile and eventually the Hellfire which is a true destroy anything it hits weapon. So on that basis it was considered a success... In the Iraq war, both of them, most Iraqi tanks were destroyed by TOW's or Hellfire's around 73% if I remember right. The Abram's were used exclusively in the role they were designed for, breakthrough and exploitation leaving the Bradley's & Missile carrying HMMWV's to clean up the rest.... No contest....

Sprue Bros my friend, my last resort online store.... they don't have everything, but of the stuff I HAVE to have, usually they have it or something that will fill the bill. They are quick and although not the cheapest on shipping they are fair for most things...

Nice CAG Hornet.... I like the color definition on it.... I'll be sitting in on this one, I particularly like the USAAF birds of British ancestry.... It's just something about seeing Mossy's and Spit's with the star and bar just does it for me.....

No doubt, the Shillegah was a 152 mm wire guided missile.... (just keep the crosshairs on the target) They could fire that and a low velocity standard heat round, ask him if such held true when firing that..... (no it didn't) The main dish about the Sheridan was it didn't carry a lot of ammo compared to a real tank, and it was very lightly armored, but it was light and air-transportable and that 152 mm missile would make scrap iron out of anything it hit. Tow missiles rendered it obsolescent. They also mounted the Shillelagh missile system in the M-60A2 which was nicknamed the "Starship" The troops in Germany, (where most of them were deployed) were real happy when they traded in their Starships for M-60A3's The Shillelagh was not considered a successful weapon system, when it worked, it worked well, but that was it's main problem, keeping it working in the field...

Why thank you sir.... I must say, that's some darned fine layer work I'm seeing.... (some of the best I've ever seen) Gonna be downright gorgeous when the bead board sides go up....

Yeah Cord bought Auburn to try and rescue the brand, he then set about revamping the lineup by creating the Auburn 8 in '24 and built a few cars to fit it.... He knew about the Packard speedster and tried to compete by creating the Auburn Speedster (the boattail was a direct response to the Packard) then redesigned the eight to produce the speed and power. But it was the depression, and not a lot of car companies made it thru... Auburn didn't....... It's a darn shame I believe the Auburn speedsters were also very fine automobiles.... There are a bunch of pics of Packards online some of them absolutely beautiful and the resto work is above excellent.... This was a fun kit to build back then, didn't take too long and I did a few tricks with it.... going to replicate them here.... the kit falls together amazingly well and good detail..... they still show up on evilbay as there is usually a couple of them for sale... they did a whole series of the metal master kits mostly of the antique cars. they didn't sell well cause back then most didn't know how to deal with the chrome very well... the whole metal masters thing was viewed as a gimmick so they didn't go over well with the modelers.... I have the V-16 Caddie metal master in my stash also.

Ok this will be OOB, and with only what I have on hand for supplies. I built one of these 30+ years ago and the wife took one look at it and claimed it... It sat on her shelf in the living room for 10+ years with a halogen spotlight shining on it.... And she was proud as punch when she was telling people that I built it for her...... Unfortunately, it didn't survive the trip to the new digs 20 years ago, and since I'm at a place I can't finish the truck till parts get here, I'm going to occupy my time re-creating something she loved..... I'm starting with the Monogram # 2311 The Metal Master kit.... And yes, that is exactly the way Monogram thought we should build it... Soft Chrome & Gold.... The instruction have no painting suggestions or table of colors... I am on my own... {chuckle} You know it doesn't look all that bad in reality, it's not real of course and saudi sheiks weren't buying cars with sterling silver bodies and solid gold trim yet..... This was the 1930's, the middle of the great depression Ford Model "A"'s were selling for just over $250.00 Henry Ford was paying his workers unheard of money so not only would they stay but be able to buy his cars... this Packard was selling for $5,200.00 decidedly a car for the well heeled... But one must understand what one was buying when they bought one of these, THIS, is the original muscle car.... Two generations before Carrol Shelby started the ponycar/musclecar rage, this was the car to get if you wanted to go fast in style...... It has an up-tuned Packard Straight Eight that boasted a whopping 109hp, it was sold as a car that would do 109 mph when everyone else was barely getting to 80.... (road tests easily demonstrated that it would peg the speedo at 120 and eventually break the cable) Yep, 120 mph stock....... some 120 Packard speedsters were built, in five different body styles, of course the most popular was the runabout, but they had a phaeton, a coupe, a sedan and a touring car as well, all built on the speedster chassis. (some 50 or so were runabouts of which 30-35 still exist, the sedan is the rarest of them all, 15 were built and only two known vehicles remain) They can sell for up to 2 million dollars for a particularly well documented showroom car, or 50-60,000 for a decdntly maintained driver. Anyway... as with all vehicle kits, they start you out with the engine...... First lets take a look at the real deal..... Packard Green and a nice polished aluminum crankcase trimmed in black..... And my feeble effort to replicate it.... Frame coming up next....... EG

Nice work.... Usually I just close mine up cause I'm not that good at cockpits. Impressive work....

May 1942.. SBD-3 as flown off the USS Lexington. Aircraft #12 of Scouting Two, just prior to the loss of the ship, they were using SBD's as low level plane guard protecting against torpedo attack, The pilot is almost an ace. A little known fact of history, the US navy had several SBD aces. Doesn't get widely reported in many books but it is true.... Shortly afterwards, they dropped the squadron numbers and switched to black lettering with huge full chord insignias on the wings.... I think this is the prettiest scheme they had..... Beautiful job my friend.... it a shame she's going to be a hangar queen, but I guess you have to follow the admiral's orders... :-)

Yeah I know, the last time I heard anything was this morning and that's what they were saying then, I kind got burned at them and refused to listen to them for the remainder of the day.... So they actually went and did it.... And our dedicated teachers, some of the highest paid teachers in the nation, have to get their inservice days don't you know? Besides, the whole online schooling thing was only so they could get paid.... The teachers didn't lose a thing..... but then they are a protected special class of worker in this state. Anyway we probably shouldn't be hijacking this build thread anymore... or Jack will have to fire up that bird and come rescue us.....

Oh I hear ya! but then they belong to the club, the rest of us don't.... The Gov and the Super are talking about that exact subject right now... I suspect that school is over for the year.... Cause this is easily going to run into June so they can get the most benefit out of it they can...... (while the state of emergency is still in existence which gives them virtually unlimited power to order anything they want in the name of protecting the people)

ours was extended a couple of days ago to May 4th, and we are expecting another one into June.... Especially since he and the SAG are chatting up enforcement.... (he isn't happy that the peons are still trying to get on with their lives)

It doesn't look like they left much in the way of shaft based upon those pics. They probably intended to either glue it or let it float. I would definitely let it float at this point, best way to go..... The instructions are a bit sparse on directions.... You would think they would be clear.... Nice work....

Yeah, they were talking about that here, but I think the panic is passing. the talking heads are desperate to get back on the trash the president campaign.... (and use this emergency situation to their political benefit) Listening to it is is absolutely hilarious how they want to make the president responsible......... But it allows me to build more models..... (there is always a silver lining to every disaster although it may not be apparent to those buried in it at the time)

Probably the best that can be done at this point.... just have to remember not to pick it up by the rotor hub.....

Here, Wally World has changed it's operating hours, open from 6:00am to 1:00am now, they deleted my favorite time to shop..... supposedly as a virus measure.... I suspect it is because they received too many complaints about only one register open as far away from the exit as possible.... I hate going to WW during the day.....

Generally when I have had one of these, I do not glue in the insert until after the shaft has been placed thru it and a disc like a washer is placed over the shaft allowing the inset to spin on the shaft, then I install the insert along with the rotor... Even if there is no ring and the hole in the insert doesn't go thru or the shaft isn't long enough, I make it so it does.... and the rotor can spin freely.... Have you glued in the insert already?

Actually you look closely every single aircraft on that deck is turning prop... the other thing you notice, there are no flight personnel in the scene, aircraft captains and assistants are warming up the engines for the days operations... The TBD's usually did not unfold their wings until they reached pre-launch position as the second or third aircraft in the procession, they were the largest birds on the deck. They are angle parked on the deck edges to facilitate aircraft handling making it easier to advance to launch position.... That is a deck that was pre-spotted in the early morning for launch operations... They have been sitting there for over 6 hours, they needed to be run up before launch. I have official US Navy image examples, (like the one above) of this from all aircraft carrier classes used during WWII, even the smaller escort carriers used this procedure.... Yes flight ops on a carrier deck is one of the most dangerous occupations anyone could work in.... In the wrong spot at the wrong time, they would be promoting your replacement.....

Depends upon the class of ship and the era... As designed the Lex & Sara carried 90+ but that was back in the biplane days, in the 30's they carried over 100, but only 90 or so were flyable, they had the capability to store aircraft in the beams and girders near the roof of the Hanger Deck. The Yorktown class as designed carried 85-90 but operationally limited to 80 or so. The Essex class could also carry 90+ as designed but later in the war as the aircraft became progressively larger and larger, they reached about 80-85 operational aircraft also.... as capnmac says flightdeck size was the limiter as to how may aircraft could be launched on a single flight op. WWII saw the addition of catapults which allowed more aircraft to be carried and launched in one flight op... But in general, 80-85 aircraft for a WWII aircraft carrier.... 75-85 for a Korean war carrier group. The angled flight deck did two things, it allowed both flight and recovery operations at the same time, and, with enlarged hanger decks, increased aircraft complement..... back up to the 80-85 they enjoyed during WWII... Long about 1944, a design decision was made, the most efficient aircraft complement for an aircraft carrier for efficient air combat operations, it was settled at 75-85 aircraft, after than it was the aircraft carrier that adjusted in size to fit the aircraft complement it was going to carry.... The Midway class was designed on that basis, as was the supercarriers.... Everything on an aircraft carrier today is designed to serve the aircraft aboard.... everything else is secondary......

Must be Wally World, it's where I get mine... 1500 for just a few bucks, they also make excellent paint shaking balls....

I beg to differ.... In the foreground, Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats of VF-3 “Felix the Cat” are parked on the flight deck of the USS Saratoga. In the background, Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and Douglas TBD-1 Devastator aircraft are pictured. (U.S. Navy Photograph.) Sometime mid to late '42 I take it based upon the aircraft on board and their insignias.... Circle star with red center dot on the dauntless's and Circle star without the center dot on the wildcats.... Looks like angled parking, lashed down to me....