Lockheed L10

[Papa]

I started this kit with the intent of making the Amelia Earhart version of this iconic Lockheed aircraft. I forgot when I started it was so long ago. It is a very poorly made and poorly fitting kit. Attaching things like landing gear is pure guess work as there are no reference points or indents to show where the struts go.   Ditto for many other parts.  I kept putting the kit aside in frustration with filling and sanding and filling and sanding over and over. At one point I tossed it in the trash but later retrieved it. I think that’s when I lost the decals. 😣

Anyway I finally finished it with a philosophy of good enough, far from perfect.  The only positive outcome was that I learned how to produce my own decals. 

[lmagna]

Just goes to show how powerful perseverance can be.

 

Nice looking and very unusual subject. I personally would like to see more pictures.

[Papa]

11 hours ago, lmagna said:

Just goes to show how powerful perseverance can be.

 

Nice looking and very unusual subject. I personally would like to see more pictures.

Ok, here’s couple more angles. Thanks for the nice comment.

the photos really emphasize the flaws in the finishing!

Edited November 10, 2019 by ragove

[lmagna]

Thanks for the additional photos. As I said before you have done quite well with what you had to start with and deserve extra credit for sticking with it.

 

Here is the one we have a little ways away from where I live. I have never seen it up close on the ground, but see it fly over my house once or twice a year on the way to some local airshows.

https://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/lockheed-model-10-e-electra

 

[Papa]

Thanks for the link. Would be fun to have a ride in one of those.

[lmagna]

I am not certain on the Museum Of Flight in Seattle, but up here in Everett at the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum I think arrangements can be made on some of their planes, or at least when Paul Allen was alive there were some options. Not totally certain now. Unlike down in Seattle almost all of the aircraft here in Everett are flyable, and even if you can't get on board they are certainly worth looking at and if you choose the right days, watch fly. Another bonus is that about a mile away on the other end of the field, there is the Boeing restoration facility where you can go to see a number of aircraft being restored and many more that are just parked waiting their turn.  The field is about four miles from my house and again, many of the flights take place over my house. There is nothing like hearing a P 51 Mustang or DH Mosquito, (My favorite) with their RR Merlin engines or the roar of a B-25 or B-17 with huge radial engines flying over at a couple of thousand feet or less! 

https://flyingheritage.org/

[popeye the sailor]

I've had one model that hit the circular file...a Russian A. Tupolev TB- 3 bomber.   it was so frustrating that I chucked it......but I kept the decals.   they haunt me every time I go into my decals.   I checked the site,  but I think they're not producing it any more.   it's the only kit I ever gave up on...........my walk of shame  

 

nice looking plane  

[Papa]

I was actually tempted to buy another copy of this kit (Special Hobby) to see if I could do it better now that I have some experience. But it seems to be unavailable.

As for classic aircraft rides, I had an opportunity to get a ride in a B17 when it was at an air show in Leesburg, VA. But at close to $400 I had to pass it up. 

[Papa]

My ship model experience helped here.  The DF loop above the cockpit was made from a brass hoop left over from a ship kit. I did have to re-size it a bit.

[lmagna]

11 hours ago, ragove said:

I was actually tempted to buy another copy of this kit

I was thinking much the same thing when you posted this build. All I could find was this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Special-Hobby-1-72-NIB-kit-72015-Lockheed-Electra-model-10-resin-parts/223741561060?hash=item34180948e4:g:KFMAAOSw8Sddxhc5

 

I decided that $50 was just a little rich for me. At least for this plane. If it was a plane that I was really wanting to jump on it would be a different matter, but in this case it was just your build that even drew me to the model in the first place. 

[Papa]

When I was looking for an L10 kit I think my first hit was a hobby shop in Australia.  Eventually I found a US store with it but I no longer remember where. I do know it wasn’t eBay.  I don’t remember the price but is was probably around $40

[popeye the sailor]

is the model company out of business?   if so,  the molds were likely sold to another........Round 2 models might be a good starting point.   I also look at oldmodelkits.com quite a bit...they have a lot of kits that I remember building.  I recently bought a Glencoe kit........looking inside the fuselage halves,  I noticed that this it was an old Aurora kit.  I saw the date but can't recall now when the molds were produced...I've since glued the halves together.  chances are good though,  that if the kit is an older kit,  then you might pay a heftier price tag.

 

OMK has quite a few commercial aircraft kits as well.......might be worth checking out  

[Papa]

It turns out that I hadn’t lost the decals. I put them in a “safe” place. Which really means hidden away until you run across them by accident after they are no longer needed.

[lmagna]

12 hours ago, ragove said:

I put them in a “safe” place. Which really means hidden away until you run across them by accident after they are no longer needed.

Sounds like my "Filing" system for models and "Stuff." It is not numerical or alphabetical it is somewhat more like Archival. The longer ago it was "filed" the deeper in the stack it is.